bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Clinical efficacy of naftopidil on lower urinary tract symptoms after radical prostatectomy
Authors: Ishizaka Kazuhiro , Machida Tatsuya , Tanaka Masaki , Kawamura Naoko , Nakamura Keisuke , Kihara Kazunori
Published: January 2009

Objective:  The management of lower urinary tract symptoms that persist after radical prostatectomy remains to be established. We investigated whether an α1‐blocker, naftopidil, improves LUTS in patients ≥1 year after radical prostatectomy.

Methods:  A total of 29 male patients received 25 mg/day of naftopidil for the first week, then 75 mg/day for 4 weeks. The frequency‐volume chart, international prostate symptom score and quality of life index (QOL) were examined before and at the end of the 5‐week administration in all subjects.

Results:  Total international prostate symptom score (I‐PSS) and I‐PSS subtotals associated with voiding symptoms and storage symptoms were significantly decreased at 5 weeks compared with baseline (P < 0.001 each). QOL index was significantly improved with naftopidil for 5 weeks (P < 0.001). From analyses of the frequency‐volume chart, mean and maximum volume/void were significantly increased (P < 0.05 each).

Conclusion:  Lower urinary tract symptoms detected in patients ≥1 year after radical prostatectomy were markedly improved with administration of naftopidil at 75 mg/day. These symptoms could represent a novel target for medical treatment by improved understanding of the symptom pathology in the near future.
Risk of concomitant carcinoma in situ determining biopsy candidates among primary non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer patients: Retrospective analysis of 173 Japanese cases
Authors: Hara Tomohiko , Takahashi Mutsuo , Gondo Toshikazu , Nagao Kazuhiro , Ohmi Chietaka , Sakano Shigeru , Naito Katsusuke , Matsuyama Hideyasu
Published: January 2009

Objectives:  To determine candidates for bladder biopsies among Japanese primary non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer patients according to the risk of concomitant carcinoma in situ (CIS).

Methods:  Between January 1992 and August 2006, 173 primary non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer cases underwent transurethral resection of the bladder tumor with bladder biopsies for the detection of CIS. Correlations between biopsy results and preoperative/pathological features were retrospectively analyzed.

Results:  Positive cytology was statistically associated with the presence of concomitant CIS in multivariate analysis (P < 0.01). Abnormal cystoscopic appearance outside the tumor almost achieved statistical significance in multivariate analysis among preoperative factors (P = 0.06). In our series, one (12.5%) of eight low‐risk, 18 (24.7%) of 73 intermediate‐risk and 41 (59.4%) of 69 high‐risk cases had CIS in normal‐looking sites, respectively. In cases with a single papillary tumor and negative cytology, one of 16 (6.3%) had concomitant CIS in their biopsy specimens at the normal‐looking sites.

Conclusions:  All non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer patients with positive cytology are candidates for additional random biopsies. Targeted biopsies should be performed for all suspicious areas in the bladder mucosa. Random biopsies should be considered in cases with the macroscopic types of cancer for predicting intermediate‐ and high‐risk cancer.
Biogeographical distribution of diverse anaerobic ammonium oxidizing (anammox) bacteria in Cape Fear River Estuary
Authors: Dale Olivia R. , Tobias Craig R. , Song Bongkeun
Published: January 2009

Summary Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) specific PCR method was developed to examine diversity and distribution of anammox bacteria in sediments collected from three different sites at Cape Fear River Estuary, North Carolina, where environmental parameters vary greatly over the year. Abundance and activities of anammox bacteria in these sediments were measured using the quantitative PCR (Q‐PCR) method and 15N isotope tracer incubations. Different anammox bacterial communities composed with Brocadia, Kuenenia, Jettenia or Scalindua were found among sites along the estuarine gradient. Seasonal variations of anammox community structures were observed along the estuary based on terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T‐RFLP) analysis of 16S rRNA genes. Correlation analysis suggested that salinity variation influenced the diversity and distribution of different anammox bacteria in the estuary. Q‐PCR assays of anammox bacteria showed temporal and spatial variations of their abundances, which were highly correlated to salinity variation. 15N isotope tracer incubations measured different anammox rates and its per cent contribution to total N2 production among sites. The highest anammox rate was found at the site where Scalindua organisms dominated with the highest anammox bacterial abundance. Thus, we demonstrated a biogeographical distribution of diverse anammox bacteria influenced by salinity, and provide evidence to link anammox abundance and activities in estuarine sediments.
Low‐frequency extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy improves renal pelvic stone disintegration in a pig model
Authors: Gillitzer Rolf , Neisius Andreas , Wöllner Jens , Hampel Christian , Brenner Walburgis , Bonilla Arturo Alvarado , Thüroff Joachim
Published: January 2009

OBJECTIVE

To compare disintegration rates for renal stones treated by 60 vs 120 shock waves (SW)/min at the same energy settings, using standardized validated artificial stones in a pig model.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Gypsum artificial stones (13 × 6 mm) were inserted into the renal pelvis on either side of 12 anaesthetized pigs by open surgery. Extracorporeal SW lithotripsy (ESWL) was applied using a new electromagnetic lithotripter (Lithoskop®, Siemens AG Healthcare, Munich, Germany) at 60 and 120 SW/min; 3000 SW were applied to each kidney with the same energy settings. Stone fragments were collected after nephrectomy, passed through calibrated test sieves, and weighed. Fragment size categories were stratified according to the sieve hole size as set by the manufacturer. Fragments of ≤4.75 mm were defined as capable of spontaneous passage. For each pig the number of stone fragments of the respective size categories was counted and weighed. The results were analysed statistically using the Mann–Whitney U‐test.

