bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Measurement of Single-Cell Deformability Using Impedance Analysis on Microfluidic Chip
Authors: Kim Dongil , Choi Eunpyo , Choi Sung Sik , Lee Sangho , Park Jungyul , Yun Kwang-Seok
Published: January 2011

In this paper, we propose a microfluidic chip that measures the deformability of single cells by an impedance measurement method. The proposed chip is designed to differentiate the deformability of various cells by measuring the length of their stretched membrane indirectly according to the variation of the impedance after applying aspiration pressure to the cell membrane. The length of the stretched cell membrane is proportional to the applied pressure. Lengths of 18 and 21 µm were observed at the same suction pressure for human breast normal cells (MCF-10A) and caner cells (MCF-7), respectively. Electrical measurement was performed using an impedance analyzer at various frequencies. Results revealed that the impedance measurement method can be used to analyze the biomechanical characteristics of single cells, which indicates the state of malignancy of cells.
Contribution of adenosine to compensatory dilation in hypoperfused contracting human muscles is independent of nitric oxide
Authors: Casey Darren P. , Joyner Michael J.
Published: February 2011

We previously demonstrated that nitric oxide (NO) contributes to compensatory vasodilation in the contracting human forearm subjected to acute hypoperfusion. We examined the potential role of an adenosine-NO interaction to this response in 17 male subjects (25 ± 2 yr). In separate protocols subjects performed rhythmic forearm exercise (20% of maximum) while hypoperfusion was evoked by balloon inflation in the brachial artery above the elbow. Each trial included exercise before inflation, exercise with inflation, and exercise after deflation (3 min each). Forearm blood flow (FBF; ultrasound) and local [brachial artery catheter pressure (BAP)] and systemic [mean arterial pressure (MAP); Finometer] arterial pressure were measured. In protocol 1 ( n = 10), exercise was repeated during nitric oxide synthase inhibition [ NG-monomethyl-l-arginine (l-NMMA)] alone and during l-NMMA-aminophylline (adenosine receptor blockade) administration. In protocol 2, exercise was repeated during aminophylline alone and during aminophylline-l-NMMA. Forearm vascular conductance (FVC; ml·min−1·100 mmHg−1) was calculated from blood flow (ml/min) and BAP (mmHg). Percent recovery in FVC during inflation was calculated as (steady-state inflation + exercise value − nadir)/[steady-state exercise (control) value − nadir]. In protocol 1, percent recovery in FVC was 108 ± 8% during the control (no drug) trial. Percent recovery in FVC was attenuated with inhibition of NO formation alone (78 ± 9%; P < 0.01 vs. control) and was attenuated further with combined inhibition of NO and adenosine (58 ± 9%; P < 0.01 vs. l-NMMA). In protocol 2, percent recovery was reduced with adenosine receptor blockade (74 ± 11% vs. 113 ± 6%, P < 0.01) compared with control drug trials. Percent recovery in FVC was attenuated further with combined inhibition of adenosine and NO (48 ± 11%; P < 0.05 vs. aminophylline). Our data indicate that adenosine contributes to compensatory vasodilation in an NO-independent manner during exercise with acute hypoperfusion.
Muscle short-range stiffness can be used to estimate the endpoint stiffness of the human arm
Authors: Hu Xiao , Murray Wendy M. , Perreault Eric J.
Published: February 2011

The mechanical properties of the human arm are regulated to maintain stability across many tasks. The static mechanics of the arm can be characterized by estimates of endpoint stiffness, considered especially relevant for the maintenance of posture. At a fixed posture, endpoint stiffness can be regulated by changes in muscle activation, but which activation-dependent muscle properties contribute to this global measure of limb mechanics remains unclear. We evaluated the role of muscle properties in the regulation of endpoint stiffness by incorporating scalable models of muscle stiffness into a three-dimensional musculoskeletal model of the human arm. Two classes of muscle models were tested: one characterizing short-range stiffness and two estimating stiffness from the slope of the force-length curve. All models were compared with previously collected experimental data describing how endpoint stiffness varies with changes in voluntary force. Importantly, muscle properties were not fit to the experimental data but scaled only by the geometry of individual muscles in the model. We found that force-dependent variations in endpoint stiffness were accurately described by the short-range stiffness of active arm muscles. Over the wide range of evaluated arm postures and voluntary forces, the musculoskeletal model incorporating short-range stiffness accounted for 98 ± 2, 91 ± 4, and 82 ± 12% of the variance in stiffness orientation, shape, and area, respectively, across all simulated subjects. In contrast, estimates based on muscle force-length curves were less accurate in all measures, especially stiffness area. These results suggest that muscle short-range stiffness is a major contributor to endpoint stiffness of the human arm. Furthermore, the developed model provides an important tool for assessing how the nervous system may regulate endpoint stiffness via changes in muscle activation.
Path shape impacts the extent of CA1 pattern recurrence both within and across environments
Authors: Nitz Douglas A.
Published: February 2011

