bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ethical Considerations in Conducting Family Violence Research
Authors: Berry Vashti
Published: January 2012

There is a lack of procedure in the UK guiding social researchers faced with ethical questions. In particular, investigators concerned with family violence and its effects on children face some of the most complex ethical dilemmas in social research and there is a need for greater transparency of ethical procedures.

This paper summarizes some key ethical principles guiding social research focused on children, and the decisions that researchers face when conducting studies in the area of child maltreatment or domestic violence. A case example of a study conducted in Dublin, Ireland is used to illustrate difficulties surrounding decisions of informed consent, confidentiality and disclosure, distress and danger, and questioning children directly about their experiences of family violence. The advice of the ethics committee and the solutions agreed by the research team are shared.

While the study was subject to a review by an independent ethics committee, in the absence of nationally-recognized or agreed guidelines, good ethical practice is largely dependent upon the moral judgments of the research team. It is hoped that by providing one such case example, others might be encouraged to report on their own ethical protocols and procedures.
Ethical Issues in School-Based Research
Authors: Felzmann Heike
Published: January 2012

This paper provides an introduction to ethical issues arising in children's research that takes place in school-settings. It addresses three main areas of ethical concern: the informed consent process, confidentiality, and harm and benefit. Informed consent in school settings is characterized by the involvement of multiple stakeholders, including not just researchers, parents and individual children but also school principals, teachers and the children's peer group. The added complexity of the setting has implications for the management of the informed consent process, including the decision at what point and in which manner each stakeholder group needs to be involved in the process. The presence and divergent roles of these multiple stakeholders in the school setting also have implications for addressing issues of confidentiality, especially due to the group setting in which participants take part in the research and role expectations within school settings. Harm and benefit in school-based research are of a non-physical nature; relevant areas of concern relate primarily to the potential for psychological and social harm, realistic presentation of likely benefits from research and the issue of rewards for research participation.
Methodological Considerations in Ethical Review — 3.: Sampling and Data Analysis
Authors: Tully Mp , Vail A , Roberts S , Brabin L , McNamee R
Published: January 2012

This is the third of four papers to be published in Research Ethics Review in 2009, that address methodological issues of relevance to research ethics committees. It focuses on three issues: the representativeness of study participants, the size of the study and data analysis. Differences between best practices in qualitative and quantitative research are highlighted. The paper argues that, while lack of representativeness may not be unethical, the ethical implications of unnecessary restrictions on eligibility should be considered by committees. Studies that are either too small or too big can pose problems. Research teams need to have the necessary competence to enable an appropriate analysis focused on the main objectives and interpreted in the context of the limitations of the study design.
Ethical Issues in Emergency Research
Authors: Hunter David
Published: January 2012

This study appeared in full in the last issue of Research Ethics Review (2009; 5(2): 83). Based on prior research that has indicated it may be beneficial, a researcher wants to administer a heart medication to patients who have suffered lung injuries in car crashes. Due to the emergency nature of the research, seeking consent either from the research participants or, at least initially, their next of kin is difficult.
Ethical Requirements in the Instructions for Authors in Journals Publishing Randomized Clinical Trials
Authors: Gardner William , Heck Kendra
Published: January 2012

Objectives. To document the prevalence of ethical requirements in the instructions for authors of journals that published randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in 2005.

Design. Using a validated computerized search strategy for retrieving abstracts of RCTs, we retrieved 13 184 references from 2056 journals. These journals were divided into journals that had published > 30 RCTs in 2005, and those that had published fewer. We included all the former and a random sample of the latter journals in the analysis.

Measurements. Coders retrieved the instructions for authors for each journal. The coders identified whether 15 ethical requirements were present in each of the instructions, calculated the age of the journal, and determined where it was published.

Results. Only 51% of journals required that authors document review by an ethics committee, only 55% required declaration of conflicts of interest, and only 33% required documentation of informed consent. Overall, 48% of instructions required three or fewer of 15 ethics items. Journals publishing many RCTs each year had more ethical requirements (P <0.001), older journals had more requirements (P <0.012), as did journals published in the US (P <0.001). Journals published in Europe had fewer (P <0.001). However, in multiple regression analyses involving the journal's age, location of publication, and number of RCTs published, only publishing many RCTs was associated with having more ethical requirements (P <0.001).

Conclusions. Many journals do not require important elements of research ethics in their instructions for authors. Ethical requirements are less common in the many journals that publish few clinical trials each year, journals that have often been overlooked in prior studies of journal ethics.

