bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Mental Health Acts and people with severe learning disability
Authors: James David H.
Published: May 2008

As a consultant in the psychiatry of learning disability for the past 18 years, I had assumed that the Mental Health Acts referred to those patients who have some understanding of the concept of treatment and who are able to clearly express an objection to any proposed management. Those who could not express an objection because of severe handicap (“non-volitional patients”), I treated as informal patients. This view was supported by a representative of the Medical Protection Society, with whom I had discussions soon after I became a consultant. It agrees with the assumption that is widely held that for informal admission to occur, a person need not express positive willingness to be admitted to hospital, that it is sufficient that he is not unwilling to be treated in hospital (Gostin, 1983).
The future of day care in old age psychiatry
Authors: Ball Christopher J.
Published: May 2008

In 1961 Shaw & Macmillan claimed that there was no doubt of the value of the day hospital as an “alternative to in-patient care and prophylaxis” for the elderly mentally ill (EMI). Thirty years later the day hospital remains central to many EMI services. During these years little has been done to evaluate this method of service delivery against other models of service provision.
Special Interest Groups
Authors: Gath A.
Published: May 2008

In June 1987 Council approved the establishment of ‘Special Interest Groups’.
Psychiatric Bulletin readership survey
Authors: Fahy Tom
Published: May 2008

The Psychiatric Bulletin was launched in October 1971 as a separate news and notes supplement to the British Journal of Psychiatry. At first, the Bulletin confined itself to publishing College statements, the details of divisional meetings, lists of fellows, and forthcoming events. Over the years, the Bulletin has undergone an ambitious expansion in the range of subjects covered. A special emphasis has been placed on publication of studies of practical clinical management, including the Mental Health Act, audit and training matters. There has also been an increase in papers on cultural, historical and media topics related to psychiatry. Other regular sections include interviews, usually with the elder statesmen of psychiatry, obituaries, conference reports and correspondence. The Bulletin also publishes educational articles, such as those on computing or good practice guidelines.
Thyroid dysfunction in adults with Down's syndrome
Authors: Suresh Tharayil , Robertson Pauline
Published: May 2008

Thyroid treatment was used at the beginning of the 20th century for people with Down's syndrome, and an improvement in the physical and mental response was noted (Smith & Berg, 1976). Later studies reported conflicting findings about the prevalence and type of thyroid dysfunction (Sare et al, 1978; Lobo et al, 1980) but there now seems little doubt about the existence of a high prevalence of hypothyroidism (Mani, 1988; Dinani & Carpenter, 1990).
The frequency of prescribing of neuroleptic drugs
Authors: Blower Aileen , Cohen Mark , Hughson Mark
Published: May 2008

The frequency with which a given drug is prescribed (the number of doses per day) should be influenced by several factors. First, frequent prescribing is likely to be more expensive and to consume more resources. About a third of the time spent by psychiatric nurses in interaction with patients is devoted to technical activities such as drug administration (Altschul, 1972). Second, it is especially difficult to persuade psychiatric patients to take medication as prescribed whether as in-patients or as out-patients so treatment regimens should be kept as simple as possible. There is evidence that compliance is better with once or twice daily regimens than with a four times daily regimen.
Annual Meeting, 1979
Authors: Bird Julian , Crammer John , Lucas Graham , Sims Andrew
Published: May 2008

You are invited to give a 10-minute paper at the Annual General Meeting of the College in Exeter on 10–13 July 1979. There will be one or two special sessions at which anyone below the rank of consultant can speak; abstracts of the papers may later appear in the Journal or Bulletin.
Multiple Choice Examinations: Their Predictive Value in the Preliminary Test and the Membership Examination
Authors: Hassall Christine , Trethowan W. H.
Published: May 2008

Earlier analyses (Hassall and Trethowan, 1974, 1976) have examined the pass rates in the Preliminary Test and Membership Examinations in relation to the characteristics of the candidates and after separating those sitting for the first time and those re-sitting. This paper explores the relationship between performance in the Multiple Choice Questionnaire (MCQ) and performance in the examination as a whole, though without distinguishing between candidates making first and those making later attempts.
The Consultant, One who Consults (An oracle)
Authors: Baker A. A.
Published: May 2008

This article is based on a paper given to a meeting of the Chiltern and Thames Valley Division of the College. It discusses the document provided by the College called ‘The Responsibilities of Consultants in Psychiatry within the National Health Service’.* The need for such a document probably reflects the current uncertainties and anxieties of many consultants and an awareness of their changed role in the health service and in society in general.
A View on Senior Registrar Training in General Adult Psychiatry
Authors: Fieldsend Robert
Published: May 2008

Pre-Membership training tends to concentrate on the acquisition of knowledge and gaining clinical experience, especially in the assessment of patients. In postgraduate training the learning of various management skills, the development of special interests and filling gaps in previous training are the primary tasks. Theoretical learning through books and journals alone is insufficient in these areas. Opportunities must be available for the senior registrar to use his clinical time to achieve satisfactory training. If the senior registrar's position is largely supernumerary this is easily achieved; however, this happy situation is a rarity.
The Psychogeriatric Panel: A Health and Social Services Partnership
Authors: Durrant B. Warwick
Published: May 2008