RESULTS

For fragments of >4.75 mm, the median (range) fragment counts were 0 (0–1) for 60 and 1 (0–3) for 120 SW/min (P = 0.006). For small fragments of 2.0–2.8 mm, the median fragment counts were 15 (4–24) for 60 and 10 (2–25) for 120 SW/min (P = 0.033); for fragments of 1.0–2.0 mm the respective values were 42.5 (9–81) and 21.5 (6–56) (P = 0.004). Of the total stone fragment mass in the 60 and 120 SW/min groups, 4.34% and 31.31% were >4.75 mm. There was complete disintegration yielding fragments capable of spontaneous passage in 10 of 12 renal units at 60 and in three of 12 renal units at 120 SW/min. The mean treatment time was 55.4 min for therapy at 60 and 34.3 min for therapy at 120 SW/min (P = 0.001). One parenchymal haematoma of 15 × 10 mm developed in the 60 SW/min group and another of 20 × 10 mm developed in the 120 SW/min group.

CONCLUSION

ESWL fragmentation with equal energy application yields significantly smaller fragments at 60 than at 120 SW/min. The theoretical stone passage rate could therefore be ≈80% for 60 vs 25% for 120 SW/min ESWL. Renal haematoma formation was comparable in both groups.
Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) discovery in the polyploid Brassica napus using Solexa transcriptome sequencing
Authors: Trick Martin , Long Yan , Meng Jinling , Bancroft Ian
Published: January 2009

Oilseed rape (Brassica napus) was selected as an example of a polyploid crop, and the Solexa sequencing system was used to generate approximately 20 million expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from each of two cultivars: Tapidor and Ningyou 7. A methodology and computational tools were developed to exploit, as a reference sequence, a publicly available set of approximately 94 000 Brassica species unigenes. Sequences transcribed in the leaves of juvenile plants were aligned to approximately 26 Mb of the reference sequences. The aligned sequences enabled the detection of 23 330–41 593 putative single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) between the cultivars, depending on the read depth stringency applied. The majority of the detected polymorphisms (87.5–91.2%) were of a type indicative of transcription from homoeologous genes from the two parental genomes within oilseed rape, and are termed here ‘hemi‐SNPs’. The overall estimated polymorphism rate (~0.047%–0.084%) is consistent with that previously observed between the cultivars analysed. To demonstrate the heritability of SNPs and to assess their suitability for applications such as linkage map construction and association genetics, approximately nine million ESTs were generated, using the Solexa system, from each of four lines of a doubled haploid mapping population derived from a cross between Tapidor and Ningyou 7. Computational tools were developed to score the alleles present in these lines for each of the potential SNPs identified between their parents. For a specimen region of the genome analysed in detail, segregation of alleles largely, although not entirely, followed the pattern expected for genomic markers.
Anthropology and the Iraq war: An uncomfortable engagement
Authors: Robben Antonius C.G.M.
Published: January 2009

The Iraq war has preoccupied anthropologists. However, this has not materialized in panels dedicated to independent study of Iraq at annual conferences at our major professional associations. In the US, we have been predominantly preoccupied with the implications of intelligence gathering for our profession. The author considers some of the differences between our dealing with the Iraq war presently, and the successful campaigns against the Vietnam war of the 60s. He concludes that there is scope for anthropologists to learn from the past and to make a renewed concerted effort to, independent from government demands on their skills, inform and change public opinion and ultimately government policy.
Here be Dragons? No, big cats! Predator symbolism in rural West Wales
Authors: Hurn Samantha
Published: January 2009

The presence of non‐endemic ‘Alien Big Cats’ (ABCs) in Britain is an oft debated topic in the press and the public sphere, especially in rural areas where agriculture is the dominant industry. Based on seven years of fieldwork in a farming community in rural Ceredigion, West Wales, this paper considers the ‘Big Cat’ phenomenon from the perspectives of informants for whom inexplicable livestock losses must be accounted for and ‘rationalised’. Moreover, in this ethnographic context, ABCs, like other transgressive non‐human animals, have become particularly powerful metaphors for the humans who encounter them.
NATO: The United States, Transformation and the War in Afghanistan
Authors: Webber Mark
Published: January 2009

During the Bush years, NATO exhibited in stark form two trends which have long characterised its development: periodic exposure to crisis and division, and a subordination to American leadership. Despite signs of American indifference towards the alliance, talk of the Bush administration levering a break with NATO was always overstated, particularly so during its second term of office. Views of NATO after 2004 were shaped by Afghanistan giving rise, in fact, to a return to the alliance on America's part. NATO remains important to Bush's successor but on terms which are as demanding as those of his predecessors. NATO, in other words, is valued in so far as it accords with current US foreign policy priorities. The safest assumption in this regard is that Obama will continue to favour the trend towards a global NATO pursued by the Bush administration. However, retreat (or defeat) in Afghanistan could hasten a contrary trend towards a consolidating NATO with a renewed concentration on the wider Europe.
Transatlantic Economic Relations in a Changing Global Political Economy: Achieving Togetherness but Missing the Bus?
Authors: Smith Michael
Published: January 2009

