bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A conditional model of evidence‐based decision making
Authors: Falzer Paul R. , Garman Melissa D.
Published: December 2009

Rationale, aims and objectives  Efforts to describe how individual treatment decisions are informed by systematic knowledge have been hindered by a standard that gauges the quality of clinical decisions by their adherence to guidelines and evidence‐based practices. This paper tests a new contextual standard that gauges the incorporation of knowledge into practice and develops a model of evidence‐based decision making. Previous work found that the forecasted outcome of a treatment guideline exerts a highly significant influence on how it is used in making decisions. This study proposed that forecasted outcomes affect the recognition of a treatment scenario, and this recognition triggers distinct contextual decision strategies.

Methods  Twenty‐one volunteers from a psychiatric residency programme responded to 64 case vignettes, 16 in each of the four treatment scenarios. The vignettes represented a fully balanced within‐subjects design that included guideline switching criteria and patient‐specific factors. For each vignette, participants indicated whether they endorsed the guideline's recommendation.

Results  Clinicians used consistent contextual decision strategies in responding to clearly positive or negative forecasts. When forecasts were more ambiguous or risky, their strategies became complex and relatively inconsistent.

Conclusion  The results support a three‐step model of evidence‐based decision making, in which clinicians recognize a decision scenario, apply a simple contextual strategy, then if necessary engage a more complex strategy to resolve discrepancies between general guidelines and specific cases. The paper concludes by noting study limitations and discussing implications of the model for future research in clinical and shared decision making, training and guideline development.
Comparative effectiveness research: evidence‐based medicine meets health care reform in the USA
Authors: Tanenbaum Sandra J.
Published: December 2009

Rationale  Comparative effectiveness research (CER) is the study of two or more approaches to a health problem to determine which one results in better health outcomes. It is viewed by some in the USA as a promising strategy for health care reform.

Aims and Objectives  In this paper, nascent US CER policy will be described and analysed in order to determine its similarities and differences with EBM and its chances of success.

Methods  Document review and process tracing

Results  CER shares the logic of policies promoting evidence‐based medicine, but invites greater methodological flexibility to ensure external validity across a range of health care topics.

Conclusions  This may narrow the inferential distance from knowledge to action, but efforts to change the US health care system through CER will face familiar epistemological quandaries and ‘patient‐centred’ politics on the left and right.
Where is the wisdom? I – A conceptual history of evidence‐based medicine
Authors: Wyer Peter C. , Silva Suzana A.
Published: December 2009

Rationale Evidence‐based medicine (EBM) has been acclaimed as a major advance in medical science, but criticized as a proposed alternative model for the practice and teaching of medicine. Ambiguity regarding the proper role of the contributions of EBM within the fabric of medicine and health care has contributed to this discrepancy.

Aims and objectives We undertook a critical review of the history of the EBM movement, beginning with its origins in the 1970s and continuing through this century. We drew upon the results of an independent project that rationalized the EBM domain from the perspective of educational evaluation and assessment. We considered the content of EBM in relationship to the propositions and promises embodied in advocacy publications.

Results EBM emerged in the context of the explosion of biomedical information in the decade preceding public access to the Internet in the mid‐1990s and drew upon the independently derived ‘information literacy’ formula developed by information scientists during the 1980s. The critically important content and achievements of EBM are fully explained within the confines of the information literacy model. The thesis that EBM offers an alternative paradigm for individualized health care, asserted in the advocacy literature, is not supported by published models of evidence‐based clinical practice.

Conclusion A critical historical review of the origins, content and development of the EBM movement proposes that full integration of the fruits of the movement into routine clinical care remains a conceptual and practical challenge.
The Nature of the Compensatory Response to Low Thyroid Hormone in the Developing Brain
Authors: Sharlin D. S. , Gilbert M. E. , Taylor M. A. , Ferguson D. C. , Zoeller R. T.
Published: December 2009

Thyroid hormone is essential for normal brain development, although the degree to which the developing brain is sensitive to small perturbations in serum thyroxin is not clear. An important concept related to this is that the developing brain possesses potent mechanisms to compensate for low serum thyroid hormone, and this concept is routinely employed in discussions concerning clinical treatments or public health. However, experimental studies have not directly tested whether (or the degree to which) putative compensatory mechanisms can ameliorate the consequences of small reductions in serum thyroxin (T4). To formally test this concept, we employed a model of graded T4 reductions using doses of propylthiouracil (PTU) that were 200‐ to 67‐fold lower than the dose traditionally used to produce hypothyroidism in rats. PTU produced a stepwise decrease in serum total T4, and a stepwise increase in serum thyroid‐stimulating hormone (TSH), in type 2 deiodinase mRNA expression and enzyme activity in the brain, and in the expression of the mRNA encoding the tri‐iodothyronine (T3) transporter MCT8 in the postnatal day (P) 15  cortex. However, the mRNA encoding RC3/neurogranin, a direct target of T3 action, exhibited a strong negative linear correlation with serum total T4 despite these adaptive responses. In addition, single‐cell analysis of RC3 mRNA levels in cortical neurones demonstrated that the co‐expression of MCT8 did not alter the relationship between RC3 mRNA and serum T4. These findings do not support the currently envisioned concept of the developing brain being capable of compensating for low T4.
The Effect of Betamethasone Treatment on Neuroactive Steroid Synthesis in a Foetal Guinea Pig Model of Growth Restriction
Authors: McKendry A. A. , Palliser H. K. , Yates D. M. , Walker D. W. , Hirst J. J.
Published: December 2009