Any service designed to meet the needs of the elderly must necessarily embrace a wide diversity of personnel and facilities. Not only is a multiprofessional team imperative, but such resources as are available—whether in the Health Service or personal Social Services—must be used in the full.
Collaboration between Psychiatric Case-Registers
Authors: Wing John K.
Published: May 2008

There are now six psychiatric case-registers covering areas in England, two in Scotland and one in Wales. All record the contacts made by patients or clients from a defined geographical area with specified medical and social services. This information is stored in a linked and cumulative file so that the care of any individual or group can be followed over time and the patterns of care established. The geographical base allows rates to be calculated and epidemiological research to be conducted.
Sensitivity Group Experience for Trainee Psychiatrists
Authors: Cash Kay
Published: May 2008

Participation in a sensitivity group as part of the general training of a psychiatrist is recommended.1,2 There are, however, obstacles to obtaining this experience, which may be practical or personal. Particularly in a peripheral hospital, there may be no such group available. A conductor should have sufficient experience as well as enthusiasm, and if the conductor is well known to the trainees or perhaps a member of the consultant staff, this may provoke personal anxieties in the participants. Finding a time in the widely differing schedules of participants, when all are free to attend is a problem, and further difficulties are presented by duty rotas and trainee rotations.
The Origins of the Mental Health Act 1983: Doctors in the House
Authors: Bluglass Robert
Published: May 2008

The role played by the House of Commons in the legislative process has been steadily changing since the Reform Acts of the nineteenth century. Previously, most of the Commons' legislative work consisted in passing private measures initiated and introduced by individual Members of Parliament concerned with, and knowledgeable about, local issues which required change. The growth of an increasingly vocal and educated mass electorate, the pressures of mass-membership political parties, and the increasing specialization of an industrial society, all increased the need for wider legislation, particularly for public social measures, and its initiation passed from the hands of individual members to the Government Parliament as a law-making body moved towards a more formal constitutional and legal role. Its twentieth century task is more often the legitimation of legislative changes originating elsewhere.
Natalie
Authors: HRR
Published: May 2008

It was a memorable occasion, so memorable in every way that one could be forgiven for believing that Natalie herself had had a hand in its organization.
Psychiatry in Decline: A Personal View
Authors: Morrison A.
Published: May 2008

Once it was generally supposed that people were afraid of psychiatrists. The fear of insanity, that ultimate loss of control, made people joke about psychiatrists as they joked about other fearsome things such as death and sex. Now it seems there are fewer jokes but much more open suspicion and hostility and there is much to suggest that over the years psychiatrists have become afraid of people. We have been so preoccupied with the clinical and heuristic aspects of our profession that we have not recognized the emergence of damaging paranoid forces, let alone made any adequate or appropriate response to them. This failure has created formidable problems for the mentally ill and their families and has been a significant factor in promoting one of the vicious backward swings in the pendular history of psychiatry.
Captopril Normalizes Insulin Signaling and Insulin-Regulated Substrate Metabolism in Obese (ob/ob) Mouse Hearts
Authors: Tabbi-Anneni Imene , Buchanan Jonathan , Cooksey Robert C. , Abel E. Dale
Published: May 2008

The goal of this study was to determine whether inhibiting the renin-angiotensin system would restore insulin signaling and normalize substrate use in hearts from obese ob/ob mice. Mice were treated for 4 wk with Captopril (4 mg/kg·d). Circulating levels of free fatty acids, triglycerides, and insulin were measured and glucose tolerance tests performed. Rates of palmitate oxidation and glycolysis, oxygen consumption, and cardiac power were determined in isolated working hearts in the presence and absence of insulin, along with levels of phosphorylation of Akt and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). Captopril treatment did not correct the hyperinsulinemia or impaired glucose tolerance in ob/ob mice. Rates of fatty acid oxidation were increased and glycolysis decreased in ob/ob hearts, and insulin did not modulate substrate use in hearts of ob/ob mice and did not increase Akt phosphorylation. Captopril restored the ability of insulin to regulate fatty acid oxidation and glycolysis in hearts of ob/ob mice, possibly by increasing Akt phosphorylation. Moreover, AMPK phosphorylation, which was increased in hearts of ob/ob mice, was normalized by Captopril treatment, suggesting that in addition to restoring insulin sensitivity, Captopril treatment improved myocardial energetics. Thus, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors restore the responsiveness of ob/ob mouse hearts to insulin and normalizes AMPK activity independently of effects on systemic metabolic homeostasis.
Thunniform swimming: muscle dynamics and mechanical power production of aerobic fibres in yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares)
Authors: Shadwick Robert E. , Syme Douglas A.
Published: May 2008