Keywords: Randomized clinical trials, ethical instructions, publication ethics, journal requirements
The Role, Remit and Function of the Research Ethics Committee — 1. The Rationale for Ethics Review of Research by Committee
Authors: Edwards Sarah JL
Published: January 2012

This is the first in a series of five papers on the role, remit and function of research ethics committees which are intended to provide for REC members a broad understanding of the most important issues in research ethics and governance. The first considers the rationale for having ethics review by committee at all; seeking to explain why ethics committees, as we currently have them, are so important to the wider system of governing research.
Ethical Monitoring: Conducting Research in a Prison Setting
Authors: Dalen Knut , Jones Lise Øen
Published: January 2012

Conducting research in a prison setting is ethically challenging. Because history is full of unethical research conducted in prison settings, researchers are often afraid of doing research in this area. It is argued that too much emphasis has been put on the protection of prison inmates as a vulnerable population. Consequently, too little research is being conducted where the focus is on those factors which serve to make the prison population vulnerable. In this paper ethical questions, emerging when conducting a study on literacy and mental health among Norwegian prison inmates, are presented and discussed. Relevant questions relate to topics which include ethical clearance of the research protocol, the consent procedure, clarification of roles and the publication of the results. The ethical questions are discussed in relation to the four principles of ‘respect for the client's rights and dignity’, ‘competence’, ‘responsibility’ and ‘integrity’ set out in the meta-code of ethics, formulated by the European Federation of Professional Psychologists Associations. The wider relationships between ethics in society, research ethics in general, and ethics when conducting research in a prison setting are also considered.
Ethics Committee Membership Selection: A Moral Preference Tool
Authors: Humphreys Stephen J
Published: January 2012

How the diversity of membership of research ethics committees is arrived at has, to date, largely been fairly arbitrary. However, a tool to help determine one's moral preference is now available and it is introduced here as, arguably, having the potential to assist with ensuring a more meaningful diversity amongst an ethics committee's membership. The tool is seen to be easily applied – but, it is argued, may be conceived on at least two false premises. Firstly, despite different theories of ethics, none can be proved to give the ‘right’ answer other than in its own terms. Secondly, if there is an ethical hierarchy, as the model suggests, then ethical diversity must become redundant for the possibility of achieving ethical excellence.
Ethical Research with Young People
Authors: Goredema-Braid Brian
Published: January 2012

There is a belief among many from the wide field of Youth Work there is an increasing stress on the need for ethical approval to conduct empirical research with young people. The stress on ethical approval for research with young people includes issues of safeguarding, confidentiality, competency, consent and anonymity. The distinction needs to be made between a rules-based approach and a situated based approach. The rules-based approach is based upon a notion of ethical absolutes in relation to fundamental concerns such as informed consent, avoidance of harm, and guarantees of confidentiality and anonymity. A situated approach to ethics emphasizes the importance of making rational judgements on specific aspects of ethical dilemmas.

Those who research young people and youth issues in general are more likely than not to argue that some form of a situated approach to research ethics represents an appropriate response to the sort of ethical dilemmas that are often faced in the conduct of research with young people. There would also be a concern for a greater emphasis on an ‘ethic of care’ as a governing principle of research practice involving young people. It is however important not to throw the baby out with the bath water.

The advancement of a rules-based approach is coupled with the quandary and dilemmas of safeguarding while its importance of parental consent cannot be dismissed while it is beset with apparent contradictions. There is the assumption and misnomer that all young people live in a stable home with caring parents. A further dilemma is the contradiction of the ‘Gillick competency’. Gillick competency is based on the assumption that an under-16-year-old with ‘sufficient understanding’ can provide consent in their own right, and that under such circumstances a parent has no right to override their child's wishes. Although this ruling relates specifically to medical interventions, it is regarded as applicable to all other areas unless other legislation applies, including social (but not clinical) research. It is the purpose of this paper to address these dilemmas and contradictions of applying a rules-based approach to the research of young people's lives whereas a situated approach would be more appropriate
Advice for Supervising PhD Students during the Ethical Approval Process: A Research Student's Perspective
Authors: Willis Rosalind
Published: January 2012

This paper provides advice for the supervision of PhD students during the research ethics approval process written from the perspective of a PhD student. This advice is for supervisors – to be aware of the level of experience their student has regarding applying for ethical approval and conducting research with human participants; to ensure clarity as to whether the student or the supervisor has responsibility for the ethical storage of research materials after the end of the PhD; and finally, and most important, to advise the student on the issues to cover in their ethics approval form, go through their completed form thoroughly, and meet them to discuss feedback.
The Role, Remit and Function of the Research Ethics Committee — 2. Science and Society: The Scope of Ethics Review
Authors: Edwards Sarah JL
Published: January 2012

This is the second in a series of five papers on the role, remit and function of research ethics committees which are intended to provide for REC members a broad understanding of the most important issues in research ethics and governance. This paper examines the role of ethics committees in assessing the science of the research it reviews. While ethics committees are not specifically constituted to review the science of a project, they must nevertheless assess the social benefits of research and, in this context, have an important role in checking that the science has been properly peer-reviewed.
Beyond the Immediate Players: Do Researchers Have Moral Obligations to Others?
Authors: Tamin Jacques
Published: January 2012

