bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on SMEs in India
Authors: Gupta Shaveta , Sukhmani  , Kalra Neha
Published: March 2013

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not a new concept; companies have always to some extent tried to acknowledge their responsibility towards the community. CSR today is seen as something more far-reaching, engaging at a much wider level with business operations and relations with communities. It is essentially about business’ contribution to sustainable development and how best to maximise that contribution. In order to study the growing impact of CSR in business organisations, the present study has been undertaken on 100 SME manufacturing units operating in the state of Punjab. The data has been analysed using descriptive statistics, Friedman’s two-way ANOVA, Kruskal–Wallis test and factor analytic approach. The study revealed that very few SMEs are consciously engaged in implementing CSR initiatives. The reason can be attributed to lack of financial resources, no support from the side of government (like incentives and schemes), no important impact on the image of the company and lack of awareness in the society. Further, ‘good relations with stakeholders’ emerged as the most important factor underlying the perception of respondent SMEs towards the impact of implementing CSR practices. The results also revealed that there is no relation between CSR activities and performance of the organisation.
Bank Credit and Industrial Production in India: Granger Causality Test in VAR Framework
Authors: Manikandan K. , Manivel S. , Vettriselvan R.
Published: March 2013

There are many studies that have made efforts to establish relationship between finance and economic growth. There are studies that considered aggregate bank credit and economic growth as denoted by growth in GDP in a broader perspective. But studies that focused on finding the relationship between the quantum of bank credit and the extent of industrial production are rather limited. The present study is an attempt towards filling this gap by examining the relationship between bank credit and industrial production in India using time series data pertaining to 18 years, from 1991–1992 to 2008–2009. The study employs the Granger Causality Test in the Vector Auto Regressive (VAR) model to examine the direction of causality between bank credit deployment and industrial production. The results of the Granger Causality Test in the VAR framework adopting 2 lag lengths do not show significant causality in any direction between bank credit deployment and industrial production. The non-existence of causality implies that the proportion of bank credit in the overall capital structure of the industries is too small to cause any impact on industrial production pointing to the scope for bankers to play a greater role in financing the industrial sector. The main contribution of the study is that it has opened up avenues for further research on finding causality of relationship between various categories of financial systems and relevant components contributing to economic growth adopting the VAR framework.
Determinants of Capital Structure in Indian Manufacturing Sector
Authors: Purohit Harsh , Khanna Shivi
Published: March 2013

This article is an attempt to analyse the important determinants of capital structure in Indian manufacturing industries in the last decade. Over the past several years, financial economists and researchers have worked to bring more of scientific and predictive understanding in corporate finance; this has been done by preparing formal theories that can be tested by empirical studies of corporate and stock market behaviour. But this brings us to the most important issue to developing a well-defined and exhaustive theory of capital structure which also finds applicability in an actual market scenario and designing empirical tests that are powerful enough to provide a basis for choosing among the various theories. In several competing theories, researchers have given their perspective in the form of theories, since Modigliani and Miller’s famous propositions on the capital structure, to test the ground realities of capital market imperfections such as taxes, bankruptcy costs, agency costs and information asymmetries. Therefore, the determinants of the capital structure of companies have been debated for long in corporate finance. To bring more clarity on it, this research attempts to test the important determinants of the capital structure of companies.
Perceived Significance of Scheme Attributes in Mutual Fund Purchase: A Comparative Study of Retail and Non-retail Investors
Authors: Gupta Mohit , Chander Subhash
Published: March 2013

Several research evidences have found the relative importance of various attributes within the mutual fund scheme construct while deciding on purchases of mutual fund, especially by retail investors. Literature is scanty with respect to non-retail investors. This study presents a comparative analysis of retail and non-retail mutual fund investors with respect to attributes related to mutual fund schemes, in the context of their selection of various mutual funds. Primary data collected from 400 retail and 50 non-retail investors, randomly selected from cities under survey, were used to assess the components of mutual fund schemes. The factor analytic technique resulted in four components, namely, managerial and intrinsic attributes, performance and asset profile, third-party assessment and extrinsic attributes. Inferential statistics on the Anderson–Rubin (AR) factor scores depict the difference between retail and non-retail mutual fund investors with respect to performance and asset profile and extrinsic attributes. This study therefore is an addition to the existing literature and may help in improving strategies of asset management companies.
Using Brand Personality to Enhance Brand Trust and Perceived Value: An Empirical Study of the Brand Lux
Authors: Kang Amanpreet , Sharma Himani
Published: March 2013

The purpose of this article is to investigate the role of brand personality as an effective tool to create positive perceived values and brand trust. The authors propose to establish a relationship between brand personality, perceived value and brand trust. The results present support for our inference that Lux as a brand enjoys positively perceived personality characteristics, which can be leveraged for developing a higher trust index. The questionnaire was developed by using measurement scales used by previous researchers. The instrument was evaluated for reliability and validity. The data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire. The results of statistical analysis show that trust in a brand is important when customers choose personal care products and that perceived value is significantly enhanced when customers have positive connotations of brand personality. To recapitulate, we concentrated on the relationship between brand and product in terms of personality dimensions and intended to investigate whether brand personality affects the consumers’ perceived value and acceptance of the brand as a trustworthy brand.
Boards Should Have Members with Diverse Experience: Evidence from India and Singapore
Authors: Jhunjhunwala Shital
Published: March 2013