Similarities and differences in the visual content, scale, and shape of environmental boundaries for two environments have been extensively examined for their impact on the recurrence of spatially specific hippocampal firing patterns across environments and across multiple regions of a single environment. Although the shapes of paths taken through an environment are known to impact hippocampal firing patterns within any single region of a single environment, it is not known to what extent path shape and scale can impact firing pattern recurrence across two environments and across multiple regions of a single environment. This question was addressed in the present work where the spatial firing patterns of hippocampal CA1 neurons were examined as rats traversed differently shaped spiral paths centered on the same position within a visually observable curtained enclosure. On such tracks, firing fields for CA1 neurons were found to recur across multiple subregions of a single path and across similarly positioned regions of different paths. Both within and across different spiral tracks, the extent of such pattern recurrence was strongly influenced by similarity in the specific sequences of movement directions and locomotor behaviors engendered by different path shapes. The findings demonstrate that the shapes of paths taken through an environment can robustly and dynamically alter both the scale of spatially specific CA1 firing fields and the extent to which they recur across environments.
Development of a Sandwich ELISA to Measure Exposure to Occupational Cow Hair Allergens
Authors: Zahradnik Eva , Sander Ingrid , Bruckmaier Lydia , Flagge Angelika , Fleischer Christina , Schierl Rudolf , Nowak Dennis , Sültz Joachim , Spickenheuer Anne , Noss Ilka , Brüning Thomas , Raulf-Heimsoth Monika
Published: January 2011

Background: Cow hair and dander are important inducers of occupational allergies in cattle-exposed farmers. To estimate allergen exposure in farming environments, a sensitive enzyme immunoassay was developed to measure cow hair allergens. Methods: A sandwich ELISA was developed using polyclonal rabbitantibodies against a mixture of hair extracts from different cattle breeds. To assess the specificity of the assay, extracts from other mammalian epithelia, mites, molds and grains were tested. To validate the new assay, cow hair allergens were measured in passive airborne dust samples from the stables and homes of farmers. Dust was collected with electrostatic dust fall collectors (EDCs). Results: The sandwich ELISA was found to be very sensitive (detection limit: 0.1 ng/ml) and highly reproducible, demonstrating intra- and interassay coefficients of variation of 4 and 10%, respectively. The assay showed no reactivity with mites, molds and grains, but some cross-reactivity with other mammalian epithelia, with the strongest reaction with goat. Using EDCs for dust sampling, high concentrations of bovine allergens were measured in cow stables (4,760–559,400 µg/m2). In addition, bovine allergens were detected in all areas of cattle farmer dwellings. A large variation was found between individual samples (0.3–900 µg/m2) and significantly higher values were discovered in changing rooms. Conclusion: The ELISA developed for the detection of cow hair proteins is a useful tool for allergen quantification in occupational and home environments. Based on its low detection limit, this test is sensitive enough to detect allergens in passive airborne dust.
Sensitization with 7S Globulins from Peanut, Hazelnut, Soy or Pea Induces IgE with Different Biological Activities Which Are Modified by Soy Tolerance
Authors: Kroghsbo Stine , Bøgh Katrine L. , Rigby Neil M. , Mills E.N. Clare , Rogers Adrian , Madsen Charlotte B.
Published: January 2011

Background: It is not known why some foods sensitizing via the gastrointestinal tract are prevalent allergenic foods and others are not. Eating habits, processing, and the food matrix have been suggested to influence the allergenicity of a given food. Factors related to protein structure, such as stability to digestion, have also been suggested. 7S globulins from peanut, hazelnut, soy, and pea were studied to determine whether related proteins would induce a similar sensitization when removed from their ‘normal’ matrix. Methods: Brown Norway rats (soy tolerant or nontolerant) were immunized i.p. 3 times with 100 µg purified peanut, hazelnut, soy, or pea 7S without adjuvant. Sera were analyzed for specific antibodies by different ELISAs (IgG1, IgG2a, and IgE), inhibition ELISA, and rat basophilic leukemia cell assay. Results: The 4 related 7S globulins induced a response with an almost identical level of specific antibodies, but peanut 7S induced IgE of higher avidity than hazelnut and pea 7S which, again, had a higher avidity than IgE induced by soy 7S. Soy tolerance reduced the functionality of IgE without influencing antibody titers. Conclusions: Although the 4 7S globulins are structurally related allergens, they induce antibodies with different antigen-binding characteristics. Peanut 7S induces IgE of a higher avidity than hazelnut and pea 7S which, again, has a higher avidity than IgE induced by soy 7S. We also show that soy tolerance influences the function of antibodies to peanut 7S. These findings may help explain how antibodies of different clinical significances can develop in different individuals sensitized to the same allergen.
Canine Fucosidosis: A Neuroprogressive Disorder
Authors: Kondagari Gauthami Sudhamayee , Ramanathan Palaniappan , Taylor Rosanne
Published: January 2011

