bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Antiestrogen Therapy for Breast Cancer Modifies the Risk of Subsequent Cutaneous Melanoma
Authors: Huber Caroline , Bouchardy Christine , Schaffar Robin , Neyroud-Caspar Isabelle , Vlastos Georges , Le Gal Frédérique-Anne , Rapiti Elisabetta , Benhamou Simone
Published: September 2011

Increased risk of secondary melanoma after breast cancer has been reported. Several lines of evidence suggest that elevated estrogen levels may be implicated in melanoma etiology. Accordingly, use of antiestrogens should be associated with decreased risk of melanoma. We compared melanoma incidence among a cohort of breast cancer patients with and without antiestrogen therapy, with data from the Geneva Cancer Registry. The cohort consisted of 7,360 women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1980 and 2005. About 54% of these patients received antiestrogens. All women were followed until December 2008. We compared cutaneous melanoma incidence rates among patients with and without antiestrogens with those expected in the general population by age and period standardized incidence ratios (SIR). A total of 34 women developed a melanoma during the follow-up period. Compared with the general population, the risk of melanoma was higher for patients who did not receive antiestrogens (SIR: 1.60, 95% CI: 1.08–2.12, P = 0.02). On the contrary, the risk was close to 1 (SIR: 0.98, 95% CI: 0.40–1.56, P = 0.57) for patients who received antiestrogen therapy. This study suggests that antiestrogen therapy modifies the risk of melanoma after breast cancer. Although our results are in agreement with the hypothesis that estrogens could play a role in melanoma occurrence, they need to be replicated in a larger study with data on potential confounders. Cancer Prev Res; 5(1); 82–88. ©2011 AACR.
CDDO-Methyl Ester Delays Breast Cancer Development in Brca1-Mutated Mice
Authors: Kim Eun-Hee , Deng Chuxia , Sporn Michael B. , Royce Darlene B. , Risingsong Renee , Williams Charlotte R. , Liby Karen T.
Published: September 2011

The breast cancer–associated gene 1 (BRCA1) is the most frequently mutated tumor suppressor gene in familial breast cancers. Mutations in BRCA1 also predispose to other types of cancers, pointing to a fundamental role of this pathway in tumor suppression and emphasizing the need for effective chemoprevention in these high-risk patients. Because the methyl ester of the synthetic triterpenoid 2-cyano-3,12-dioxooleana-1,9(11)-dien-28-oic acid (CDDO-Me) is a potent chemopreventive agent, we tested its efficacy in a highly relevant mouse model of BRCA1-mutated breast cancer. Beginning at 12 weeks of age, Brca1Co/Co; MMTV-Cre;p53+/− mice were fed powdered control diet or diet containing CDDO-Me (50 mg/kg diet). CDDO-Me significantly (P < 0.05) delayed tumor development in the Brca1-mutated mice by an average of 5.2 weeks. We also observed that levels of ErbB2, p-ErbB2, and cyclin D1 increased in a time-dependent manner in the mammary glands in Brca1-deficient mice, and CDDO-Me inhibited the constitutive phosphorylation of ErbB2 in tumor tissues from these mice. In BRCA1-deficient cell lines, the triterpenoids directly interacted with ErbB2, decreased constitutive phosphorylation of ErbB2, inhibited proliferation, and induced G0–G1 arrest. These results suggest that CDDO-Me has the potential to prevent BRCA1-mutated breast cancer. Cancer Prev Res; 5(1); 89–97. ©2011 AACR.
Thymic Involution: Where Endocrinology Meets Immunology
Authors: Calder Adrienne E. , Hince Melanie N. , Dudakov Jarrod A. , Chidgey Ann P. , Boyd Richard L.
Published: September 2011

The decline in immune function with aging represents a major clinical challenge in many disease conditions. It is manifest in many parameters but is essentially linked to the adaptive immune responses. The prediction would be that abnormalities in both T and B lymphocytes underlie the loss of cellular and humoral capacity, respectively. Somewhat surprisingly, this is not reflected in numerical losses but more in alterations at the population and single cell levels. There is a major reduction in naïve T cells with a proportional increase in memory cells, and also a generally reduced function of these cells. While bone marrow function reduces with age, the most obvious reason for the T cell defects is the severe atrophy of the thymus. This is closely aligned with puberty, thereby implicating a major aetiological role for sex steroids in both thymus and immune system deterioration with age. Accordingly surgical or chemical castration (utilizing luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone) blocks sex steroids resulting in profound rejuvenation of the immune system.
The Role of the Thymus in the Integrated Evolution of the Recombinase-Dependent Adaptive Immune Response and the Neuroendocrine System
Authors: Mottet Marie , Goffinet Lindsay , Beckers Alisson , Bodart Gwennaelle , Morrhaye Gabriel , Kermani Hamid , Renard Chantal , Martens Henri , Geenen Vincent
Published: September 2011