This article focuses on the changing context for transatlantic relations within the global political economy. The first part of the article identifies key areas of structural change in the GPE and in particular the potentially revolutionary shifts caused by global instability and the emergence of new economic powers. The argument then explores changing patterns of economic relations between the EU and the US, within a general framework of continuity created by the coexistence of competition and convergence. These contextual factors are then related to patterns of Atlanticism and transatlanticism, to questions of values and identities in the GPE and to the possibility of an EU–US ‘grand strategy’ for the changing GPE. The conclusion argues that although there is perhaps more secure ground for a sustainable EU–US ‘compact’ than previously, the EU and the US may have ‘missed the bus’ in terms of jointly shaping the future of the global economy.
US–European Intelligence Co-Operation on Counter-Terrorism: Low Politics and Compulsion
Authors: Aldrich Richard J.
Published: January 2009

Since 9/11, intelligence has been viewed as an integral part of a controversial ‘war on terror’. The acrimonious public arguments over subjects such as Iraqi WMD assessments, secret prisons and the interrogation of detainees suggest intense transatlantic discord. Yet improbably, some of those countries that have expressed strident disagreement in public are privately the closest intelligence partners. It is argued here that we can explain this seeming paradox by viewing intelligence co-operation as a rather specialist kind of ‘low politics’ that is focused on practical arrangements. Intelligence is also a fissiparous activity, allowing countries to work together in one area even while they disagree about something else. Meanwhile, the pressing need to deal with a range of increasingly elusive transnational opponents—including organised crime—compels intelligence agencies to work more closely together, despite their instinctive dislike of multilateral sharing. Therefore, transatlantic intelligence co-operation will continue to deepen, despite the complex problems that it entails.
A survey of the quality and accuracy of information leaflets about skin cancer and sun‐protective behaviour available from UK general practices and community pharmacies
Authors: Nicholls S , Hankins M , Hooley C , Smith H
Published: January 2009

Background  Better information promotes sun protection behaviour and is associated with earlier presentation and survival for malignant melanoma.

Aim  To assess the quality of patient information leaflets about skin cancer and sun‐protective behaviour available from general practices and community pharmacies.

Design of study  A structured review of patient information leaflets.

Setting  All community pharmacies and general practices in one Primary Care Trust were invited to supply leaflets.

Methods  Readability was assessed using the SMOG scoring system. Presentation and content were reviewed using the Ensuring Quality Information for Patients (EQIP) guidelines. Three consultant dermatologists assessed each leaflet for accuracy.

Results  Thirty‐one different patient information leaflets were returned. Thirteen (42%) were published in the previous 2 years, but 10 (32%) were over 5 years old. Nine (29%) leaflets were produced by the NHS or Health Education Authority, and 8 (27%) were linked to a commercial organization. One leaflet had readability in the primary education range (SMOG score = 6), and none with the recommended range for health education material (SMOG score ≤ 5). Two leaflets (6%) were in the highest quartile of EQIP score for presentation and content. Five leaflets (17%) had a major inaccuracy such as over‐reliance on sun screen products instead of shade and clothing.

Conclusions  Leaflets were of variable quality in presentation and content. All required a reading age higher than recommended. All leaflets with major inaccuracies had links with commercial organizations. This study raises important issues about the potential conflict between marketing and health messages in the way sun creams are promoted.

Conflicts of interest

None declared
Presumptive frequency of, and review of reports on, allergies to household gloves
Authors: Proksch E , Schnuch A , Uter W
Published: January 2009

Background  Allergies to latex or ‘rubber chemicals’ in medical or other occupationally used gloves are not uncommon. In contrast, very few articles have reported on latex allergy (type I) or allergic contact sensitization to additives (type IV) associated with household gloves, in spite of some 44 million pairs sold in Germany in, e.g., 2006.

Objective  We seek to determine the frequency of allergies to household gloves by providing own data and we reviewed the literature.

Methods  The study was based on 105083 consultations of patients with suspected contact allergy (Type IV) in the Information Network of Departments of Dermatology (IVDK) in Germany in the years 1995 to 2006 and on the PubMed databases (last access 7/2008).

Results  1221 patients were identified in whom protective gloves were considered as a possible cause of contact dermatitis and who did not work in occupations associated with above average risk of contact allergy to rubber chemicals. In 178 cases positive reactions to rubber components were reported, while 13 additional cases reacted only to a previously used rubber glove brand, but not to commercial allergens.

In the literature only two publications on type I and two on type IV reactions were found in which allergies to rubber household gloves were explicitly reported.

Conclusions  Allergies to rubber household gloves seem to be rare. Factors presumably counteracting contact sensitization by household gloves, compared to occupational use, comprise short intermediate use, loose fitting and the incorporation of e.g. an inner cotton surface reducing skin contact with rubber chemicals.

