bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Long‐Term Laryngeal Allograft Survival Using Low‐Dose Everolimus
Authors: Lott David G. , Dan Olivia , Lu Lina , Strome Marshall
Published: December 2009

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to explore the mechanism and utility of everolimus as a single‐agent therapy in preventing mouse laryngeal allograft rejection.

STUDY DESIGN

Prospective animal study.

SETTING

Academic research at a tertiary medical center.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Fifteen recipient mice (five per group) were injected with everolimus (1 mg/kg/d) until euthanized at 15, 30, and 60 days posttransplantation. Five mice received transplants without immunosuppression and were euthanized at day 15. Larynges were graded for rejection severity. Draining lymph nodes and spleens were evaluated by flow cytometry to assess the systemic immunological environment.

RESULTS

Each time group demonstrated minor allograft rejection (rejection severity scores: 2.51, 2.46, 2.78; no rejection, 1; severe, 6). This was not significantly different between groups. Everolimus‐treated mice had significantly less rejection at all time points compared with non‐immunosuppressed mice. Flow cytometry showed a blunted cytotoxic T‐cell response, differentiation favoring regulatory T‐cells, and decreased number and function of dendritic cells.

CONCLUSIONS

Everolimus successfully prevents laryngeal allograft rejection up to 60 days posttransplantation. It appears to increase the production of regulatory T‐cells while decreasing cytotoxic T‐cell and dendritic cell response. Everolimus alone or in combination with other immunosuppressants may enable laryngeal transplantation to become a viable reconstructive option following laryngectomy for malignancy.
Optimizing the Surgical Field in Pediatric Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery: A New Evidence‐Based Approach
Authors: Ragab Sameh M. , Hassanin Maher Z.
Published: December 2009

OBJECTIVES

To conduct the first prospective randomized controlled study 1) evaluating the possibility of improving the quality of the operative field and to provide a bloodless functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) in children through total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) using remifentanil combined with propofol, and 2) testing the safety and efficacy of remifentanil in propofol‐TIVA in inducing controlled hypotension in children at a target mean arterial blood pressure of 50 mm Hg.

STUDY DESIGN

Randomized controlled trial.

SETTING

General hospital.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Seventy children underwent FESS under hypotensive general anesthesia with equal randomization into two groups. Group I received TIVA with remifentanil, whereas group II had balanced anesthesia (BA) with esmolol. Heart rate, blood pressure, operative time, blood loss, and quality of the surgical conditions were recorded.

RESULTS

Intraoperative blood loss in the TIVA group was less than in the BA group. The quality and dryness of the surgical field in both the visual analogue scale and the six‐point scale was significantly better in the TIVA group than in the BA group. Hypotension was sustained at the target mean arterial blood pressure of 50 mm Hg in the two groups, without any significant difference.

CONCLUSION

Improving the quality of the surgical field and providing a bloodless FESS in children is attainable with TIVA. TIVA using a combination of remifentanil and propofol is superior to BA, even with the use of additional potent hypotensive agents such as esmolol. Both techniques are safe and effective in inducing controlled hypotension in children at a target mean arterial blood pressure of 50 mm Hg.
Combined Endoscopic and Transcutaneous Approach for Parotid Gland Sialolithiasis: Indications, Technique, and Results
Authors: Koch Michael , Bozzato Alessandro , Iro Heinrich , Zenk Johannes
Published: December 2009

OBJECTIVE

Despite all the advances of minimally invasive surgery, refractory stones remain in 10 to 20 percent of all cases of parotid gland sialolithiasis, and persistence of the symptoms makes removal of the gland inevitable. In some of these cases, however, it may be possible to conserve the gland using a combination of endoscopic and transcutaneous procedures.

STUDY DESIGN

Case series with chart review.

SETTING

Tertiary referral center.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Nine patients treated with a combined endoscopic transcutaneous operation were evaluated. During this procedure, the stone is removed through a skin incision under endoscopic guidance. Indications were sialolithiasis refractory to treatment (n = 5), sialolithiasis with complications (n = 2), contraindications to primary minimally invasive surgery (n = 1), and primary treatment (n = 1). In seven cases, the stones were extracted. Simultaneous resection of a sialocele was carried out in one case, and simultaneous resection of a saliva‐cutaneous fistula was carried out in another. A stent was inserted in 66.7 percent of the cases.

RESULTS

Treatment was successful in 88.9 percent of the patients. All of these patients were free of stones and symptoms, and glandular function was maintained both clinically and on ultrasound assessment. Complete parotidectomy had to be carried out in one case because it was not possible to reconstruct the duct system.

CONCLUSION

The combined operation offers a further option for gland‐conserving treatment in cases with obstructive salivary gland disease, especially sialolithiasis. At present, it is indicated for cases that are resistant to treatment after sialendoscopy or extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. The gland resection rate can thus be further reduced.
Partial Cricotracheal Resection in Children Weighing Less than 10 Kilograms
Authors: Ikonomidis Christos , George Mercy , Jaquet Yves , Monnier Philippe
Published: December 2009

OBJECTIVES

To assess the long‐term outcome, safety, and efficacy of partial cricotracheal resection (PCTR) for subglottic stenosis in a group of children and infants weighing less than 10 kg at the time of the surgery.