This paper highlights the need for researchers and research ethics committees to look at the implications of a research study beyond the immediate research question, and the dignity, safety and wellbeing of research subjects, going on to consider whether the results of the study could be detrimental, for example, to more vulnerable groups in society. Although the case studies described come from workplace-based psychosocial research, it is suggested that the lessons drawn from these could be applied more generally.
Development of a Research Integrity and Ethics Framework in a Higher Education Institution: Five Years On
Authors: Whitman Birgit , Tallents Gillian
Published: January 2012

In recent years there has been increased recognition of the importance of high standards in ethics, governance and the integrity of research. This paper is a case study of the University of Bristol's approach to address these important activities in a Higher Education Institution. It will highlight the importance of working closely with the academic research community to ensure maximum engagement, leading to a sustained culture change that recognizes faculty and departmental specific needs.

A key tool to ensuring high standards of research integrity and compliance with the legislative framework is the development of a supportive quality assurance programme.
Two Models of Social Science Research Ethics Review
Authors: Jennings Sean LM
Published: January 2012

Assuming that the purpose of research ethics review is to support the ethical conduct and dissemination of good quality research, a question can be raised concerning whether ethics review of research really improves the practice of researchers. Specifically, we might distinguish the activities that go on as part of the review process from those activities that constitute the data collection phase of the research, and ask under what conditions the former have a positive impact on the latter.

Two different models of ethics review can be distinguished, term them ‘compliance’ and ‘reflexivity’-based reviews. Compliance-based models of review require researchers to show how they are complying with a given set of rules or protocols for research. Reflexivity-based models require researchers to articulate the ethical issues involved in their research and to explain and justify the way in which they plan to manage them.

It is suggested here that there is reason to think that reflexivity-based models of ethics review are more likely to have a positive effect on the practice of social science research than compliance-based reviews.
Ethical Issues in Socio-Historical Archival Research: A Short Skit
Authors: Fogel Curtis , Quinlan Andrea , Quinlan Liz , She Qianru
Published: January 2012

Qualitative methods associated with historical sociology have enjoyed a revival. Yet, the ethical issues raised by these methods have not been adequately explored. This paper fills this gap through a short skit performed by a researcher, a qualitative research methods textbook, and the Tri-Council Policy. The researcher in the skit is conducting archival research on the historical involvement of women in Canadian labour struggles. By employing a scripted narrative, this paper challenges conventional writing on method and ethics. Through this innovative approach many of the ethical issues and tensions that socio-historical researchers encounter in their research are captured. Questions about the ethics of socio-historical archival research, as well sociological research more generally, are raised.
The Role, Remit and Function of the Research Ethics Committee — 3. Balancing Potential Social Benefits against Risks to Subjects
Authors: Edwards Sarah JL
Published: January 2012

This is the third in a series of five papers on the role, remit and function of research ethics committees which are intended to provide for REC members a broad understanding of the most important issues in research ethics and governance. This paper examines the role of ethics committees in balancing the social value of the research it reviews against the risks it imposes on those who take part. The ethics committee's role in assessing the social value of research goes well beyond checking its scientific validity and this assessment may affect the risks ethics committees are prepared to ask of subjects not only for their own potential personal interests but importantly and inevitably in the name of science. However, their function is importantly restricted by the wider regulatory and governance environment in which they work.
Ethical Issues in Conducting Genetic Research: Commentary
Authors: Thakker Nalin , Read Andrew
Published: January 2012

This study appeared in full in the last issue of Research Ethics Review (2010; 6 (2): 67). Dr Arber, a cancer biologist in Chesterpool oncology services and working at Chesterpool University wishes to study prevalence and nature of somatic mutations in selected genes associated with breast cancer. She proposes to use, without specific consent, tumour and normal tissues from 100 positive breast biopsies already collected in the clinical service and analyse selected genes that are suspected to be altered in breast cancer.

A year later she submits an amendment to allow whole genome sequencing of the tumour DNA and for comparison, blood DNA.
Review of the Regulatory and Governance Environment for Medical Research in the UK with a Particular Focus on Clinical Trials. The Academy of Medical Sciences — Call for Evidence; National Research Ethics Advisors' Panel/Association of Research Ethics Committees Joint Statement May 2010
Authors: Anderson-Ford David , George Andrew
Published: January 2012

This joint response from the National Research Ethics Advisors' Panel (NREAP) and the Association of Research Ethics Committees (AREC) has been formulated on the basis of detailed in depth discussion between the two organizations, in consultation with their membership.

NREAP is a body that was constituted by the United Kingdom Ethics Committee Authority (UKECA) in order to provide guidance to, and strategic oversight of the NHS Research Ethics Service.

