bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The European Union and neoliberal governmentality: Twinning in Tunisia and Egypt
Authors: İşleyen Beste
Published: December 2014

As a response to the Arab uprisings that started in 2010, the European Union has emphasised, more determinated than ever, the urgency of inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development in the Arab region. The central objective of this article is to understand the nature and operation of European Union support for development following Arab mass movements. More specifically, it examines the European Union’s Twinning instrument in Egypt and Tunisia through a neoliberal governmentality framework, with a major focus on visualisations, technologies and subject formation. This approach enables us to observe the application of an agenda through which Twinning intervenes into non-economic domains of governance in the target countries and aims at shaping these spheres by economic rationalities and techniques. By constructing change around local governance capabilities, the Twinning programme acts upon individual skills, institutional arrangements and relationships, deploys benchmarking techniques, and empowers subjects and government behaviour in order to bring conduct to certain economic logics and exercises. The outcome is the rendering of Tunisian and Egyptian socio-economic development open to enterprise-based, calculative and professionalised operations that make local conditions serviceable to neoliberal governing patterns, linkages and practices of business, capital production and investment.
Archival memory and dissolution
Authors: Cooke Grayson , Reichelt-Brushett Amanda
Published: December 2014

We are surrounded by archives, archives personal and national; our externalized memories and their material placeholders line our shelves and attics, just as they crowd the vaults of our national repositories. But how do we relate to archives as material memories? What do we gain in their preservation, and what, paradoxically, might we lose? For good reason, archival materials are conserved and preserved in order to ward off dissolution, of both the things themselves and their memory function. But what does archival preservation prevent us from feeling, seeing and doing? What creative possibilities might be released when the archive is dissolved? In this article, we discuss our art–science collaboration, after | image. This project is about personal and material memory and about archival preservation and dissolution; it features time-lapse macrophotography of photographic negatives being chemically and physically destroyed. The negatives come from Grayson Cooke’s studies in photography at high school – this archive has been stored in his parents’ attic for 20 years, nominally ‘preserved’ for posterity but degrading nevertheless, as all material objects do. The submission of a personal archive to chemical destruction not conservation, and to a digital recording of this destruction, highlights the crux of the project’s enquiry and introduces its affective charge. Why destroy the archive, why commit archival treason? Because in doing so, you can make it live again.
It’s ‘Because I am a Woman’
Authors: Blower Lisa
Published: December 2014

This article aims to outline the critical framework of a gendered identification procedure that conditions the female’s approach to the auto blographical inquiry, highlighting the links between female practices of self-representation and feminist agendas. Utilizing existing theories upon identity and selfhood to support my own, I present the procedure as a consciously gendered practice that has re-appropriated the act of blogging into a ‘feminized situation’, an ideal space that best suits the contours of female self-discovery models. To support this claim, I explore why, given the freedoms of cyberspace and the fact that the computer cannot recognize the dichotomies between masculine and feminine, gender biases and gender intensification still exist within the multiple realities of blogging practice. I ask why women exaggerate societal notions of femininity as a formative and integrative part of self-representation and explore whether this act of gender stamping compromises online self-presentation or invites the female to think about and express herself in entirely new ways.
Pharmacomechanical thrombectomy and catheter-directed thrombolysis of acute lower extremity deep venous thrombosis in a 9-year-old boy with inferior vena cava atresia
Authors: Jahromi Alireza Hamidian , Coulter Amy H , Bass Patrick , Zhang Wayne W , Tan Tze-Woei
Published: December 2014

Lower extremity deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is uncommon in the pediatric population, but it can be associated with severe symptoms and potential long-term morbidity secondary to post-thrombotic syndrome. Inferior vena cava (IVC) atresia can predispose a patient to the development of extremity DVT. There is no clear consensus on optimal management of extensive extremity DVT in pediatric patients, especially in patients with IVC anomalies. We report a case of iliofemoral DVT in a 9-year-old boy with IVC atresia and presumed protein S deficiency that was treated successfully using pharmacomechanical thrombectomy and catheter-directed thrombolysis. He was maintained on long-term anticoagulation and remained symptom free at 6 months’ follow-up.
“Shattering culture”: perspectives on cultural competence and evidence-based practice in mental health services
Authors: DelVecchio Good Mary-Jo , Hannah Seth Donal
Published: December 2014