STUDY DESIGN

Historical cohort study.

SETTING

Academic tertiary medical center.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Thirty‐six children weighing less than 10 kg at the time of the surgery were compared to a group of 65 children who weighed more than 10 kg. The Kaplan Meier method and Cox regression were carried out to detect differences in decannulation time and rates and to examine the influence of various parameters (i.e., comorbidities, type of surgery, and complications requiring revision surgery) at the time of decannulation. Evaluation of the long‐term outcome was based on questionnaires assessing breathing, voice, and swallowing.

RESULTS

Decannulation rate was 92 percent (33/36) for the group of children weighing less than 10 kg. No significant differences were found between the two body weight groups with respect to the aforementioned covariates. The median follow‐up period was nine years (range, 1–23 yrs). Questionnaire responses revealed completely normal breathing and swallowing in 72 percent and 90 percent of the children, respectively. Seventy‐one percent of the patients considered their voice to be rough or weak.

CONCLUSION

PCTR in infants and children weighing less than 10 kg is a safe and efficient technique with similar long‐term results when compared to results seen in older and heavier children.
Corpus-based contrastive analysis and ­translation universals
Authors: Rabadán Rosa , Labrador Belén , Ramón Noelia
Published: December 2009

Project) developed at the University of León (Spain) for identifying instances of low-quality rendering of grammatical features when translating from English into Spanish using translation universals. The analysis provides information about: i) the resources available (or absence thereof) in each of the languages to express a given meaning and their relative centrality; ii) the solutions favored by translators to bridge the cross-linguistic disparities and/or gaps; iii) the erroneous or non-existent uses and structures transferred from the source language into the target language. These results can be systematized in terms of simplification, interference, or unique grammatical features. Additional areas that can benefit from this type of research are translation practice, translator training and foreign language teaching (FLT).

Assessing translation quality is generally seen as a difficult task because of the inadequacy of the tools available. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the usefulness of a corpus-based contrastive methodology (ACTRES
Instructing novice consecutive interpreters
Authors: Al-Rubai'i Alya' M.H. Ahmad
Published: December 2009

All aspects of human life rely on the most important cognitive ability that man has been endowed with, namely, memory. Some cognitive tasks such as consecutive interpreting put high demands on this powerful ability to the effect that it needs special training to cope with those demands. The interpreter is required to perform a number of complex cognitive activities in order to transpose the original message from one socio-cultural environment into another. Unless his memory is able to perform well, his task will be adversely affected.

In this paper, an attempt is made to suggest a number of steps that provide special training to novice interpreters with the aim of improving the performance of their memory. This is done in a preparatory training course that does not involve consecutive interpreting but working from and into the same language. If the instructor manages to help the trainee overcome memory problems in advance, he can smoothly introduce him to the process and strategies of consecutive interpretation proper. The steps suggested proceed over three phases: (1) attentive listening, meaningful analysis and visualizing, (2) anticipation and note-taking, and (3) rephrasing.
Address pronouns as a problem in French–Swedish translation and translation revision
Authors: Künzli Alexander
Published: December 2009

The choice of the appropriate address pronoun is notoriously difficult in spoken and written communication. In French, there are two parallel address systems, with either unmarked T (tu) or V (vous). In Swedish, on the other hand, the T form du has been the general, usual form since the 1960s. In recent years, V (ni) has started to reappear, at least in service and business situations. The choice of the appropriate address pronoun may thus constitute a problem in French–Swedish translation. Process and product data were collected with 20 trainee translators and professional translators who were asked to translate a text or revise a draft translation respectively, while thinking aloud. The analysis of the Swedish target texts reveals both interindividual variation in the choice of the address pronoun, and intraindividual variation, with several participants showing inconsistent address use. Process data from the think-aloud protocols highlight the effort even experienced translators invest in finding the appropriate address pronoun.
Academic discourse and translation from Arabic
Authors: Bardají Anna Gil
Published: December 2009

Translation, like any other mechanism of text production, has the intrinsic potential of both producing and reinforcing a specific discourse. In spite of the never-ending debate about the discursive character of academic knowledge and Edward Said’s particular interpretation of Foucault in Orientalism, it is difficult to deny that for a long time many European universities have fostered some of the most important misconceptions about Arab culture(s). In this kind of academic discourse, translation plays a central role. Translated texts are one step further than those texts written about the other, for they are themselves the other (or at least a part of it).