There are ongoing concerns that antenatal corticosteroids, which are administered to women at high risk of delivering preterm to reduce the incidence of respiratory distress syndrome, have adverse effects on foetal brain development and subsequent effects on behaviour and learning, when administered as repeated courses. The present study aimed to examine whether repeated betamethasone treatment alters the expression of the key‐rate limiting enzyme, 5α‐reductase, in the synthetic pathway of the potent neuroactive steroid allopregnanolone in the brain and placenta and whether this effect is potentiated in growth restricted foetuses. To investigate this, pregnant guinea pigs carrying either control (sham surgery) or growth‐restricted foetuses were treated with vehicle or betamethasone (1 mg/kg/day) for 4 days prior to sacrifice (65d). Placental insufficiency was induced by the ablation of uterine artery branches supplying each placenta at mid gestation, resulting in foetal growth restriction characterised by ‘brain sparing’. Real‐time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was used to determine relative 5α‐reductase type 1 and 2 mRNA expression in the placenta and brain. Immunohistochemistry was used to examine the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression in the subcortical white matter, CA1 and dentate regions of the hippocampus. 5α‐reductase type 2 mRNA expression in the brain was markedly reduced by betamethasone treatment in male foetuses compared to vehicle‐treated controls but not in female foetuses. In addition, 5α‐reductase type 1 expression in the brain was increased by growth restriction and/or betamethasone treatment in female foetuses but expression in males foetuses did not increase. 5α‐reductase type 2 expression in the placenta was markedly reduced by betamethasone treatment compared to vehicle‐treated control. Intrauterine growth restriction and betamethasone treatment reduced GFAP expression in the CA1 region of the hippocampus in the brains of male but not female foetuses. These data indicate that betamethasone treatment suppresses placental expression and has sexually dimorphic effects on expression of neuroactive steroid synthetic enzymes in the brain. These actions may lead to adverse effects on the developing brain, particularly in male foetuses, such as the observed effects on GFAP expression.
Determination of de novo and pool emissions of terpenes from four common boreal/alpine trees by 13CO2 labelling and PTR‐MS analysis
Authors: GHIRARDO ANDREA , KOCH KRISTINE , TAIPALE RISTO , ZIMMER INA , SCHNITZLER JÖRG‐PETER , RINNE JANNE
Published: December 2009

Boreal forests emit a large amount of monoterpenes into the atmosphere. Traditionally these emissions are assumed to originate as evaporation from large storage pools. Thus, their diurnal cycle would depend mostly on temperature. However, there is indication that a significant part of the monoterpene emission would originate directly from de novo synthesis. By applying 13CO2 fumigation and analyzing the isotope fractions with proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR‐MS) and classical GC‐MS, we determined the fractions of monoterpene emissions originating from de novo biosynthesis in Pinus sylvestris (58%), Picea abies (33.5%), Larix decidua (9.8%) and Betula pendula (100%). Application of the observed split between de novo and pool emissions from P. sylvestris in a hybrid emission algorithm resulted in a better description of ecosystem scale monoterpene emissions from a boreal Scots pine forest stand.
Drought and salt tolerances in wild relatives for wheat and barley improvement
Authors: NEVO EVIATAR , CHEN GUOXIONG
Published: December 2009

Drought and salinity are the major abiotic stresses that dramatically threaten the food supply in the world. Tribe Triticeae, including wheat and barley, possesses tremendous potential for drought and salt tolerance that has been extensively and practically identified, tested, and transferred to wheat cultivars with proven expression of tolerance in experimental trials. Triticum dicoccoides and Hordeum spontaneum, the progenitors of cultivated wheat and barley, have adapted to a broad range of environments and developed rich genetic diversities for drought and salt tolerances. Drought‐ and salt‐tolerant genes and quantitative trait loci (QTLs) have been identified in T. dicoccoides and H. spontaneum and have great potential in wheat and barley improvement. Advanced backcross QTL analysis, the introgression libraries based on wild wheat and wild barley as donors, and positional cloning of natural QTLs will play prevailing roles in elucidating the molecular control of drought and salt tolerance. Combining tolerant genes and QTLs in crop breeding programs aimed at improving tolerance to drought and salinity will be achieved within a multidisciplinary context. Wild genetic resistances to drought and salinity will be shifted in the future from field experiments to the farmer.
Hidden cytoplasmic incompatibility alters the dynamics of male-killer/host interactions
Authors: Hornett E. A. , Engelstädter J. , Hurst G. D. D.
Published: December 2009