AREC represents all sectors of the Research Ethics Committee (REC) community and serves to engage in discussion and debate concerning best practice and to serve the best interests of REC membership.
Developing Ethical Guidelines for Safeguarding Children during Social Research
Authors: Furey Rosemary , Kay Janet , Barley Ruth , Cripps Caroline , Shipton Lucy , Steill Bernadette
Published: January 2012

A working party of academics from both professional safeguarding backgrounds and research backgrounds developed and wrote ethical guidelines on safeguarding children in research on behalf of their faculty research ethics committee. The working party encountered a lack of useful precedents while developing the guidelines leading to a lengthy process of debate and consideration of the issues. This paper explores the various issues and dilemmas arising during this process, particularly the tension between safeguarding children from abuse and maintaining research confidentiality. One of the main areas of discussion was how to establish the limits of confidentiality without compromising the research in hand.

The role and responsibilities of researchers in supporting children's welfare, and the development of procedures for ensuring that safeguarding is effective are discussed as key elements. In addition, the issues researchers may face when determining thresholds for intervention are considered alongside the uncertainties created by considerations of the extent to which children can give informed consent in research contexts.

The paper reflects the process of considering these issues and the conclusions the working party drew as to how best to support children's welfare during research. It also outlines the key elements of the guidelines and the structures developed to ensure researchers could get advice if suspected child abuse became an issue in their research.

The paper includes a short version of the guidelines which were eventually approved across the Higher Education Institute.
Establishing a Research Ethics Committee in a Business School: A Chairperson's Perspective
Authors: Mullins Martin , Doyle Elaine
Published: January 2012

This paper describes the establishment of a research ethics committee in a business school within a university in Ireland. Many of the procedural issues encountered by the Kemmy Business School REC with respect to its modus operandi are outlined. The difficulties faced by business school RECs arising from the need to simultaneously accommodate both academic and corporate stakeholders are discussed in the context of the ethicality of research carried out in the business domain. The experiences of the authors, both of whom have served as respective chairpersons of the Kemmy Business School REC since its inception, inform the discussion. Given the dearth in the literature on research ethics in a business school context, the objective of this paper is to outline the experiences of one business school REC with respect to how it operates in order to assist other committees through the establishment phase and beyond.
An Ethical Basis for International Research
Authors: Rowson Richard
Published: January 2012

People engaged in international research projects – whether sponsors, researchers or participants – have different cultural and religious backgrounds. This can lead to quandaries over whose values should dictate the ethical basis for research.

This paper addresses this issue by claiming that four core values are integral to the nature and justification of valid research and that to have integrity researchers must be committed to these values. Since the values are not specific to any particular culture or religion they constitute a neutral ethical framework for the conduct of international research.

It then claims that if researchers understand these values they can take responsibility for applying them to their own situation. This can help overcome problems which currently arise when researchers are not certain what to do because the specific ethical requirements of sponsors would be impractical or damaging if implemented in the circumstances in which the researchers operate.

Finally, it is suggested that the four values outlined in the paper may be a basis for further work – such as developing awareness training and evolving guidance for specialist areas of research.
The ‘Standard of Care’ Debate and Global Justice in Research
Authors: Lignou Sapfo
Published: January 2012

In this essay the ethical issues related to the ‘standard of care’ are discussed together with the implications for the treatment of the control group in transnational clinical trials. It is argued that the human right to health and the duty of justice formulate the moral basis on which this case should be debated.
Helping Research Ethics Committees Share Their Experience, Learn from Review and Develop Consensus: An Observational Study of the UK Shared Ethical Debate
Authors: Heasman Peter , Gregoire Alain , Davies Hugh
Published: January 2012

This project is based on the unique ‘Shared ethical debate’(ShED) between NHS RECs in the UK in which one research application is reviewed by several research ethics committees (RECs) ( http://www.nres.npsa.nhs.uk/rec-community/quality-assurance/shared-ethical-debate/?locale=en ).

This programme is now in its 6th cycle. In the fifth cycle a prison- based research project was reviewed by each of three NHS RECs that are ‘ flagged’ for such research and their debate and discussions were observed directly by one researcher (PAH) who recorded the committee processes and the issues raised in committee. Subsequently a focus group of REC members from all three committees was constituted to consider the ethical importance of these issues. The three RECs were consistent in both process and identifying ethical issues. The focus group formulated a basic framework that will further contribute to ensuring a consistent and balanced approach to ethical review within this area of research.
Inequalities and Fairness in Cluster Trials
Authors: Conrad Erin , Edwards Sarah JL
Published: January 2012