The concept of culture as an analytic concept has increasingly been questioned by social scientists, just as health care institutions and clinicians have increasingly routinized concepts and uses of culture as means for improving the quality of care for racial and ethnic minorities. This paper examines this tension, asking whether it is possible to use cultural categories to develop evidenced-based practice guidelines in mental health services when these categories are challenged by the increasing hyperdiversity of patient populations and newer theories of culture that question direct connection between group-based social identities and cultural characteristics. Anthropologists have grown concerned about essentializing societies, yet unequal treatment on the basis of cultural, racial, or ethnic group membership is present in medicine and mental health care today. We argue that discussions of culture—patients’ culture and the “culture of medicine”—should be sensitive to the risk of improper stereotypes, but should also be sensitive to the continuing significance of group-based discrimination and the myriad ways culture shapes clinical presentation, doctor–patient interactions, the illness experience, and the communication of symptoms. We recommend that mental health professionals consider the local contexts, with greater appreciation for the diversity of lived experience found among individual patients. This suggests a nuanced reliance on broad cultural categories of racial, ethnic, and national identities in evidence-based practice guidelines.
The contemporary mindfulness movement and the question of nonself
Authors: Samuel Geoffrey
Published: December 2014

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), and other “mindfulness”-based techniques have rapidly gained a significant presence within contemporary society. Clearly these techniques, which derive or are claimed to derive from Buddhist meditational practices, meet genuine human needs. However, questions are increasingly raised regarding what these techniques meant in their original context(s), how they have been transformed in relation to their new Western and global field of activity, what might have been lost (or gained) on the way, and how the entire contemporary mindfulness phenomenon might be understood. The article points out that first-generation mindfulness practices, such as MBSR and MBCT, derive from modernist versions of Buddhism, and omit or minimize key aspects of the Buddhist tradition, including the central Buddhist philosophical emphasis on the deconstruction of the self. Nonself (or no self) fits poorly into the contemporary therapeutic context, but is at the core of the Buddhist enterprise from which contemporary “mindfulness” has been abstracted. Instead of focussing narrowly on the practical efficacy of the first generation of mindfulness techniques, we might see them as an invitation to explore the much wider range of practices available in the traditions from which they originate. Rather, too, than simplifying and reducing these practices to fit current Western conceptions of knowledge, we might seek to incorporate more of their philosophical basis into our Western adaptations. This might lead to a genuine and productive expansion of both scientific knowledge and therapeutic possibilities.
Natural radioactivity levels and radiological assessment of decorative building materials in Bangladesh
Authors: Asaduzzaman Kh. , Khandaker M. U. , Amin Y. M. , Bradley D. A.
Published: December 2014

The use of building covering media, largely for decorative purposes, presents an associated need for accurate evaluation of naturally occurring radioactive materials, crucial in assessing radiological risk. Radiological risks, assessed through investigation of decorative material samples, have been provided through key quantities, including radium equivalent activity ( Raeq) , external and internal hazard indices, gamma index, indoor and outdoor absorbed dose rates, as well as the corresponding annual effective doses. The concentrations of 232Th and 40K in all of the studied samples are higher than the respective world averages whereas for 226Ra, only the clay tiles and a few other samples exceeded the world average value. The values for Raeq for all samples were found to be <370 Bq kg−1, recommended as the limiting dose below which safe use of bulk media can be assumed. For most samples, the internal and external hazard indices are well below the recommended limit of 1. The indoor absorbed dose rate has been observed to be higher than the population-weighted world average of 84 nGy h−1, and the corresponding annual effective doses fall below the maximum dose limit of 1 mSv y−1. The activity concentrations presented herein are expected to be useful in assessing the impact of future radiological loadings from use of decorative materials in dwellings.
National humanitarianism and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami
Authors: West Brad , O’Reilly Ruthie
Published: December 2014

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami elicited the largest international humanitarian response of any disaster in history, yet comparatively little research has examined the way the disaster agent and the ensuing fundraising have been culturally framed in Western societies. While scholars have speculated that the humanitarian reaction is a response related to the capturing and distribution of the disaster through digital media, this paper focuses on the discursive meaning-making of the crisis as it appeared in a single national public sphere. From an analysis of articles in major Australian newspapers, the study finds that the tsunami discourses of risk, suffering, government aid and public charity were constructed in terms of Australian symbolic boundaries and national sentiment. Existing literature on humanitarian communication provides insights into this media portrayal; however, to more fully comprehend the ways in which national discourse can mobilise populations in responding generously to global catastrophes we propose the concept of national humanitarianism.
Seizing the moment: The presidential campaigns’ use of Twitter during the 2012 electoral cycle
Authors: Kreiss Daniel
Published: December 2014

Drawing on interviews with staffers from the 2012 Obama and Romney presidential campaigns and qualitative content analysis of their Twitter feeds, this article provides the first inside look at how staffers used the platform to influence the agendas and frames of professional journalists, as well as appeal to strong supporters. These campaigns sought to influence journalists in direct and indirect ways, and planned their strategic communication efforts around political events such as debates well in advance. Despite these similarities, staffers cite that Obama’s campaign had much greater ability to respond in real time to unfolding commentary around political events given an organizational structure that provided digital staffers with a high degree of autonomy. After analyzing the ways staffers discuss effective communication on the platform, this article argues that at extraordinary moments campaigns can exercise what Isaac Reed calls “performative power,” influence over other actors’ definitions of the situation and their consequent actions through well-timed, resonant, and rhetorically effective communicative action and interaction.
Still a ‘blokes club’: The motherhood dilemma in journalism
Authors: North Louise
Published: December 2014