There is an increasing demand for diversity of boards in an effort to enhance their performance in an ever-changing global environment. This article examines the diversity of boards in terms of experience in two important Asian economies—India and Singapore. Boards in these countries have members with different functional, industry and domain expertise. The findings suggest that a board having members with varied experience has a positive impact on financial performance of the company.
A Study on Interference of Work– Life Conflict between Organisational Climate and Job Satisfaction of Women Employees in the Information Technology Sector
Authors: Aiswarya B. , Ramasundaram G.
Published: March 2013

During the past three decades, women have emerged as a powerful part of the workforce in the world economy. Women became liberated and fought for equal pay and equal status with men in the workplace. There are two major roles every working woman has to play: a work role and a family role. This article focuses on the impact of Organisational Climate as an antecedent on Job Satisfaction on women employees in the IT sector in Chennai. The sample size of 598 is identified and with the application of statistical tools, the relationship among the said variables, namely, work–family conflict as an intervening variable between Organisational Climate as a cause and Job Satisfaction as a consequence, is estimated quantitatively.
Kyzylkumite, Ti2V3+O5(OH): new structure type, modularity and revised formula
Authors: Armbruster T. , Lazic B. , Reznitsky L. Z. , Sklyarov E. V.
Published: March 2013

The crystal structure of kyzylkumite, ideally Ti2V3+O5 (OH), from the Sludyanka complex in South Baikal, Russia was solved and refined (including the hydrogen atom position) to an agreement index, R1, of 2.34% using X-ray diffraction data collected on a twinned crystal. Kyzylkumite crystallizes in space group P21/c, with a = 8.4787(1), b = 4.5624(1), c = 10.0330(1) Å , β = 93.174(1)º, V = 387.51(1) Å3 and Z = 4. Tivanite, TiV3+O3OH, and kyzylkumite have modular structures based on hexagonal close packing of oxygen, which are made up of rutile [TiO2] and montroseite [V3+O(OH)] slices. In tivanite the rutile:montroseite ratio is 1:1, in kyzylkumite the ratio is 2:1. The montroseite module may be replaced by the isotypic paramontroseite V4+O2 module, which produces a phase with the formula Ti2V4+O6. In the metamorphic rocks of the Sludyanka complex, vanadium can be present as V4+ and V3+ within the same mineral (e.g.in batisivite, schreyerite and berdesinskiite). Kyzylkumite has a flexible composition with respect to the M4+/M3+ ratio. The relationship between kyzylkumite and a closely related Be-bearing kyzylkumite-like mineral with an orthorhombic norbergite-type structure from Byrud mine, Norway is discussed. Both minerals have similar X-ray powder diffraction patterns.
Zoned Cr-spinel and ferritchromite alteration in forearc mantle serpentinites of the Rio San Juan Complex, Dominican Republic
Authors: Saumur B. M. , Hattori K.
Published: March 2013

Ferritchromite is rarely reported in forearc mantle peridotites. This contribution describes ferritchromite alteration and zoned Cr-spinel in serpentinites from the Rio San Juan Complex in the Dominican Republic. These rocks originated from the forearc mantle and protruded along lithosphere-scale faults in the mid Eocene. The cores of the Cr-spinel grains have Cr# ratios [i.e.atomic Cr/(Cr + Al)] between 0.48 and 0.66; such values are relatively high and are considered to represent primary compositions. Relatively high Zn contents in the grain cores (0.46 c 0.95 wt.% ZnO) are also thought to be primary; they reflect exceptionally cool conditions in the northern Caribbean forearc mantle. A progressive change in the zoning of Cr-spinel is recorded in the samples. Weakly zoned grains of Cr-spinel have rims with lower Mg# ratios [i.e.atomic Mg/(Mg + Fe2+)] and slightly higher Cr# ratios than the cores. More strongly zoned grains of Cr-spinel, in addition to low Mg# and high Cr# in their rims, have a marked increase in Fe3+# [i.e.Fe3+/(Fe3+ + Al + Cr)] of up to 0.35 in their rims and are partially coated by Mg-rich chlorite. All grains show core-to-rim decreases in their Zn content and increases in Ti, Mn and V. The association with Mg-rich chlorite and the compositional zoning are reminiscent of those reported for ferritchromite. Ferritchromite (with Fe3+# >0.5) is common in ultramafic rocks in amphibolite-grade terranes; however, the serpentinite samples described herein show little evidence of high-grade metamorphism. The lowtemperature serpentine-group mineral lizardite is dominant and high-temperature antigorite is either very rare or absent; other high-temperature minerals, such as talc, tremolite and cummingtonite, are trace constituents. The observed zoning in the Cr-spinel is thought to represent 'immature' ferritchromite, probably formed in response to a short-lived thermal event. This event appears to have been on too short a timescale to produce either proper ferritchromite or significant quantities of high-temperature minerals. It may be related to the emplacement of the nearby Rio Boba Intrusion, or the upward protrusion of the serpentinites along the lithosphere-scale Septentrional fault zone from the base of the mantle wedge through its hotter interior. We suggest that such alteration is rare in forearc serpentinites because they are not commonly heated during exhumation along the plane of subduction. This work demonstrates that Cr-spinel compositions can be modified by relatively low-grade metamorphism.
A note on a class of Hardy-Rellich type inequalities
Authors: Di Yanmei , Jiang Liya , Shen Shoufeng , Jin Yongyang
Published: March 2013