Cluster randomized controlled trials (cluster RCTs) randomize whole clusters of individuals in testing two or more competing interventions. Here we will present the ethical problems raised by cluster RCTs concerning their effect on inequality. We argue that some inequalities generated by cluster RCTs are larger in scope than those generated from individual RCTs. We also argue that any cluster RCT-generated inequalities, which divide groups rather than individuals, are more problematic in type than the inequalities created in individual RCTs. These concerns should be taken into consideration when designing research at the cluster level, and those conducting the research should consider modified research design strategies in cases where they believe the risk of generating inequalities is large.
Effective Streamlining of Ethics and Governance Processes: Fact or Fiction?
Authors: Braverman Stuart , Sidhu Rajinder
Published: January 2012

Regulatory processes governing healthcare research have been very controversial within the academic and health sectors. We assume that it is generally accepted that there need to be institutional structures and systems to ensure researchers pursue ethical research in healthcare and that the chosen site can feasibly support the project in question. Having said that the efficiency and proportionality of ethics and research governance processes have frequently been called into question. This paper will examine some of the attempts made by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to streamline ethics approval as well as research and development processes. It will consider the extent to which the changes made by the NIHR have been successful, and then briefly consider the future direction of governance within healthcare research.
Freedom of Information and Research Data
Authors: Wilson James
Published: January 2012

Research data produced in both universities and the NHS are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This article examines the practical and ethical implications of freedom of information for research data, arguing that increased openness is both here to stay and is ethically justifiable. Researchers need to learn how best to cope with this.
Extending Ansoff’s Strategic Diagnosis Model
Authors: Kipley Daniel , Lewis Alfred O. , Jeng Jau-Lian
Published: January 2012

Given the complex and disruptive open-ended dynamics in the current dynamic global environment, senior management recognizes the need for a formalized, consistent, and comprehensive framework to analyze the firm’s strategic posture. Modern assessment tools, such as H. Igor Ansoff’s seminal contributions to strategic diagnosis, primarily focused on identifying and enhancing the firm’s strategic performance potential through the analysis of the industry’s environmental turbulence level relative to the firm’s aggressiveness and responsiveness of capability. Other epistemic modeling techniques envisage Porter’s generic strategic positions, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT), and Resource-Based View as useful methodologies to aid in the planning process. All are complex and involve multiple managerial perspectives. Over the last two decades, attempts have been made to comprehensively classify the firm’s future competitive position. Most of these proposals utilized matrices to depict the position, such as the Boston Consulting Group, point positioning, and dispersed positioning. The GE/McKinsey later enhanced this typology by expanding to 3 × 3, contributing to management’s deeper understanding of the firm’s position. Both types of assessments, Ansoff’s strategic diagnosis and positional matrices, are invaluable strategic tools for firms. However, it could be argued that these positional analyses singularly reflect a blind spot in modeling the firm’s future strategic performance potential, as neither considers the interactions of the other. This article is conceptual and takes a different approach from earlier methodologies. Although conceptual, the article aims to present a robust model combining Ansoff’s strategic diagnosis with elements of the performance matrices to provide the management with an enriched capability to evaluate the firm’s current and future performance position.
Bad to the bone
Authors: Lane Steven W.
Published: January 2012

In this issue of Blood, Frisch and colleagues identify an unexpected effect of leukemia cells: alterations in bone homeostasis within the bone marrow hematopoietic microenvironment.1
The Beckenbach-Dresher inequality in the Ψ-direct sums of spaces and related results
Authors: Nikolova Ludmila , Persson Lars-Erik , Varošanec Sanja
Published: January 2012

Let

ψ

̃

:

[

0
,
1

]

→

R

be a concave function with

ψ

̃

(

0

)

=

ψ

̃

(

1

)

=
1

. There is a corresponding map

.

ψ

̃

for which the inverse Minkowski inequality holds. Several properties of that map are obtained. Also, we consider the Beckenbach-Dresher type inequality connected with ψ-direct sums of Banach spaces and of ordered spaces. In the last section we investigate the properties of functions ψ

ω,q
and ∥.∥
ω,q
, (0 < ω < 1, q < 1) related to the Lorentz sequence space. Other posibilities for parameters ω and q are considered, the inverse Holder inequalities and more variants of the Beckenbach-Dresher inequalities are obtained.

2000 MSC: Primary 26D15; Secondary 46B99.
Ectopic expression of cyclase associated protein CAP restores the streaming and aggregation defects of adenylyl cyclase a deficient Dictyostelium discoideumcells
Authors: Sultana Hameeda , Neelakanta Girish , Rivero Francisco , Blau-Wasser Rosemarie , Schleicher Michael , Noegel Angelika A
Published: January 2012

Background

Cell adhesion, an integral part of D. discoideum development, is important for morphogenesis and regulated gene expression in the multicellular context and is required to trigger cell-differentiation. G-protein linked adenylyl cyclase pathways are crucially involved and a mutant lacking the aggregation specific adenylyl cyclase ACA does not undergo multicellular development.