Conflict of interest

Ehrhardt Proksch has acted as consultant to Wirtschaftsverband der deutschen Kautschukindustrie e.V. (WDK).
Man in the age of technology
Authors: Galimberti Umberto
Published: January 2009

Abstract:  This paper argues that technology is no longer merely a tool for man's use but has become the environment in which man undergoes modifications. The author traces the role of technology from the Greeks to the present day. For the Greeks, Nature was governed by necessity and therefore unchangeable whereas in the Judeo‐Christian tradition, nature was entrusted to man for him to dominate. Modern science studies the world in order to manipulate and dominate nature through the use of technology which has now become an end in itself, governing the solution of political problems and confronting us with problems beyond our competence to resolve. The ethical impact of technology has been to create a change from ‘acting’ which assumes responsibility for one's actions to ‘doing’ which is concerned only with the effective execution of a ‘job’ without concern for the wider consequences. It can no longer be argued that technology is good or bad according to the use we make of it since technology now makes use of us and thus transforms our ethics, social relationships and psychological being.
A perspective on the patterns of loss, lack, disappointment and shame encountered in the treatment of six women with severe and chronic anorexia nervosa
Authors: Austin Sue
Published: January 2009

Abstract:  This paper explores how the aggressive fantasies and energies expressed in anorexic self‐hatred can be recycled to become the basis of psychological growth and recovery. This shift is made possible by focusing on the telos of the analysand's psychological system as it expresses itself through her illness, and using Clark's idea that sanity is a form of recycled madness. It also draws on Jung's view of the unconscious as an active and purposive agent, and libido as a neutral psychic energy which can serve different purposes.

I discuss a number of clinical vignettes, focusing on the hard, ruthless, defiant and hateful aspects of (what might appear to be) ‘monstrous’ anorexic behaviour, and the kinds of countertransference reactions these behaviours can provoke. I also explore what these kinds of behaviours might represent in terms of multi‐generational family dynamics, as well as mother‐daughter dynamics.

At the core of the paper is the idea that the capacity to use aggression in clear ways, but within the limits of conscience, is essential for the protection of one's physical and psychological boundaries. Without the capacity to defend oneself, and the ability to decide quickly and clearly when it is right to risk hurting the other in order to do so, one cannot take any level of risk in life, or draw close to the other. I suggest that for recovery from anorexia to occur, the aggressive, self‐hateful, destructive energies which are so central to the illness need to be recycled into these kinds of awarenesses and life‐skills.
Music in dreams and the emergence of the self
Authors: Carta Stefano
Published: January 2009

Abstract:  This paper deals with the presence and possible ‘meaning’ of music in dreams. The author explores a possible meaning of music as the most fundamental human symbolic experience, which directly points to the emergence of the Self from the primal union mystique with the Great Mother. The relationships between acoustic and visual experiences are taken into account as two basic human forms of coming into existence, although wholly different from each other. The role of music in dreams seems to be that of the most direct representation of the emerging Self in its pure, pre‐representational form. Therefore, when music appears in dreams, providing there is the activation of an emotional tone, all other elements—visual and verbal—should be considered as the expression of the sense to which the music is pointing. A clinical example is described in order to better express the author's opinions.
Jung, vitalism and ‘the psychoid’: an historical reconstruction
Authors: Addison Ann
Published: January 2009

Abstract:  This paper traces the history of Jung's ideas concerning the psychoid unconscious, from their origins in the work of the vitalist, Hans Driesch, and his concept of Das Psychoid, through the subsequent work of Eugen Bleuler, Director of the Burghölzli Asylum, and his concept of Die Psychoide, to the publication of Jung's paper On the Nature of the Psyche in 1947. This involves a review of Jung's early work and of his meeting with Freud, when apparently the two men discussed calling the unconscious ‘psychoid’, as well as a review of Jung's more mature ideas concerning a psychoid unconscious. I propose to argue that even at the time of their meeting, Jung had already formulated an epistemological approach that was significantly different from that of Freud and that clearly foreshadowed his later ideas as set out in On the Nature of the Psyche.
Arterial internal elastic lamina holes: relationship to function?
Authors: Sandow Shaun L. , Gzik Danusia J. , Lee Robert M. K. W.
Published: January 2009

Internal elastic lamina (IEL) hole (fenestration) characteristics and myoendothelial gap junction (MEGJ) density were examined in selected resistance and conduit arteries of normal and diseased rat and mouse models, using conventional, ultrastructural and confocal microscopy methods. Selected vessels were those commonly used in functional studies: thoracic aorta, proximal and distal mesenteric, caudal, saphenous, middle‐cerebral and caudal cerebellar artery. Rat and mouse strains and treatment groups examined were Dahl, Sprague Dawley, Wistar Kyoto, Wistar, spontaneously hypertensive (SHR), deoxycorticosterone (DOC) treated rat; and apolipoprotein E knockout, C57/BL6 and BALB/c mice. Vessel size (as IEL circumference), IEL hole and MEGJ density were quantified. In mesenteric arteries, the width of IEL holes and the percent of IEL occupied by holes were also determined. IEL hole density varied significantly within and between mesenteric artery beds, even among normotensive rat strains. Among the hypertensive rats (SHR and DOC), hole density in some vessels was higher in the normotensives than in the hypertensives within each strain, whereas in Dahl rats, hole density was similar between hypertensives and normotensives. Hole density was not correlated with the formation of intimal lesions in superior mesenteric artery. There was no positive general correlation between IEL hole and MEGJ density in resistance and conduit vessels. However, there was a positive correlation between the size of some resistance arteries and MEGJ density, although such a relationship did not hold for conduit vessels or during development, and there was no such relationship between vessel size and IEL hole density. Whilst IEL holes are obviously required for MEGJ communication, their presence is not an indication of contact‐mediated communication, but rather may be related to the presence of sites for the low resistance passage of diffusion‐mediated release of vasoactive endothelial and smooth muscle substances.
Differential cell‐specific location of Cav‐1 and Ca2+‐ATPase in terminal Schwann cells and mechanoreceptive Ruffini endings in the periodontal ligament of the rat incisor
Authors: Iizuka Naoyuki , Suzuki Akiko , Nozawa‐Inoue Kayoko , Kawano Yoshiro , Nandasena B. G. T. L. , Okiji Takashi , Maeda Takeyasu
Published: January 2009