Wolbachia manipulate the reproduction of their arthropod hosts in a variety of ways. Recent work has demonstrated that these bacteria may combine phenotypes – possessing a ‘male killing’ phenotype and, where males survive, induce cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI). We here develop a mathematical model to investigate the extent to which ‘hidden’ CI may affect the evolutionary dynamics of host genes that suppress male-killing activity. We observed that for high prevalence infections, CI drives both suppressor and bacterium to higher frequency, such that the strain appears to solely exhibit CI. In contrast, for low prevalence infections, CI impedes suppressor invasion as surviving infected males are incompatible with the majority of females in the population. Our results demonstrate that ‘hidden’ phenotypes as well as observable ones can impact on the dynamics of the interaction, and knowledge of these is therefore required to predict when suppressor genes will invade, and the consequences of their invasion.
Mitochondrial haplotype does not affect sperm velocity in the zebra finchTaeniopygia guttata
Authors: MOSSMAN J. A. , SLATE J. , BIRKHEAD T. R.
Published: December 2009

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation has been suggested as a possible cause of variation in male fertility because sperm activity is tightly coupled to mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and ATP production, both of which are sensitive to mtDNA mutations. Since male‐specific phenotypes such as sperm have no fitness consequences for mitochondria due to maternal mitochondrial (and mtDNA) inheritance, mtDNA mutations that are deleterious in males but which have negligible or no fitness effect in females can persist in populations. How often such mutations arise and persist is virtually unknown. To test whether there were associations between mtDNA variation and sperm performance, we haplotyped 250 zebra finchesTaeniopygia guttatafrom a large pedigreed‐population and measured sperm velocity using computer‐assisted sperm analysis. Using quantitative genetic ‘animal’ models, we found no effect of mtDNA haplotype on sperm velocity. Therefore, there is no evidence that in this system mitochondrial mutations have asymmetric fitness effects on males and females, leading to genetic variation in male fertility that is blind to natural selection.
A microsatellite linkage map for Drosophila montana shows large variation in recombination rates, and a courtship song trait maps to an area of low recombination
Authors: Schäfer M. A. , Mazzi D. , Klappert K. , Kauranen H. , Vieira J. , Hoikkala A. , Ritchie M. G. , Schlötterer C.
Published: December 2009

Current advances in genetic analysis are opening up our knowledge of the genetics of species differences, but challenges remain, particularly for out-bred natural populations. We constructed a microsatellite-based linkage map for two out-bred lines of Drosophila montana derived from divergent populations by taking advantage of the Drosophila virilis genome and available cytological maps of both species. Although the placement of markers was quite consistent with cytological predictions, the map indicated large heterogeneity in recombination rates along chromosomes. We also performed a quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis on a courtship song character (carrier frequency), which differs between populations and is subject to strong sexual selection. Linkage mapping yielded two significant QTLs, which explained 3% and 14% of the variation in carrier frequency, respectively. Interestingly, as in other recent studies of traits which can influence speciation, the strongest QTL mapped to a genomic region partly covered by an inversion polymorphism.
Rapid and accurate detection of Ceratocystis fagacearum from stained wood and soil by nested and real‐time PCR
Authors: Wu C. P. , Chen G. Y. , Li B. , Su H. , An Y. L. , Zhen S. Z. , Ye J. R.
Published: December 2009

A nested and real‐time PCR assay was developed for the rapid and accurate detection of Ceratocystis fagacearum, which is the causal agent of oak wilt in stained wood and soil. Based on the differences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences of Ceratocystis spp., one pair of species‐specific primers, CF01/CF02, was designed. Whereas a 280‐bp product was amplified using the purified DNA from three isolates of C. fagacearum as the template, no PCR product was obtained from template of other 18 fungi. The detection sensitivity was 10 pg genomic DNA per 25‐μl PCR reaction volume. To increase detection sensitivity, a nested PCR was developed by using ITS1/ITS4 as the first‐round primers and CF01/CF02 in the second round, as it can detect 1 pg genomic DNA per 25‐μl PCR reaction volume. More importantly, CF01/CF02 primers were successfully adapted to real‐time PCR with a detection limit of 0.1 pg genomic DNA per 20‐μl PCR reaction volume. Using these two methods, we could rapidly and accurately detect the pathogen in artificially infected wood and soil.
Anti‐inflammatory actions of probiotics through activating suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) expression and signaling in Helicobacter pylori infection: A novel mechanism
Authors: Lee Jeong Sang , Paek Nam Soo , Kwon Oh Sang , Hahm Ki Baik
Published: December 2009

Background and Aims:  In spite of the International Agency for Research on Cancer's definition that Helicobacter pylori is the definite carcinogen of gastric cancer, the simple eradication of the bug is not enough to prevent resultant gastric cancer, and increasing microbial resistance further limits the eradication application. Therefore, probiotics, non‐pathogenic microbial feed that can affect the host in a beneficial manner, could be an alternate way to enhance anti‐inflammation against H. pylori. However, the mechanism of their anti‐inflammatory actions is still unclear. In the current study, we hypothesized that suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) signaling could be a feasible anti‐inflammatory mechanism of probiotics against H. pylori infection.