The largest survey of female journalists working in the Australian news media was undertaken in 2012 and asked participants to respond to questions about perceived gender discrimination in working conditions. This article focuses on participant responses in relation to promotional opportunities. The keys themes that arose centred on the impact of childcare responsibilities and a masculine newsroom culture that worked to exclude them. A total of 577 female journalists working in broadcast, print and online platforms from all states and territories and in regional/rural, metropolitan and suburban news publications responded to the online survey. Most respondents articulated a perception of gender bias around the issue of promotional opportunities but often blamed themselves and/or their child-rearing responsibilities for their lack of opportunity. The responses indicate an ongoing and systemic gender bias that disadvantages women, particularly mothers, and has been largely left unacknowledged in Australian media debates.
Mechanism of deposit formation on an electronic throttle body
Authors: Hatsuzawa Hidefumi , Tanaka Kotaro , Konno Mitsuru
Published: December 2014

The buildup of deposits on the electronic throttle body (ETB) used to control the intake air flow in an internal combustion engine causes various problems. To obtain information that can be used to prevent the buildup of such deposit, the characteristics and mechanism of the deposit formation were investigated by analysis of the components of the deposit, measurement of the distribution of the deposit thickness, and numerical analysis of the intake air flow. The deposit was found to comprise a complex of fuel and engine oil, high molecular components, and inorganic matter, with engine oil being the major component. The distribution of the deposit thickness was also observed to be similar to that of the temperature decrease across the butterfly valve, indicating that the temperature decrease was related to the deposit formation. In addition, it was established that the deposit component on the downstream side of the butterfly valve was transported very close to the butterfly valve by a circulatory flow. Based on the study results, it is postulated that the mechanism of the ETB deposit formation involves the initial transportation, by the blow-by gas, of hydrocarbons to the ETB air passage, where the hydrocarbons are condensed and adhere to the passage wall just behind the butterfly valve, owing to sudden drop in the air temperature under small valve opening angle conditions. The formed deposit subsequently builds up by attracting fuel, engine oil, combustion products, and suspended solids in the atmospheric air intake passing through the air cleaner.
Between islands of ethnicity and shared landscapes: rethinking settler society, cultural landscapes and the study of the Canadian West
Authors: Oliver Jeff , Edwald Ágústa
Published: December 2014

This article reviews and rethinks the study of cultural landscapes in the context of western Canadian settlement history. The historiography of scholarship on the colonial period, across a broad array of disciplines, follows themes central to the study of continuity and change in settler societies, including assimilation, cultural revivalism and transnationalism. Influenced by historical conditions particular to the region, namely, the creation of migrant block settlements and a legacy of multiculturalism, research has had a longstanding commitment to an ethnic history paradigm, which tends to orient our understanding of the cultural landscape in terms of what Brubaker and Cooper have called ‘identity history’. We argue that by focusing on relationships rather than boundaries, future research on the cultural dimension of settlement might move beyond ethnic history through investigating the possibilities of shared landscapes and communities of practice, built on the back of finding common material solutions to the problems of agrarian life.
Study of concrete-filled unplasticized poly-vinyl chloride tubes in marine environment
Authors: Gupta Pramod Kumar , Verma Virendra Kumar
Published: December 2014

This article presents an experimental study on columns prepared by filling reinforced concrete in unplasticized poly-vinyl chloride tubes exposed to artificial sea water prepared in the laboratory. Totally, 72 reinforced concrete-filled unplasticized poly-vinyl chloride tubular column specimens of length 800 mm were cast by filling the reinforced concrete in unplasticized poly-vinyl chloride tubes having 160, 200 and 225 mm diameters. The diameter-to-thickness ratio and length-to-diameter ratio of the specimens vary from 22.48 to 40.14 and 3.56 to 5, respectively. Out of 72 specimens, 36 specimens were converted to bare reinforced concrete columns by removing unplasticized poly-vinyl chloride tubes. In total, 18 reinforced concrete–filled unplasticized poly-vinyl chloride tubular and 18 bare reinforced concrete specimens were kept completely submerged in artificial sea water of salt concentration 20N for the period of 6 months while 36 specimens of reinforced concrete–filled unplasticized poly-vinyl chloride tubular were kept for 28 days after covering the top and bottom of specimens with thick polyethylene sheet to avoid evaporation of water. Out of these 36 reinforced concrete–filled unplasticized poly-vinyl chloride tubular specimens, 18 specimens were converted to bare specimens at the time of testing. All the specimens were tested by applying axial load on concrete core only to obtain load–displacement curves and modes of failure. No degradation in the strength and ductility of reinforced concrete–filled unplasticized poly-vinyl chloride tubular specimens was observed after submergence in sea water. It can be concluded that unplasticized poly-vinyl chloride tube provides a safety jacket to encased concrete core, and as a result improve strength, ductility.
Instantaneous and local wavenumber estimations for damage quantification in composites
Authors: Mesnil Olivier , Leckey Cara AC , Ruzzene Massimo
Published: December 2014