Before being able to react against infectious non-self-antigens, the immune system has to be educated in recognition and tolerance of neuroendocrine self-proteins. This sophisticated educational process takes place only in the thymus. The development of an autoimmune response directed to neuroendocrine glands has been shown to result from a thymus dysfunction in programming immunological self-tolerance to neuroendocrine-related antigens. This thymus dysfunction leads to a breakdown of immune homeostasis with an enrichment of ‘forbidden’ self-reactive T cells and a deficiency in self-antigen-specific natural regulatory T cells in the peripheral T lymphocyte repertoire. A large number of neuroendocrine self-antigens are expressed by the thymic epithelium, under the control of the autoimmune regulator (AIRE) gene/protein in the medulla. Based on the close homology and cross-tolerance between thymic type 1 diabetes-related self-antigens and peripheral antigens targeted in β-cells by autoimmunity, a novel type of vaccination is currently developed for the prevention and cure of type 1 diabetes. If this approach were found to be effective in reprogramming immunological tolerance that is absent or broken in this disease, it could pave the way for the design of negative/tolerogenic self-vaccines against other endocrine and organ-specific autoimmune disorders.
Actions Speak Louder than Words: An Experiment on the Impact of Peers Discouraging Young Adult Smoking
Authors: Harakeh Zeena , Vollebergh Wilma A.M.
Published: September 2011

This study investigates whether antismoking peer pressure and/or nonsmoking peers are protective factors and decrease young adults’ likelihood to smoke. An experiment was conducted among 59 daily-smoking young adults aged 16–24 years. The experiment consisted of four conditions. During the session, the confederate and participant sat in a camper van and had to do a 30-min joint music task. The participants’ smoking behavior was observed during this task. The results of Poisson log-linear analysis, controlling for participants’ carbon monoxide level and gender, showed that young adults smoked fewer cigarettes in the presence of a nonsmoking model pressuring the young adult not to smoke compared to a heavy-smoking model not using any pressure. At the same time, the results of Fisher’s exact test indicated that the total number of cigarettes smoked did not differ significantly for nonsmoking peers verbally pressuring the young adult not to smoke compared to nonsmoking peers not verbally pressuring the young adult. Our findings indicate that the protective effect of peer influence merely lies in that the peer does not smoke. Therefore, antismoking programs and policy should focus specifically on reducing exposure to smoking peers.
Nationwide Population-Based Epidemiologic Study on Cerebellar Ataxia in Taiwan
Authors: Tsai Tin-Lun , Liu Chin-San , Lai Chien-Hsu
Published: September 2011

Aims: To conduct the first nationwide population-based epidemiologic study on cerebellar ataxia in Taiwan. Methods: Cerebellar ataxia cases were identified from the National Health Insurance Research Database by using the corresponding International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes, from January 2005 to December 2007. Age- and sex-specific incidences were estimated by dividing the number of new cases by the population data. Results: During the study, 934 cases were identified (average annual incidence: 0.91/100,000). No significant difference was noted in the incidence in men and women. The majority of the patients were middle-aged or elderly. Conclusion: The average annual incidence rate of cerebellar ataxia in Taiwan was 0.91/100,000, without a significant difference between the genders.
Recurrent Miller Fisher Syndrome with Vestibular Involvement
Authors: Vermeersch G. , Boschi A. , Deggouj N. , van Pesch V. , Sindic C.J.M.
Published: September 2011

We describe a patient who had four relapses of Miller Fisher syndrome over a period of 20 years. The classical triad – ophthalmoparesis, ataxia and areflexia – was present during the first two attacks; ataxia was not observed during the third episode. The final recurrence was characterized by signs suggestive of a central involvement of the oculomotor pathways, subclinical slowing of the visual-evoked potentials, and peripheral vestibular hyporeactivity. Brain imaging was normal, but high levels of anti-GQ1b IgG antibodies were detectable during the second relapse and persisted after the fourth recurrence despite complete clinical recovery.
The Effects of Charter School Competition on School District Resource Allocation
Authors: Arsen David , Ni Yongmei
Published: September 2011

Purpose: This article examines two questions: (a) How does resource allocation change in school districts experiencing sustained charter school competition? (b) Among districts exposed to charter competition, are there differences in the resource allocation adjustments between those that do and do not succeed in stemming further enrollment loss to charters? Research Design: The authors utilize fixed effect models to analyze a statewide panel data set of Michigan school districts from 1994 to 2006. The authors consider several dimensions of resource allocation—for example, average class size, teacher salaries, and spending shares devoted to a variety of disaggregated instructional and noninstructional functions, including administration. Findings: Overall, the results do not support the hypothesis that competition from charter schools spurs regular public schools to shift resources to achievement-oriented activities. Charter competition has had remarkably little impact on standard measures of district resource use in Michigan schools. On the other hand, higher levels of charter competition clearly generate fiscal stress in districts. Moreover, changes in resource allocation cannot explain the differing trajectories of districts that do and do not turn back the competitive challenge. There are no significant differences in the resource allocation changes made by districts that stabilize enrollment loss to charters and those that continue to spiral down. Conclusions: The authors find no support for the hopeful prediction that competition from charter schools will compel school district leaders to shift resources to achievement-oriented activities.
The emotional labour process: An essay on the economy of feelings
Authors: Vincent Steve
Published: September 2011