Results:  H. pylori infection or their lipopolysaccharide stimulation led to significant increased expressions of inflammatory mediators including tumor necrosis factor‐α, interleukin‐8, inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase‐2 in AGS cells and pretreatment of Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus rhamnosis and Lactobacillus acidophilus significantly attenuated the expressions of these inflammatory mediators in accordance with the blocking action of nuclear factor‐κB nuclear translocation. Probiotic administration increased expression of SOCS‐2 and SOCS‐3 and exerted the active SOCS signaling featured with earlier and higher expressions of SOCS‐2 and SOCS‐3. In contrast to weak inactivation of mitogen‐activated protein kinases including p‐38 and extracellular signal‐regulated kinase 1/2, probiotic‐induced SOCS expressions were mediated through either significant phosphorylation of signal transducers and activation of transcription (STAT)‐1 and STAT‐3 or simultaneous inhibition of Janus kinase (JAK)2 phosphorylation, which is known to signal SOCS‐2/SOCS‐3 negatively.

Conclusion:  Anti‐inflammatory signals of SOCS through STAT‐1/STAT‐3 activation and JAK2 inactivation might be a key anti‐inflammatory mechanism of probiotics, setting probiotics as a non‐microbial strategy to H. pylori infection.
Physical and motor fitness are both related to cognition in old age
Authors: Voelcker‐Rehage Claudia , Godde Ben , Staudinger Ursula M.
Published: December 2009

The benefits of fitness for cognitive performance in healthy older adults have repeatedly been demonstrated. Animal studies, however, have revealed differential relationships between physical and motor fitness and brain metabolism. We therefore investigated whether for older humans different dimensions of fitness are differentially associated with cognitive performance and brain activation patterns. Seventy‐two participants (mean age 68.99 years, SD = 3.66; 52 females) completed four psychometric tests reflecting two primary abilities of higher cognitive functioning (executive control, perceptual speed) and a battery of fitness tests comprising two fitness dimensions (physical and motor fitness). We found that not only physical fitness indexed by cardiovascular fitness and muscular strength, but also motor fitness including movement speed, balance, motor coordination and flexibility showed a strong association with cognitive functioning. Additionally, functional brain imaging data revealed that physical and motor fitness were differentially related to cognitive processes. Results are discussed with regard to the compensation hypothesis and potential consequences for intervention work.
Electrophysiological signature of working and long‐term memory interaction in the human hippocampus
Authors: Axmacher Nikolai , Lenz Sarah , Haupt Sven , Elger Christian E. , Fell Juergen
Published: December 2009

Recent findings indicate that the hippocampus is not only crucial for long‐term memory (LTM) encoding, but plays a role for working memory (WM) as well. In particular, it has been shown that the hippocampus is important for WM maintenance of multiple items or associations between item features. Previous studies using intracranial electroencephalography recordings from the hippocampus of patients with epilepsy revealed slow positive potentials during maintenance of a single item and during LTM encoding, but slow negative potentials during maintenance of multiple items. These findings predict that WM maintenance of multiple items interferes with LTM encoding, because these two processes are associated with slow potentials of opposing polarities in the hippocampus. Here, we tested this idea in a dual‐task paradigm involving a LTM encoding task nested into a WM Sternberg task with either a low (one item) or a high (three items) memory load. In the high WM load condition, LTM encoding was significantly impoverished, and slow hippocampal potentials were more negative than in the low WM load condition. Time‐frequency analysis revealed that a reduction of slow hippocampal activity in the delta frequency range supported LTM formation in the low load condition, but not during high WM load. Together, these findings indicate that multi‐item WM and LTM encoding interfere within the hippocampus.
Effects of disconnection of amygdala dopamine and nucleus accumbens N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptors on ethanol‐seeking behavior in mice
Authors: Gremel Christina M. , Cunningham Christopher L.
Published: December 2009

There is a strong interest in harnessing the genetic manipulations that are possible in mice to investigate the functional neural mechanisms modulating the associative processes that control drug‐seeking behavior. However, it is unknown whether intracranial techniques, such as the disconnection procedure commonly used in rats to examine serial connectivity between implicated areas, can be successfully applied to mice. We have previously demonstrated that the expression of ethanol‐seeking behavior in mice is dependent upon amygdala (Amy) dopamine and nucleus accumbens (Acb) N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation (Gremel & Cunningham, 2009). Here, we used a neuropharmacological disconnection procedure to investigate whether dopamine activation of the Amy directly leading to increases in Acb glutamate release and binding of NMDA receptors modulates the expression of ethanol‐seeking behavior. Immediately before testing the expression of an ethanol‐induced conditioned place preference, mice were given an Amy infusion of flupenthixol and either an ipsilateral or contralateral Acb infusion of AP‐5. Although both ipsilateral and contralateral manipulations reduced the expression of ethanol conditioned place preference, in a separate experiment we demonstrated that a unilateral Acb infusion of AP‐5, but not Amy flupenthixol, is sufficient to disrupt preference. The finding of a significant blockade by unilateral AP‐5 into the Acb precludes any conclusions about a unique role for the Amy/Acb neuroanatomical connection in this model of ethanol‐seeking behavior. Further, the current results suggest potential limitations in transferring techniques from rats to mice in order to study serial interactions between neural areas underlying motivated behaviors. Nevertheless, these findings provide evidence showing that Acb NMDA receptors play an important role in the expression of ethanol‐conditioned behavior.
The Rise of the New South Governmentality: Competing Southern Revitalization Projects and Police Responses to the Black Civil Rights Movement 1961–1965
Authors: HOHLE RANDOLPH
Published: December 2009