Caveolae are involved in clathrin‐independent endocytosis, transcytosis, signal transduction, and tumor suppression – all of which depend on their main constituent protein caveolin families. The periodontal Ruffini ending has been reported to develop a caveola‐like structure on the cell membrane of both the axon terminals and Schwann sheaths, suggesting the existence of an axon–Schwann cell interaction in the periodontal Ruffini endings. However, little information is available concerning the functional significance of these caveolae. The present study was undertaken to examine the immunolocalization of caveolin‐1, ‐3 (Cav‐1, Cav‐3) and Ca2+‐ATPase in the periodontal Ruffini endings of the rat incisor. Decalcified sections of the upper jaws were processed for immunocytochemistry at the levels of light and electron microscopy. Some immunostained sections were treated with histochemistry for nonspecific cholinesterase (nChE) activity. Observations showed the periodontal Ruffini endings were immunopositive for Cav‐1, but not Cav‐3. Immunoreactive products for Cav‐1 were confined to caveola‐like structures in the cell membranes of the cytoplasmic extensions and cell bodies of the terminal Schwann cells associated with the periodontal Ruffini endings. However, the axonal membranes of the terminals did not express any Cav‐1 immunoreaction. Double staining with Ca2+‐ATPase and either protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5) or S‐100 protein disclosed the co‐localization of immunoreactions in the axonal branches of the periodontal Ruffini endings, but not in the terminal Schwann cells. As Ca2+ plays an important role in mechanotransduction, these characteristic immunolocalizations show Cav‐1/Ca2+‐ATPase might be involved in the quick elimination of intracellular Ca2+ in mechanotransduction.
Effect of estrogen on the blood supply of pituitary autografts in rats
Authors: Lombardero Matilde , Quintanar‐Stephano Andres , Vidal Sergio , Horvath Eva , Kovacs Kalman , Lloyd Ricardo V. , Scheithauer Bernd W.
Published: January 2009

Estrogens are known to cause pituitary enlargement and lactotroph proliferation. They also modulate pituitary angiogenesis and induce tumor formation. Pituitary grafts, due to the loss of hypothalamic dopamine, also show lactotroph hyperplasia. We investigated the role of estrogen on rat pituitary autograft vascularization by light and transmission electron microscopy, and assessed prolactin (PRL) blood levels, microvessel density (MVD) and cell proliferation using the BrdU labeling index. All adenohypophysial cell types were identified by immunohistochemistry (streptavidin‐biotin‐peroxidase complex method). The proangiogenic factors, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), its receptor Flk‐1, and hypoxia inducible factor‐1α (HIF‐1α) were similarly demonstrated. The prevalence of lactotrophs, as well as more intense staining for VEGF, Flk‐1 and HIF‐1α, was noted in those grafts exposed to estrogen, mainly in the area surrounding the central necrotic core. Immunostaining showed Flk‐1 expression increased in endothelial cells of the estrogen‐exposed grafts as compared with those unexposed. In contrast to the grafts not exposed to estrogen, in the estrogen‐exposed grafts, only fenestrated endothelium could be demonstrated, suggesting that estrogen induces fenestration of newly formed capillaries. There was an increase in blood PRL levels in the estrogen‐treated groups as compared with controls. Both MVD and BrdU labeling indices were higher in grafts exposed to estrogen, especially after 4 weeks. Our results suggest that estrogen administration not only enhances the expression of proangiogenic factors in the pituitary grafts but also induces their expression at earlier stages, leading to rapid neoformation of purely fenestrated capillaries.
Childhood antecedents of being a cigarette smoker in early adulthood. The Finnish ‘From a Boy to a Man’ Study
Authors: Niemelä Solja , Sourander André , Pilowsky Daniel J. , Susser Ezra , Helenius Hans , Piha Jorma , Kumpulainen Kirsti , Moilanen Irma , Tamminen Tuula , Almqvist Fredrik
Published: January 2009

Objective:  To identify childhood psychiatric symptoms as antecedents of cigarette smoking at age 18.

Methods:  In 1989, a general population sample of 2946 8‐year‐old boys born in Finland in 1981 was assessed using the Rutter’s parent and teacher questionnaires, and the Child Depression Inventory. This birth cohort was followed up in 1999, when the subjects reported for their obligatory military service at age 18. Information about cigarette smoking frequency was obtained from 78% (n = 2307) of the boys attending the study in 1989.