The lysosomal storage disease, canine fucosidosis, is caused by the absence of the lysosomal enzyme canine α-L-fucosidase with storage of undegraded fucose-rich material in different organs. Canine fucosidosis is a severe, progressive, fatal neurological disease which results in death or euthanasia and is the only available animal model for this human disease. We analysed the progressive neuropathology from birth to severe clinical disease and related this to the clinical signs. At birth no vacuolation was observed in fucosidosis brain; however, a complex storage presence with vacuolation was well established by 4 months of age, before the clinical signs of motor dysfunction which occurred at 10–12 months of age. Purkinje cell loss, neuronal loss, gliosis, perivascular storage and demyelination accompanied disease progression. Increased vacuolation (15.3-fold increase compared to controls) coincided with advanced motor and mental deterioration in late-stage disease. Significant loss of myelin commenced early, with greatest impact in the cerebellum, and was severe in late disease (1.6- to 1.9-fold decrease) compared to controls (p < 0.05) contributing to clinical signs of motor and mental dysfunction. This detailed description and quantification of the CNS pathology in canine fucosidosis will inform monitoring of the onset, progression and response of this disease to therapy.
Asthma Masquerading as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Study of Smokers Fulfilling the GOLD Definition of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Authors: Al-Kassimi Feisal A. , Abba Abdullah A. , Al-Hajjaj Mohammed S. , Alhamad Esam H. , Raddaoui Emad , Shaikh Shaffi Ahamed
Published: January 2011

Background: Irreversible airways obstruction in smokers is usually attributed to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We speculate that some of these are cases of asthma indistinguishable from COPD. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of asthma in a ‘COPD’ population and how to differentiate the two conditions. Methods: This was a prospective observational study of smokers fulfilling the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease definition of COPD [mean post-salbutamol forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) 66.9% predicted]. They were classified into 4 groups, as follows: (1) inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)-responsive asthma, defined by normalization of spirometry upon ICS treatment; (2) irreversible asthma, defined as airway obstruction for 1 year and bronchial biopsy indicating asthma; (3) COPD, in the presence of bilateral panlobular emphysema with bullae on high-resolution computed tomography, hypercapneic respiratory failure or bronchial biopsy indicating COPD, and (4) unclassified airflow limitation (AFL). Results: Eighty patients fulfilled the definition of COPD. The initial diagnosis was COPD in 57.5% and asthma in 42.5%. The final diagnosis was ICS-responsive asthma in 48 patients (60%), irreversible asthma in 8 (10%), COPD in 16 (20%) and unclassified AFL in 8 (10%). A normal transfer coefficient for carbon monoxide (KCO) and an FEV1 fluctuation ≧18% during 1 year of follow-up distinguished irreversible asthma and COPD. Seven of the 8 patients with irreversible asthma had improved FEV1 at the end of 1 year (median 320 ml compared with –29 ml in COPD). Five out of the 8 unclassified AFL cases had normal KCO and a large improvement in FEV1 suggestive of irreversible asthma. Conclusions: COPD, even in heavy smokers, includes cases of asthma. FEV1 fluctuation during 1 year is a novel concept which may distinguish irreversible asthma and COPD.
Proteinuria in Type 2 Diabetic Patients with Renal Impairment: The Changing Face of Diabetic Nephropathy
Authors: Packham David K. , Ivory Sara E. , Reutens Anne T. , Wolfe Rory , Rohde Richard , Lambers Heerspink Hiddo , Dwyer Jamie P. , Atkins Robert C. , Lewis Julia ,   on behalf of the Collaborative Study Group
Published: February 2011

Type 2 diabetic nephropathy (type 2 DN) patients traditionally develop significant proteinuria prior to the development of renal impairment. However, this clinical paradigm, based on observations prior to the widespread usage of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB), has recently been questioned. 2,303 patients enrolled in the Sulodexide Overt Nephropathy Study (OVERT) were analyzed. Prior therapy with ACEi and/or ARB at the time of screening was recorded in 951 patients. 22% of patients had significant renal impairment with a PCR at screening of <500 mg/g. Therapy with ACEi and/or ARB at the time of screening was recorded in 94%, where prior medication data was available. In patients with type 2 DN and advanced renal impairment, levels of proteinuria below that which traditionally defines overt diabetic nephropathy, are found in more than one fifth of patients. We suggest that the high prevalence of ACEi and ARB usage in patients with type 2 DN may be effecting the traditional clinical paradigm of type 2 DN.
Nationwide Population-Based Epidemiologic Study of Cryptococcal Meningitis in Taiwan
Authors: Chen Yen-Yu , Lai Chien-Hsu
Published: January 2011