We studied the mechanical properties of deep red aerobic muscle of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), using both in vivo and in vitro methods. In fish swimming in a water tunnel at 1–3 L s–1 (where L is fork length), muscle length changes were recorded by sonomicrometry, and activation timing was quantified by electromyography. In some fish a tendon buckle was also implanted on the caudal tendon to measure instantaneous muscle forces transmitted to the tail. Between measurement sites at 0.45 to 0.65 L, the wave of muscle shortening progressed along the body at a relatively high velocity of 1.7 L per tail beat period, and a significant phase shift(31±4°) occurred between muscle shortening and local midline curvature, both suggesting red muscle power is directed posteriorly, rather than causing local body bending, which is a hallmark of thunniform swimming. Muscle activation at 0.53 L was initiated at about 50° of the tail beat period and ceased at about 160°, where 90° is peak muscle length and 180° is minimum length. Strain amplitude in the deep red fibres at 0.5 L was ±5.4%, double that predicted from midline curvature analysis. Work and power production were measured in isolated bundles of red fibres from 0.5 L by the work loop technique. Power was maximal at 3–4 Hz and fell to less than 50% of maximum after 6 Hz. Based on the timing of activation, muscle strain, tail beat frequencies and forces in the caudal tendon while swimming, we conclude that yellowfin tuna,like skipjack, use their red muscles under conditions that produce near-maximal power output while swimming. Interestingly, the red muscles of yellowfin tuna are slower than those of skipjack, which corresponds with the slower tail beat frequencies and cruising speeds in yellowfin.
Cutaneous water loss and sphingolipids covalently bound to corneocytes in the stratum corneum of house sparrowsPasser domesticus
Authors: Gu Yu , Muñoz-Garcia Agustí , Brown Johnie C. , Ro Jennifer , Williams Joseph B.
Published: May 2008

The barrier to water loss from the skin of birds and mammals is localized in the stratum corneum (SC), the outer layer of the epidermis. The SC consists of corneocytes, each surrounded by a protein envelope, and a lipid compartment, formed by an extracellular matrix of lipids and by lipids covalently bound to the protein envelope. In mammals, covalently bound lipids in the SC consist of ω-hydroxyceramides attached to the outer surface of corneocytes. Evidence suggests that covalently bound lipids in the SC might be crucial for the establishment of a competent permeability barrier. In this study we assessed the composition of covalently bound lipids of the avian SC and their relationship to cutaneous water loss (CWL) in two populations of house sparrows, one living in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and the other in mesic Ohio. Previously, we showed that CWL of adult desert sparrows was 25%lower than that of mesic birds. In the present study we characterize covalently bound lipids of the SC using thin layer chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography coupled with atmospheric pressure Photospray® ionization mass spectrometry. Our study is the first to demonstrate the existence of sphingolipids covalently bound to corneocytes in the SC of birds. Although ω-hydroxyceramides occurred in the lipid envelope surrounding corneocytes, the major constituent of the covalently bound lipid envelope in house sparrows was ω-hydroxycerebrosides,ceramides with a hexose molecule attached. Sparrows from Saudi Arabia had more covalently bound cerebrosides, fewer covalently bound ceramides and a lower ceramide to cerebroside ratio than sparrows living in Ohio; these differences were associated with CWL.
Reviews
Authors: Townsley Michael , Fleming Jenny , Antonopoulos Georgios A. , Biles David
Published: May 2008

Law and Order:An Honest Citizen's Guide to Crime and Control; Robert Reiner; (2007) Cambridge,Polity, 168 pages, ISBNs:978-0-7456-2997-1, 978-0-7456-2996-4

Policing the Rural Crisis; Russell Hogg and Kerry Carrington; (2006) Leichhardt, The Federation Press, 246 pp, ISBN 9781862875814

Policing the Rural Crisis; Russell Hogg and Kerry Carrington; (2006) Leichhardt, The Federation Press, 246 pp, ISBN 9781862875814

Imagining the Victim of Crime; S. Walklate; (2007) Maidenhead: Open University Press/McGraw-Hill Education, pp. 189, ISBN-10:0335 21727 3

Outsmarting the Terrorists; Ronald V. Clarke and Graeme R. Newman; 2006. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 316 pp., ISBN 0-275-99230-6
Understanding Women's Pathways to Jail: Analysing the Lives of Incarcerated Women
Authors: Simpson Sally S. , Yahner Jennifer L. , Dugan Laura
Published: May 2008

Some researchers suggest that crime pathways are gendered and that different paths may be revealed depending on the point of contact with the criminal justice system. Drawing from the feminist and age-of-onset literatures, we examine the life experiences of a sample of ‘high-risk’ women to assess whether their offending pathways into jail are consistent with those predicted by earlier research.We find substantial overlaps with feminist pathways, but notable differences as well — differences that may lie with which populations are under study (jailed and awaiting trial/disposition versus convicted felons; by racial composition). Sorting the women by onset age (early, adolescent, and adult), we discover a sizeable group of adult onset offenders (54%). Compared with those who begin offending earlier, these late onset women appear to have distinct risk factors.
Female Violent Offenders: Moral Panics or More Serious Offenders?
Authors: Kruttschnitt Candace , Gartner Rosemary
Published: May 2008