This article evaluates conceptual resources for exploring the economy of feelings. It reviews existing contributions, discovering tensions surrounding the material status of emotional displays and normative commitments at work, as well as significant gaps within the conceptual resources used to classify the emotions we experience and evoke while working. In an effort to develop more robust categories for this broad area, labour process theory is combined with other conceptual tools to reframe and refresh debates. Specifically, the concept emotional misbehaviour is posited as a useful addition to the debate concerning the material status of emotion at work and various novel conceptual resources are explored from a labour process perspective. In particular, emotional intelligence, techno-normative control, symbolic violence and cultural capital are introduced to the debate and considered for their potential usefulness in filling the conceptual gaps identified.
Beyond Liverpool, 1957: Travel, diaspora, and migration in Jamal Mahjoub’s The Drift Latitudes
Authors: Nyman Jopi
Published: September 2011

This essay discusses the novel The Drift Latitudes (2006) by the Anglo-Sudanese author Jamal Mahjoub. By telling the stories of the German refugee Ernst Frager and his two British families, I argue that Mahjoub’s novel utilizes the tropes of transnational travel and migration to present a critique of discourses of purity and nationalism. Through its uncovering of silenced family narratives, the novel hybridizes British and European identities and underlines the need to remember the stories of ordinary people omitted from official histories. As the novel’s supposedly British families appear to possess transnational links with Sudan, Germany, and the Caribbean, the novel reconstructs European identity as transnational and in need of historical reassessment. As a further contribution to the importance of hybrid identity, the story of black cultural identity and its construction in post-Second World War Liverpool is told in tandem with the importance of black music as a means of constructing black diasporic identity.
Genetic Responses to Nanostructured Calcium-phosphate-coated Implants
Authors: Jimbo R. , Xue Y. , Hayashi M. , Schwartz-Filho H.O. , Andersson M. , Mustafa K. , Wennerberg A.
Published: September 2011

Nanostructured calcium phosphate (CaP) has been histologically and biomechanically proven to enhance osseointegration of implants; however, conventional techniques were not sufficiently sensitive to capture its biological effects fully. Here, we compared the conventional removal torque (RTQ) evaluation and gene expression in tissues around nanostructured CaP-coated implants, using real-time RT-PCR, with those of uncoated implants, in a rabbit model. At 2 wks, RTQ values were significantly higher, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) expression was significantly higher, and runt-related transcription factor 2 and tumor necrosis factor-α expressions were significantly lower in the coated than in the uncoated implants. This indicates that inflammatory responses were suppressed and osteoprogenitor activity increased around the CaP-coated surface. At 4 wks, although RTQ values did not significantly differ between the 2 groups, ALP and osteocalcin (OCN) were significantly up-regulated in the coated group, indicating progressive mineralization of the bone around the implant. Moreover, an osteoclast marker, adenosine triphosphatase, which indicates acidification of the resorption lacunae, was significantly higher for the coated implants, suggesting gradual resorption of the CaP coating. This study reveals detailed genetic responses to nanostructured CaP-coated implants and provides evidence that the effect of nanotopography is significant during the osseointegration cascade.
What Makes Good Teachers Good? A Cross-Case Analysis of the Connection Between Teacher Effectiveness and Student Achievement
Authors: Stronge James H. , Ward Thomas J. , Grant Leslie W.
Published: September 2011

This study examined classroom practices of effective versus less effective teachers (based on student achievement gain scores in reading and mathematics). In Phase I of the study, hierarchical linear modeling was used to assess the teacher effectiveness of 307 fifth-grade teachers in terms of student learning gains. In Phase II, 32 teachers (17 top quartile and 15 bottom quartile) participated in an in-depth cross-case analysis of their instructional and classroom management practices. Classroom observation findings (Phase II) were compared with teacher effectiveness data (Phase I) to determine the impact of selected teacher behaviors on the teachers’ overall effectiveness drawn from a single year of value-added data.
An Experimental Demonstration of Training Probation Officers in Evidence-Based Community Supervision
Authors: Bonta James , Bourgon Guy , Rugge Tanya , Scott Terri-Lynne , Yessine Annie K. , Gutierrez Leticia , Li Jobina
Published: September 2011

The present study evaluated a training program for probation officers based on the risk-need-responsivity (RNR) model of offender rehabilitation. A total of 80 officers were randomly assigned to either training or a no training condition. The probation officers then recruited 143 probationers and audiotaped their sessions at the beginning of supervision, 3 months later, and 6 months later. The audiotapes were coded with respect to the officers’ adherence to the RNR model. The experimental probation officers demonstrated significantly better adherence to the RNR principles, with more frequent use of cognitive-behavioral techniques to address the procriminal attitudes of their clients. Finally, the analysis of recidivism rates favored the clients of the trained officers. The findings suggest that training in the evidence-based principles of the RNR model can have an important impact on the behavior of probation officers and their clients.
The Military Covenant and British Civil–Military Relations: Letting the Genie out of the Bottle
Authors: Forster Anthony
Published: September 2011