Results:  Childhood hyperactivity and self‐reported depressive symptoms correlated with moderate daily (1–10 cigarettes), and heavy daily (>10 cigarettes) smoking at age 18. Conduct problems correlated with heavy daily smoking. A high level of childhood depressive symptoms, particularly in conjunction with a low educational level of the father, increased the risk of daily smoking. Emotional problems decreased the risk of smoking at age 18. In general, teacher reports had a better predictive power than parent reports for subsequent smoking.

Conclusion:  Future developmental studies with special focus on interaction between individual and environmental factors are warranted to reveal the mechanisms underlying the association between childhood psychopathology and adult smoking. In particular, the associations between childhood depression and future smoking need more clarification.
Feeding habits and niche partitioning in a predator guild composed of tigers, leopards and dholes in a temperate ecosystem in central Bhutan
Authors: Wang S. W. , Macdonald D. W.
Published: January 2009

We describe the food habits, niche overlap and prey preferences in a predator guild comprised of tigers Panthera tigris, leopards Panthera pardus and dholes Cuon alpinus in a mountainous region of central Bhutan. Scat analyses revealed that these predators consumed 11 different prey species including livestock and rodents, of which leopards consumed 11. The combined relative occurrence of the three species, sambar Cervus unicolor, muntjac Munticus muntjac and wild pig Sus scrofa, constituted 42.7, 33.7 and 71.1% of the tiger, leopard and dhole diets, respectively, while livestock comprised 44.5, 73.4 and 15.9% of the prey consumed, respectively. Regression equations from earlier feeding trials were used to estimate the relative biomass and the numbers of prey consumed. Results showed that sambar featured more frequently than did muntjac and wild pig in the diets of tiger, leopard and dhole and contributed more relative biomass than did muntjac and wild pig. Sambar, muntjac and wild pig together provided 36.9, 28 and 63.1% of the biomass consumed by tigers, leopards and dholes respectively. All else being equal, there was evidence that all three predators ate livestock less than might have been expected on the basis of the abundance and high biomass of this prey category in the area. There was a high dietary niche overlap between the predators (Pianka's overlap index of 0.58–0.92), with a greater overlap between the two felid species than between the felids and the canid. This study provides evidence of a substantial diet overlap among the three sympatric carnivores, and thus highlights the potential for high intra‐guild competition among them, especially given the relatively low density of prey.
Modulation of facial reactions to avatar emotional faces by nonconscious competition priming
Authors: Weyers Peter , Mühlberger Andreas , Kund Anja , Hess Ursula , Pauli Paul
Published: January 2009

To investigate whether subliminally priming for competition influences facial reactions to facial emotional displays, 49 participants were either subliminally competition primed or neutrally primed. Thereafter, they viewed computer generated avatar faces with happy, neutral, and sad expressions while Corrugator supercilii and Zygomaticus major reactions were recorded. Results revealed facial mimicry to happy and sad faces in the neutrally primed group but not the competition primed group. Furthermore, subliminal competition priming enhanced Corrugator supercilii activity after an initial relaxation while viewing happy faces. An impression formation task revealed counter empathic effects confirming successful competition priming. Overall, results indicate that nonconscious processes influence a presumably nonconscious behavior.
Speaking one's second language under time pressure: An ERP study on verbal self‐monitoring in German–Dutch bilinguals
Authors: Ganushchak Lesya Y. , Schiller Niels O.
Published: January 2009

This study addresses how verbal self‐monitoring and the Error‐Related Negativity (ERN) are affected by time pressure when a task is performed in a second language as opposed to performance in the native language. German–Dutch bilinguals were required to perform a phoneme‐monitoring task in Dutch with and without a time pressure manipulation. We obtained an ERN following verbal errors that showed an atypical increase in amplitude under time pressure. This finding is taken to suggest that under time pressure participants had more interference from their native language, which in turn led to a greater response conflict and thus enhancement of the amplitude of the ERN. This result demonstrates once more that the ERN is sensitive to psycholinguistic manipulations and suggests that the functioning of the verbal self‐monitoring system during speaking is comparable to other performance monitoring, such as action monitoring.
Beyond p‐values: Averaged and reproducible evidence in fMRI experiments
Authors: Liou Michelle , Su Hong‐Ren , Savostyanov Alexander N. , Lee Juin‐Der , Aston John A. D. , Chuang Cheng‐Hung , Cheng Philip E.
Published: January 2009

In functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, there might exist activation regions routinely involved in experimental sessions, but modest in response magnitude. These regions may not be easily detectable by the conventional p‐value approach using a rigid threshold. With particular reference to the reproducibility analysis method proposed in Liou and colleagues, this study presents some within‐ and between‐subject brain‐activation patterns that are replicable between experimental modalities, and robust to the method used for generating the patterns. There is a neurophysiological basis behind these reproducible patterns, and the conventional p‐value approach using averaged data across subjects might not suggest the complete patterns. For example, recent studies based on the group‐averaged data showed a task‐induced deactivation in the precuneus and posterior cingulate, but our reproducibility analysis suggests both increased and decreased responses in the two regions. The increased responses localize in these regions with differentially distributed patterns for individual subjects and for different experimental tasks. In this study, we discuss the neurophysiological basis of the reproducible patterns and propose some applications of our research findings to scientific and clinical studies.
The prediction of progression‐free and overall survival in women with an advanced stage of epithelial ovarian carcinoma
Authors: Gerestein CG , Eijkemans MJC , de Jong D , van der Burg MEL , Dykgraaf RHM , Kooi GS , Baalbergen A , Burger CW , Ansink AC
Published: January 2009

Objective  Prognosis in women with ovarian cancer mainly depends on International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage and the ability to perform optimal cytoreductive surgery. Since ovarian cancer has a heterogeneous presentation and clinical course, predicting progression‐free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in the individual patient is difficult. The objective of this study was to determine predictors of PFS and OS in women with advanced stage epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) after primary cytoreductive surgery and first‐line platinum‐based chemotherapy.