Nearly 40 years ago, in research conducted for the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence, Ward and his colleagues, asked ‘Are women more aggressive in committing violent crimes today than in the past?’ The reason they asked this question, and others have continued to, is the common fear that women, as the putative gatekeepers of social morality, are changing. Using data from the same prison Ward and his colleagues relied on to document the nature of women's violent offences, we examine whether and how the characteristics and crimes of incarcerated female offenders have changed. In so doing, we also seek to explain observed patterns of stability and change over the last third of the 20th century in women's crimes of violence and the moral panics that circumscribe violent criminality by women.
Melville's Japan and the “Marketplace Religion” of Terror
Authors: Rangno Erik
Published: May 2008

Recent criticism has overlooked the importance of Japan to Herman Melville's vision of race and empire in the Pacific, when in fact Melville is deeply committed to exposing the rhetorical strategies by which the United States justified its aggressive intervention in the region in the 1850s. Historical studies of Commodore Matthew C. Perry's forced “opening” of Japan to trade with the West tend to ignore the ways in which Perry's campaign itself served as a supplement to violence rather than a circumvention of it. Perry's gunboat diplomacy was informed by two strands of American exceptionalist discourse elsewhere popularized by William H. Seward: the democratization of the globe through commerce and the providential duty to bring Christianity to the barbarians. Seward insisted that the Americanization of the Pacific would unify East and West in contradistinction to the defaced Atlantic world. In Moby-Dick (1851) Ahab inverts these arguments; he rhetorically conflates the white whale and Japan as the twinned nemeses of American commercial interests in the Pacific. By convincing the crew to forgo the Pequod's contracted whaling mission in favor of a romanticized geopolitical revenge plot, Ahab confronts the spectral trace of Western capitalism's origin—the white whale as commodity's cipher. The manufacture and marketability of terror in the Pacific, Melville concludes, incites the Pequod's demise off the coast of Japan, and further evidences the failure of American ambition to prescribe its own limits.
High-sensitivity C-reactive protein is a good marker of cardiovascular risk in obese children and adolescents.
Authors: Soriano-Guillén Leandro , Hernández-García Bárbara , Pita Jimena , Domínguez-Garrido Nieves , Del Río-Camacho Genoveva , Rovira Adela
Published: May 2008

Objective

We intend to assess the utility of the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) as a marker of cardiovascular risk in obese children and adolescents.

Methods

The study included children and adolescents between 6 and 18 years of age with a body mass index (BMI) higher than 2 SDS. All the patients had their blood pressure taken and hs-CRP, hepatic function, lipid profile and uric acid were determined after 12 h of fasting. Likewise, an oral glucose tolerance test was performed, determining basal glucose and insulin levels, and after stimulus. We considered the presence of metabolic syndrome when the obese children and teenagers showed at least two of the following conditions: decreased high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, hypertriglyceridemia, hypertension or alteration in glucose metabolism.

Results

Out of the 115 obese children studied, 24% showed signs of metabolic syndrome. Those with metabolic syndrome presented higher levels of hs-CRP (mean: 3.8 mg/l; 95% CI: 2.8–4.8) in comparison with the obese patients who did not show signs of metabolic syndrome (mean: 2 mg/l; 95% CI: 1.5–2.5). After a multivariate analysis, the variables that appear to influence the changes in hs-CRP were BMI, triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol levels.

Conclusion

The hs-CRP is a useful tool for early diagnosis of cardiovascular risk in obese children and teenagers.
Paraxial Mesodermal Progenitors Derived from Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells Contribute to Muscle Regeneration via Differentiation into Muscle Satellite Cells
Authors: Sakurai Hidetoshi , Okawa Yayoi , Inami Yuta , Nishio Naomi , Isobe Ken-ichi
Published: May 2008

Pluripotent embryonic stem (ES) cells hold great potential for cell-based therapies. Although several recent studies have reported the potential of ES cell-derived progenitors for skeletal muscle regeneration, how the cells contribute to reconstitution of the damaged myofibers has remained elusive. Here, we demonstrated the process of injured muscle regeneration by the engraftment of ES cell-derived mesodermal progenitors. Mesodermal progenitor cells were induced by a conventional differentiation system and isolated by flow cytometer of platelet-derived growth factor receptor-α (PDGFR-α), a marker of paraxial mesoderm, and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2), a marker of lateral mesoderm. The PDGFR-α+ population that represented the paraxial mesodermal character demonstrated significant engraftment when transplanted into the injured muscle of immunodeficient mouse. Moreover, the PDGFR-α+ population could differentiate into the muscle satellite cells that were the stem cells of adult muscle and characterized by the expression of Pax7 and CD34. These ES cell-derived satellite cells could form functional mature myofibers in vitro and generate myofibers fused with the damaged host myofibers in vivo. On the other hand, the PDGFR-α−VEGFR-2+ population that showed lateral mesodermal character exhibited restricted potential to differentiate into the satellite cells in injured muscle. Our results show the potential of ES cell-derived paraxial mesodermal progenitor cells to generate functional muscle stem cells in vivo without inducing or suppressing gene manipulation. This knowledge could be used to form the foundation of the development of stem cell therapies to repair diseased and damaged muscles.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.
Baseflow Nitrate in Relation to Stream Order and Agricultural Land Use
Authors: Kang Shujiang , Lin Henry , Gburek William J. , Folmar Gordon J. , Lowery Birl
Published: May 2008