This article examines the southern response to the civil rights movement and its relationship to the broader struggle for southern influence and control. Drawing from governmentality studies and the concept of “security”, I trace the correlation of two competing southern revitalization projects with distinct southern policing styles to consider the importance of normative political cultures, rather than the instrumental and immediate political outcomes of each local movement, on the southern response to the civil rights movement. Despite the development of new south police practices that curtained civil rights protest and produced a politically modern and racially tolerant idealized new south image, the old south project, in its failures, gained influence on the county, statewide, and regional levels. Although the conflicting revitalization projects differed in their objectives, the linkages between them set the stage for subsequent southern revitalization and development that started in the 1970s.
An asset‐based approach to indigenous development in Taiwan
Authors: Hipwell William T.
Published: December 2009

Numerous scholars studying community efforts to (re‐)establish autonomy have begun to focus on the importance of empowerment in the economic, political and cultural spheres. There is a growing understanding that such empowerment can be hastened by affirmative development strategies that build on community assets and capacities rather than attempting to redress – and thereby emphasising – needs or lack. Such development work reflects intertwined currents in contemporary philosophy, influenced by the thought of Friedrich Nietzsche and of Gilles Deleuze. In Taiwan, a recent resurgence in identities among marginalised aboriginal or indigenous peoples (‘Formosans’) has been accompanied by novel approaches to development. This discussion heuristically employs a set of development theories that are essentially variants of ‘asset‐based community development’ (ABCD) to suggest that a focus on affirmation and empowerment has been and can be a key to success in Formosan development initiatives. The paper presents the results of qualitative field research, illuminating three case studies of Formosan development – in Tsou, Tayal and Taroko territories. It argues that Formosan development will benefit from a focus on community capacity, political empowerment and social as well as physical assets, and that to an important degree this has already happened in some communities.
New Polynesian Triangle: Rethinking Polynesian migration and development in the Pacific
Authors: Barcham Manuhuia , Scheyvens Regina , Overton John
Published: December 2009

For many Polynesians migration is still framed within a particular spatial context, although on an enlarged scale – one that we have termed the New Polynesian Triangle. With its apexes in the North American continent to the east, Australia in the west and New Zealand in the south, this New Polynesian Triangle encompasses a particular field through which ongoing Polynesian migration and movement continues to occur. Movement within this New Polynesian Triangle is both multidimensional and multidirectional. While it is the movement of economic resources, particularly remittances, that has captured the interest of many agencies operating in the region, we argue that such economic flows are integrally linked with other flows – of goods, ideas, skills and culture – to form a single dynamic system of movement. Importantly, such flows are not uni‐directional (from ‘rich’ to ‘poor’ countries) as was assumed in times past. In developing ideas on the New Polynesian Triangle, we wish to move away from the dominant Western discourse of the Pacific Ocean as a barrier to development and movement and towards the reclamation of the ocean as a conduit and source of connection and movement for Pacific peoples.
Integrating soft factors into the assessment of cooperative relationships between firms: accounting for reputation and ethical values
Authors: Hirsch Bernhard , Meyer Matthias
Published: December 2009

Alliances and other forms of cooperation between firms often promise great benefits, for example, by the exchange of knowledge or co‐specialization of resources. At the same time, the necessary actions to realize these benefits can augment vulnerability to opportunistic behaviour of partners. In addition to formal contracts to mitigate the resulting behavioural uncertainties, often, mechanisms, such as reputation or ethical values, are suggested as important supplements. However, when it comes to assessment of a specific cooperation opportunity, it is difficult to account systematically for the economic consequences of these ‘softer factors’. Therefore, this paper aims to surpass mere financial analysis of chance and risk and to integrate systematically both reputation and ethical values into an economic assessment of cooperative relationships. For this purpose, we develop a theoretical framework that is based on a simple‐decision model to account for reputation and ethical values of potential partners as drivers of behavioural uncertainty reduction. We also discuss how this framework can be used to assess cooperative relationships and illustrate these ideas with reference to the inter‐organizational accounting practices of a large drugstore chain and its suppliers.
Ethical perceptions of business students in a New Zealand university: do gender, age and work experience matter?
Authors: Eweje Gabriel , Brunton Margaret
Published: December 2009