In this note we provide simple and short proofs for a class of Hardy-Rellich type inequalities with the best constant, which extends some recent results.

MSC:26D15, 35A23.
BioTile, A Perl based tool for the identification of differentially enriched regions in tiling microarray data
Authors: Guintivano Jerry , Arad Michal , Tamashiro Kellie LK , Gould Todd D , Kaminsky Zachary A
Published: March 2013

Background

Genome-wide tiling array experiments are increasingly used for the analysis of DNA methylation. Because DNA methylation patterns are tissue and cell type specific, the detection of differentially methylated regions (DMRs) with small effect size is a necessary feature of tiling microarray ‘peak’ finding algorithms, as cellular heterogeneity within a studied tissue may lead to a dilution of the phenotypically relevant effects. Additionally, the ability to detect short length DMRs is necessary as biologically relevant signal may occur in focused regions throughout the genome.

Results

We present a free open-source Perl application, Binding Intensity Only Tile array analysis or “BioTile”, for the identification of differentially enriched regions (DERs) in tiling array data. The application of BioTile to non-smoothed data allows for the identification of shorter length and smaller effect-size DERs, while correcting for probe specific variation by inversely weighting on probe variance through a permutation corrected meta-analysis procedure employed at identified regions. BioTile exhibits higher power to identify significant DERs of low effect size and across shorter genomic stretches as compared to other peak finding algorithms, while not sacrificing power to detect longer DERs.

Conclusion

BioTile represents an easy to use analysis option applicable to multiple microarray platforms, allowing for its integration into the analysis workflow of array data analysis.
Genome-wide analysis of macrosatellite repeat copy number variation in worldwide populations: evidence for differences and commonalities in size distributions and size restrictions
Authors: Schaap Mireille , Lemmers Richard JLF , Maassen Roel , van der Vliet Patrick J , Hoogerheide Lennart F , van Dijk Herman K , Baştürk Nalan , de Knijff Peter , van der Maarel Silvère M
Published: March 2013

Background

Macrosatellite repeats (MSRs), usually spanning hundreds of kilobases of genomic DNA, comprise a significant proportion of the human genome. Because of their highly polymorphic nature, MSRs represent an extreme example of copy number variation, but their structure and function is largely understudied. Here, we describe a detailed study of six autosomal and two X chromosomal MSRs among 270 HapMap individuals from Central Europe, Asia and Africa. Copy number variation, stability and genetic heterogeneity of the autosomal macrosatellite repeats RS447 (chromosome 4p), MSR5p (5p), FLJ40296 (13q), RNU2 (17q) and D4Z4 (4q and 10q) and X chromosomal DXZ4 and CT47 were investigated.

Results

Repeat array size distribution analysis shows that all of these MSRs are highly polymorphic with the most genetic variation among Africans and the least among Asians. A mitotic mutation rate of 0.4-2.2% was observed, exceeding meiotic mutation rates and possibly explaining the large size variability found for these MSRs. By means of a novel Bayesian approach, statistical support for a distinct multimodal rather than a uniform allele size distribution was detected in seven out of eight MSRs, with evidence for equidistant intervals between the modes.

Conclusions

The multimodal distributions with evidence for equidistant intervals, in combination with the observation of MSR-specific constraints on minimum array size, suggest that MSRs are limited in their configurations and that deviations thereof may cause disease, as is the case for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy. However, at present we cannot exclude that there are mechanistic constraints for MSRs that are not directly disease-related. This study represents the first comprehensive study of MSRs in different human populations by applying novel statistical methods and identifies commonalities and differences in their organization and function in the human genome.
Fixed or mixed: a comparison of three, four and mixed-option multiple-choice tests in a Fetal Surveillance Education Program
Authors: Zoanetti Nathan , Beaves Mark , Griffin Patrick , Wallace Euan M
Published: March 2013

Background

Despite the widespread use of multiple-choice assessments in medical education assessment, current practice and published advice concerning the number of response options remains equivocal. This article describes an empirical study contrasting the quality of three 60 item multiple-choice test forms within the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) Fetal Surveillance Education Program (FSEP). The three forms are described below.

Methods

The first form featured four response options per item. The second form featured three response options, having removed the least functioning option from each item in the four-option counterpart. The third test form was constructed by retaining the best performing version of each item from the first two test forms. It contained both three and four option items.