This article reviews debates surrounding the Military Covenant and explores its salience for contemporary British civil–military relations. It explores why the concept of the Military Covenant was created, the nature of subsequent debates, and finally it reflects on the wider implications of this research. Locating the Covenant in debates concerned with the changing nature of the military profession, this article argues that the Covenant was created in 2000 as a response to a challenge to the Army’s right to be different and thus its jurisdiction. However, tensions caused by new missions in Iraq and Afghanistan subsequently transformed the Covenant’s use and meaning. Senior commanders extended the use of the Covenant to establish the boundaries of their expertise and legitimacy, whilst external actors with a variety of competing interests used the Covenant to contest “authoritative discretion” of the military within a clearly delineated professional space.
Delayed Osteoblastic Differentiation and Bone Development in Cx43 Knockout Mice
Authors: Chaible Lucas Martins , Sanches Daniel Soares , Cogliati Bruno , Mennecier Gregory , Dagli Maria Lucia Zaidan
Published: September 2011

GJA1 gene (Connexin43, also known as Cx43) is the most abundant gap junction protein isoform in animal cells and is associated with bone development in embryos. The objective of the present work was to evaluate in vivo osteal development in GJA1-deficient fetal mice through determination of the histological and molecular alterations induced by partial or total deletion of the GJA1 gene. Heterozygous C57BL/6 mice (HT) harboring a null mutation of the GJA1 gene were mated, and pregnant females were submitted to euthanasia and Caesarean section from 12.5 to 19.5 days post coitum (dpc). HT (GJA1+/–) and homozygous (GJA1–/ –) knockout (KO) mutants and wild-type (WT) fetuses were identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and development curves were constructed on the basis of fetus weight and crown-rump length. Histopathological, histochemical, and real-time PCR analyses were performed in order to assess the expression of markers associated with bone development, namely, osteocalcin, osteopontin, alkaline phosphatase, RUNX2, GJA1, GJC1 (Cx45), and GJA3 (Cx46). HT and KO fetuses exhibited delays in the differentiation of osteoblasts and, consequently, in bone development in comparison with the WT group. Additionally, less deposition of mineralized and osteoid matrix was observed in GJA1-deficient fetuses. Bone development in KO fetuses was delayed through the moment of birth, but in HT animals the delay only extended until 17.5 dpc, following which development was normalized. The expression of genes coding for osteocalcin, osteopontin, alkaline phosphatise, and RUNX2 were also delayed in GJA1-deficient fetuses. Animals that exhibited a lower expression of GJA1 presented delayed expression of the GJC1 and GJA3 genes and their corresponding protein products in the bone tissue. The results of the present study contribute to our understanding of the function of GJA1 during bone development and suggest that GJC1 could play a role in restoring intercellular communication in GJA1-deficient mice.
Pathological Studies on the Protective Effect of a Macrolide Antibiotic, Roxithromycin, against Sulfur Mustard Inhalation Toxicity in a Rat Model
Authors: Gao Xiugong , Anderson Dana R. , Brown Ammon W. , Lin Hsiuling , Amnuaysirikul Jack , Chua Aileen L. , Holmes Wesley W. , Ray Prabhati
Published: September 2011

Macrolide antibiotics have been shown to protect airway epithelial cells and macrophages from sulfur mustard (SM)–induced cytotoxicity. In the current study, the efficacy of roxithromycin in ameliorating SM-induced respiratory injury was further evaluated in a rat model. Anesthetized rats ( N = 8/group) were intratracheally exposed to SM by vapor inhalation. For the drug treatment groups, rats were orally given 10, 20, or 40 mg/kg roxithromycin one hr prior to exposure and every twenty-four hr thereafter. After one, three, or seven days of treatment, sections of the lung were examined and scored for histopathological parameters. Treatment with roxithromycin ameliorated many of the symptoms caused by SM in some animals. In particular, treatment at 40 mg/kg for three days showed significant improvements ( p < .05) over the untreated group. When the evaluation was focused on trachea, treatment with roxithromycin for three days showed a trend of dose-dependent protection; moreover, the groups treated with 20 or 40 mg/kg of roxithromycin were statistically different ( p < .001 and p < .05, respectively) from the untreated group. These results suggest that roxithromycin protects against some damages associated with SM injury in the lung, particularly in the upper respiratory tract.
Spatializing Difference beyond Cosmopolitanism: Rethinking Planetary Futures
Authors: Jazeel Tariq
Published: September 2011