We are indebted to countless generations of scholars responsible for most translations from Arabic. Nevertheless, the time has come to ask ourselves some important questions. Which texts have been translated from Arabic by European scholars and why? Which criteria have been used to translate these texts instead of others? What has been the influence of these translations on the target culture? Which representations of Arab culture can we find in these translations and their paratexts (introductions, forewords, reviews, footnotes, etc.)?  Arabic studies in Spain have been reviewed by J. T. Monroe, Manzanares de Cirre, López García, etc., yet none of them have approached directly the problem of translation or its implications for the construction of a specific canon. In Spain, this canon has been restricted to the Andalusian heritage for a long time (especially in the fields of history, philosophy, theology, sciences and poetry) and to some universal works, such as The Arabian Nights, and has only opened itself to other spheres of the Arab culture in the last decades.  My aim in this paper is to present, from a critical perspective, some of the results of my analysis of a corpus of translations from Arabic — carried out by an eminent Spanish Arabist — and to use these results to understand how translation has helped to construct a specific academic discourse in Spain about Arab culture and particularly about al-Andalus.
From real-life situated discourse to video-stream data-mining
Authors: Gu Yueguo
Published: December 2009

This paper presents an argument for agent-oriented modeling (AOM) as a research methodology and a metalanguage for corpus linguistics. It is triggered by three closely related issues arising from compiling multimodal corpora such as the Spoken Chinese Corpora of Situated Discourse (SCCSD). Given a real-life situation, there are three types of representation: (i) the Written Word representation, (ii) audio recording, and (iii) video recording. It is shown that the three types are all data-transformative and involve data loss, and that they are intrinsically flawed. The current multiple-layered approach to data integration is also shown to be inadequate. AOM is proposed to be a potential solution to the problems. Modeling decision tree, levels of modeling, and modeling schema written in XML are demonstrated. The philosophical basis of AOM, and its theoretical implications are also discussed.
Keywords and frequent phrases of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
Authors: Fischer-Starcke Bettina
Published: December 2009

Corpus linguistic analyses reveal meanings and structural features of data, that cannot be detected intuitively. This has been amply demonstrated with regard to non-fiction data, but fiction texts have only rarely been analysed by corpus linguistic techniques. This is the case even though it has been shown by previous analyses that corpus stylistic analyses reveal literary meanings of the data that are left undetected by the intuitive analyses of literary criticism. The analysis of the keywords and most frequent phrases of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice presented in this article confirms this claim by uncovering meanings that are not discussed in literary critical secondary sources. This constitutes evidence for the large potential of corpus stylistics for the analysis of literature and its meanings.
Scientific registers in contact
Authors: Teich Elke , Holtz Mônica
Published: December 2009

We report on a project investigating the lexico-grammatical properties of English scientific texts. The goal of this project is to gain insight into the linguistic effects of two scientific disciplines coming into contact with one another (e.g. computer science and linguistics) and possibly forming a merged, new discipline (i.e. computational linguistics). The crucial question to be addressed is how such merged disciplines construe their own, distinctive identity and which kinds of linguistic means they employ to this end. To approach this question, we apply the notion of register, i.e. functional variation or variation according to context of use. On the basis of a corpus of scientific research articles from nine scientific domains, we explore selected lexico-grammatical patterns and assess their contribution to register formation.
The humanitarian imperative under fire
Authors: McKenzie Kevin
Published: December 2009

This paper explores how speakers manage the dilemmatic tension between competing demands for accountability in mundane explanations of humanitarian assistance in settings of armed conflict. Taking as analytic data talk recorded in interviews with the personnel of aid agencies and various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who work in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), we examine how demands for both non-partisan impartiality, on the one hand, and sympathetic alignment with the victims (or losing parties) of armed conflict, on the other, feature in the explanations that humanitarian aid workers formulate to account for their professional activities. While non-partisanship features as a source of legitimacy given that humanitarian assistance is regarded as a response to universal human suffering, the source of that suffering in armed conflict necessitates recognition of the antagonist-protagonist and victim relationship in order for aid recipients to be identified. Everyday accounts of aid work function to mitigate the otherwise mutually exclusive relationship between competing assumptions that inform the logic of humanitarian assistance.
Power and affiliation in presidential press conferences
Authors: Ekström Mats
Published: December 2009

Presidential press conference is an enduring form for public interrogations. Interaction in this context regulates and symbolizes relations of power, autonomy and affiliation between the President and the journalists. A general argument is that we have to study sequences of interaction in order to understand the roles and relations established in press conferences. The article investigates interruptions, and jokes and laughter. The study is based on Conversation Analysis and the data encompasses 19 press conferences held by George W Bush from 2005–2007. The analysis shows how the President uses interruptions in order to control the allocation of turns, disagree and reject criticism, demonstrate certainty and conviction, and makes joke with the journalists. Sequences of jokes and laughter strengthen the interactive power of the President, create affiliations, and questioning the expected neutrality of journalism.
Figurative language in international political discourse
Authors: Sharifian Farzad
Published: December 2009

Figurative language is used in all domains of communication, including political discourse. And since figurative language is largely socio-culturally constructed it presents a significant locus for misinterpretation or even manipulation when it collides with the realm of international politics. This paper presents an analysis of several cases of the use of figurative language in Iranian political discourse. For example, it shows how transposing a Persian metaphor onto an English metaphor has led to a conceptual shift. Given the potential risks involved in misconstruing political discourse internationally, the paper concludes by calling for additional systematic comparative studies with respect to other languages.
Lexical access of mass and count nouns
Authors: Mondini Sara , Kehayia Eva , Gillon Brendan , Arcara Giorgio , Jarema Gonia
Published: December 2009