Results

Psychometric and educational factors were taken into account in formulating an approach to test construction for the FSEP. The four-option test performed better than the three-option test overall, but some items were improved by the removal of options. The mixed-option test demonstrated better measurement properties than the fixed-option tests, and has become the preferred test format in the FSEP program. The criteria used were reliability, errors of measurement and fit to the item response model.

Conclusions

The position taken is that decisions about the number of response options be made at the item level, with plausible options being added to complete each item on both psychometric and educational grounds rather than complying with a uniform policy. The point is to construct the better performing item in providing the best psychometric and educational information.
Knowledge and utilization of information communication technology (ICT) among health science students at the University of Gondar, North Western Ethiopia
Authors: Woreta Solomon Assefa , Kebede Yigzaw , Zegeye Desalegn Tegabu
Published: March 2013

Background

Despite the relatively huge ICT investment and policy deployment in higher institutions in Ethiopia, there is still scant information about the success of implementation of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the higher education. This study, therefore, was carried out with an aim to assess knowledge and utilization of Information Communication Technology (ICT) among medicine and health science students and its associated factors in Gondar College of Medicine and Health sciences, University of Gondar.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Ethiopia. Data regarding socio-demographic characteristics of the students, level of knowledge and utilization of ICT were collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 13.

Results

A total of 1096 students responded giving a response rate of 97.8%. The mean age of the study participants was 20.3 (±1. 3) years. Females constitute only 26% of the respondents. The majority (79%) were fulltime students. Only half of the respondents (51%) had ICT knowledge and only 46% students utilized ICT while 47% of the respondents never used electronic communication (e.g. email or chat room) and 39% of the respondents never used Microsoft office (e.g. word ® or WordPerfect ®). ICT knowledge [AOR = 2.5, 95% CI: 1.7-3.5], family educational background [AOR = 4.36, 95% CI: 2.16-8.80], and perceived quality of training [AOR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.3-2.8] showed strong and positive associations with ICT utilization. Students from urban areas were more likely to utilize ICT compared with those from rural areas [AOR = 2.7, 95% CI: 2.097, 3.497], and information technology training was found to be positively associated with ICT utilization [AOR = 2. 07, 95% CI: 1.18, 3.62].

Conclusions

The result showed that students’ knowledge was inadequate and utilization of ICT was poor. Therefore, the university should sustain professional development to improve teaching, to raise student performance and equip the college with student centered ICT computer labs to increase students’ ICT utilization.
Impaired cardioprotective function of transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells from patients with diabetes mellitus to rats with experimentally induced myocardial infarction
Authors: Liu Yu , Li Zhi , Liu Tao , Xue Xiaodong , Jiang Hui , Huang Jianhua , Wang Huishan
Published: March 2013

Background

Diabetes mellitus (DM) exacerbates coronary artery disease (CAD) morbidity and mortality. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) play an important therapeutic role in myocardial ischemic injury. However, little is known about changes in the cardioprotective characteristics of MSCs from patients with DM.

Methods

Sternal bone marrow aspirates were taken at the time of coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The morphology and growth characteristics of hMSCs were observed in passage 3. Differences in gene expression profiling were measured by Affymetrix GeneChipHuman Genome U133 Plus 2.0 Arrays. Forty two adult male rats with experimentally CAD were randomized into three groups. MSCs from patients with CAD+DM or CAD were injected into the infarcted myocardium. Control animals received culture medium. Echocardiography, TUNEL, immunohistochemistry and Western-blot analysis were performed 4 weeks after transplantation.

Results

Growth curves showed that proliferation of hMSCs in the CAD+DM group was significantly lower than in the CAD group. Nine transcripts of genes related to apoptosis containing Bcl-2 were found to differentiate the two groups. Transplantation of hMSCs in the infarcted border zone improved cardiac function, but DM partly impaired this effect. Similar results were observed from TUNEL, immunohistochemistry and Western-blot analysis.

Conclusions

hMSCs from patients with CAD+DM and CAD alone both have proliferative properties. Transplantation of hMSCs ameliorate heart function, but proliferative ability and myocardial protection decrease significantly in MSCs obtained from patients with CAD+DM compared with cultures from patients with CAD alone, possibly as a result of differences in Bcl-2 protein expression and reduced anti-apoptosis.
Rapid screening and identification of dominant B cell epitopes of HBV surface antigen by quantum dot-based fluorescence polarization assay
Authors: Meng Zhongji , Song Ruihua , Chen Yue , Zhu Yang , Tian Yanhui , Li Ding , Cui Daxiang
Published: March 2013