Design  Retrospective observational study.

Setting  Two teaching hospitals and one university hospital in the south‐western part of the Netherlands.

Population  Women with advanced stage EOC.

Methods  All women who underwent primary cytoreductive surgery for advanced stage EOC followed by first‐line platinum‐based chemotherapy between January 1998 and October 2004 were identified. To investigate independent predictors of PFS and OS, a Cox’ proportional hazard model was used. Nomograms were generated with the identified predictive parameters.

Main outcome measures  The primary outcome measure was OS and the secondary outcome measures were response and PFS.

Results  A total of 118 women entered the study protocol. Median PFS and OS were 15 and 44 months, respectively. Preoperative platelet count (P = 0.007), and residual disease <1 cm (P = 0.004) predicted PFS with a optimism corrected c‐statistic of 0.63. Predictive parameters for OS were preoperative haemoglobin serum concentration (P = 0.012), preoperative platelet counts (P = 0.031) and residual disease <1 cm (P = 0.028) with a optimism corrected c‐statistic of 0.67.

Conclusion  PFS could be predicted by postoperative residual disease and preoperative platelet counts, whereas residual disease, preoperative platelet counts and preoperative haemoglobin serum concentration were predictive for OS. The proposed nomograms need to be externally validated.
Body composition by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry in women with previous pre‐eclampsia or small‐for‐gestational‐age offspring
Authors: Berends AL , Zillikens MC , de Groot CJM , Rivadeneira F , Oostra BA , van Duijn CM , Steegers EAP
Published: January 2009

Objective  To investigate differences in body composition and fat distribution between women with previous pre‐eclampsia or small‐for‐gestational‐age (SGA) offspring and those with uncomplicated pregnancies.

Design  Cohort study.

Setting  Population‐based study in a genetically isolated population in the southwest of the Netherlands.

Population  Women after pregnancies complicated by pre‐eclampsia (n=45), SGA offspring (n=53) and uncomplicated pregnancies (n=106).

Methods  Women were compared for body composition and fat distribution variables, assessed by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) and anthropometrics at a mean follow‐up time of 10.8 (SD ±5.9) years after pregnancy.

Main outcome measures  Total lean and fat mass, android fat mass, gynoid fat mass, android‐to‐gynoid fat ratio, waist and hip circumference, waist‐to‐hip ratio.

Results  Women with previous pre‐eclampsia compared with controls had higher mean total fat mass index (11.5 ± 0.6 versus 9.7 ± 0.4 kg/m2; P = 0.03), lean mass index (15.8 ± 0.3 versus 14.5 ± 0.2 kg/m2; P =0.001) and body mass index ([BMI]; 28.4 ± 0.8 versus 25.4 ± 0.5 kg/m2; P = 0.005). Their waist circumferences (90.7 ± 2.0 versus 78.5 ± 1.3 cm; P < 0.001) and waist‐to‐hip ratios (0.86 ± 0.01 versus 0.77 ± 0.01; P < 0.001) were also higher as well as android fat mass (2.8 ± 0.2 versus 2.1 ± 0.1 kg; P = 0.01) and android‐to‐gynoid fat ratios (0.45 ± 0.02 versus 0.39 ± 0.01; P = 0.02). Mean total fat, lean and BMI was not significantly different between women with previous SGA offspring and controls, yet waist‐to‐hip ratios (0.83 ± 0.01; P < 0.001) were higher. The observed differences in waist and hip circumference, waist‐to‐hip ratio and gynoid fat mass could not be attributed to differences in BMI.

Conclusion  Women with previous pre‐eclampsia or SGA offspring pregnancies compared with those with uncomplicated pregnancies have a preferential fat accumulation in the abdominal over hip region, which may explain, at least partly, their increased cardiovascular risk.
Evaluation of postpartum blood loss after misoprostol‐induced labour
Authors: Elsedeek MShE , Awad EE , Elsebaey SM
Published: January 2009

Objective To objectively evaluate postpartum blood loss after successful misoprostol induction and compare it with blood loss after oxytocin induction of labour.

Design Prospective randomised study.

Setting Labour ward in university maternity hospital.

Population A total of 150 women up to third parity with completed 40 weeks of singleton normal pregnancy, average size cephalic fetus.

Methods Cases were randomised between oxytocin induction and misoprostol induction. Blood was collected in suction set and measured in the delivery room starting after delivery of the fetus and was evaluated by pad weighing in the following 6 hours. Pre‐ and postdelivery haematocrit were measured and difference between the two values was assessed and analysed.

Main outcome measures Success of induction, induction delivery interval, postpartum blood loss, and difference between pre‐ and postdelivery haematocrit.