Two psycholinguistic experiments were carried out in Italian to test the role played by the feature that distinguishes mass nouns from count nouns, as well as by the feature that distinguishes singular nouns from plural nouns. The first experiment, a simple lexical decision task, revealed a sensitivity of the lexical access system to the processing of the features Mass and Plural as shown by longer reaction times. In particular, nouns in the plural yielded longer reaction times than in the singular except when the plural form was irregular. Furthermore, the feature Mass also affected processing, yielding longer reaction times. In the second experiment, a sentence priming task, both the Plural and the Mass effects did not surface when a grammatical sentence fragment was the prime. These data show a direct correlation between the linguistic ‘complexity’ of plural/mass nouns and processing time. They also suggest that this complexity does not affect normal fluent spoken language where words are embedded in a semantic and syntactic context.
Good and bad opposites
Authors: Paradis Carita , Willners Caroline , Jones Steven
Published: December 2009

The goal of this paper is to combine corpus methodology with experimental methods to gain insights into the nature of antonymy as a lexico-semantic relation and the degree of antonymic canonicity of word pairs in language and in memory. Two approaches to antonymy in language are contrasted, the lexical categorical model and the cognitive prototype model. The results of the investigation support the latter model and show that different pairings have different levels of lexico-semantic affinity. At this general level of categorization, empirical methods converge; however, since they measure slightly different aspect of lexico-semantic opposability and affinity, and since the techniques of investigation are different in nature, we obtain slightly conflicting results at the more specific levels. We conclude that some antonym pairs can be diagnosed as “canonical” on the strength of three indicators: textual co-occurrence, individual judgement about “goodness” of opposition, and elicitation evidence.
Head position and the mental representation of nominal compounds
Authors: Marelli Marco , Crepaldi Davide , Luzzatti Claudio
Published: December 2009

There is a significant body of psycholinguistic evidence that supports the hypothesis of an access to constituent representation during the mental processing of compound words. However it is not clear whether the internal hierarchy of the constituents (i.e., headedness) plays a role in their mental lexical processing and it is not possible to disentangle the effect of headedness from that of constituent position in languages that admit only head-final compounds, like English or Dutch. The present study addresses this issue in two constituent priming experiments (SOA 300ms) with a lexical decision task. Italian endocentric (head-initial and head-final) and exocentric nominal compounds were employed as stimuli and the position of the primed constituent was manipulated. A first-level priming effect was found, confirming the automatic access to constituent representation. Moreover, in head-final compounds data reveal a larger priming effect for the head than for the modifying constituent. These results suggest that different kinds of compounds have a different representation at mental level: while head-final compounds are represented with an internal head-modifier hierarchy, head-initial and exocentric compounds have a lexicalised, internally flat representation.
Further evidence for a functionalist approach to translation quality evaluation
Authors: Colina Sonia
Published: December 2009

Colina (2008)proposes a componential-functionalist approach to translation quality evaluation and reports on the results of a pilot test of a tool designed according to that approach. The results show good inter-rater reliability and justify further testing. The current article presents an experiment designed to test the approach and tool. Data was collected during two rounds of testing. A total of 30 raters, consisting of Spanish, Chinese and Russian translators and teachers, were asked to rate 4–5 translated texts (depending on the language). Results show that the tool exhibits good inter-rater reliability for all language groups and texts except Russian and suggest that the low reliability of the Russian raters’ scores is unrelated to the tool itself. The findings are in line with those ofColina (2008).
Translating for a Good Cause
Authors: Taivalkoski-Shilov Kristiina
Published: December 2009

In Joseph Lavallée’s Le Nègre comme il y a peu de Blancs (1789) novelistic means are openly used to serve the abolitionist cause. The author announces in the preface that his aim is to “make his readers love Black people”. The novel was quite well received in France and it was translated into English twice the following year, first by Joseph Trapp and then by an anonymous translator. My article is based on a comparative analysis of some key passages containing abolitionist discourse in the source text and in the two target texts. I argue that the second English translator systematically made the novel more suitable for the abolitionist cause, by omitting or by modifying contradictory material found in the source text. Interestingly, it was this manipulated version of Lavallée’s novel that became popular among English-speaking readers.
A new perspective on relativistic transformation versus the conventional Lorentz transformation illustrated by the problem of electromagnetic waves in moving media
Authors: Huang Young-Sea
Published: December 2009

The conceptually simple problem of plane electromagnetic (EM) waves in moving media is used to illustrate differences between the conventional Lorentz transformation of electrodynamics and the new relativistic transformation of electrodynamics, which has been recently proposed. The problem is first examined in accordance with the conventional Lorentz transformation. Peculiarities are pointed out for the case where plane EM waves propagate in a medium which moves with ‘superluminal’ speeds against the waves. By contrast, those found peculiarities are resolved by the new relativistic transformation. Reasons why the usual Lorentz transformation of electrodynamics does not fulfill the principle of relativity are given. The conventional interpretation of the principle of relativity should be examined critically.
Path integral approach to the D-dimensional harmonic oscillator with minimal length
Authors: Chargui Y , Chetouani L , Trabelsi A
Published: December 2009