Background: Little is known about the epidemiology of cryptococcal meningitis in Taiwan. The aim of this study was to conduct the first nationwide population-based epidemiologic study of cryptococcal meningitis in Taiwan. Methods: Cases of cryptococcal meningitis were identified from the annual hospitalization discharge claims of the National Health Insurance Research Database with the corresponding ICD-9 code 321.0 from January 2000 to December 2007. Results: A total of 845 incident cases of cryptococcal meningitis were detected. Among them, 109 patients (12.9%) had human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The average incidence was 4.7 per million person-years. The incidence remarkably increased in the age group of 60–69 years, peaked in the age group of 70–79 years, and fell after the age of 80 years. The average incidence for men was 2.2-fold higher than that for women. The most common complication was obstructive hydrocephalus in 15.3% of the patients, followed by acute respiratory failure in 12.0% of the patients. Conclusion: This is the first population-based epidemiologic study of cryptococcal meningitis in Taiwan. The incidence was stable during the study period, and most cases were non-HIV related.
Smokers with Multiple Sclerosis Are More Likely to Report Comorbid Autoimmune Diseases
Authors: Marrie Ruth Ann , Horwitz Ralph I. , Cutter Gary , Tyry Tuula , Vollmer Timothy
Published: January 2011

Background/Aims: Smoking is a risk factor for multiple sclerosis (MS) and autoimmune disease, and might explain an increased risk of comorbid autoimmune disease (CAD) in MS. We compared the risk of CAD in smokers and nonsmokers with MS. Methods: Participants enrolled in the North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis Registry reported their smoking status, the presence of CAD and the year of diagnosis. We used multivariable logistic regression to determine the independent association between smoking and CAD. We also compared the risk of developing a CAD in current smokers versus never-smokers who did not report any CAD at MS onset, using a proportional hazards model. Results: Among 8,875 participants reporting comorbidities and smoking status, 1,649 (18.5%) reported a CAD. In a multivariable logistic model, ever-smokers had increased odds of reporting a CAD (odds ratio: 1.22; 95% CI: 1.08–1.38). Among the 7,830 participants without a CAD at onset of MS who reported their smoking status, including the age at which they started smoking, 3,035 (36.8%) currently smoked, while 3,805 (48.6%) never smoked. After adjustment, smokers had an increased risk of developing any autoimmune disease (hazard ratio: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.08–1.41) after MS onset. Conclusion: Smoking is associated with an increased risk of CAD in MS.
Developmental and Regenerative Biology of Multipotent Cardiovascular Progenitor Cells
Authors: Sturzu Anthony C. , Wu Sean M.
Published: February 2011

Our limited ability to improve the survival of patients with heart failure is attributable, in part, to the inability of the mammalian heart to meaningfully regenerate itself. The recent identification of distinct families of multipotent cardiovascular progenitor cells from endogenous, as well as exogenous, sources, such as embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells, has raised much hope that therapeutic manipulation of these cells may lead to regression of many forms of cardiovascular disease. Although the exact source and cell type remains to be clarified, our greater understanding of the scientific underpinning behind developmental cardiovascular progenitor cell biology has helped to clarify the origin and properties of diverse cells with putative cardiogenic potential. In this review, we highlight recent advances in the understanding of cardiovascular progenitor cell biology from embryogenesis to adulthood and their implications for therapeutic cardiac regeneration. We believe that a detailed understanding of cardiogenesis will inform future applications of cardiovascular progenitor cells in heart failure therapy and regenerative medicine.
Effects of Cooperating and Conflicting Prosody in Spoken English Garden Path Sentences: ERP Evidence for the Boundary Deletion Hypothesis
Authors: Pauker Efrat , Itzhak Inbal , Baum Shari R. , Steinhauer Karsten
Published: January 2011

In reading, a comma in the wrong place can cause more severe misunderstandings than the lack of a required comma. Here, we used ERPs to demonstrate that a similar effect holds for prosodic boundaries in spoken language. Participants judged the acceptability of temporarily ambiguous English “garden path” sentences whose prosodic boundaries were either in line or in conflict with the actual syntactic structure. Sentences with incongruent boundaries were accepted less than those with missing boundaries and elicited a stronger on-line brain response in ERPs (N400/P600 components). Our results support the notion that mentally deleting an overt prosodic boundary is more costly than postulating a new one and extend previous findings, suggesting an immediate role of prosody in sentence comprehension. Importantly, our study also provides new details on the profile and temporal dynamics of the closure positive shift (CPS), an ERP component assumed to reflect prosodic phrasing in speech and music in real time. We show that the CPS is reliably elicited at the onset of prosodic boundaries in English sentences and is preceded by negative components. Its early onset distinguishes the speech CPS in adults both from prosodic ERP correlates in infants and from the “music CPS” previously reported for trained musicians.
Perceptual and Conceptual Priming of Environmental Sounds
Authors: Schirmer Annett , Soh Yong Hao , Penney Trevor B. , Wyse Lonce
Published: January 2011