The continued and expanded use of composite materials in aerospace applications necessitates structural health monitoring and/or nondestructive evaluation techniques that can provide quantitative and detailed damage information for layered plate-like components (such as composite laminates). Guided wavefield methods are at the basis of a number of promising techniques for the detection and the characterization of damage in plate-like structures. Among the processing techniques that have been proposed for guided wavefield analysis, the estimation of instantaneous and local wavenumbers can lead to effective metrics that quantify the size and the depth of delaminations in composite laminates. This article reports the application of both instantaneous and local wavenumber damage quantification techniques to guided wavefield data for delaminated composite laminates. The techniques are applied to experimental data for a simple single delamination case and to simulated data for a more complex multi-ply delamination case. The two techniques are compared in terms of accuracy in damage characterization and computational demand. The proposed methodologies can be considered as steps toward a hybrid structural health monitoring/nondestructive evaluation approach for damage assessment in composites.
Does the 6-minute walk test predict nocturnal oxygen desaturation in patients with moderate to severe COPD?
Authors: Iliaz Sinem , Cagatay Tulin , Bingol Zuleyha , Okumus Gulfer , Iliaz Raim , Kuran Goksen , Kiyan Esen , Cagatay Penbe
Published: December 2014

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who have nocturnal oxygen desaturation (NOD) can be treated with nocturnal oxygen therapy (NOT) to avoid possible morbidity and mortality. Although there is no definite data recommending NOT alone, our aim is to evaluate the relationship between desaturation during the six-minute walk test (6MWT) and NOD in COPD. Fifty-five stable patients with COPD were enrolled in this study. The 6MWT and nocturnal oximetry were performed. Patients with comorbid diseases and respiratory failure were excluded. In total, 55 patients (49 males and 6 females, mean age: 65.8 ± 8.4 years) were analysed. Twenty-seven of the patients had moderate COPD and the remainder ( n = 28) had severe COPD. Three patients (11%) with moderate COPD and 12 patients (42.9%) with severe COPD desaturated during 6MWT ( p = 0.003). NOD was observed in five patients with severe COPD (17.9%). There were no patients with NOD in the moderate COPD group. Three (25%) of patients with severe COPD who desaturated during the 6MWT also had NOD. NOD was more common in patients with severe COPD and the patients with higher carbon dioxide levels ( p = 0.02 and p = 0.001). Three patients (11%) with moderate COPD desaturated during the 6MWT; however they did not have NOD. Although the sample size in this study was too small to be conclusive, NOD was more common in desaturators during the 6MWT particularly in patients with severe COPD.
Rupture After Endovascular Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair
Authors: Antonopoulos Constantine N. , Kakisis John D. , Giannakopoulos Triantafillos G. , Andrikopoulos Vasilios , Antoniadis Pavlos , Bessias Nikolaos , Dervisis Konstantinos , Georgopoulos Sotirios , Giannoukas Athanasios , Kaperonis Elias , Kiskinis Dimitrios , Klonaris Christos , Machairas Anastasios , Papavassiliou Vasilios , Saleptsis Vasilios , Saratzis Nikolaos , Seretis Konstantinos , Tampakis Charalambos , Liapis Christos D.
Published: December 2014

A total of 22 patients with ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms (rAAAs) after previous endovascular aortic repair (EVAR; rAAAevar) were presented to 7 referral hospitals in Greece, between January 2006 and April 2012. Type Ia endoleak and endograft migration were identified in 72.7% and 50%, respectively. Compliance to follow-up protocol prior to rupture was 31.8%. In-hospital mortality was 36.4% (9.1% for those treated with secondary EVAR and 63.6% for those treated with open surgical repair, P = .02). An increase in the proportion of patients with rAAAevar among the total number of patients with rAAAs from 1.3% in 2007 to 18.2% in 2012 ( P for trend = .04) was recorded, corresponding to an annual increase of 2.8% (b = 2.84, P = .04). Rupture after EVAR seemed to be a clinical entity encountered with increasing frequency over the past years. Type I endoleak and endograft migration were most frequently observed, whereas compliance to follow-up was low.
Hepatic capsular retraction: spectrum of diagnosis at MRI
Authors: Da Ines David , Mons Antoine , Braidy Chadi , Montoriol Pierre François , Garcier Jean-Marc , Vilgrain Valérie
Published: December 2014

Hepatic capsular retraction is an imaging feature that deserves the attention of the radiologist. Hepatic capsular retraction is associated with a number of hepatic lesions, benign or malignant, treated or untreated. The purpose of this pictorial review is to discuss the most common benign and malignant hepatic lesions associated with this feature with an emphasis on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Whole-body MRI as an unconventional diagnostic tool in a pediatric patient with systemic infection
Authors: Picco Paolo , Naselli Aldo , Pala Giovanna , Rizzo Francesca , Damasio Beatrice , Buoncompagni Antonella , Martini Alberto
Published: December 2014