This paper develops a critical engagement with ‘cosmopolitanism’ and specifically the geographical imaginations it implicates. It does so in order to work through some of the geographical closures in the new cosmopolitanism literature and, further, to suggest alternative — more uncertain and speculative — spatial imaginations for modes of living together with radical alterity. The paper is written in the context of the wealth of recent literature that has sought to recuperate cosmopolitanism as a progressive political philosophy and imagination. Part of the paper’s intervention, however, is to suggest that mechanisms and political imaginations for living together might in fact gain much by stepping out from cosmopolitanism’s conceptual shadow. First, the paper argues that implicated within much of the new cosmopolitan literature is a planetary consciousness that has a long historical antecedence in western thought. The paper stresses the problematic textures of the planetary geographical imaginations embedded within avowedly cosmopolitan discourse, arguing that the ‘cosmos’ of cosmopolitanism is no geographically innocent signifier. It is in fact tethered to an imperial Apollonian gaze that cannot help but rekindle ancient Greek notions of formal order and beauty, Pythagorean beliefs in a universe of harmony, and their realization in western liberalism and particularly US Cold War imperialism. Second, drawing upon postcolonial re-readings of the planet and critical geographical mobilizations of place, the paper suggests alternative, less certain, and less avowedly ‘cosmopolitan’ imaginations that have the capacity to engage difference in non-assimilatory terms. Cumulatively, the paper is an attempt to answer one simple question: what difference does it make to think geographically about cosmopolitanism?
Deconstructing Affect: Posthumanism and Mark Hansen’s Media Theory
Authors: Cecchetto David
Published: September 2011

In the context of the highly contested discourse of posthumanism, this essay examines Mark Hansen’s attempt to give a robust account of technology in its extra-linguistic dimension by evincing an ‘‘‘originary’’ coupling of the human and the technical’ that grounds experience as such (Hansen, 2006a: 9). Specifically, I argue that Hansen’s perspective is haunted by the representational logic that it moves against. In this, I do not repudiate Hansen’s argument as such, but rather reject one of its central underlying implications: that the extra-discursive materiality of technology might be accessed, linguistically, without attaching a meaning to it that is foreign to this materiality. To this end, the essay begins with an examination of technesis as it is initially developed by Hansen, demonstrating the necessity from which it sprang, the contribution that Hansen’s reading makes, and its ultimate limitations. From here, the essay articulates Hansen’s argument for an affective topology of the senses, corroborating the increased importance of digital technologies in this perspective through a brief comparison of Roberto Lazzarini’s ‘skulls’ (as read by Hansen) and my own piece ‘Sound’. Finally, this comparison pivots the essay towards a critical analysis of Hansen’s account of primary tactility that demonstrates its dependence on the (representational) logic of language. In closing, then, I argue that what is accomplished by Hansen’s putting-into-discourse of technesis is, paradoxically, a re-staging of the constitutive ambivalence of deconstruction that reinvigorates the posthumanist elements of that discourse.
The development of an induction group at HMP Belmarsh for prisoners made subject to Indeterminate Public Protection (IPP) sentences
Authors: Lauchlan Neil
Published: September 2011

This practice note gives a brief overview of the history of the IPP sentence and the responses of the prison service to manage those who are subject to this sentence. It outlines the difficulties of those who are expected to demonstrate a reduction of their risk within their tariff period. It goes on to describe the setting up of an IPP Induction Group at HMP Belmarsh, the aim of which is to provide information to prisoners and to encourage and motivate them to use this information to assist them to more effectively manage their sentence. The functioning of the group is reviewed through the analysis of surveys completed by prisoners who have taken part. In the opinion of the author, the group is a worthwhile initiative which both informs and empowers the participants.
Optimization of PSA Screening Policies
Authors: Zhang Jingyu , Denton Brian T. , Balasubramanian Hari , Shah Nilay D. , Inman Brant A.
Published: September 2011

Objective. To estimate the benefit of PSA-based screening for prostate cancer from the patient and societal perspectives. Method. A partially observable Markov decision process model was used to optimize PSA screening decisions. Age-specific prostate cancer incidence rates and the mortality rates from prostate cancer and competing causes were considered. The model trades off the potential benefit of early detection with the cost of screening and loss of patient quality of life due to screening and treatment. PSA testing and biopsy decisions are made based on the patient’s probability of having prostate cancer. Probabilities are inferred based on the patient’s complete PSA history using Bayesian updating. Data Sources. The results of all PSA tests and biopsies done in Olmsted County, Minnesota, from 1993 to 2005 (11,872 men and 50,589 PSA test results). Outcome Measures. Patients’ perspective: to maximize expected quality-adjusted life years (QALYs); societal perspective: to maximize the expected monetary value based on societal willingness to pay for QALYs and the cost of PSA testing, prostate biopsies, and treatment. Results. From the patient perspective, the optimal policy recommends stopping PSA testing and biopsy at age 76. From the societal perspective, the stopping age is 71. The expected incremental benefit of optimal screening over the traditional guideline of annual PSA screening with threshold 4.0 ng/mL for biopsy is estimated to be 0.165 QALYs per person from the patient perspective and 0.161 QALYs per person from the societal perspective. PSA screening based on traditional guidelines is found to be worse than no screening at all. Conclusions. PSA testing done with traditional guidelines underperforms and therefore underestimates the potential benefit of screening. Optimal screening guidelines differ significantly depending on the perspective of the decision maker.
Correlates of Functional Capacity Among Centenarians
Authors: Martin Peter , MacDonald Maurice , Margrett Jennifer , Siegler Ilene , Poon Leonard W.
Published: September 2011