We solve the momentum space path integral for the D-dimensional harmonic oscillator in the context of some deformed commutation relations leading to isotropic nonzero minimal uncertainty in position coordinates. The exact energy spectrum and the corresponding normalized radial momentum space eigenfunctions are obtained from the spectral decomposition of the radial transition amplitude.
Modified projective synchronization between two different hyperchaotic systems with unknown or/and uncertain parameters
Authors: Runzi Luo , Shucheng Deng , Zhengmin Wei
Published: December 2009

This work presents the modified projective synchronization between two different hyperchaotic systems in the presence of unknown or/and uncertain system parameters. Based on the Lyapunov stability theory, two control laws are proposed to make the states of two hyperchaotic systems asymptotically synchronized. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations are shown to verify the results.
Using tagging experiments to evaluate the potential of closed areas in protecting migratory Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua)
Authors: Schopka Sigfus A. , Solmundsson Jon , Ragnarsson Stefan Aki , Thorsteinsson Vilhjalmur
Published: December 2009

Schopka, S. A., Solmundsson, J., Ragnarsson, S. A., and Thorsteinsson, V. 2010. Using tagging experiments to evaluate the potential of closed areas in protecting migratory Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 1024–1035. About 5200 cod (Gadus morhua) were tagged on three fishing grounds and within two marine protected areas (MPAs) northwest of Iceland. Two of the fishing grounds were closed to otter trawling, and the third was open to all fishing gear. Tagged fish were divided into two size classes, below (small) and above (large) a reference length of 55 cm, and the following variables were estimated: (i) proportion of the recaptured small cod that did not reach the reference size, (ii) size increase from tagging to recapture, (iii) time at liberty, and (iv) spatial distribution of recaptures. For the small cod, the results suggest that not only protection status but also the distance to areas of intense fishing mainly account for differences in the variables among tagging areas. No differences were observed for the large cod among tagging areas. The results show that immature cod are relatively stationary, but perform seasonal migrations between feeding and spawning grounds after reaching maturity. The estimated distribution of tagged cod generally changed after standardizing the recapture data with fishing effort (catch per unit area). Our results suggest that area closures on nursery grounds can be useful in protecting immature cod, but the MPAs studied are of little use in protecting highly migratory adults.
Direct 16S rRNA gene sequencing of polymicrobial culture-negative sampleswith analysis of mixed chromatograms
Authors: Hartmeyer Gitte N. , Justesen Ulrik S.
Published: December 2009

Two cases involving polymicrobial culture-negative samples were investigatedby 16S rRNA gene sequencing, with analysis of mixed chromatograms. Fusobacteriumnecrophorum, Prevotella intermedia and Streptococcus constellatus were identified from pleural fluid in a patient with Lemierre'ssyndrome and Neisseria meningitidis and Escherichia coliwere identified from a petechia in a patient with meningococcal disease.
Dissecting interactions between nucleosides and germination receptors in Bacillus cereus 569 spores
Authors: Dodatko Tetyana , Akoachere Monique , Jimenez Nadia , Alvarez Zadkiel , Abel-Santos Ernesto
Published: December 2009

Bacillus cereus 569 spores germinate either with inosine as a sole germinant or with a combination of nucleosides and l-alanine. Whereas the inosine-only germination pathway requires the presence of two different germination receptors (GerI and GerQ) to be activated, the nucleoside/alanine germination pathway only needs one of the two receptors. To differentiate how nucleoside recognition varies between the inosine-only germination pathway and the nucleoside/alanine germination pathway, we tested 61 purine analogues as agonists and antagonists of the two pathways in wild-type, ΔgerI and ΔgerQ spores. The structure–activity relationships of germination agonists and antagonists suggest that the inosine-only germination pathway is restricted to recognize a single germinant (inosine), but can be inhibited in predictable patterns by structurally distinct purine nucleosides. B. cereus spores encoding GerI as the only nucleoside receptor (ΔgerQ mutant) showed a germination inhibition profile similar to wild-type spores treated with inosine only. Thus, GerI seems to have a well-organized binding site that recognizes inosine and inhibitors through specific substrate–protein interactions. Structure–activity analysis also showed that the nucleoside/alanine germination pathway is more promiscuous toward purine nucleoside agonists, and is only inhibited by hydrophobic analogues. B. cereus spores encoding GerQ as the only nucleoside receptor (ΔgerI mutant) behaved like wild-type spores treated with inosine and l-alanine. Thus, the GerQ receptor seems to recognize substrates in a more flexible binding site through non-specific interactions. We propose that the GerI receptor is responsible for germinant detection in the inosine-only germination pathway. On the other hand, supplementing inosine with l-alanine allows bypassing of the GerI receptor to activate the more flexible GerQ receptor.
Transposon mutagenesis in a hyper-invasive clinical isolate of Campylobacter jejuni reveals a number of genes with potential roles in invasion
Authors: Javed Muhammad Afzal , Grant Andrew J. , Bagnall Mary. C. , Maskell Duncan J. , Newell Diane G. , Manning Georgina
Published: December 2009