It is still unknown whether sonic environments influence the processing of individual sounds in a similar way as discourse or sentence context influences the processing of individual words. One obstacle to answering this question has been the failure to dissociate perceptual (i.e., how similar are sonic environment and target sound?) and conceptual (i.e., how related are sonic environment and target?) priming effects. In this study, we dissociate these effects by creating prime–target pairs with a purely perceptual or both a perceptual and conceptual relationship. Perceptual prime–target pairs were derived from perceptual–conceptual pairs (i.e., meaningful environmental sounds) by shuffling the spectral composition of primes and targets so as to preserve their perceptual relationship while making them unrecognizable. Hearing both original and shuffled targets elicited a more positive N1/P2 complex in the ERP when targets were related to a preceding prime as compared with unrelated. Only related original targets reduced the N400 amplitude. Related shuffled targets tended to decrease the amplitude of a late temporo-parietal positivity. Taken together, these effects indicate that sonic environments influence first the perceptual and then the conceptual processing of individual sounds. Moreover, the influence on conceptual processing is comparable to the influence linguistic context has on the processing of individual words.
Critical Thoughts on the Politics of Immanence
Authors: Mandarini Matteo
Published: January 2011

This intervention aims to question the opposition between a ‘politics of immanence’ and a ‘politics of transcendence’ through a critical assessment of some contemporary philosophical approaches to politics and a reappraisal of Mario Tronti’s account of the autonomy of the political. I shall argue that the contrast between immanence and transcendence is ultimately politically disabling, as it fails to provide an adequate position from which to situate a political thinking and practice.
Oktyabr’skaya Revolyutsiya i Fabzavkomy [The October Revolution and Factory-Committees], edited by Steve A. Smith, London: Kraus International Publications, 1983 Oktyabr’skaya Revolyutsia i Fabzavkomy, Volume 3, Second Edition, edited by Yoshimasa Tsuji, Tokyo: Waseda University, 2001 Oktyabr’skaya Revolyutsiya i Fabzavkomy: Materialy po istorii fabrichno-zavodskikh komitetov, Volume 4, edited by Yoshimasa Tsuji, St Petersburg: St Petersburg University Press, 2002
Authors: Flenley Paul
Published: January 2011

The article re-examines the key debates concerning the relationship between the Russian factory-committee movement and the Bolshevik Party and Soviet state in 1917‐18. It does so with reference to a four-volume collection of documents in Russian on the history of the factory-committees in 1917/18 which first began to be published in 1927 and completed publication in 2002. Rather than the traditional totalitarian view of a movement which was cynically manipulated and dominated by an authoritarian party, what emerges is a much more complex and dynamic relationship. The article in particular argues that the so-called bureaucratisation of the factory-committee movement after the October Revolution emerged out of the practical dilemmas faced by the committees in the economic chaos of 1917/18 and the factory-committee leaders’ own desires to promote a rational, planned alternative to that chaos.
Impersonal Power. History and Theory of the Bourgeois State, Heide Gerstenberger, translated by David Fernbach, Historical Materialism Book Series, Leiden: Brill 2007.
Authors: Parker David
Published: January 2011

Heide Gerstenberger’s book offers a comparative view of the origins and emergence of the bourgeois state in England and France. Both, according to her, emerged out of ancien-régime type structures which were themselves distinct from feudalism. Whilst recognising the value of Gerstenberger’s attempt to avoid economic reductionism when explaining changing power-structures, it is suggested that analytical tools such as ‘class’, ‘mode of production’ and the ‘state’, which she confines to capitalism, do have considerable utility for the analysis of precapitalist régimes. More importantly, it is suggested that her attempt to maintain that in England, as in France, an ancien-régime type society endured at least to the end of the eighteenth century obscures the fundamentally divergent paths taken by the two countries. This is compounded by her rejection of the idea of a French absolutism and an underestimation of the extent to which power-structures in England were modified by the precocious development of capitalism. Whilst suggesting that a bourgeois public space was able to develop in the interstices of structures of the ancien régime, Gersternberger fails to recognise the extent to which this had transformed the English polity by the mid-seventeenth century.
A Compass for the Sunflower
Authors: Gottesfeld Dorit
Published: January 2011

This paper examines the distinctiveness in content and style of narrative texts written by prominent Palestinian women writers from Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, and the Diaspora, from 1948 to the present day. The paper diachronically examines the changes and developments that have taken place from period to period. It also synchronically examines the characteristics common to works from the same period and the differences between one writing locus and another. It shows that over the years, the writing of Palestinian women writers has become more refined in thematic and stylistic terms, while combining personal with national issues. Although the female self in the works of Palestinian women writers has become increasingly accentuated, the political dimension does not disappear from their work, and seems to be laying in wait to burst forth at any opportunity.
Gamete Donation and the Role of Religious Leaders in Iran
Authors: Moinifar Heshmat S.
Published: January 2011