Anaplasma phagocytophilum, an obligate intracellular bacterium, is the causative agent of human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA), a tickborne infection usually manifesting as fever, malaise, cytopenia, spleen enlargement, and hepatitis. Herein, we report a case of a 14-year-old girl with HGA whose whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) disclosed an unusual picture characterized by small, widespread punctuate millimetric nodules, hypointense on T1-weighted and hyperintense on STIR sequences. This firstly reported finding may represent an alternative tool for identifying atypical infectious diseases.
Delays in the diagnosis and treatment of muscle invasive bladder cancer: A pilot project mapping the pathway
Authors: Iqbal M Shahid , Pickles R , Pedley I , Frew J , Azzabi A , Heer R , Thorpe A , Johnson M , Robson L , McMenemin R
Published: December 2014

Background:

The patient pathway for muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) is multidisciplinary. Trans-urethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT) counts as the first definitive treatment and subsequent definitive therapy thereafter is often delayed, which may adversely affect outcome. We elected to scrutinise the management pathway in detail to understand these delays and improve the patient experience.

Method:

A retrospective mapping analysis was conducted on 17 patients with MIBC. The causes of any delays and measures to avoid these were identified. A prospective study of 17 patients with MIBC was then undertaken to see if the strategies used to re-engineer the patient care pathway had been effective.

Result:

The median time from GP referral to first appointment was 9 days (range: 1–37) and from TURBT to subsequent radical treatment was 75 days (range: 27–105) in keeping with published literature. The median time for a referral letter from urology to oncology following MDT was 15 days. We therefore modified the MDT proforma to use as a formal referral, and a project manager proactively managed the patient pathway. Capacity issues were addressed by protecting clinical slots for bladder patients and establishing monthly evening clinics. After implementing the strategies, the median days from first appointment to TURBT improved from 31 to 23 days and time from TURBT to subsequent treatment improved from 75 to 66 days. The time from MDT referral to being seen by an oncologist or urologist significantly reduced from 32 to 15 days.

Conclusion:

Retrospective analysis identified delays between initial TURBT to definitive therapy and strategies adopted to reduce these were effective. TURBT is a diagnostic process and if acknowledged as first treatment results in delays of what is the definitive treatment. We found the initial diagnostic pathway to work well but non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) and MIBC are then managed very differently and warrant two separate pathways.
The importance of second-look transurethral resection for superficial bladder cancer
Authors: El-Barky Ehab , Sebaey Ahmed , Eltabey Magdy , Aboutaleb Ahmed , Hussein Sundus , Kehinde Elijah O
Published: December 2014

Objectives:

The objective of this article is to evaluate the importance of a second-look transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT) in patients with newly diagnosed superficial bladder cancer and its impact on subsequent treatment plan.

Methods:

We carried out a prospective study on 100 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed superficial bladder cancer in whom a second-look TURBT was performed two to six weeks after initial resection. We assessed the incidence of residual tumours, sufficiency of initial pathological staging and grading. We also assessed the need for re-staging and grading after the second-look TURBT.

Results:

Forty-five out of 75 patients (60%) who underwent second-look TURBT had no tumours, 18 (24%) had visible residual tumours and 12 (16%) had microscopic residual tumours. Of the 30 (40%) patients with residual tumours, five had pTa, three had carcinoma in situ (CIS), 12 had pT1, and 10 had pT2 disease. Upstaging and change of treatment plan as a result of the second-look TURBT were necessary in 18/75 (24%) cases, of which 10 cases (13%) underwent radical cystectomy for muscle-invasive tumours.

Conclusions:

A second cystoscopy with or without TURBT is recommended two to six weeks after initial resection of stage Ta and T1 bladder tumours in patients with high-grade transitional carcinoma of the bladder or in patients with multiple tumours. Second-look cystoscopy in this category of patients may reveal the need for early change of treatment plan in about 25% of patients.
Mental Disorders as Causal Systems
Authors: McNally Richard J. , Robinaugh Donald J. , Wu Gwyneth W. Y. , Wang Li , Deserno Marie K. , Borsboom Denny
Published: December 2014

Debates about posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often turn on whether it is a timeless, cross-culturally valid natural phenomenon or a socially constructed idiom of distress. Most clinicians seem to favor the first view, differing only in whether they conceptualize PTSD as a discrete category or the upper end of a dimension of stress responsiveness. Yet both categorical and dimensional construals presuppose that PTSD symptoms are fallible indicators reflective of an underlying, latent variable. This presupposition has governed psychopathology research for decades, but it rests on problematic psychometric premises. In this article, we review an alternative, network perspective for conceptualizing mental disorders as causal systems of interacting symptoms, and we illustrate this perspective via analyses of PTSD symptoms reported by survivors of the Wenchuan earthquake in China. Finally, we foreshadow emerging computational methods that may disclose the causal structure of mental disorders.
Positive Adjustment Among American Repatriated Prisoners of the Vietnam War
Authors: King Daniel W. , King Lynda A. , Park Crystal L. , Lee Lewina O. , Pless Kaiser Anica , Spiro Avron , Moore Jeffrey L. , Kaloupek Danny G. , Keane Terence M.
Published: December 2014