Transposon mutagenesis has been applied to a hyper-invasive clinical isolate ofCampylobacter jejuni, 01/51. A random transposon mutant library was screened in anin vitroassay of invasion and 26 mutants with a significant reduction in invasion were identified. Given that the invasion potential ofC. jejuniis relatively poor compared to other enteric pathogens, the use of a hyper-invasive strain was advantageous as it greatly facilitated the identification of mutants with reduced invasion. The location of the transposon insertion in 23 of these mutants has been determined; all but three of the insertions are in genes also present in the genome-sequenced strain NCTC 11168. Eight of the mutants contain transposon insertions in one region of the genome (∼14 kb), which when compared with the genome of NCTC 11168 overlaps with one of the previously reported plasticity regions and is likely to be involved in genomic variation between strains. Further characterization of one of the mutants within this region has identified a gene that might be involved in adhesion to host cells.
Involvement of motility and flagella in Bacillus cereus biofilm formation
Authors: Houry A. , Briandet R. , Aymerich S. , Gohar M.
Published: December 2009

Bacillus cereusis a food-borne pathogen and a frequent contaminant of food production plants. The persistence of this pathogen in various environments results from the formation of spores and of biofilms. To investigate the role of theB. cereusflagellar apparatus in biofilm formation, we constructed a non-flagellated mutant and a flagellated but non-motile mutant. Unexpectedly, we found that the presence of flagella decreased the adhesion of the bacterium to glass surfaces. We hypothesize that this decrease is a consequence of the flagella hindering a direct interaction between the bacterial cell wall and the surface. In contrast, in specific conditions, motility promotes biofilm formation. Our results suggest that motility could influence biofilm formation by three mechanisms. Motility is necessary for the bacteria to reach surfaces suitable for biofilm formation. In static conditions, reaching the air–liquid interface, where the biofilm forms, is a strong requirement, whereas in flow cells bacteria can have access to the bottom glass slide by sedimentation. Therefore, motility is important for biofilm formation in glass tubes and in microtitre plates, but not in flow cells. Motility also promotes recruitment of planktonic cells within the biofilm by allowing motile bacteria to invade the whole biofilm. Finally, motility is involved in the spreading of the biofilm on glass surfaces.
Long-term synaptic changes in two input pathways into the lateral nucleus of the amygdala underlie fear extinction
Authors: Park Junchol , Choi June-Seek
Published: December 2009

Plasticity in two input pathways into the lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA), the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the sensory thalamus, have been suggested to underlie extinction, suppression of a previously acquired conditioned response (CR) following repeated presentations of the conditioned stimulus (CS). However, little is known about the joint dynamics of the relevant synaptic changes within the LA that accompany fear extinction. Employing a novel training procedure, in which stimulation of the medial geniculate nucleus (MGm) of the thalamus served as the CS, we tested necessary and sufficient conditions for extinction in anesthetized rats. Repeatedly applying the brain-stimulation CS was neither sufficient to produce activation of the mPFC nor behavioral extinction when the animal was under anesthesia. Only when the CS was combined with contingent stimulation of the infralimbic cortex (IL) of the mPFC was the CR markedly reduced, emulating extinction. To elucidate the nature of synaptic alterations linking the extinction procedure with CR suppression, evoked field potentials to IL and MGm stimulations were recorded in the LA. The results showed that paired stimulations of the IL and MGm significantly enhanced the neural response at the IL-LA synapses and reversed conditioning-induced synaptic potentiation at the MGm-LA synapses. Taken together, our results provide strong evidence that dual plasticity within the LA underlies suppression of conditioned fear response following extinction.
Deficits in sensory-specific devaluation task performance following genetic deletions of cannabinoid (CB1) receptor
Authors: Crombag Hans S. , Johnson Alexander W. , Zimmer Anne M. , Zimmer Andreas , Holland Peter C.
Published: December 2009

Cannabinoid CB1 receptor is abundantly expressed throughout the CNS and is implicated in numerous physiological and behavioral functions, including appetite and feeding. In the present study, wild-type and CB1 heterozygous and homozygous knockout mice were tested on an instrumental outcome-selective devaluation task to assess changes in acquired instrumental response levels for a distinct food reward following selective satiation. Deletion of CB1 receptor, as well as reduction in CB1 expression (HET), produced deficits in outcome-selective instrumental devaluation. These results identify a critical role for CB1 receptor in the ability of animals to represent, update, and/or use sensory-specific outcome representations to alter appetitive behaviors.
Jilted? The manager's little book for keeping customers in a recession
Authors: Latham Scott F. , Braun Michael R.
Published: December 2009

Purpose

In this paper, the authors build a prescriptive framework for managers to help assess potential shifts in consumer behavior during economic recession. The framework offers a guide to help evaluate the extent of customer attrition risks, and to devise customer‐centric strategies to stabilize businesses in light of recessionary demand shocks.