Management of agricultural nonpoint‐source pollution continues to be a challenge because of spatial and temporal variability. Using stream order as an index, we explored the distribution of nitrate concentration and load along the stream network of a large agricultural watershed in Pennsylvania—the East Mahantango Creek Watershed and two of its sub‐watersheds. To understand nitrate concentration variation in the stream water contributed from ground water, this study focused on baseflow. Impacts of agricultural land use area on baseflow nitrate in the stream network were investigated. Nitrate concentration showed a general decreasing trend with increasing stream order based on stream order averaged values; however, considerable spatial and temporal variability existed within each snapshot sampling. Nitrate loads increased with stream order in a power function because of the dominant effect of stream flow rate over the nitrate concentration. Within delineated sub‐watersheds based on stream orders, positive linear functions were found between agricultural land use area percentage and the baseflow nitrate concentration and between agricultural drainage area and the nitrate load. The slope of the positive linear regression between the baseflow nitrate concentration and percent agricultural land area seems to be a valuable indicator of a watershed's water quality as influenced by agricultural practices, watershed size, and specific physiographic setting. Stream order seems to integrate, to a certain degree, the source and transport aspects of nonpoint‐source pollution on a yearly averaged basis and thus might provide a quick estimate of the overall trend in baseflow nitrate concentration and load distribution along complex stream networks in agricultural watersheds.
Phosphorus Release from a Biosolids‐Amended Sandy Spodosol
Authors: Chinault Sarah L. , O'Connor George A.
Published: May 2008

Most regulations governing biosolids land application do not consider that phosphorus (P) solubility can vary widely among biosolids. Current regulations typically group all biosolids together in one category or group biosolids together with manures. Research has shown that not all biosolids have the same potential to affect the environment when land applied, but the database is limited. The purpose of this study was to characterize P release from several biosolids produced and/or marketed in Florida. A small soil column dynamic laboratory incubation was conducted to assess P release potential. Eleven biosolids and a mineral fertilizer (triple super phosphate) were individually mixed with a typical low‐P sorbing Florida soil (Immokalee fine sand) at 56 and 224 kg P ha−1Columns were periodically leached over 5.5 mo to attain 60 mL (1/2 pore volume) of drainage in each leaching. Soluble reactive P was determined and summed over the eight leachings to represent total P source release. Cumulative P release (as a percentage of P applied) was greatest from biological P removal (BPR) and BPR‐like biosolids and least from heat‐dried materials. Phosphorus release from biosolids depends on biosolids treatment type (digestion) and P chemistry, suggesting that biosolids regulations must account for differences in P lability to accurately gauge environmental risk.
Greenhouse Gas Fluxes from an Irrigated Sweet Corn (Zea mays L.)–Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Rotation
Authors: Haile‐Mariam S. , Collins H. P. , Higgins S. S.
Published: May 2008

Intensive agriculture and increased N fertilizer use have contributed to elevated emissions of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). In this study, the exchange of CO2, N2O, and CH4 between a Quincy fine sand (mixed, mesic Xeric Torripsamments) soil and atmosphere was measured in a sweet corn (Zea mays L.)–sweet corn–potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) rotation during the 2005 and 2006 growing seasons under irrigation in eastern Washington. Gas samples were collected using static chambers installed in the second‐year sweet corn and potato plots under conventional tillage or reduced tillage. Total emissions of CO2–C from sweet corn integrated over the season were 2071 and 1684 kg CO2–C ha−1 for the 2005 and 2006 growing seasons, respectively. For the same period, CO2 emissions from potato plots were 1571 and 1256 kg of CO2–C ha−1 Cumulative CO2 fluxes from sweet corn and potato fields were 17 and 13 times higher, respectively, than adjacent non‐irrigated, native shrub steppe vegetation (NV). Nitrous oxide losses accounted for 0.5% (0.55 kg N ha−1) of the applied fertilizer (112 kg N ha−1) in corn and 0.3% (0.59 kg N ha−1) of the 224 kg N ha−1 applied fertilizer. Sweet corn and potato plots, on average, absorbed 1.7 g CH4–C ha−1 d−1 and 2.3 g CH4–C ha−1 d−1, respectively. The global warming potential contributions from NV, corn, and potato fields were 459, 7843, and 6028 kg CO2–equivalents ha−1, respectively, for the 2005 growing season and were 14% lower in 2006.
Simulating Sulfadimidine Transport in Surface Runoff and Soil at the Microplot and Field Scale
Authors: Larsbo Mats , Fenner Kathrin , Stoob Krispin , Burkhardt Michael , Abbaspour Karim , Stamm Christian
Published: May 2008