This study investigated correlates of functional capacity among participants of the Georgia Centenarian Study. Six domains (demographics and health, positive and negative affect, personality, social and economic support, life events and coping, distal influences) were related to functional capacity for 234 centenarians and near centenarians (i.e., 98 years and older). Data were provided by proxy informants. Domain-specific multiple regression analyses suggested that younger centenarians, those living in the community and rated to be in better health were more likely to have higher functional capacity scores. Higher scores in positive affect, conscientiousness, social provisions, religious coping, and engaged lifestyle were also associated with higher levels of functional capacity. The results suggest that functional capacity levels continue to be associated with age after 100 years of life and that positive affect levels and past lifestyle activities as reported by proxies are salient factors of adaptation in very late life.
Caregiving and Cognitive Function in Older Women
Authors: Bertrand Rosanna M. , Saczynski Jane S. , Mezzacappa Catherine , Hulse Mallorie , Ensrud Kristine , Fredman Lisa
Published: September 2011

Objectives: Recent findings of better health outcomes in older caregivers than noncaregivers suggest a healthy caregiver hypothesis (HCH) model may be more appropriate than the stress process model for evaluating the health effects of caregiving. In a cross-sectional study, we tested the HCH on two cognitive domains: verbal memory and processing speed. Method: Participants from the Caregiver Study of Osteoporotic Fractures who had a 2-year follow-up interview were categorized as continuous caregivers ( n = 194), former caregivers ( n = 148), or continuous noncaregivers ( n = 574). The Hopkins Verbal Learning Test (HVLT; memory) and Digit Symbol Substitution Task (DSST; processing speed) were administered at the follow-up interview. Results: Continuous caregivers had better memory performance and processing speed than continuous noncaregivers: adjusted mean scores for HVLT were 18.38 versus 15.80 ( p < .0001), and for DSST were 35.91 versus 34.38 ( p = .09). Discussion: Results support the HCH model for cognitive outcomes in older women caregivers; however, the relationship may be domain specific.
Synthesis and characterization of linseed vinyl ester fatty amide-modified epoxy layered silicate nanocomposites
Authors: Mandhakini Mohandas , Chandramohan Ayyavu , Vengatesan Muthukumarasamy Rangaraju , Alagar Muthukaruppan
Published: September 2011

Bio-based epoxy/clay nanocomposites were prepared by swelling organoclay in an epoxy (DGEBA)/linseed vinyl ester fatty amide (LVEFA), followed by curing with an aromatic hardener, 4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethane (DDM). The X-ray diffraction showed the existence of intercalated clay in the polymer matrix. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) indicated a gradual increase in the glass transition temperature as the organoclay loading increased. The tensile strength, flexural strength and impact strength of 20 wt.% linseed vinyl ester-modified epoxy composites significantly increased by 23.65, 13.19 and 40.7%, respectively, with increasing organoclay concentration. The tensile modulus and flexural moduli were enhanced by 14 and 9.28%, respectively.
Generalized Relational Matching by Guinea Baboons (Papio papio) in Two-by-Two-Item Analogy Problems
Authors: Fagot Joël , Thompson Roger K. R.
Published: September 2011

Analogical reasoning is considered the hallmark of human reasoning, but some studies have demonstrated that language- and symbol-trained chimpanzees can also reason analogically. Despite the potential adaptive value of this ability, evidence from other studies strongly suggests that other nonhuman primates do not have this capacity for analogical reasoning. In our three experiments, 6 of 29 baboons acquired the ability to perform a relational matching-to-sample (RMTS) task in which pairs of shapes composed relational displays. Five of these 6 monkeys then transferred this ability to RMTS tasks using novel exemplars of identity (elements in a pair are the same) and nonidentity (elements in a pair are different) relations. This transfer occurred even on trials in which the incorrect pair shared an element with the sample pair with which it was being compared. The baboons retained this ability 12 months later. The findings from our study of symbol-naive monkeys indicate that although language and symbol training facilitate conceptual thinking in nonhuman primates, such training is not a prerequisite for analogical reasoning.
Can You Trust Your Robot?
Authors: Hancock P. A. , Billings D. R. , Schaefer K. E.
Published: September 2011

It is proposed that trust is a critical element in the interactive relations between humans and the automated and robotic technology they create. This article presents (a) why trust is an important issue for this type of interaction, (b) a brief history of the development of human-robot trust issues, and (c) guidelines for input by human factors/ergonomics professionals to the design of human-robot systems with emphasis on trust issues. Our work considers trust an ongoing and dynamic dimension as robots evolve from simple tools to active, sentient teammates.
Inhabitant-Centered Interaction Technology for Future Homes
Authors: Jeong Kyeong-Ah , Proctor Robert W.
Published: September 2011