A method for quickly screening and identifying dominant B cell epitopes was developed using hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen as a target. Eleven amino acid fragments from HBV surface antigen were synthesized by 9-fluorenylmethoxy carbonyl solid-phase peptide synthesis strategy, and then CdTe quantum dots were used to label the N-terminals of all peptides. After optimizing the factors for fluorescence polarization (FP) immunoassay, the antigenicities of synthetic peptides were determined by analyzing the recognition and combination of peptides and standard antibody samples. The results of FP assays confirmed that 10 of 11 synthetic peptides have distinct antigenicities. In order to screen dominant antigenic peptides, the FP assays were carried out to investigate the antibodies against the 10 synthetic peptides of HBV surface antigen respectively in 159 samples of anti-HBV surface antigen-positive antiserum. The results showed that 3 of the 10 antigenic peptides may be immunodominant because the antibodies against them existed more widely among the samples and their antibody titers were higher than those of other peptides. Using three dominant antigenic peptides, 293 serum samples were detected for HBV infection by FP assays; the results showed that the antibody-positive ratio was 51.9% and the sensitivity and specificity were 84.3% and 98.2%, respectively. In conclusion, a quantum dot-based FP assay is a very simple, rapid, and convenient method for determining immunodominant antigenic peptides and has great potential in applications such as epitope mapping, vaccine designing, or clinical disease diagnosis in the future.
Worse prognosis of KRASc.35 G > A mutant metastatic colorectal cancer (MCRC) patients treated with intensive triplet chemotherapy plus bevacizumab (FIr-B/FOx)
Authors: Bruera Gemma , Cannita Katia , Di Giacomo Daniela , Lamy Aude , Frébourg Thierry , Sabourin Jean Christophe , Tosi Mario , Alesse Edoardo , Ficorella Corrado , Ricevuto Enrico
Published: March 2013

Background

Prognosis of KRAS wild-type and mutant metastatic colorectal cancer (MCRC) patients (pts) treated with bevacizumab (BEV)-containing chemotherapy is not significantly different. Since specific KRAS mutations confer different aggressive behaviors, the prognostic role of prevalent KRAS mutations was retrospectively evaluated in MCRC pts treated with first line FIr-B/FOx, associating BEV to triplet chemotherapy.

Methods

Tumor samples were screened for KRAS codon 12, 13 and BRAF V600E mutations by SNaPshot and/or direct sequencing. MCRC pts <75-years-old were consecutively treated with FIr-B/FOx: weekly 12 hour-timed-flat-infusion/5-fluorouracil (900 mg/m2 on days 1,2, 8, 9, 15, 16,22, 23), irinotecan plus BEV (160 mg/m2 and 5 mg/kg, respectively, on days 1,15); and oxaliplatin (80 mg/m2, on days 8,22). Pts were classified as liver-limited (L-L) and other/multiple metastatic (O/MM). Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared using the log-rank test.

Results

Fifty-nine pts were evaluated at a median follow-up of 21.5 months. KRAS mutant pts: c.35 G > A, 15 (25.4%); c.35 G > T, 7 (11.8%); c.38 G > A, 3 (5%); other, 3 (5%). KRAS wild-type, 31 pts (52.7%). The objective response rate (ORR), PFS and OS were, respectively: c.35 G > A mutant, 71%, 9 months, 14 months; other than c.35 G > A mutants, 61%, 12 months, 39 months. OS was significantly worse in c.35 G > A pts compared to KRAS wild-type (P = 0.002), KRAS/BRAF wild-type (P = 0.03), other MCRC patients (P = 0.002), other than c.35 G > A (P = 0.05), other codon 12 (P = 0.03) mutant pts. OS was not significantly different compared to c.35 G > T KRAS mutant (P = 0.142).

Conclusions

KRAS c.35 G > A mutant status may be significantly associated with a worse prognosis of MCRC pts treated with first line FIr-B/FOx intensive regimen compared to KRAS/BRAF wild type and other than c.35 G > A mutant pts.
Macrophages in inflammatory multiple sclerosis lesions have an intermediate activation status
Authors: Vogel Daphne YS , Vereyken Elly JF , Glim Judith E , Heijnen Priscilla DAM , Moeton Martina , van der Valk Paul , Amor Sandra , Teunissen Charlotte E , van Horssen Jack , Dijkstra Christine D
Published: March 2013

Background

Macrophages play a dual role in multiple sclerosis (MS) pathology. They can exert neuroprotective and growth promoting effects but also contribute to tissue damage by production of inflammatory mediators. The effector function of macrophages is determined by the way they are activated. Stimulation of monocyte-derived macrophagesin vitrowith interferon-γ and lipopolysaccharide results in classically activated (CA/M1) macrophages, and activation with interleukin 4 induces alternatively activated (AA/M2) macrophages.

Methods

For this study, the expression of a panel of typical M1 and M2 markers on human monocyte derived M1 and M2 macrophages was analyzed using flow cytometry. This revealed that CD40 and mannose receptor (MR) were the most distinctive markers for human M1 and M2 macrophages, respectively. Using a panel of M1 and M2 markers we next examined the activation status of macrophages/microglia in MS lesions, normal appearing white matter and healthy control samples.

Results

Our data show that M1 markers, including CD40, CD86, CD64 and CD32 were abundantly expressed by microglia in normal appearing white matter and by activated microglia and macrophages throughout active demyelinating MS lesions. M2 markers, such as MR and CD163 were expressed by myelin-laden macrophages in active lesions and perivascular macrophages. Double staining with anti-CD40 and anti-MR revealed that approximately 70% of the CD40-positive macrophages in MS lesions also expressed MR, indicating that the majority of infiltrating macrophages and activated microglial cells display an intermediate activation status.