To prevent residues of veterinary medicinal products (VMPs) from contaminating surface waters and ground water, an environmental impact assessment is required before a new product is allowed on the market. Physically based simulation models are advocated for the calculation of predicted environmental concentrations at higher tiers of the assessment process. However, the validation status of potentially useful models is poor for VMP transport. The objective of this study was to evaluate the dual‐permeability model MACRO for simulation of transport of sulfonamide antibiotics in surface runoff and soil. Special focus was on effects of solute application in liquid manure, which may alter the hydraulic properties at the soil surface. To this end we used data from a microplot runoff experiment and a field experiment, both conducted on the same clay loam soil prone to preferential flow. Results showed that the model could accurately simulate concentrations of sulfadimidine and the nonreactive tracer bromide in runoff and in soil from the microplot experiments. The use of posterior parameter distributions from calibrations using the microplot data resulted in poor simulations for the field data of total sulfadimidine losses. The poor results may be due to surface runoff being instantly transferred off the field in the model, whereas in reality re‐infiltration may occur. The effects of the manure application were reflected in smaller total and micropore hydraulic conductivities compared with the application in aqueous solution. These effects could easily be accounted for in regulatory modeling.
Autobiographical memory and language use: linguistic analyses of critical life event narratives in a non‐clinical population
Authors: Rullkoetter Nina , Bullig Renate , Driessen Martin , Beblo Thomas , Mensebach Christoph , Wingenfeld Katja
Published: May 2008

Previous research indicates a strong association between post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), psychopathology, and linguistic indices, but most studies have only compared one traumatic and one neutral life event. Referring to the Dual Representation Theory for PTSD we investigated the narrative representation of two negative life events, with and without current emotional impact in a non‐clinical population. Twenty‐five subjects wrote detailed narratives of the two types of life events. Lexical categories were coded and compared between the different scripts. Life events with current emotional impact were characterised by a greater use of emotional words, especially secondary emotionally words. Proprioceptive words were more often used and there were more errors when present tense was employed. Additionally, a greater number of sentences were found in these scripts. Our data suggest that in healthy subjects a relationship exists between narrative peculiarities and the current emotional impact of autobiographical memory shaped by negative life events. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The influence of sex chromosome aneuploidy on brain asymmetry
Authors: Rezaie Roozbeh , Daly Eileen M. , Cutter William J. , Murphy Declan G.M. , Robertson Dene M.W. , DeLisi Lynn E. , Mackay Clare E. , Barrick Thomas R. , Crow Timothy J. , Roberts Neil
Published: May 2008

The cognitive deficits present in individuals with sex chromosome aneuploidies suggest that hemispheric differentiation of function is determined by an X–Y homologous gene [Crow (1993); Lancet 342:594–598]. In particular, females with Turner's syndrome (TS) who have only one X‐chromosome exhibit deficits of spatial ability whereas males with Klinefelter's syndrome (KS) who possess a supernumerary X‐chromosome are delayed in acquiring words. Since spatial and verbal abilities are generally associated with right and left hemispheric function, such deficits may relate to anomalies of cerebral asymmetry. We therefore applied a novel image analysis technique to investigate the relationship between sex chromosome dosage and structural brain asymmetry. Specifically, we tested Crow's prediction that the magnitude of the brain torque (i.e., a combination of rightward frontal and leftward occipital asymmetry) would, as a function of sex chromosome dosage, be respectively decreased in TS women and increased in KS men, relative to genotypically normal controls. We found that brain torque was not significantly different in TS women and KS men, in comparison to controls. However, TS women exhibited significantly increased leftward brain asymmetry, restricted to the posterior of the brain and focused on the superior temporal and parietal–occipital association cortex, while KS men showed a trend for decreased brain asymmetry throughout the frontal lobes. The findings suggest that the number of sex chromosomes influences the development of brain asymmetry not simply to modify the torque but in a complex pattern along the antero‐posterior axis. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Thermodestruction in the surface layer of poly(vinyl chloride) during extrusion
Authors: Lipik Vitali T. , Abadie Marc J. M. , Prokoptchuk Nikolay R.
Published: May 2008

Polymeric raw material passing through the extrusion machine and other forming devices undergoes the processes of destruction, which result in the formation of potentially harmful substances and their accumulation in the surface layers of the product directly contacting with heated parts of forming machines. The research of the top layer of a poly(vinyl chloride) profile has shown that the surface layer of polymer contains a number of chlorinated hydrocarbons. The following substances have been identified during the research of the hydrocarbons composition contained of the surface layer: hexachlorobenzene, hexachlorobutene, chloroform, acetyl chloride, biphenyl, anthracene, naphthalene, and other hydrocarbons. The difference of calculated activation energy of thermooxidizing destruction of surface and internal layers of a polymeric product reveals the process of partial destruction of a surface layer. Data about semivolatile substances, concentrating in polymer surface during processing will be used for development of stabilizers, ecology, and polymer‐manufacturing techniques. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008.
Modeling of the residence time distribution in a buss kneader with a back‐propagation neural network
Authors: Bi Chao , Jiang Bo , Li Ao
Published: May 2008