Ethical issues at the workplace have once again become topical and important due to considerable adverse publicity surrounding reports of unethical business practices by corporate managers. Accordingly, this paper re‐visits the question of whether gender, age and work experience do have an effect on ethical judgement, using 655 business students as respondents. This is necessary as business students are likely to become managers during their career and will face complex ethical concerns and dilemmas in their daily, routine affairs. The findings currently demonstrate that females are more ethically aware than their male counterparts – that is, there are differences between males and females regarding ethical judgement. There is also evidence to suggest that age is a factor that does impact on ethical judgement. However, we also found evidence to suggest that in some cases, the age factor does not necessarily have a significant impact on ethical awareness. The results further indicate that there is a difference in ethical judgement related to work experience. However, at the same time, in one question there is no evidence to suggest the claim that work experience does impact significantly on ethical judgement. Overall, it appears that ethical awareness does increase alongside work experience.
Defending the Gellnerian premise: Denmark in historical and comparative context
Authors: CAMPBELL JOHN L. , HALL JOHN A.
Published: December 2009

ABSTRACT.The teleological functionalism of Gellner's theory of nationalism has been much criticised. Attention here is on a different matter, namely Gellner's basic premise – that national homogeneity is a condition for societal success. We defend this view in a particular way – by showing that small, culturally homogeneous countries have advantages that often enhance their socioeconomic performance. They can coordinate policy in ways that help them respond successfully to the vulnerabilities of smallness. These capacities stem in part from the common bonds of nationalism and the resulting institutional capabilities for co‐operation, sacrifice, flexible manoeuvring, and concerted state action. The argument is supported by a detailed analysis of the Danish case – a country whose impressive success has been deeply marked both by a diminution in size and an increase in national homogeneity. Less detailed examples of other countries are also presented. The conclusion urges caution as to the policy implications of the argument.
The constitution and the politics of national identity in Spain
Authors: MARTÍNEZ‐HERRERA ENRIC , MILEY THOMAS JEFFREY
Published: December 2009

ABSTRACT. The 1978 Spanish Constitution enshrined the recognition of linguistic, cultural, and some degree of ‘national’ pluralism in the country and outlined procedural mechanisms for the creation of regional ‘autonomies’, which has given rise to a de facto asymmetrical federal state. This article begins by analyzing the compromise over issues of national identity embedded in the Constitution and the process by which this was forged. It highlights the articulation among political forces of contending conceptions of national identity and different projects for reorganising the territorial structure within and/or against the Spanish state. It also describes the social bases of support for the respective projects. Next, the article examines recent challenges to the parameters of the constitutional compromise. It shows that citizens' support for the basic parameters of the 1978 compromise remains high and has even become stronger. It emphasises that the preferences of the general public stand in sharp contrast with the preferences of influential sections of the Basque and Catalan regional political establishment, and it concludes that current challenges to the constitutional compromise are driven by political elites.
The transition between the phenotypes of Prader‐Willi syndrome during infancy and early childhood
Authors: BUTLER JILL V , WHITTINGTON JOYCE E , HOLLAND ANTHONY J , McALLISTER CATHERINE J , GOLDSTONE ANTHONY P
Published: December 2009

Aim Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genetic disorder historically characterized by two phenotypic stages. The early phenotype in infants is associated with hypotonia, poor suck, and failure to thrive. In later childhood, PWS is associated with intellectual disability, hyperphagia, as well as growth and sex hormone deficiency. Little is known about the transition between phenotypes. This study investigates the nature of the change in infancy and childhood PWS.

Method Forty‐six children (22 females, 24 males; mean age 2y 9mo, SD 18.9mo; range 7mo–5y) with genetically confirmed PWS participated. Information was obtained on childhood height and weight, and eating behaviour from case notes and by parental interview.

Results Weight standard deviation scores (SDS) started to exceed height by the end of the first year. Height SDS appeared to fall from near normal at birth until stabilizing below normal around 2 years. Half of the children whose body mass index (BMI) was higher than normal at interview had food interests greater than that of their peers, and the age at which increased age‐appropriate eating was first noted was later than the increase of BMI SDS.

Interpretation Obesity may develop before the increased interest in food, suggesting underlying physiological factors independent of appetite control may be important.
The predictive value of early neurological examination in neonatal hypoxic–ischaemic encephalopathy and neurodevelopmental outcome at 24 months
Authors: MURRAY DEIRDRE M , BALA PRONAB , O’CONNOR CATHERINE M , RYAN C ANTHONY , CONNOLLY SEAN , BOYLAN GERALDINE B
Published: December 2009

Aim  The clinical and electrographic signs of hypoxic–ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) evolve over the first days of life. We examined the evolution of neurological signs over the first 3 days of life, and determined whether serial administration of the Amiel‐Tison Neurological Assessment at Term (ATNAT) would predict neurodevelopmental outcome at 24 months.

Method  Term (>37wks’ gestation) neonates born with suspected HIE between May 2003 and May 2005 in a Cork maternity unit were recruited prospectively. Modified Sarnat grading was assigned. The ATNAT was administered on days 1, 2, and 3 of life and a discharge neurological examination. Time to oral feeding and demographic variables were recorded. Developmental status was assessed using the revised Griffiths Mental Development Scales at 6, 12, and 24 months.