In recent years, infertility has been considered as a medical problem as well as a social problem, thus couples have sought medical assistance to overcome childlessness. The introduction, however, of a third party in the creation of a child is supposedly highly problematic in many developing countries, including Iran. After the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, the government dismantled family planning programs, although at the time there were no serious debates and policies on assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs). In 1989, the government reversed its policies and since then has had one of the most successful family planning programs in the region. In this regard, other than socio-economic factors, opinion of jurists have influenced family planning programs and related issues like ARTs in Iran, thus the position of religious leaders has had a direct effect on how Iran has achieved its development goals including ARTs. Iran is the only Muslim country in the world in which ARTs using donor gametes and embryos have been legitimized by religious authorities and passed into law. This has placed Iran as a Shi‘a-dominant country in a quite distinguished position vis-à-vis the Sunni Islamic world, where all forms of gamete donation, based on many studies, are strictly prohibited.In this article, the “Iranian ART Revolution” that has allowed donor technologies to be admitted as a form of assisted reproduction technology will be examined. In this regard, an attempt is made to explore religious leaders’ positive and negative views toward this issue. Thus, the verdicts or fatwas of mojtahedin in the context will be discussed. After providing a brief review of different opinions of mojtahedin, these differentiations through in-depth interviews with two prominent mojtaheds, Ayatollahs Mousavi Ardabili and Sobhani in 2007 on ARTs will be discussed to enrich the argument.
A Response to Muslim Countries’ Reservations Against Full Implementation of CEDAW
Authors: Sonbol Amira el-Azhary
Published: January 2011

The purpose of this paper is to show the contradictions between Islamic law as presented by the Quran and Sunna and the justifications used by Muslim countries to hold reservations against the full application of the CEDAW Convention. More specifically, Article 16 of the CEDAW Convention constitutes the focus of this study with reference to other articles of pertinence to the larger issue of women’s equality.
Steps toward Peace in Civil Wars in the Asia-Pacific Region: A Disaggregate Approach to Civil War Settlements
Authors: Pearson Frederic S.
Published: January 2011

Regardless of the types of civil conflict settlements, all parties generally enter into some sorts of tacit or direct bargaining in the course of civil conflict, namely, in steps toward peace. In contrast to a basically static framework employed in much of existing literature on civil war settlements and mediation, this article proposes a disaggregate approach to dynamic and multi-phase processes in civil conflict termination via negotiations. We illustrate a conceptual and theoretical framework to examine four steps in civil conflict settlements in a large-N research program. In so doing, we present an initial effort to construct a dyadic dataset isolating processes that allow civil conflict settlements to progress or regress between low and higher levels of agreement in the Asia-Pacific region from 1990 to 2005. We discuss a set of preliminary simple statistical results for the four distinct settlement phases in the context of conflict and rebel characteristics. Among the findings of note, third parties provide important assistance in nurturing successful negotiations especially in the context of waning insurgent strength. Peace proposals originate most frequently from governments, and seem to hinge especially on opponents’ battlefield advantages. Evidence of mutually hurting stalemates is also found. In the article’s conclusion we elaborate a long-term research agenda.
Domestic Unrest and the Initiation of Negotiations
Authors: Ghosn Faten
Published: January 2011

The main argument of this article is that we need to incorporate domestic-pressure arguments into conflict management studies and, at the same time, we need to include conflict-management opportunities in the study of domestic-international theory. This study looks at the impact of domestic incentives on a state’s decision to negotiate. The primary hypothesis is that domestic turmoil will increase the likelihood that rival states with a history of aggressive interaction shift their foreign policy to a more accommodative one. Testing my argument on strategic rivals between 1945 and 1995, I find that after controlling for the factors of history and level of hostility between the rivals, anti-government unrest actually increases the likelihood of negotiations taking place, while acts threatening the downfall of the regime tend to decrease the chance of witnessing negotiations.
Peril by Proxy: Negotiating Conflicts in East Africa
Authors: Brewer Cecily G.
Published: January 2011

A proxy war is a conflict in which one party fights its adversary via another party rather than engaging that party in direct conflict. This article discusses two examples: the Sudan-Ugandan proxy war of the 1990s and the Sudan-Chad proxy war that has fed the conflict in Darfur. In these cases, the states aimed to alter regional power structures through cross-border rebel support. This support generated a perpetual Prisoners’ Dilemma whereby the patron governments refused to end proxy support unless the other side did as well, but had little reason to trust that the other side would do so. The Sudan-Uganda and Sudan-Chad peace processes succeeded in reaching agreement, but failed in implementation. Permanent resolution of such complex, persistent, and deadly conflicts requires conflict analyses that take a regional view; conflict mediation that seeks to alter the underlying conflict dynamics through addressing the motivations of both patrons and proxies; and implementation agreements backed by strong guarantees.
Sudan: In a Procrustean Bed with Crisis
Authors: Smith Stephen W.
Published: January 2011

Civil war in Sudan ‐ first between the North and the South, then in Darfur ‐ extends over half a century, interrupted only by a spell of uneasy peace between 1972 and 1983. Over time, a number of analytical templates have been propounded to account for the quasi-permanent crisis. The causes for conflict in Sudan have thus been pegged to the legacy of colonialism, ethno-religious divide, Islamist terrorism, a resource war, state failure, regional conflict concatenation, genocide, and a “turbulent state paradigm” (Alex de Waal). This article takes stock of the various frameworks offered for explanation both in academic writing and the broader media discourse on Sudan. The critical assessment provides for a rehearsal of available scholarship and leads to three interlocking conclusions: (1) the translation of local/national conflict into relevant international language is a form of reciprocal resource mobilization; (2) conflict analysis, and with all the more reason conflict management, are always part of the unfolding crisis they strive to come to terms with; and (3) conflict analysis ought to be predicated on an “uncertainty principle” akin to the one postulated by Werner Heisenberg for quantum physics, because the momentum of a conflict and its analytical fixation inexorably escape each other.
Moscow’s Cold War on the Periphery: Soviet Policy in Greece, Iran, and Turkey, 1943—8
Authors: Roberts Geoffrey
Published: January 2011