A longitudinal life span model of factors contributing to later-life positive adjustment was tested on 567 American repatriated prisoners from the Vietnam War. This model encompassed demographics at time of capture and attributes assessed after return to the United States (reports of torture and mental distress) and approximately three decades later (later-life stressors, perceived social support, positive appraisal of military experiences, and positive adjustment). Age and education at time of capture and physical torture were associated with repatriation mental distress, which directly predicted poorer adjustment 30 years later. Physical torture also had a salutary effect, enhancing later-life positive appraisal of military experiences. Later-life events were directly and indirectly (through concerns about retirement) associated with positive adjustment. Results suggest that the personal resources of older age and more education and early-life adverse experiences can have cascading effects over the life span to impact well-being in both positive and negative ways.
Visualization of nitric oxide production by individual platelets during adhesion in flowing blood
Authors: Cozzi Maria Rita , Guglielmini Giuseppe , Battiston Monica , Momi Stefania , Lombardi Elisabetta , Miller Edward Cole , De Zanet Denise , Mazzucato Mario , Gresele Paolo , De Marco Luigi
Published: December 2014

Key Points

The production of NO by platelets and its possible role are controversial. We visualize NO formed by single platelets adhering to collagen under flow conditions and show that it depends on Ca++ and modulates adhesion.
BRAF inhibitors reverse the unique molecular signature and phenotype of hairy cell leukemia and exert potent antileukemic activity
Authors: Pettirossi Valentina , Santi Alessia , Imperi Elisa , Russo Guido , Pucciarini Alessandra , Bigerna Barbara , Schiavoni Gianluca , Fortini Elisabetta , Spanhol-Rosseto Ariele , Sportoletti Paolo , Mannucci Roberta , Martelli Maria Paola , Klein-Hitpass Ludger , Falini Brunangelo , Tiacci Enrico
Published: December 2014

Key Points

The V600E kinase-activating mutation of BRAF profoundly shapes the distinct identity of HCL among B-cell neoplasms. Clinically available BRAF and MEK inhibitors exert potent antileukemic activity in patients’ HCL cells in vitro and in vivo.
CGA-based deadlock solving strategies towards vehicle sensing systems
Authors: Xu Jianlong , Zheng Zibin , Lyu Michael R
Published: December 2014

Vehicle sensing system is an important research topic in the research field of Internet-of-Vehicles (IoV). Reliability and real-time performance of vehicle sensing systems are greatly influenced when deadlock happens. When a deadlock is detected, identifying the optimal deadlock solving strategy can ensure that the system goes back to normal state quickly. In order to address this issue, this paper proposes an efficient deadlock solving method. Firstly, the deadlock problem in a vehicle sensing system is analyzed based on four deadlock occurring conditions (i.e., mutual exclusion, hold and wait, no preemption, and circular wait). Secondly, an optimization model is built to combine the quantity and cost of tasks in vehicle sensing systems. After that, a co-evolutionary genetic algorithm (CGA) is developed to search the optimal deadlock solving strategy. Finally, experiments by simulation are conducted and the experimental results show the efficiency of the proposed deadlock solving method for vehicle sensing systems.
Increasing incidence of pregnancy among women receiving HIV care and treatment at a large urban facility in western Uganda
Authors: Kabami Jane , Turyakira Eleanor , Biraro Sam , Bajunirwe Francis
Published: December 2014

Background

Antiretroviral treatment restores physical functioning and may have an impact on fertility desires. Counseling is given to HIV positive women to create awareness and to provide information on pregnancy and delivery. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of pregnancy and factors that predict pregnancy among women of reproductive age receiving HIV care and treatment at a large urban center in western Uganda.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study using routinely collected data at the Immune Suppression (ISS) Clinic of Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital located in Mbarara District, western Uganda collected between January 2006 and June 2010. Women aged 15 to 50 years were eligible for analysis. The primary outcome was incidence of pregnancy calculated as number of pregnancies per 1000 person years (PY). Data was analyzed by calendar year and year of enrolment and used survival analysis to determine the predictors of pregnancy.