Conclusions

Our findings show that, although macrophages in active MS lesions predominantly display M1 characteristics, a major subset of macrophages have an intermediate activation status.
Additional annotation enhances potential for biologically-relevant analysis of the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip array
Authors: Price E Magda , Cotton Allison M , Lam Lucia L , Farré Pau , Emberly Eldon , Brown Carolyn J , Robinson Wendy P , Kobor Michael S
Published: March 2013

Background

Measurement of genome-wide DNA methylation (DNAm) has become an important avenue for investigating potential physiologically-relevant epigenetic changes. Illumina Infinium (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA) is a commercially available microarray suite used to measure DNAm at many sites throughout the genome. However, it has been suggested that a subset of array probes may give misleading results due to issues related to probe design. To facilitate biologically significant data interpretation, we set out to enhance probe annotation of the newest Infinium array, the HumanMethylation450 BeadChip (450 k), with >485,000 probes covering 99% of Reference Sequence (RefSeq) genes (National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Bethesda, MD, USA). Annotation that was added or expanded on includes: 1) documented SNPs in the probe target, 2) probe binding specificity, 3) CpG classification of target sites and 4) gene feature classification of target sites.

Results

Probes with documented SNPs at the target CpG (4.3% of probes) were associated with increased within-tissue variation in DNAm. An example of a probe with a SNP at the target CpG demonstrated how sample genotype can confound the measurement of DNAm. Additionally, 8.6% of probes mapped to multiple locations in silico. Measurements from these non-specific probes likely represent a combination of DNAm from multiple genomic sites. The expanded biological annotation demonstrated that based on DNAm, grouping probes by an alternative high-density and intermediate-density CpG island classification provided a distinctive pattern of DNAm. Finally, variable enrichment for differentially methylated probes was noted across CpG classes and gene feature groups, dependant on the tissues that were compared.

Conclusion

DNAm arrays offer a high-throughput approach for which careful consideration of probe content should be utilized to better understand the biological processes affected. Probes containing SNPs and non-specific probes may affect the assessment of DNAm using the 450 k array. Additionally, probe classification by CpG enrichment classes and to a lesser extent gene feature groups resulted in distinct patterns of DNAm. Thus, we recommend that compromised probes be removed from analyses and that the genomic context of DNAm is considered in studies deciphering the biological meaning of Illumina 450 k array data.
Queer Theory and the Yale School
Authors: McEleney Corey
Published: March 2013

This essay reexamines the relationship between deconstruction, especially in its American “Yale School” guise, and queer theory. Focusing on the work of Barbara Johnson, the essay explores how close attention to the ambiguities, opacities, and stylistic tics involved in Johnson's treatments of identity in general, and gay identity in particular, can productively unsettle the stability of queer theory as it enters its third decade. Where as commentary on Johnson's interdisciplinary writings has focused largely on her contributions to deconstruction, feminism, translation, and African American studies, the queer implications of her work deserve to be brought out — not in order to claim Johnson for the canon of queer theory but to help us rethink what counts as “queer” in the first place. Johnson's work explicitly and implicitly ties queer reading to the figure of astonishment, a kind of permanent twisting or shock that provides no guarantee that queer meanings can be pinned down in fruitful ways. Nevertheless, the interplay between ambiguity and astonishment in Johnson's work simultaneously loosens queer theory's investment, despite its own best intentions, in compulsory identity, knowledge, and meaning.
is it good to talk? Analysing the out-of-hours telephone workload of urology registrars in a university teaching hospital
Authors: Floyd Jr MS , Gulur DM , Lyttle M , Hickerton B , Philip J , Fordham MVP , Cornford PA
Published: March 2013

The European WorkingTime Regulations have curtailed the hours that non-consultant hospital doctors work. Specialties with significant emergency operative workloads such as general surgery mandate senior non-consultant cover in hospital on a shift basis to satisfy service provision. As a surgical specialty, urology enjoys a lower emergency operative rate and hence service demands are dealt with via the traditional non-resident system. However, emergency admissions remain frequent and advice is often sought by telephone from junior colleagues on acute clinical presentations. Additionally, professions allied to medicine working in the hospital environment such as laboratory personnel may require advice from registrars to aid in result interpretation.
A comparative analysis of consultant and junior doctor clinic: letters in orthopaedics
Authors: Thorp J , Adam J , Lovell ME
Published: March 2013

Clinic letters are an essential feature of modern day medicine, keeping GPs up to date with their patients' hospital management. Consultants and doctors of other grades who help with clinic dictate letters that are typed up. Secretaries have criticised junior doctors' letters for being too long. We wanted to answer the following questions. Is there any difference between consultant and junior letters in either length or content? If so, to what extent? We sought to determine how the results fit in with current guidelines and opinion.
On Call from Home: Reaching Too Far?
Authors: Veer V , Kara N , Hawthorne M
Published: March 2013