Results  Fifty‐seven infants were recruited, with 51 (31 males, 20 females) included for follow‐up. Neurological examination evolved and normalized over the first 3 days of life in many cases. At 24 months, 21 children had an adverse outcome, including six deaths. Examination at all time points correlated significantly with neurological outcome at 24 months. The best correlations were found to be (1) neurological examination at discharge (r=0.65, p<0.001), (2) Sarnat grading (r=0.64, p<0.001), and (3) ATNAT on day 3 (r=0.46, p<0.001). The best predictive value was seen with neurological examination at discharge (positive and negative predictive values of 86% and 72% respectively).

Interpretation  Persistence of abnormal neurological signs correlates significantly with adverse outcome. The later a neonatal neurological examination was performed, the better its predictive ability.
Assessing patterns of participation and enjoyment in children with spinal cord injury
Authors: KLAAS SARA J , KELLY ERIN H , GORZKOWSKI JULIE , HOMKO ERICA , VOGEL LAWRENCE C
Published: December 2009

Aim  To determine patterns of participation and levels of enjoyment in young people with spinal cord injuries (SCI) and to assess how informal and formal participation varies across child, injury‐related, household, and community variables.

Method  One hundred and ninety‐four participants (106 males, 88 females; mean age 13y 2mo, SD 3y 8mo, range 6–18y) with SCI and their primary caregivers completed a demographics questionnaire and a standardized measure of participation (the Children’s Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment, [CAPE]) at three pediatric SCI centers in a single hospital system in the United States. Their mean age at injury was 7 years 2 months (SD 5y 8mo, range 0–17y); 71% had paraplegia, and 58% had complete injuries.

Results  Young people participated more often in informal activities (t(174)=29.84, p<0.001) and reported higher enjoyment with these (t(174)=2.01, p=0.046). However, when engaging in formal activities, they participated with a more diverse group (t(174)=−16.26, p<0.001) and further from home (t(174)=−16.08, p<0.001). Aspects of informal participation were related to the child’s age, sex, and injury level, and formal participation to the child’s age and caregiver education. Caregiver education was more critical to formal participation among young people with tetraplegia than among those with paraplegia (F(4,151)=2.67, p=0.034).

Interpretation  Points of intervention include providing more participation opportunities for young people with tetraplegia and giving caregivers the resources necessary to enhance their children’s formal participation.
Insights from comparative analyses of aging in birds and mammals
Authors: Ricklefs Robert E.
Published: December 2009

Many laboratory models used in aging research are inappropriate for understanding senescence in mammals, including humans, because of fundamental differences in life history, maintenance in artificial environments, and selection for early aging and high reproductive rate. Comparative studies of senescence in birds and mammals reveal a broad range in rates of aging among a variety of taxa with similar physiology and patterns of development. These comparisons suggest that senescence is a shared property of all vertebrates with determinate growth, that the rate of senescence has been modified by evolution in response to the potential life span allowed by extrinsic mortality factors, and that most variation among species in the rate of senescence is independent of commonly ascribed causes of aging, such as oxidative damage. Individuals of potentially long‐lived species, particularly birds, appear to maintain high condition to near the end of life. Because most individuals in natural populations of such species die of aging‐related causes, these populations likely harbor little genetic variation for mechanisms that could extend life further, or these mechanisms are very costly. This, and the apparent evolutionary conservatism in the rate of increase in mortality with age, suggests that variation in the rate of senescence reflects fundamental changes in organism structure, likely associated with the rate of development, rather than physiological or biochemical processes influenced by a few genes. Understanding these evolved differences between long‐lived and short‐lived organisms would seem to be an essential foundation for designing therapeutic interventions with respect to human aging and longevity.
Neuroprotective effects of hydrogen sulfide on Parkinson’s disease rat models
Authors: Hu Li‐Fang , Lu Ming , Tiong Chi Xin , Dawe Gavin S. , Hu Gang , Bian Jin‐Song
Published: December 2009

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN). The present study was designed to examine the therapeutic effect of hydrogen sulfide (H2S, a novel biological gas) on PD. The endogenous H2S level was markedly reduced in the SN in a 6‐hydroxydopamine (6‐OHDA)‐induced PD rat model. Systemic administration of NaHS (an H2S donor) dramatically reversed the progression of movement dysfunction, loss of tyrosine‐hydroxylase positive neurons in the SN and the elevated malondialdehyde level in injured striatum in the 6‐OHDA‐induced PD model. H2S specifically inhibited 6‐OHDA evoked NADPH oxidase activation and oxygen consumption. Similarly, administration of NaHS also prevented the development of PD induced by rotenone. NaHS treatment inhibited microglial activation in the SN and accumulation of pro‐inflammatory factors (e.g. TNF‐α and nitric oxide) in the striatum via NF‐κB pathway. Moreover, significantly less neurotoxicity was found in neurons treated with the conditioned medium from microglia incubated with both NaHS and rotenone compared to that with rotenone only, suggesting that the therapeutic effect of NaHS was, at least partially, secondary to its suppression of microglial activation. In summary, we demonstrate for the first time that H2S may serve as a neuroprotectant to treat and prevent neurotoxin‐induced neurodegeneration via multiple mechanisms including anti‐oxidative stress, anti‐inflammation and metabolic inhibition and therefore has potential therapeutic value for treatment of PD.
To the Islands – Photographs of Tropical Colonies in The Queenslander
Authors: Perkins Hannah , Quanchi Max
Published: December 2009