Results

A total of 3144 women were included with a median follow up of 12.5 months. The overall incidence rate was 90.7 pregnancies per 1000 person years. Incidence increased from 29.8 pregnancies per 1000 PY in 2006 to 122 pregnancies per 1000 PY in 2010 (p < 0.001). Significant predictors for pregnancy were younger age (HR 10.96 95% CI 3.22-37.2), married (HR 2.09 95% CI 1.69-2.64) and single (HR 1.95 95% CI 1.34-2.84) compared to widowed or separated, primary education (HR 1.65 95% CI 1.02-2.66), not knowing the HIV status of the spouse (HR 1.46, 95%CI 1.13-1.93) compared to knowing. The use of family planning (HR 0.23 95% CI 0.18- 0.30) and an increase in CD4 count between baseline and most recent count were protective against pregnancy. ART use was not a significant predictor.

Conclusion

Incidence of pregnancy among women receiving routine HIV care and treatment has increased and is almost comparable to that in the general population. Thus routine HIV care should integrate reproductive health needs for these women.
NMP-7 Inhibits Chronic Inflammatory and Neuropathic Pain via Block of Cav3.2 T-type Calcium Channels and Activation of CB2 Receptors
Authors: Berger N Daniel , Gadotti Vinicius M , Petrov Ravil R , Chapman Kevin , Diaz Philippe , Zamponi Gerald W
Published: December 2014

Background:

T-type calcium channels and cannabinoid receptors are known to play important roles in chronic pain, making them attractive therapeutic targets. We recently reported on the design, synthesis and analgesic properties of a novel T-type channel inhibitor (NMP-7), which also shows mixed agonist activity on CB1 and CB2 receptors in vitro. Here, we analyzed the analgesic effect of systemically delivered NMP-7 (intraperitoneal (i.p.) or intragstric (i.g.) routes) on mechanical hypersensitivity in inflammatory pain induced by Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA) and neuropathic pain induced by sciatic nerve injury.

Results:

NMP-7 delivered by either i.p. or i.g. routes produced dose-dependent inhibition of mechanical hyperalgesia in mouse models of inflammatory and neuropathic pain, without altering spontaneous locomotor activity in the open-field test at the highest active dose. Neither i.p. nor i.g. treatment reduced peripheral inflammation per se, as evaluated by examining paw edema and myeloperoxidase activity. The antinociception produced by NMP-7 in the CFA test was completely abolished in CaV3.2-null mice, confirming CaV3.2 as a key target. The analgesic action of intraperitoneally delivered NMP-7 was not affected by pretreatment of mice with the CB1 antagonist AM281, but was significantly attenuated by pretreatment with the CB2 antagonist AM630, suggesting that CB2 receptors, but not CB1 receptors are involved in the action of NMP-7 in vivo.

Conclusions:

Overall, our work shows that NMP-7 mediates a significant analgesic effect in a model of persistent inflammatory and chronic neuropathic pain by way of T-type channel modulation and CB2 receptor activation. Thus, this study provides a novel therapeutic avenue for managing chronic pain conditions via mixed CB ligands/T-type channel blockers.
Fast digital zooming system using directionally adaptive image interpolation and restoration
Authors: Kang Wonseok , Jeon Jaehwan , Yu Soohwan , Paik Joonki
Published: December 2014

This paper presents a fast digital zooming system for mobile consumer cameras using directionally adaptive image interpolation and restoration methods. The proposed interpolation algorithm performs edge refinement along the initially estimated edge orientation using directionally steerable filters. Either the directionally weighted linear or adaptive cubic-spline interpolation filter is then selectively used according to the refined edge orientation for removing jagged artifacts in the slanted edge region. A novel image restoration algorithm is also presented for removing blurring artifacts caused by the linear or cubic-spline interpolation using the directionally adaptive truncated constrained least squares (TCLS) filter. Both proposed steerable filter-based interpolation and the TCLS-based restoration filters have a finite impulse response (FIR) structure for real time processing in an image signal processing (ISP) chain. Experimental results show that the proposed digital zooming system provides high-quality magnified images with FIR filter-based fast computational structure.
The Global and Domestic Politics of Health Policy in Emerging Nations
Authors: Gómez Eduardo J. , Ruger Jennifer Prah
Published: December 2014

In recent years, several emerging nations with burgeoning economies and in transition to democracy have pursued health policy innovations. As these nations have integrated into the world economy through bilateral trade and diplomacy, they have also become increasingly exposed to international pressures and norms and focused on more effective, equitable health care systems. There are several lessons learned from the case studies of Brazil, Ghana, India, China, Vietnam, and Thailand in this special issue on the global and domestic politics of health policy in emerging nations. For the countries examined, although sensitive to international preferences, domestic governments preferred to implement policy on their own and at their own pace. During the policy-making and implementation process, international and domestic actors played different roles in health policy making vis-à-vis other reform actors — at times the state played an intermediary role. In several countries, civil society also played a central role in designing and implementing policy at all levels of government. International institutions also have a number of mechanisms and strategies in their tool box to influence a country's domestic health governance, and they use them, particularly in the context of an uncertain state or internal discordance within the state.
International Institutions and China's Health Policy
Authors: Huang Yanzhong
Published: December 2014