Design/methodology/approach

The framework is built based on insights gained from surveying approximately 500 small, medium‐sized, and large businesses during the 2001‐2002 and 2007‐present recession. The executives surveyed worked in a wide array of industries, at organizations that varied in size from one person to thousands of employees.

Findings

The framework suggests that the interaction between two consumer behavior dynamics – lock‐in and utility specificity – determines the extent of customer retention and attrition to businesses experiencing recession. As such, all organizations need to assess the likelihood that their customers will alter their purchases in response to recessionary pressures. The authors provide measures to help managers anticipate shifts in buying behavior and formulate appropriate responses for customer retention and acquisition.

Originality/value

Research on effective management strategies for coping with recessions remains one of the most important but nevertheless overlooked areas in strategic management. In most instances, prescriptions fall under two broad categories – i.e. seek out inefficiencies and reduce costs. The authors contend that for companies to successfully navigate recessionary environments they need to reach beyond efficiency measures to also adopt strategies minimizing customer loss during the recession and luring back buyers post‐recession. The authors offer insights to help managers evaluate customer acquisition and retention recession.
Competition and choice: banks and savings banks in Spain
Authors: Carles Maixé‐Altés J.
Published: December 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how Spanish savings banks have come to compete directly with commercial banks. It also looks at how regulatory changes and corporate strategies have affected the nature of competition between the two types of bank in Spain.

Design/methodology/approach

There is a re‐examination of the existing bibliography as a basis prior to the analysis of new data as identified in surviving records from the Bank of Spain and the Spanish Confederation of savings banks (Confederación Española de Cajas de Ahorro(CECA)).

Findings

The work adopts a novel approach to explaining the current status quo in the Spanish banking industry and refocuses the performance of Spanish savings banks. The analysis highlights the role of the diverse institutional agents, i.e. the banks, savings banks, cooperative banks and mutual banks and the role these play in the evolution of competition. The effectiveness of the managers, of both the CECA and the savings banks, is also placed under the spotlight, and the part they play in the development of collaborative competition. The trajectory of Spanish banking, post deregulation, has been somewhat different from that of its European counterparts over recent decades.

Practical implications

Some lessons for present day managers emerge as to the role of diversification rather than scale under an otherwise tight regulatory regime and the role of competitive collaboration in banking market.

Originality/value

Particular attention is given to the impact that diverse organisational forms have on the evolution of competitive forces.
The response of Crohn’s strictures to endoscopic balloon dilation
Authors: MUELLER T. , RIEDER B. , BECHTNER G. , PFEIFFER A.
Published: December 2009

Aliment Pharmacol Ther 31, 634–639

Background  Endoscopic balloon dilation has been shown to be an alternative to surgery in the treatment of Crohn’s symptomatic strictures.

Aim  To analyse the impact of the type of the strictures –de novo or anastomotic – their location and their length on the outcome of endoscopic balloon dilation.

Methods  Between December 1999 and June 2008, 55 patients underwent 93 balloon dilations for 74 symptomatic strictures. One stricture was located in the duodenum, 39 strictures were in the terminal ileum, 17 at the ileocoecal anastomosis after a preceding resection and 17 in the colon.

Results  Endoscopic treatment was successful in 76% of the patients during an observation period of 44 (1–103) months. Of the patients, 24% required surgery. All patients who underwent surgery had de novo strictures in the terminal ileum. These strictures were significantly longer compared with the ileal strictures that responded to endoscopic treatment [7.5 (1–25) cm vs. 2.5 (1–25) cm; P = 0.006].

Conclusions  The long‐term success of endoscopic balloon dilation depends on the type of the strictures, their location and their length. Failure of endoscopic treatment was observed only in long‐segment strictures in the terminal ileum.
Both β1- and β2-adrenoceptors contribute to feedforward coronary resistance vessel dilation during exercise
Authors: Gao Fen , de Beer Vincent J. , Hoekstra Maaike , Xiao Chuanshi , Duncker Dirk J. , Merkus Daphne
Published: December 2009