This article examines Soviet policy towards Greece, Iran and Turkey during the early Cold War. It argues that Stalin’s aims in relation to these countries were limited and secondary to more important goals in Europe. Equally, the postwar crises in Greece, Turkey, and Iran played a critical role in shaping differing Soviet and Western perceptions of the causes of the Cold War. An important part of the story on the Soviet side was the role of wounded national pride in propelling Stalin into the Cold War.
At the End of Influence: The Letelier Assassination, Human Rights, and Rethinking Intervention in US-Latin American Relations
Authors: Walker Vanessa
Published: January 2011

The assassination of Orlando Letelier, former Chilean ambassador to the United States, by Chilean agents on the streets of Washington, DC, in September 1976 became a rallying point for human rights advocates against the Chilean junta led by Augusto Pinochet. By 1979, ongoing conflicts over Letelier’s assassination — part of the Carter administration’s larger campaign to promote human rights — brought US-Chilean relations to their nadir. Further, the administration’s handling of the crisis alienated some of its strongest domestic supporters, calling into question its commitment to human rights. Letelier’s assassination thus reveals the tensions and paradoxes that marked the Carter administration’s human rights agenda in Latin America and beyond: tensions between effecting change and respecting sovereignty, between high expectations and limited influence, between public affirmation of principle and competing national interests. This article examines how the Carter administration sought to use human rights to move away from the US legacy of intervention and hegemony in the Western Hemisphere, as well as the limits of such a policy.
Peripheral Vestibular System in Down Syndrome
Authors: Inagaki Taro , Morita Norimasa , Cureoglu Sebahattin , Schachern Patricia A. , Nomiya Shigenobu , Nomiya Rie , Paparella Michael M.
Published: January 2011

Objective

To evaluate the maturity of the peripheral vestibular system in Down syndrome by examining the number of Scarpa’s ganglion cells and the density of vestibular hair cells.

Study Design

Case‐control study using human temporal bones.

Setting

Tertiary academic center, otopathology laboratory.

Subjects and Methods

Sixteen temporal bones from 8 patients with Down syndrome and 15 control temporal bones from 8 individuals with no history of otologic disease were selected. Hypoplasia of the lateral semicircular canal (LSC) and vestibule was investigated by measuring the dimensions of the structures. Scarpa’s ganglion cells were counted under light microscopy. The vestibular hair cells were counted in the LSC crista and the utricular and saccular maculae under differential interference contrast (Nomarski) microscopy and expressed as density.

Results

The patients with Down syndrome were divided into 2 groups: with and without LSC hypoplasia. The number of Scarpa’s ganglion cells and the density of vestibular hair cells were significantly smaller in both groups of patients with Down syndrome than in the control group. There was no significant difference in the number of Scarpa’s ganglion cells or the density of vestibular hair cells between the groups with and without LSC hypoplasia.

Conclusion

The peripheral vestibular system, including Scarpa’s ganglion cells and vestibular hair cells, is hypoplastic irrespective of the vestibular malformation in Down syndrome.
Effect of Orogastric Tubes on Aspiration Status and Recommendations for Oral Feeding
Authors: Leder Steven B. , Lazarus Cathy L. , Suiter Debra M. , Acton Lynn M.
Published: February 2011

Objective

To investigate the effects, if any, of the presence of an orogastric tube on incidence of aspiration and oral diet recommendations.

Study Design

Case series with planned data collection.

Setting

Large, urban, tertiary care teaching hospital.

Subjects and Methods

Referred sample of 10 consecutively enrolled inpatients (2 pediatric, aged 17 days and 3 months, respectively; and 8 adults, mean age 63 years). An orogastric tube was present for the first videofluoroscopic swallowing study or fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing and then removed for the second swallow study.

Results

There were no significant differences (P = 1.0) for both overall incidence of aspiration and aspiration by food consistency (liquid or puree) dependent on orogastric tube presence. All 9 participants recommended for an oral diet ate successfully.

Conclusions

An orogastric tube did not affect incidence of aspiration. A videofluoroscopic or endoscopic evaluation of swallowing can be performed with an orogastric tube present, and there is no contraindication to keeping an orogastric tube in place to supplement oral alimentation until prandial nutrition is adequate.
Nasal Nitric Oxide and Sinonasal Disease
Authors: Phillips P. Seamus , Sacks Raymond , Marcells George N. , Cohen Noam A. , Harvey Richard J.
Published: January 2011

Objective

To critically and systematically review the data available on the sinonasal application of nasal nitric oxide measurement, particularly its use as a diagnostic, prognostic, or treatment effect indicator.