In this article we discuss the legal issues surrounding non-resident on-call rotas and the difficulties of covering several satellite hospitals and providing robust emergency care. The legal literature is reviewed and two cases are presented that highlight these issues.
Dedicated Hip Fracture Lists: Improving the Service Received by Orthopaedic Trauma Patients
Authors: Basheer SZ , Wood DI , Shepherd K , McGregor-Riley JC
Published: March 2013

Proximal femoral fractures are the most common injury resulting in acute admission to an orthopaedic trauma ward. Up to 75,000 hip fractures occur per year in the UK and this is projected to rise to around 100,000 per year by 2020. These fractures occur most frequently in frail, elderly patients who have significant co-morbidities and they are consequently associated with high mortality rates of 5–10% at one month and up to 30% at one year following injury.
The JCST trainee survey: highlights of the first year's results
Authors: Eardley I , Haddock G , Gough M J , Bradburn M , Lewis H
Published: March 2013

In July 2010, the Joint Commitee on Surgical Training (JCST) launched a review of its quality assurance functions, which included the development of a new survey specific to surgical trainees. The survey was developed in conjunction with the Confederation of Postgraduate Schools of Surgery and aimed to provide detailed information on the quality of surgical training in the UK and to standardise the information from the different schools of surgery, thereby allowing some comparison between training schemes and units. A 20-question survey was developed for all surgical specialties, while a more detailed survey with questions relating to curriculum delivery was piloted in core surgical training and paediatric surgery.
The RCS Library and Surgical Information Services current awareness service
Authors: Sams Steffi , Rouncefield Elizabeth
Published: March 2013

In the 2009 review of the College's Library services, members called for a strong focus on supporting the needs of practising surgeons throughout their careers. A specific recommendation arising from the review was a specialty-based current awareness service, where bulletins on the latest evidence in a particular surgical field would be delivered by email to College members. Resource availability and existing commitments meant that we were not able to deliver this immediately, but over the last 18 months we have worked to develop such a service. This has been done with the help of a panel of clinical advisors from each of our pilot specialties, who have provided us with valuable guidance on the relevance and interest of topics and journal publications and steered us towards a suitable format.
Tonsillectomy: An Exceptional Treatment?
Authors: Kara N , Lawley A , Veer V , Carrie S
Published: March 2013

Tonsillectomy is a well established procedure in ear, nose and throat (ENT) practice, with around 46,000 of these being performed in England alone in 2010–2011. It is most commonly indicated for the treatment of recurrent acute tonsillitis and is often an operation that is performed by junior trainees as it allows for the development of basic surgical skills that are required to progress as an ENT surgeon. While the decision to operate has always been based on a balance of benefits and risks, more recently the indications and effectiveness of tonsillectomy have been called into question.
Intimate Tourism Markets: Money, Gender, and the Complexity of Erotic Exchange in a Costa Rican Caribbean Town
Authors: Frohlick Susan
Published: March 2013

This article focuses on heterosexual North American and European tourist women in a transnational town in Atlantic Costa Rica renown for its intimate “vibe” and independent eco-oriented tourist development, where they grappled with the unexpected monetary aspects of intimate relations with Caribbean-Costa Rican men. Drawing from three women’s narratives, I explore the particularities of how North American women give money to men with whom they are having sex or intimate relations and what this giving means to both the women and their partners. Rather than refute the monetary underpinnings of tourist women’s transnational sex or see money as all powerful, I show the complexity of transactions and multiple meanings that accrue to money and markets. I argue that the small-scale, informal, and “intimate market” context of the Caribbean as a tourist destination, as well as the valence of sexual secrecy in combination with the moral evaluations about foreign women’s relations with local men that circulated in the town, were central influences on the exchanges.
Against Apartheid: Nationalists, Cosmopolitans, and Language Ideology in Northern Namibia
Authors: Haugh Wendi A.
Published: March 2013

Nationalist and cosmopolitan identities and projects are generally presented as mutually antithetical. I draw on evidence from research on language attitudes in northern Namibia to argue that they may actually enable each other. In Namibia, nationalist and internationalist perspectives have dominated discourses about political identity and community, and new language policies were designed and implemented to facilitate Namibia’s transformation from apartheid state to nation-state. Yet a close examination of popular discourses about language reveals a strongly cosmopolitan orientation rooted in opposition to apartheid ideology and in participation in the migrant labor economy. I argue that in this case, cosmopolitan orientations have facilitated the rise of nationalism while nationalism has enabled people to carry out cosmopolitan projects.
From the Cross (and Crescent) to the Cedar and Back Again: Transnational Religion and Politics Among Lebanese Christians in Senegal
Authors: Leichtman Mara A.
Published: March 2013

This article examines the changing relationship between religion, secularism, national politics, and identity formation among Lebanese Christians in Senegal. Notre Dame du Liban, the first Lebanese religious institution in West Africa, draws on its Lebanese “national” character to accommodate Lebanese Maronite Catholic and Greek Orthodox Christians in Dakar, remaining an icon of “Lebanese” religion, yet departing from religious sectarianism in Lebanon. As such, transnational religion can vary from national religion, gaining new resonances and reinforcing a wider “secular” ethno-national identity.
Why Did the Soldiers Not Go Home?: Demobilized Combatants, Family Life, and Witchcraft in Postwar Mozambique
Authors: Wiegink Nikkie
Published: March 2013