The technology is available to construct technology-intensive homes that are environmentally friendly and have many functions controlled by networked systems. For the benefits of the technology to be realized, the homes must be designed to support human interactions. The authors review characteristics of smart homes and high-performance buildings with an emphasis on issues concerning human interactions with technologies. Inhabitant-centered design recommendations are described, including incorporating inhabitants’ living behaviors into the design process; providing universal accessibility; linking devices, appliances, and functions with “meaningful” connections; using simple forms of human-technology interaction; and presenting integrated information for multiple environmental variables in addition to information about the individual variables.
Sourcing homelessness: How journalists use sources to frame homelessness
Authors: Schneider Barbara
Published: September 2011

This article describes a content and qualitative analysis of quotations from sources in Canadian newspaper items on homelessness. Experts dominate as sources on homelessness. Homeless people are not completely deprived of a voice, but are limited to the devalued voice of experience. Quotes from homeless people themselves promote a narrative of homelessness that marginalizes the people who experience it and contributes to their social exclusion.
Interpreting news values in j-blogs: Case studies of journalist bloggers in post-1997 Hong Kong
Authors: Chu Donna
Published: September 2011

This study aims to arrive at a contextualized understanding of the perspectives of a small group of Hong Kong journalist bloggers regarding a wide range of media issues. In addition to analyzing how they interpret news values in post-1997 Hong Kong, it also discusses how j-blogs can facilitate a new form of ‘interpretive community’.

Together with in-depth interviews with eight journalist bloggers, this study analyzes 1044 blog posts written by them over a period of two years. Findings show how journalist bloggers narrated their personal and work lives, and identified recurring themes from these j-blogs. It argues that journalist bloggers have used blogs to make sense of their journalistic lives and professional ideology. Despite a lack of active interactions, j-blogs have cultivated a space for journalists to share narratives that are deemed to be important to their personal and professional lives. In this regard, journalist blogs are facilitating a new form of interpretive community. Within this community, journalists are able to deliberate core news values in the Hong Kong context.
Going Home for All Tomorrow’s Parties
Authors: Drew Rob
Published: September 2011

In 2008 it was announced that All Tomorrow’s Parties, an independent music festival originating in the United Kingdom, would make its first ever appearance in the Eastern United States at Kutsher’s Country Club in Monticello, New York. As a diehard indie music fan who happens to have grown up in Monticello and spent a good part of my youth navigating Kutsher’s in various roles, this particular harmonic convergence of Borscht Belt culture and indie culture served as an opportunity for reflection, remembrance, and ethnographic investigation. In this article I watch, wander, converse, and dust off old diaries and photos, tacking between multiple roles as music maven, lapsed Jew, and upstate yokel, trying to make sense of indie’s mining of the past for authentic experience and of my own ambivalent quest for a home in modernity.
Symptom Management in HIV/AIDS
Authors: Nicca Dunja , Fierz Katharina , Happ Mary Beth , Moody Kimberly , Spirig Rebecca
Published: September 2011

For persons living with HIV, effective symptom management is crucial for good health outcomes and usually involves close support persons. The collaboration of persons living with HIV and their close support persons in the process of symptom management, including symptom experience reports, was investigated using an exploratory mixed methods design. Integration of methods included hypothesis generation from participants’ narratives. Results revealed that collaboration is constituted by distinct but integrative positions of manager and partner that are reflected in diverse themes of symptom management and confirmed in quantitatively assessed symptom reports. Divergent qualitative and quantitative findings highlighted problems in neurocognitive symptom communication. Symptom management processes should be supported by better integrating the close support persons into clinical service, and further research on neurocognitive symptom experience is needed.
Two controlled trials to increase participant retention in a randomized controlled trial of mobile phone-based smoking cessation support in the United Kingdom
Authors: Severi Ettore , Free Caroline , Knight Rosemary , Robertson Steven , Edwards Philip , Hoile Elizabeth
Published: September 2011

Background Loss to follow-up of trial participants represents a threat to research validity. To date, interventions designed to increase participants’ awareness of benefits to society of completing follow-up, and the impact of a telephone call from a senior female clinician and researcher requesting follow-up have not been evaluated robustly.

Purpose Trial 1 aimed to evaluate the effect on trial follow-up of written information regarding the benefits of participation to society. Trial 2 aimed to evaluate the effect on trial follow-up of a telephone call from a senior female clinician and researcher.

Methods Two single-blind randomized controlled trials were nested within a larger trial, Txt2stop. In Trial 1, participants were allocated using minimization to receive a refrigerator magnet and a text message emphasizing the benefits to society of completing follow-up, or to a control group receiving a simple reminder regarding follow-up. In Trial 2, participants were randomly allocated to receive a telephone call from a senior female clinician and researcher, or to a control group receiving standard Txt2stop follow-up procedures.