Results

Here, we have investigated the role of cyclase-associated protein (CAP), an important regulator of cell polarity and F-actin/G-actin ratio in the aca
-
mutant. We show that ectopic expression of GFP-CAP improves cell polarization, streaming and aggregation in aca
-
cells, but it fails to completely restore development. Our studies indicate a requirement of CAP in the ACA dependent signal transduction for progression of the development of unicellular amoebae into multicellular structures. The reduced expression of the cell adhesion molecule DdCAD1 together with csA is responsible for the defects in aca
-
cells to initiate multicellular development. Early development was restored by the expression of GFP-CAP that enhanced the DdCAD1 transcript levels and to a lesser extent the csA mRNA levels.

Conclusions

Collectively, our data shows a novel role of CAP in regulating cell adhesion mechanisms during development that might be envisioned to unravel the functions of mammalian CAP during animal embryogenesis.
Lipopolysaccharide priming enhances expression of effectors of immune defence while decreasing expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in mammary epithelia cells from cows
Authors: Günther Juliane , Petzl Wolfram , Zerbe Holm , Schuberth Hans-Joachim , Koczan Dirk , Goetze Leopold , Seyfert Hans-Martin
Published: January 2012

Background

Udder infections with environmental pathogens like Escherichia coli are a serious problem for the dairy industry. Reduction of incidence and severity of mastitis is desirable and mild priming of the immune system either through vaccination or with low doses of immune stimulants such as lipopolysaccharide LPS was previously found to dampen detrimental effects of a subsequent infection. Monocytes/macrophages are known to develop tolerance towards the endotoxin LPS (endotoxin tolerance, ET) as adaptation strategy to prevent exuberant inflammation.

We have recently observed that infusion of 1 μg of LPS into the quarter of an udder effectively protected for several days against an experimentally elicited mastitis. We have modelled this process in primary cultures of mammary epithelial cells (MEC) from the cow. MEC are by far the most abundant cells in the healthy udder coming into contact with invading pathogens and little is known about their role in establishing ET.

Results

We primed primary MEC cultures for 12 h with LPS (100 ng/ml) and stimulated three cultures either 12 h or 42 h later with 107/ml particles of heat inactivated E. coli bacteria for six hours. Priming-related alterations in the global transcriptome of those cells were quantified with Affymetrix microarrays. LPS priming alone caused differential expression of 40 genes and mediated significantly different response to a subsequent E. coli challenge of 226 genes. Expression of 38 genes was enhanced while that of 188 was decreased. Higher expressed were anti-microbial factors (β-defensin LAP, SLPI), cell and tissue protecting factors (DAF, MUC1, TGM1, TGM3) as well as mediators of the sentinel function of MEC (CCL5, CXCL8). Dampened was the expression of potentially harmful pro-inflammatory master cytokines (IL1B, IL6, TNF-α) and immune effectors (NOS2, matrix metalloproteases). Functional network analysis highlighted the reduced expression of IL1B and of IRF7 as key to this modulation.

Conclusion

LPS-primed MEC are fitter to repel pathogens and better protected against misguided attacks of the immune response. Attenuated is the exuberant expression of factors potentially promoting immunopathological processes. MEC therefore recapitulate many aspects of ET known so far from professional immune cells.
Resting heart rate as a predictor of metabolic dysfunctions in obese children and adolescents
Authors: Freitas Júnior Ismael F , Monteiro Paula A , Silveira Loreana S , Cayres Suziane U , Antunes Bárbara M , Bastos Karolynne N , Codogno Jamile S , Sabino João Paulo J , Fernandes Rômulo A
Published: January 2012

Background

Recent studies have identified that a higher resting heart rate (RHR) is associated with elevated blood pressure, independent of body fatness, age and ethnicity. However, it is still unclear whether RHR can also be applied as a screening for other risk factors, such as hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia. Thus, the purpose of the presented study was to analyze the association between RHR, lipid profile and fasting glucose in obese children and adolescents.

Methods

The sample was composed of 180 obese children and adolescents, aged between 7-16 years. Whole-body and segmental body composition were estimated by Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Resting heart rate (RHR) was measured by heart rate monitors. The fasting blood samples were analyzed for serum triglycerides, total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and glucose, using the colorimetric method.

Results

Fasting glucose, TC, triglycerides, HDL-C, LDL-C and RHR were similar in both genders. The group of obese subjects with a higher RHR presented, at a lower age, higher triglycerides and TC. There was a significant relationship between RHR, triglycerides and TC. In the multivariate model, triglycerides and TC maintained a significant relationship with RHR independent of age, gender, general and trunk adiposity. The ROC curve indicated that RHR has a high potential for screening elevated total cholesterol and triglycerides as well as dyslipidemia.