Drawing on the role of witchcraft in relationships between ex-RENAMO combatants and their relatives in central Mozambique, this article suggests a different understanding of reintegration processes of ex-combatants, not merely shaped by their role as perpetrators of violence, but situated in the complexities of social life. It is argued that the reintegration of former combatants in Mozambique was shaped by certain changes within family relations, which were contingent to the war (but not necessarily to war violence), creating an enabling environment for witchcraft dynamics, which influenced former combatants’ settlement decisions.
Intellectualizing Adult Basic Literacy Education: A Case Study
Authors: Bradbury Kelly S.
Published: March 2013

At a time when accusations of American ignorance and anti-intellectualism are ubiquitous, this article challenges problematic assumptions about intellectualism and proposes an expanded view of intellectualism. It is important to recognize and to challenge narrow views of intellectualism because they not only influence public perceptions of and engagement with education and intellectualism, but they also affect what and how we teach in U.S. schools and aid in institutionalizing social hierarchies that privilege the knowledge, learning sites, and educational experiences of the cultural elite. To demonstrate the benefits of revising our views of intellectualism, I draw upon my observations of and interviews with adult learners participating in GED-preparation writing workshops.
Rhetorical Recipes: Women’s Literacies In and Out of the Kitchen
Authors: White-Farnham Jamie
Published: March 2013

Drawing on interview data regarding literacy practices done in tandem with housework, this article presents an array of recipe uses among retirement-age women. Given their backgrounds as professionals who came of age during second-wave feminism, the women see little value in “domestic” practices such as cooking literacies (Barton & Hamilton). However, the women’s uses of recipes for a variety of rhetorical purposes, in and out of the kitchen, are valuable material and social reflections of the women’s success in acquiring traditional literacies in school and at work.
Koladeras , Literacy Educators of the Cape Verdean Diaspora: A Cape Verdean African Centered Call and Response Methodology
Authors: Barros Jessica
Published: March 2013

In being denied literacy under Portuguese colonialism and its aftermath and in caring for their own literacy and selves, African slave women and their land-born descendants, Cape Verdean women, became the protectors of many African-centered Cape Verdean cultural literacies (CVCL). Like Linda Tillman who specializes in culturally appropriate methodologies of research, I define cultural literacies as the various ways of “thinking, believing, and knowing that include shared experiences, consciousness, skills, values, forms of expression, social institutions, and behaviors” that tie individuals to different and specific discourse communities (4). I use CVCL to refer to literacies used by a large majority of Cape Verdeans with the understanding that Cape Verdeans also belong to social groups with other sets of literacies that are just as valid as CVCL (Gee vii–ix; Street 77). Koladeras may be understood as women who improvise, string together, and sing complicated, impromptu tales about their lives and those in their community, especially during feasts for saints. I argue that koladeras , because they are present in feasts for saints throughout the Cape Verdean diaspora, are transgenerational, transmigatory literacy educators of CVCL. In the pages that follow, I provide a brief historical account of Cape Verde as it pertains to the formation of CVCL, and I discuss—through the opening narrative, an account shared by Nha Titina (a koladera ), and my own experiences—how koladeras are literacy educators responsible for the survival of CVCL throughout the Cape Verdean diaspora despite institutional attempts of erasure.
A Clear Channel: Circulating Resistance in a Rural University Town
Authors: Carter Shannon
Published: March 2013

This article offers an extended treatment of two social justice efforts in a rural university town as historical examples of civic engagement with contemporary implications for Writing Democracy and similar projects. The article begins with an analysis of local activism initiated by John Carlos in 1967 while he was still a student at our university and the year before his heroic, silent protest against racism with Tommie Smith at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. The author then turns to a linked effort five years later by local activist MacArthur Evans, a university student from Chicago. In 1973, Evans and other university students established the Norris Community Club (NCC) in partnership with residents of Norris, the historically segregated neighborhood, to provide what they called “a clear channel of communication” between Norris and city officials. Both were successful, albeit it in very different ways. The author uses “a clear channel” as both the object of study and interpretive lens to examine these local efforts and their many implications for today.
Rediscovering America: The FWP Legacy and Challenge
Authors: Hirsch Jerrold
Published: March 2013

This article examines the New Deal’s Federal Writers’ Project’s challenge and legacy to scholars seeking to create an FWP-inspired project today. It explores how scholars in various disciplines engaged in the “public turn,” which has contributed to university-community research and teaching projects, can gain perspective and insight from learning about the FWP’s goals and accomplishments. The article focuses on the FWP’s pluralistic vision of national identity, which led national FWP officials to examine American diversity in encyclopedic guidebooks and through oral history, ethnic, and folklore studies. By exploring why the work of the FWP was ignored for a long time and how its vision and work gradually reemerged, I seek not only to provide a history of the FWPs reputation but also to shed light on the opportunities and responsibilities the FWP offers to current efforts to create new FWP-like projects for a new time.