Data Sources

EMBASE 1980 to February 10, 2010; Medline 1950 to February 10, 2010; Cochrane Collaboration database; NHS Evidence Health Information Resources database.

Review Methods

The databases were searched using a search strategy designed to include manuscripts relevant both to nitric oxide measurement and sinus or nasal problems. A title search was carried out on these manuscripts to select those relevant to clinical or basic science aspects of nitric oxide measurement. A subsequent abstract search selected those manuscripts concerning the application of nitric oxide measurement to sinonasal problems. The manuscripts selected were subject to a full‐text review to extract data sets of nasal nitric oxide readings for different patient groups.

Results

Initially, 1088 manuscripts were selected. A title search found 335 manuscripts of basic scientific or clinical interest. An abstract search found 35 manuscripts directly relating to nitric oxide measurement in sinonasal disease. Full‐text analysis produced 20 studies with extractable data on nasal nitric oxide levels in clearly defined patient groups. Studies did not show sufficient homogeneity to enable substantial meta‐analysis of aggregated data.

Conclusion

Current evidence shows that nasal nitric oxide is not a clinically useful measure for sinonasal disease. Although there is some evidence that sinus surgery is associated with lowered nasal nitric oxide levels, there is no evidence that this is associated with deterioration in sinus health.
Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records in Otolaryngology
Authors: Das Subinoy , Eisenberg Lee D. , House John W. , Lee K. J. , Lusk Rodney P. , Nielsen David R. , Patel Milesh M. , Steckowych Jayde M. , Ermini Edward B.
Published: January 2011

Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, passed as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the US Congress implemented new regulations to encourage the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs). The federal government will expend up to $27 billion in incentive payments to physicians and hospitals to increase adoption and implement “meaningful use” of EHRs. Otolaryngologists may receive as much as $44 000 under Medicare or $63 750 under Medicaid as part of this law. In July 2010, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced final rules to support “meaningful use.” This commentary discusses recommendations from the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Medical Informatics Committee for implementing “meaningful use” of EHRs to improve safety, quality, and efficiency of patient care and receiving incentive payments as defined by these new regulations.
Race’s Recurrence
Authors: Rattansi Ali
Published: January 2011

The race idea keeps recurring in different guises and yet has an intriguing ‘ever-changing sameness’. Ash Amin has provided an insightful discussion of the question in an earlier issue of this journal. I supplement his account by pointing to the ways in which the nature—culture puzzle identified by Lévi-Strauss creates continuing spaces and seductions for the race idea. I offer an account of the perils of using supposedly ‘natural’ human attributes, as in versions of cognitive anthropology, to explain racism, without completely discounting the idea of human universals. I also explore how ‘race’ retains its continuing hold by intertwining with themes of class, sexuality and nation. I provide an interpretation of racist identities and explain why my account offers both greater pessimism and more optimism than Amin’s more uniform ‘ontological pessimism’.
Greater Than 10-Year Results of Red-White Longitudinal Meniscal Repairs in Patients 20 Years of Age or Younger
Authors: Noyes Frank R. , Chen Ryan C. , Barber-Westin Sue D. , Potter Hollis G.
Published: January 2011

Background: A prospective longitudinal investigation was conducted to determine the long-term outcome of single longitudinal meniscal repairs extending into the central avascular region in patients aged 20 years or younger.

Purpose: To determine the long-term success rate and reoperation rate of meniscal repairs extending into the avascular zone.

Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods: Thirty-three meniscal repairs were performed using an inside-out multiple vertical divergent suture technique. A concomitant anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction was done in 18 patients. The mean follow-up was 16.8 years (range, 10.1-21.9 years). The long-term success rate was determined in 29 repairs (88%) by the presence of normal or nearly normal parameters from 2 validated knee rating systems, assessment of magnetic resonance imaging and weightbearing posteroanterior radiographs by independent physicians, and follow-up arthroscopy when required. A 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging scanner with cartilage-sensitive pulse sequences was used, and T2 mapping was performed. A comparison was made between the short-term (mean, 4 years) and long-term outcomes.

Results: Eighteen (62%) of the meniscal repairs had normal or nearly normal characteristics in all of the parameters assessed. Six repairs (21%) required partial arthroscopic resection, 2 had loss of joint space on radiographs, and 3 that were asymptomatic failed according to magnetic resonance imaging criteria, for a total of 11 documented failures (38%). There was no significant difference in the mean articular cartilage T2 scores in the healed menisci between the involved and contralateral tibiofemoral compartments in the same knee. There were no significant differences between short- and long-term evaluations for pain, swelling, jumping, patient knee condition rating, or the overall Cincinnati rating score.

Conclusions: A chondroprotective joint effect was demonstrated in the healed menisci repairs, which warrants the procedure in select patients. The long-term evaluation of the anterior cruciate ligament–reconstructed knees with concurrent successful meniscal repairs demonstrated a low rate of radiographic arthritis.