Conclusion

Elevated RHR has the potential to identify subjects at an increased risk of atherosclerosis development.
Intraparenchymal papillary meningioma of brainstem: case report and literature review
Authors: Jiang Xiao-Bing , Ke Chao , Han Zhi-An , Lin Shao-Hua , Mou Yong-Gao , Luo Rong-Zhen , Wu Shao-Xiong , Chen Zhong-Ping
Published: January 2012

Both intraparenchymal papillary meningioma and papillary meningioma with cyst formation of brainstem have never been reported. The authors present an extremely rare case of patient with intraparenchymal papillary meningioma of brainstem. A 23-year-old Chinese male presented with a 4-month history of progressive left upper limb and facial nerve palsy. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a cystic-solid, heterogeneously enhancing mass in pons and right cerebral peduncle with no dural attachment. The tumor was totally removed via subtemporal approach. During surgery, the lesion was found to be completely intraparenchymal. Histological and immunohistochemical examinations were compatible with the diagnosis of papillary meningioma. The lesion recurred nine months after primary surgery, a second surgery followed by radiotherapy was performed. Till to now (nearly 2 years after the treatment), the patient is tumor free survival. Intraparenchymal meningioma of brainstem with cystic formation is very rare, however, it should be considered as a differential diagnosis of a brainstem neoplasm. The present case strongly recommended that postoperative radiotherapy was essential for the patients with papillary meningiomas.
The prognostic factors of resected non-small cell lung cancer with chest wall invasion
Authors: Lee Chang Young , Byun Chun Sung , Lee Jin Gu , Kim Dae Joon , Cho Byoung Chul , Chung Kyung Young , Park In Kyu
Published: January 2012

Background

We retrospectively reviewed the clinical features and surgical outcomes of patients with a surgically resected NSCLC invading chest wall in order to identify prognostic factors that impact long term survival.

Methods

Between January 1990 and December 2009, 107 patients who underwent surgical resection for chest wall invading NSCLC were reviewed. Tumors invading only the parietal pleura were defined as superficial invasions, and those involving the soft tissue or ribs were defined as deep invasions.

Results

There were 91 men and 16 women; median age was 64 years (range 30 to 80 years). Overall 5 year survival rate was 26.3%. The univariate prognostic factors for survival included gender, extent of resection (pneumonectomy vs lobectomy), tumor size(> 5 cm vs ≤ 5 cm), nodal status (N0 or N1 vs N2), completeness of resection (complete vs incomplete) and completeness of adjuvant chemotherapy. At multivariate analysis, five independent prognostic factors were shown; depth of invasion (superficial vs deep), tumor size, nodal status, completeness of resection, and completeness of adjuvant chemotherapy. In patients with completely resected T3N0 NSCLC, completion of chemotherapy is the only prognostic factor for long term survival.

Conclusions

Completeness of resection, nodal status, depth of invasion, tumor size, and adjuvant chemotherapy were prognostic factors for long-term survival in NSCLC patients with chest wall invasion. Because of poor prognosis in cases with chest wall invasion that have N2 positive LN, that is difficult to achieve complete resection and that need pneumonectomy, definite chemoradiotherapy or neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy should be considered first in these cases.
Functional hyper-IL-6 from vaccinia virus-colonized tumors triggers platelet formation and helps to alleviate toxicity of mitomycin C enhanced virus therapy
Authors: Sturm Julia B , Hess Michael , Weibel Stephanie , Chen Nanhai G , Yu Yong A , Zhang Qian , Donat Ulrike , Reiss Cora , Gambaryan Stepan , Krohne Georg , Stritzker Jochen , Szalay Aladar A
Published: January 2012

Background

Combination of oncolytic vaccinia virus therapy with conventional chemotherapy has shown promise for tumor therapy. However, side effects of chemotherapy including thrombocytopenia, still remain problematic.

Methods

Here, we describe a novel approach to optimize combination therapy of oncolytic virus and chemotherapy utilizing virus-encoding hyper-IL-6, GLV-1h90, to reduce chemotherapy-associated side effects.

Results

We showed that the hyper-IL-6 cytokine was successfully produced by GLV-1h90 and was functional both in cell culture as well as in tumor-bearing animals, in which the cytokine-producing vaccinia virus strain was well tolerated. When combined with the chemotherapeutic mitomycin C, the anti-tumor effect of the oncolytic virotherapy was significantly enhanced. Moreover, hyper-IL-6 expression greatly reduced the time interval during which the mice suffered from chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia.