During exercise, β-feedforward coronary vasodilation has been shown to contribute to the matching of myocardial oxygen supply with the demand of the myocardium. Since both β1- and β2-adrenoceptors are present in the coronary microvasculature, we investigated the relative contribution of these subtypes to β-feedforward coronary vasodilation during exercise as well as to infusion of the β1-agonist norepinephrine and the β1- and β2-agonist isoproterenol. Chronically instrumented swine were studied at rest and during graded treadmill exercise (1–5 km/h) under control conditions and after β1-blockade with metoprolol (0.5 mg/kg iv) and β1/β2-blockade with propranolol (0.5 mg/kg iv). The selectivity and degree of β-blockade of metoprolol and propranolol were confirmed using isoproterenol infusion (0.05–0.4 μg· kg−1·min−1) under resting conditions. Isoproterenol-induced coronary vasodilation was mediated through the β2-adrenoceptor, whereas norepinephrine-induced coronary vasodilation was principally mediated through the β1-adrenoceptor. Exercise resulted in a significant increase in left ventricular norepinephrine release and epinephrine uptake. β1-Adrenoceptor blockade with metoprolol had very little effect under resting conditions. However, during exercise, metoprolol attenuated the increase in myocardial oxygen supply in excess of the reduction in myocardial oxygen demand, as evidenced by a progressive decrease in coronary venous Po2. Consequently, metoprolol caused a clockwise rotation of the relationship between myocardial oxygen consumption and coronary venous Po2. Additional β2-adrenoceptor blockade with propranolol further inhibited myocardial oxygen supply during exercise, resulting in a further clockwise rotation of the relationship between myocardial oxygen consumption and coronary venous Po2. In conclusion, both β1- and β2-adrenoceptors contribute to the β-feedforward coronary resistance vessel dilation during exercise.
Heart failure switches the RV α1-adrenergic inotropic response from negative to positive
Authors: Wang Guan-Ying , Yeh Che-Chung , Jensen Brian C. , Mann Michael J. , Simpson Paul C. , Baker Anthony J.
Published: December 2009

Right ventricular (RV) failure is a serious common clinical problem that is poorly understood. Therefore, for failing and nonfailing hearts, we examined the distinctive inotropic responses induced in the RV myocardium after the stimulation of α1-adrenergic receptors (ARs). In RV trabeculae from nonfailing mouse hearts, α1-ARs induced a negative inotropic response, consistent with our previous study. In marked contrast, in RV trabeculae from failing hearts, 12 wk after coronary artery ligation, α1-ARs induced a positive inotropic response. Mechanistically, experiments with skinned trabeculae showed that α1-ARs decreased myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity in the nonfailing RV myocardium, whereas α1-ARs increased Ca2+ sensitivity in heart failure. This suggests that a switch in the Ca2+ sensitivity response to α1-AR stimulation explained the switch in the RV α1-AR inotropic response in heart failure. Myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) can increase myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity, and the smooth muscle isoform (smMLCK), which is also present in cardiomyocytes, was more abundant in the RV myocardium from failing versus nonfailing hearts. Moreover, the MLCK inhibitor ML-9 prevented the switch of the RV myocardium to a positive α1-AR inotropic response in heart failure. In the left ventricular myocardium, in contrast, α1-AR inotropic responses were not different in failing versus nonfailing hearts, and smMLCK abundance was not increased in heart failure. In relation to human disease, we found that smMLCK mRNA and protein levels were increased in RVs from failing human hearts. We conclude that the RV inotropic response to α1-ARs is switched from negative to positive in heart failure, through a pathway involving increased myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity. Since α1-AR agonist catecholamines are elevated in heart failure, increased α1-AR inotropic responses in the RV myocardium may be adaptive in heart failure by helping the failing RV respond to increased pulmonary pressures.
Biaxial mechanical properties of intact and layer-dissected human carotid arteries at physiological and supraphysiological loadings
Authors: Sommer Gerhard , Regitnig Peter , Költringer Lukas , Holzapfel Gerhard A.
Published: December 2009

Specimens of intact wall tubes of human common carotid arteries (CCA), internal carotid arteries (ICA) ( n = 11, age 77.6 yr, SD 6.3), and related adventitia and media-intima tubes are mechanically examined. Cyclic, quasi-static extension-inflation tests at different axial stretches are performed on preconditioned tube specimens. Stress-free configurations show significant stress releases in the circumferential direction of the intact CCA and ICA walls and in the axial directions of the intact CCA walls and the CCA and ICA adventitias. All investigated tissues exhibit strong nonlinear, pseudoelastic mechanical behavior with small hysteresis. The “inversion” feature, where the pressure/axial stretch relationship becomes a vertical line, is found only for intact walls. Axial “inversion stretches” are 1.15 (SD 0.06) for CCA and 1.14 (SD 0.06) for ICA, and related external axial forces are 0.43 N (SD 0.15) and 0.30 N (SD 0.22), respectively. Significant negative correlations between age and axial inversion stretches for CCA ( r = −0.67, P = 0.03) and ICA ( r = −0.29, P = 0.04) are identified. Adventitias are very compliant at low pressures, but change into stiff tubes at high pressures. The burst pressure of the adventitia is beyond 250 kPa. A relatively low burst pressure of ∼60 kPa is found in the media-intima tubes, in which the pressure/circumferential stretch relationships are almost independent of the axial stretches. Stress analyses indicate a high degree of material anisotropy for all investigated tissues. High circumferential and axial stresses occur in the media-intima tubes at physiological conditions. The obtained data are intended to serve for an improvement of constitutive laws, determination of constitutive parameters, and enhancing our knowledge of the mechanical functions of arteries and their associated layers in specific pathophysiological and clinical problems, such as hypertension and angioplasty with stenting.