Australian readers knew a great deal about the Pacific Islands in the early 20th century. This understanding came from missionary fund‐raising campaigns, visiting lantern‐slide lecturers, postcards and illustrated books and encyclopaedia but most of all, after the mid‐1890s, from heavily illustrated weekend newspapers. These were published in all major cities and offered a regular visual window on ‘the islands’, of which three were Australian colonies shortly after World War I. This paper argues that Australians were well‐informed about the potential for settlement, and commercial and economic opportunities. It notes that illustrated newspapers were dominated by ethnographic images of the material culture and lifestyles of island peoples, but that images of wharves, plantations, port towns and colonial infrastructure were provided for those readers who thought the western Pacific should become an Australian or at least a British sphere of interest. Ultimately The Queenslander’s editorial motivation was to alert Australian readers to the economic potential of plantations, trade, mining, travel and settling in the nearby tropics.
Taxonomic review of Hemistola Warren, 1893 from China, with descriptions of seven new species (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Geometrinae)
Authors: HAN Hongxiang , XUE Dayong
Published: December 2009

The genus Hemistola Warren from China is reviewed, and seven new species are described: H. viridimargo, sp. nov., H. glauca sp. nov., H. asymmetra sp. nov., H. arcilinea sp. nov., H. flavifimbria sp. nov., H. orbiculosoides sp. nov. and H. stueningi sp. nov. Two species, acyra and christinaria, are transferred from Hemistola to Maxates and Comostola, respectively: Maxates acyra comb. nov. and Comostola christinaria comb. nov. Including the 25 species previously known from China, a total of 32 species is now recorded. All Chinese species are redescribed. Generic characters based on all species are summarized. Illustrations of adults and genitalia are presented.
Standby Consumption in Households Analyzed With a Practice Theory Approach
Authors: Gram‐Hanssen Kirsten
Published: December 2009

This article focuses on the energy consumption of households and the question of how daily routines can be changed in a more sustainable direction. It discusses different theoretical approaches with which to understand consumer behavior and introduces practice theory that emphasizes sociotechnical structures as the basis for analyzing stability of consumer practices and opportunities for change. Through analysis of ten in‐depth interviews with families participating in a project aimed at reducing standby consumption, it is shown how technological configurations, everyday life routines, knowledge, and motivation constitute the practice and also structure the possibilities for change. The article concludes by contending that a conception of human behavior that is both less rational and less individualistic is needed to understand stability and change of households’ energy consumption behavior.
Linear Ablation of Right Atrial Free Wall Flutter: Demonstration of Bidirectional Conduction Block as an Endpoint Associated With Long‐Term Success
Authors: SNOWDON RICHARD L. , BALASUBRAMANIAM RICHARD , TEH ANDREW W. , HAQQANI HARIS M. , MEDI CAROLINE , ROSSO RAPHAEL , VOHRA JITENDRA K. , KISTLER PETER M. , MORTON JOSEPH B. , SPARKS PAUL B. , KALMAN JONATHAN M.
Published: December 2009

Ablation of Right Atrial Free Wall Flutter.

Introduction:
Ablation for atypical atrial flutter (AFL) is often performed during tachycardia, with termination or noninducibility of AFL as the endpoint. Termination alone is, however, an inadequate endpoint for typical AFL ablation, where incomplete isthmus block leads to high recurrence rates. We assessed conduction block across a low lateral right atrial (RA) ablation line (LRA) from free wall scar to the inferior vena cava (IVC) or tricuspid annulus in 11 consecutive patients with atypical RA free wall flutter.

Method and results:
LRA block was assessed following termination of AFL, by pacing from the ablation catheter in the low lateral RA posterior to the ablation line and recording the sequence and timing of activation anterior to the line with a duodecapole catheter, and vice versa for bidirectional block. LRA block resulted in a high to low activation pattern on the halo and a mean conduction time of 201 ± 48 ms to distal halo. LRA conduction block was present in only 2 out of 6 patients after termination of AFL by ablation. Ablation was performed during sinus rhythm (SR) in 9 patients to achieve LRA conduction block. No recurrence of AFL was observed at long‐term follow‐up (22 ± 12 months); 3 patients developed AF.

Conclusion:
Termination of right free wall flutter is often associated with persistent LRA conduction and additional radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in SR is usually required. Low RA pacing may be used to assess LRA conduction block and offers a robust endpoint for atypical RA free wall flutter ablation, which results in a high long‐term cure rate. (J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol, Vol. 21, pp. 526‐531, May 2010)