Results Trial 1: 33.5% (327 of 976) of the intervention group and 33.8% (329 of 974) of the control group returned the questionnaire within 26 weeks of randomization, risk ratio (RR) 0.99; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.88–1.12. In all, 83.3% (813 of 976) of the intervention group and 82.2% (801 of/974) of the control group sent back the questionnaire within 30 weeks of randomization, RR 1.01; 95% CI 0.97, 1.05. Trial 2: 31% (20 of 65) of the intervention group and 32% (20 of 62) of the control group completed trial follow-up, RR 0.93; 95%CI 0.44, 1.98.

Conclusions In presence of other methods to increase follow-up neither experimental method (refrigerator magnet and text message emphasizing participation's benefits to society nor a telephone call from study's principal investigator) increased participant follow-up in the Txt2stop trial.
Mood and the Attitude–Behavior Link
Authors: Holland Rob W. , Vries Marieke de , Hermsen Berlinda , Knippenberg Ad van
Published: September 2011

Attitude–behavior relations can be based on belief-based or associative processes. Understanding the basic regulatory mechanisms that determine which type of process guides behavior in a specific situation is of crucial importance for predicting behavior. In this article, the authors tested mood states as a moderator. In two studies, associative and belief-based measures for attitudes were administered in a preliminary session. In a second session, mood was manipulated and behavior toward the attitude object involved was observed. Consistent with predictions, the results showed that in happy mood states, associative, but not belief-based measures of attitudes predicted behavior, whereas in sad mood states belief-based, but not associative measures of attitudes predicted behavior. The authors conclude that mood moderates which evaluative process, belief-based or associative, regulates behavior.
Bioavailability of inhaled fluticasone propionateviachambers/masks in young children
Authors: Blake K. , Mehta R. , Spencer T. , Kunka R.L. , Hendeles L.
Published: September 2011

We determined lung bioavailability of a fluticasone propionate (FP) pressurised metred-dose inhaler (Flovent® HFA; GlaxoSmithKline, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA) administeredviaAeroChamber Plus® (Monaghan Medical, Plattsburgh, NY, USA) with Facemask and Babyhaler® (GlaxoSmithKline) valved holding chambers (VHCs) using a population pharmacokinetic approach.

Children from 1 to <4 yrs of age with stable asthma but a clinical need for inhaled corticosteroid therapy were administered 88 μg FP hydrofluoroalkane (2×44 μg) twice daily delivered through the two devices in an open-label, randomised crossover manner for 8 days each. Patients were randomised to one of three sparse sampling schedules for blood collection throughout the 12-h dosing interval on the 8th day of each treatment for pharmacokinetic analysis. The area under the FP plasma concentration–time curve (AUC) was determined for each regimen.

17 children completed the study. The population mean AUC following FP with AeroChamber Plus® with Facemask was 97.45 pg·h·mL−1(95% CI 85.49–113.32 pg·h·mL−1) and with Babyhaler® was 51.55 pg·h·mL−1(95% CI 34.45–64.46 pg·h·mL−1). The relative bioavailability (Babyhaler®/AeroChamber Plus®) was 0.53 (95% CI 0.30–0.75).

Clinically significant differences in lung bioavailability were observed between the devices. VHCs are not interchangeable, as differences in drug delivery to the lung may occur. A population pharmacokinetic approach can be used to determine lung bioavailability of FP.
Ceftriaxone attenuates hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in neonatal rats
Authors: Lai Pei Chun , Huang Yen Ta , Wu Chia Chen , Lai Ching-Jung , Wang Pen Jung , Chiu Ted H
Published: September 2011

Background

Perinatal brain injury is the leading cause of subsequent neurological disability in both term and preterm baby. Glutamate excitotoxicity is one of the major factors involved in perinatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Glutamate transporter GLT1, expressed mainly in mature astrocytes, is the major glutamate transporter in the brain. HIE induced excessive glutamate release which is not reuptaked by immature astrocytes may induce neuronal damage. Compounds, such as ceftriaxone, that enhance the expression of GLT1 may exert neuroprotective effect in HIE.

Methods

We used a neonatal rat model of HIE by unilateral ligation of carotid artery and subsequent exposure to 8% oxygen for 2 hrs on postnatal day 7 (P7) rats. Neonatal rats were administered three dosages of an antibiotic, ceftriaxone, 48 hrs prior to experimental HIE. Neurobehavioral tests of treated rats were assessed. Brain sections from P14 rats were examined with Nissl and immunohistochemical stain, and TUNEL assay. GLT1 protein expression was evaluated by Western blot and immunohistochemistry.

Results

Pre-treatment with 200 mg/kg ceftriaxone significantly reduced the brain injury scores and apoptotic cells in the hippocampus, restored myelination in the external capsule of P14 rats, and improved the hypoxia-ischemia induced learning and memory deficit of P23-24 rats. GLT1 expression was observed in the cortical neurons of ceftriaxone treated rats.

Conclusion

These results suggest that pre-treatment of infants at risk for HIE with ceftriaxone may reduce subsequent brain injury.