With a back‐propagation neural network, the residence time distribution (RTD) characteristics in a buss kneader were modeled on a series of experimental RTD data measured by a digital image processing method. The operating conditions (screw speed and feed rate) were chosen as the inputs of the network. The four‐layered back‐propagation neural network predicted not only the RTD character indices, including the shortest delay time, mean residence time, and variance of distribution, but also the complete RTD curve. On the basis of the mean residence time, the average degree of fill in the extruder was also calculated. Furthermore, the effects of the operating conditions on the RTD and average degree of fill were analyzed. The method provided herein can also be used to predict RTDs in other kinds of extrusion equipment. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008
Intumescent foams—A novel flame retardant system for flexible polyurethane foams
Authors: Andersson Anna , Magnusson Anders , Troedsson Suzanne , Lundmark Stefan , Maurer Frans H. J.
Published: May 2008

A combination of intumescent components was evaluated as a novel flame retardant system in a flexible polyurethane foam, and the incorporation of these components gave rise to a significant enhancement of the flame retardant properties of the foam. The heat release rate was lowered at an early stage as well as throughout the fire, the total heat production was decreased and the time to ignition was prolonged. Mechanical measurements of the foam revealed enhanced properties in terms of stiffness accompanied by a large decrease in elongation at break as compared with a reference foam. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008
Silencing anAnopheles gambiaecatalase and sulfhydryl oxidase increases mosquito mortality after a blood meal
Authors: Magalhaes T. , Brackney D.E. , Beier J.C. , Foy B.D.
Published: May 2008

Catalase is a potent antioxidant, likely involved in post‐blood meal homeostasis in mosquitoes. This enzyme breaks down H2O2, preventing the formation of the hydroxyl radical (HO·). Quiescins are newly classified sulfhydryl oxidases that bear a thioredoxin motif at the N‐terminal and an ERV1‐like portion at the C‐terminal. These proteins have a major role in generating disulfides in intra‐ or extracellular environments, and thus participate in redox reactions. In the search for molecules to serve as targets for novel anti‐mosquito strategies, we have silenced a catalase and a putative quiescin/sulfhydryl oxidase (QSOX), from the African malaria vectorAnopheles gambiae, through RNA interference (RNAi) experiments. We observed that the survival of catalase‐ and QSOX‐silenced insects was reduced over controls following blood digestion, most likely due to the compromised ability of mosquitoes to scavenge and/or prevent damage caused by blood meal‐derived oxidative stress. The higher mortality effect was more accentuated in catalase‐silenced mosquitoes, where catalase activity was reduced to low levels. Lipid peroxidation was higher in QSOX‐silenced mosquitoes suggesting the involvement of this protein in redox homeostasis following a blood meal. This study points to the potential of molecules involved in antioxidant response and redox metabolism to serve as targets of novel anti‐mosquito strategies and offers a screening methodology for finding targetable mosquito molecules. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Base‐Induced Sequential Cyclization–Rearrangement of Enantioenriched 3‐Aminoalkanoates to Five‐ and Seven‐Membered Lactams
Authors: Sakai Takeo , Yamada Ken‐ichi , Tomioka Kiyoshi
Published: May 2008

By treatment with tBuLi, linear 3‐aminoalkanoates (4) were converted stereoselectively into five‐ and seven‐membered lactams (trans‐5 and cis‐6). Initial cyclization to azetidin‐2‐one with subsequent aza‐[1,2] and [2,3] rearrangement is the probable mechanistic pathway from 4 to 5 and 6. Although enantioenriched 4 was converted into nearly racemic 5 and 6, a linear 3‐amino‐2‐methylalkanoate (17) with 90 % ee bearing chirality at the ester α‐position afforded an all‐cis seven‐membered lactam (18) bearing three asymmetric centers with 85 % ee.
Cytocompatibility, interactions, and uptake of polyethyleneimine‐coated boron nitride nanotubes by living cells: Confirmation of their potential for biomedical applications
Authors: Ciofani Gianni , Raffa Vittoria , Menciassi Arianna , Cuschieri Alfred
Published: May 2008

Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) have unique physical properties, which can be exploited in the biomedical field. Hence, the surprising lack of reported studies on their biocompatibility and interactions with living cells, addressed by the present paper which deals the results of such an investigation based on 72 h culture of human neuroblastoma cell line (SH‐SY5Y) in the presence of an aqueous suspension of polyethyleneimine (PEI)‐coated BNNTs. BNNTs conjugated with fluorescent markers (quantum dots) are employed to enable tracking of their uptake by living cells. The results demonstrate good cytocompatibility together with unequivocal BNNT cellular uptake by an energy‐dependent endocytic process. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2008;101: 850–858. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Is picky eating an eating disorder?
Authors: Jacobi Corinna , Schmitz Gabriele , Agras W. Stewart
Published: May 2008

Objective:

To examine the prevalence of picky eating and the relationship between picky eating, previously supported correlates of picky eating, other child eating and behavioral problems and maternal eating problems in children aged 8–12 years.