Results Induced labour was significantly faster with misoprostol induction (P< 0.001). Blood loss and haematocrit difference was significantly greater in the misoprostol group than in oxytocin group (P< 0.02 and 0.001, respectively). Blood loss in both groups was significantly correlated with higher initial Bishop score (P< 0.001 and 0.024, respectively) and short labour duration (P< 0.0002 and 0.0001, respectively).

Conclusions Misoprostol induction is associated with increased blood loss especially when used in women with high Bishop score; therefore, it is better reserved for cases requiring cervical ripening.
Uterine and umbilical artery Doppler are comparable in predicting perinatal outcome of growth‐restricted fetuses
Authors: Ghosh GS , Gudmundsson S
Published: January 2009

Objective  To compare umbilical and uterine artery Doppler in predicting outcome of pregnancies suspected of fetal growth restriction (FGR).

Design  A prospective study included 353 singleton pregnancies complicated by an FGR fetus.

Setting  University Hospital setting.

Sample  Pregnancies suspected of FGR diagnosed by ultrasound fetal biometry during a 5‐year period.

Main outcome measure  Perinatal outcome in relation to uterine and umbilical artery Doppler.

Methods  The women underwent Doppler examination of the umbilical and uterine arteries. Results from the uterine, but not the umbilical artery, were blind to the woman and managing obstetrician. The Doppler results were related to perinatal outcomes including small for gestational age newborns, caesarean delivery, premature delivery (<37 weeks of gestation) and admission of the newborn to a neonatal intensive care unit.

Results  Abnormal uterine artery Doppler velocimetry was seen in 120 (33.4%) pregnancies and abnormal umbilical artery Doppler in 102 (28.4%). There was a statistically significant correlation between abnormal Doppler of both the umbilical and uterine arteries and adverse outcome of pregnancy. The two vessels were comparable in predicting adverse outcome. Women with normal umbilical artery Doppler (251) were analysed separately. Abnormal uterine artery Doppler, seen in 61 (24.3%) of those women, showed a statistically significant correlation for adverse outcome of pregnancy.

Conclusions  Doppler examinations of the uterine and/or the umbilical arteries seem to be comparable as predictors of outcome in pregnancies complicated by FGR. Including uterine artery Doppler in the surveillance of growth‐restricted fetuses might detect a group of pregnancies at high risk, even though the umbilical artery Doppler was normal.
Lesbians’ and gay men’s narratives about attitudes in nursing
Authors: Röndahl Gerd
Published: January 2009

Many nurses find it difficult to show compassion and sensitivity, and to give gay patients nursing of a quality equal to that given to heterosexual patients. The aim of the present study was to describe the experiences of gay patients and partners concerning attitudes in nursing. The method included qualitative semi‐structured interviews with 17 women and 10 men, from different parts of Sweden. Nearly all informants described a sense of insecurity in ‘coming out’ to nursing staff. Most patients described being met by the nursing staff in a respectful manner, but sometimes they perceived a kind of distancing in the personnel’s behaviour. Informants related that nursing staff judged homosexuality as something abnormal. Informants thought that, as partners, they always felt like outsiders, but these were emotions they believed all relatives experienced irrespective of sexual orientation. However, some partners associated negative attitudes of nursing staff with homosexuality. The informants believed that the insecure feelings affected their ability to interact. The majority of informants stated that they found most of the nursing staff kind and caring, but that there were differences and that the goal should be – for all patients and relatives – equality in nursing care.
Endothelium‐dependent contractions in SHR: a tale of prostanoid TP and IP receptors
Authors: Félétou Michel , Verbeuren Tony J , Vanhoutte Paul M
Published: January 2009

In the aorta of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), the endothelial dysfunction is due to the release of endothelium‐derived contracting factors (EDCFs) that counteract the vasodilator effect of nitric oxide, with no or minor alteration of its production. The endothelium‐dependent contractions elicited by acetylcholine (ACh) involve an increase in endothelial [Ca2+]i, the production of reactive oxygen species, the activation of endothelial cyclooxygenase‐1, the diffusion of EDCF and the subsequent stimulation of smooth muscle cell TP receptors. The EDCFs released by ACh have been identified as PGH2and paradoxically prostacyclin. Prostacyclin generally acts as an endothelium‐derived vasodilator, which, by stimulating IP receptors, produces hyperpolarization and relaxation of the smooth muscle and inhibits platelet aggregation. In the aorta of SHR and Wistar‐Kyoto rats, prostacyclin is the principal metabolite of arachidonic acid released by ACh. However, in SHR aorta, prostacyclin does not produce relaxations but activates the TP receptors on vascular smooth muscle cells and produces contraction. The IP receptor is not functional in the aortic smooth muscle cells of SHR as early as 12 weeks of age, but its activity is not reduced in platelets. Therefore, prostacyclin in the rule protects the vascular wall, but in the SHR aorta it can contribute to endothelial dysfunction. Whether or not prostacyclin plays a detrimental role as an EDCF in other animal models or in human remains to be demonstrated. Nevertheless, because EDCFs converge to activate TP receptors, selective antagonists of this receptor, by preventing endothelium‐dependent contractions, curtail the endothelial dysfunction in diseases such as hypertension and diabetes.

Mandarin translation of abstract