Conclusion

Therefore, future clinical application would benefit from careful investigation of additional cytokine treatment to reduce chemotherapy-induced side effects.
Correlation-based radio localization in an indoor environment
Authors: Callaghan Thomas , Czink Nicolai , Mani Francesco , Paulraj Arogyaswami , Papanicolaou George
Published: January 2012

We investigate the feasibility of using correlation-based methods for estimating the spatial location of distributed receiving nodes in an indoor environment. Our algorithms do not assume any knowledge regarding the transmitter locations or the transmitted signal, but do assume that there are ambient signal sources whose location and properties are, however, not known. The motivation for this kind of node localization is to avoid interaction between nodes. It is most useful in non-line-of-sight propagation environments, where there is a lot of scattering. Correlation-based node localization is able to exploit an abundance of bandwidth of ambient signals, as well as the features of the scattering environment. The key idea is to compute pairwise cross correlations of the signals received at the nodes and use them to estimate the travel time between these nodes. By doing this for all pairs of receivers, we can construct an approximate map of their location using multidimensional scaling methods. We test this localization algorithm in a cubicle-style office environment based on both ray-tracing simulations, and measurement data from a radio measurement campaign using the Stanford broadband channel sounder. Contrary to what is seen in other applications of cross-correlation methods, the strongly scattering nature of the indoor environment complicates distance estimation. However, using statistical methods, the rich multipath environment can be turned partially into an advantage by enhancing ambient signal diversity and therefore making distance estimation more robust. The main result is that with our correlation-based statistical estimation procedure applied to the real data, assisted by multidimensional scaling, we were able to compute spatial antenna locations with an average error of about 2 m and pairwise distance estimates with an average error of 1.84 m. The theoretical resolution limit for the distance estimates is 1.25 m.
Impact of proximal cytoplasmic droplets on quality traits and in-vitro embryo production efficiency of cryopreserved bull spermatozoa
Authors: Carreira Janaina T , Mingoti Gisele Z , Rodrigues Lucia H , Silva Carlos , Perri Silvia HV , Koivisto Marion B
Published: January 2012

Background

Proximal cytoplasmic droplets (PCDs), a remnant of germ cell cytoplasm, are common non-specific morphological defects in bovine semen. This study evaluated the effect of higher percentages of PCDs on the quality of frozen-thawed bovine semen, embryo production and early embryo development.

Methods

Three ejaculates from each of five (group 1: PCD ≤ 1%, control) and eight adultBos indicusbulls (group 2: PCD ≥ 24%) were analysed. Semen samples were examined for: post-thaw motility, vigour of movement, concentration, sperm morphology, slow thermoresistance test (STT), membrane integrity, acrosome status, mitochondrial function using fluorescent probes association (FITC-PSA, PI and JC-1) and sperm chromatin integrity using acridine orange assay. Two bulls from group 2, with 28.5% and 48.5% PCD, respectively, and three bulls from the control group, each with 0% PCD, were selected for IVF(in vitrofertilisation).

Results

Semen analyses revealed a significant correlation (P < 0.01) between increased rates of PCD and sperm quality traits. Nevertheless, no differences were observed in sperm motility and vigour either before or after the STT or in the percentage of intact acrosomes (analysed by differential interference contrast microscopy (DIC) after STT), but membrane integrity, acrosome status (evaluated with FITC-PSA staining method after thawing) and mitochondrial function were reduced, when compared with group 1 (P < 0.05). The higher incidence of PCD was positively correlated to chromatin damage, especially after three hours of incubation at 37°C. IVF showed similar results for bull C2 (group 1, control) and bull P2 (group 2, group with higher PCDs).

Conclusion

Higher PCD levels influenced spermatozoa quality traits. IVF and embryo development data showed that cleavage, blastocyst formation and blastocyst hatching may have been influenced by the interaction of morphology traits and individual bull effects.
Association of HADHA expression with the risk of breast cancer: targeted subset analysis and meta-analysis of microarray data
Authors: Mamtani Manju , Kulkarni Hemant
Published: January 2012

Background

The role of n-3 fatty acids in prevention of breast cancer is well recognized, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are still unclear. In view of the growing need for early detection of breast cancer, Graham et al. (2010) studied the microarray gene expression in histologically normal epithelium of subjects with or without breast cancer. We conducted a secondary analysis of this dataset with a focus on the genes (n = 47) involved in fat and lipid metabolism. We used stepwise multivariate logistic regression analyses, volcano plots and false discovery rates for association analyses. We also conducted meta-analyses of other microarray studies using random effects models for three outcomes--risk of breast cancer (380 breast cancer patients and 240 normal subjects), risk of metastasis (430 metastatic compared to 1104 non-metastatic breast cancers) and risk of recurrence (484 recurring versus 890 non-recurring breast cancers).

Results

TheHADHAgene [hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase/3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase/enoyl-CoA hydratase (trifunctional protein), alpha subunit] was significantly under-expressed in breast cancer; more so in those with estrogen receptor-negative status. Our meta-analysis showed an 18.4%-26% reduction inHADHAexpression in breast cancer. Also, there was an inconclusive but consistent under-expression ofHADHAin subjects with metastatic and recurring breast cancers.

Conclusions

Involvement of mitochondria and the mitochondrial trifunctional protein (encoded byHADHAgene) in breast carcinogenesis is known. Our results lend additional support to the possibility of this involvement. Further, our results suggest that targeted subset analysis of large genome-based datasets can provide interesting association signals.