Method:

In a cohort study, 426 8‐ to 12‐year‐old children and their primary caretakers (91% mothers) were assessed in a small town community. Potential child eating behaviors associated with picky eating were reported by mothers using the Stanford Feeding Questionnaire. Child eating attitudes and disturbances were obtained from the McKnight Risk Factor Survey, food preferences and avoidances from a food preference list, child behavioral problems were assessed by the Child Behavior Checklist. To assess maternal eating disturbances EDI‐subscales 1–3 as well as TFEQ‐subscales “disinhibition” and “restraint” were used.

Results:

Picky and nonpicky eaters differed significantly on all of the child eating behaviors found to be correlates of picky eating in a previous study with younger children. Overall, picky children were reported to avoid foods in general more often than nonpicky eaters. Picky children did not differ from nonpicky children with regard to their own and maternal eating disturbances. However, picky children displayed more problem behaviors comprising both internalizing and externalizing behaviors.

Conclusion:

The present study does not support the concept that picky eating is associated with disordered eating but rather with a range of behavioral problems. © 2008 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2008
Peak Area: the Instrumental Datum to Improve the Determination at Ultratrace Level Concentration of Mercury(II) at Gold Electrode
Authors: Locatelli Clinio
Published: May 2008

Peak area as instrumental datum for determining the concentration of metals in solution instead of peak height is proposed for analytical voltammetric determinations. In the case of species present at ultra‐trace concentration level or having low reversibility degree electrodic processes, the employment of peak area permits to achieve limits of detection lower even more of one order of magnitude. The present work shows the possibility of determining, at ultratrace level concentration, mercury(II) by differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV).
Analysis of bedload transport characteristics of Idaho streams and rivers
Authors: Muskatirovic Jasna
Published: May 2008

Field data are essential in evaluating the adequacy of predictive equations for sediment transport. Each dataset based on the sediment transport rates and other relevant information gives an increased understanding and improved quantification of different factors influencing the sediment transport regime in the specific environment. Data collected for 33 sites on 31 mountain streams and rivers in Central Idaho have enabled the analysis of sediment transport characteristics in streams and rivers with different geological, topographic, morphological, hydrological, hydraulic, and sedimentological characteristics. All of these streams and rivers have armored, poorly sorted bed material with the median particle size of surface layer coarser than the subsurface layer. The fact that the largest particles in the bedload samples did not exceed the median particle size of the bed surface material indicates that the armor layer is stable for the observed flow discharges (generally bankfull or less, and in some cases two times higher than bankfull discharge). The bedload transport is size‐selective. The transport rates are generally low, since sediment supply is less than the ability of flow to move the sediment for one range of flow discharges, or, the hydraulic ability of the stream is insufficient for entrainment of the coarse bed material. Detailed analyses of bedload transport rates, bedload and bed material characteristics were performed for each site. The obtained results and conclusions are used to identify different influences on bedload transport rates in analyzed gravel‐bed rivers. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An analysis of the failed municipal bond and note futures contracts
Authors: Cusatis Patrick J.
Published: May 2008

This study analyzes the failure of the municipal bond and municipal note futures contracts. The municipal bond contract is shown to have been the most effective hedge in the municipal market over its tenure. Changes in volume in the municipal bond contract were closely related to changes in the volume in the U.S. Treasury bond futures contract, the spot–municipal‐over‐bonds (MOB) ratio, and visible supply. The failure of the municipal bond contract is mainly attributed to a decrease in trading volume in the U.S. Treasury futures market. This was impacted by the onset of electronic trading, which the municipal futures market was reluctant to embrace. The municipal note contract was a less effective hedge than U.S. Treasury note futures and ten‐year London Interbank Offered Rate swaps. The failure of the municipal note futures contract is attributed to the existence of well‐established alternative hedges, and segmentation in the municipal market. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 28:656–679, 2008
On combining family and case‐control studies
Authors: Pfeiffer Ruth M. , Pee David , Landi Maria T.
Published: May 2008

Studies to detect genetic association with disease can be family‐based, often using families with multiple affected members, or population based, as in population‐based case‐control studies. If data on both study types are available from the same population, it is useful to combine them to improve power to detect genetic associations. Two aspects of the data need to be accommodated, the sampling scheme and potential residual correlations among family members. We propose two approaches for combining data from a case‐control study and a family study that collected families with multiple cases. In the first approach, we view a family as the sampling unit and specify the joint likelihood for the family members using a two‐level mixed effects model to account for random familial effects and for residual genetic correlations among family members. The ascertainment of the families is accommodated by conditioning on the ascertainment event. The individuals in the case‐control study are treated as families of size one, and their unconditional likelihood is combined with the conditional likelihood for the families. This approach yields subject specific maximum likelihood estimates of covariate effects. In the second approach, we view an individual as the sampling unit. The sampling scheme is accommodated using two‐phase sampling techniques, marginal covariate effects are estimated, and correlations among family members are accounted for in the variance calculations. The models are compared in simulations. Data from a case‐control and a family study from north‐eastern Italy on melanoma and a low‐risk melanoma‐susceptibility gene, MC1R, are used to illustrate the approaches. Genet. Epidemiol. 2008. Published 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.