This article examines the role of international institutional actors in China's health policy process. Particular attention is paid to three major international institutional actors: the World Bank, the World Health Organization, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Through process tracing and comparative case studies, the article looks at how international institutions contribute to policy change in China and seeks to explain different outcomes in the relationship between international institutions and China's health policies. It finds that despite the opaque and exclusive authoritarian structure in China, international institutions play a significant role in the country's domestic health governance. By investing their resources and capabilities selectively and strategically, international institutions can change the preferences of government policy makers, move latent public health issues to the government's agenda, and affect the timing of government action and the content of policy design. Furthermore, the study suggests that different outcomes in the relationship between China's health policies and global health governance can be explained through the seriousness of the externalities China faces.
“Developmental Capture” Of the State: Explaining Thailand's Universal Coverage Policy
Authors: Harris Joseph
Published: December 2014

The notion of “regulatory capture” is typically used to describe the takeover of state agencies by outside interest groups that seek to weaken regulation and advance the agendas of interest groups through control over state policy levers. This concept can be contrasted with that of “developmental capture” of state agencies by networks of reformist bureaucrats within the state who seek to promote inclusive state social and developmental policies of benefit to the broader populace. Building on work that has pointed to instances in which state bureaucrats act autonomously from societal and political pressures, this article argues that existing explanations are insufficient for explaining Thailand's universal health care policy. It points to the critical role played by a network of bureaucrats within the state who strategically mobilized resources in the bureaucracy, political parties, civil society, and international organizations to institutionalize universal health care in the face of broader professional dissent, political uncertainty, and international pressure.
The Meanings of Universal Health Care in Latin America
Authors: Clark Mary A.
Published: December 2014

In Latin America, competing definitions of universal health care are found. Variants include traditional universalism, basic universalism, and minimal or residual universalism. These definitions are informed by European traditions, a renewed emphasis on equity among Latin American social policy experts, and World Bank strategy. This essay explores these definitions as well as areas of overlap and points of difference between and among them using examples from several Latin American countries. The most important difference concerns the preventive and curative services not covered by the benefits packages of minimal universal programs, a gap expected to grow increasingly costly for patients.
Bmi1 regulates murine intestinal stem cell proliferation and self-renewal downstream of Notch
Authors: López-Arribillaga Erika , Rodilla Verónica , Pellegrinet Luca , Guiu Jordi , Iglesias Mar , Roman Angel Carlos , Gutarra Susana , González Susana , Muñoz-Cánoves Pura , Fernández-Salguero Pedro , Radtke Freddy , Bigas Anna , Espinosa Lluís
Published: December 2014

Genetic data indicate that abrogation of Notch-Rbpj or Wnt-β-catenin pathways results in the loss of the intestinal stem cells (ISCs). However, whether the effect of Notch is direct or due to the aberrant differentiation of the transit-amplifying cells into post-mitotic goblet cells is unknown. To address this issue, we have generated composite tamoxifen-inducible intestine-specific genetic mouse models and analyzed the expression of intestinal differentiation markers. Importantly, we found that activation of β-catenin partially rescues the differentiation phenotype of Rbpj deletion mutants, but not the loss of the ISC compartment. Moreover, we identified Bmi1, which is expressed in the ISC and progenitor compartments, as a gene that is co-regulated by Notch and β-catenin. Loss of Bmi1 resulted in reduced proliferation in the ISC compartment accompanied by p16INK4a and p19ARF (splice variants of Cdkn2a) accumulation, and increased differentiation to the post-mitotic goblet cell lineage that partially mimics Notch loss-of-function defects. Finally, we provide evidence that Bmi1 contributes to ISC self-renewal.
Vangl2 cooperates with Rab11 and Myosin V to regulate apical constriction during vertebrate gastrulation
Authors: Ossipova Olga , Chuykin Ilya , Chu Chih-Wen , Sokol Sergei Y.
Published: December 2014

Core planar cell polarity (PCP) proteins are well known to regulate polarity in Drosophila and vertebrate epithelia; however, their functions in vertebrate morphogenesis remain poorly understood. In this study, we describe a role for PCP signaling in the process of apical constriction during Xenopus gastrulation. The core PCP protein Vangl2 is detected at the apical surfaces of cells at the blastopore lip, and it functions during blastopore formation and closure. Further experiments show that Vangl2, as well as Daam1 and Rho-associated kinase (Rock), regulate apical constriction of bottle cells at the blastopore and ectopic constriction of ectoderm cells triggered by the actin-binding protein Shroom3. At the blastopore lip, Vangl2 is required for the apical accumulation of the recycling endosome marker Rab11. We also show that Rab11 and the associated motor protein Myosin V play essential roles in both endogenous and ectopic apical constriction, and might be involved in Vangl2 trafficking to the cell surface. Overexpression of Rab11 RNA was sufficient to partly restore normal blastopore formation in Vangl2-deficient embryos. These observations suggest that Vangl2 affects Rab11 to regulate apical constriction during blastopore formation.