bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Spinal Cord Herniation: A Missing Piece in the Pathogenesis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Multiple Sclerosis?
Authors: Manara Renzo , Citton Valentina , Nardetto Lucia , Semplicini Claudio , Burlina Alessandro , Trevisan Carlo , Argentiero Vincenza , Baracchini Claudio
Published: February 2011

Background: Idiopathic spinal cord herniation (SCH) is a rare and often misdiagnosed condition characterized by displacement of the spinal cord through an anterior defect of the dural sac. This condition determines continuous focal trauma of the spinal cord, causing slowly progressive myelopathy. The peculiar MR scan findings, particularly sagittal T2-weighted images, allow its recognition. Objective: Herein, we report 3 cases of SCH and suggest a possible association with trauma-related neurodegenerative or chronic inflammatory diseases. Methods: We reviewed the clinical files of all patients admitted to our hospital with a history and signs of progressive myelopathy (paraparesis and/or lower extremity hypoesthesia) who were diagnosed with SCH by MRI. Results: We found 3 female patients (37, 69 and 68 years of age) with a diagnosis of SCH. Two of them presented with concomitant, relatively rare disabling neurological diseases, namely amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and multiple sclerosis. The third patient underwent surgery and gradually recovered over 6 months. Conclusions: Persistent central nervous system trauma due to idiopathic SCH might provide an unexpected hint about the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and multiple sclerosis.
Canthaxanthin Retinopathy: Long-Term Observations
Authors: Hueber Arno , Rosentreter André , Severin Maria
Published: February 2011

Purpose: To describe the long-term outcome of canthaxanthin retinopathy. Methods: We identified 13 patients with small golden particles near the macular region among a group of 35 patients with known consumption of canthaxanthin somewhen between 1983 and 1988. One long-term follow-up examination was possible in 5 of 13 cases after 16–24 years. The examinations included determination of visual acuity, the Amsler grid, slit lamp examination, perimetry, electro-oculography, electroretinography, optical coherence tomography and fluorescein angiography. Results: Complete disappearance of the golden particles took approximately 20 years. The patients in our study were asymptomatic and no functional defect related to canthaxanthin could be detected. Conclusions: Ingestion of canthaxanthin causes no long-term adverse effects.
Score for the Targeting of Atrial Fibrillation: A New Approach to Diagnosing Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: Suissa Laurent , Mahagne Marie Hélène , Lachaud Sylvain
Published: February 2011

Background and Purpose: Detecting paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) after ischaemic stroke is challenging. There are several methods to increase the detection rate of PAF, but it is first necessary to identify subgroups of patients at risk. In a previous study, we established a clinicoradiologic score that predicts atrial fibrillation (AF) in stroke patients. The purpose of the present study is to validate this score specifically for PAF patients. Methods: 500 consecutive ischaemic stroke patients were examined in our stroke unit. A blind evaluation of the STAF (score for the targeting of atrial fibrillation) was performed for each patient with or without AF. Firstly, we established the reproducibility of the STAF performance by comparing areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves in the preliminary and present studies. Secondly, to validate the predictive value of the STAF in occult AF, areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves were compared for each type of AF. Thirdly, the best threshold value was calculated. Results: AF was detected in 145 cases including 45% of paroxysmal forms. There is no significant score performance difference (p = 0.192) between the preliminary and prospective cohort areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves. This confirms the reproducibility of STAF performance. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the PAF group was 0.907 versus 0.911 for the permanent AF group (p = 0.906). The diagnostic value of the STAF is as good in permanent as paroxysmal AF. In PAF, a STAF ≧5 has a sensitivity of 91% and a specificity of 77%. Conclusions: Due to its reproducibility and predictive value, the STAF can be used by neurologists as part of a novel diagnostic strategy for occult AF.
Characterization of the Brain β-Amyloid Isoform Pattern at Different Ages of Tg2576 Mice
Authors: Mustafiz Tamanna , Portelius Erik , Gustavsson Mikael K. , Hölttä Mikko , Zetterberg Henrik , Blennow Kaj , Nordberg Agneta , Unger Lithner Christina
Published: February 2011

Background: Although genetic and biochemical studies have suggested a cardinal role for β-amyloid (Aβ) in Alzheimer’s disease, the underlying mechanism(s) of how Aβ induces neurodegeneration is still unclear. Our objective was to investigate the consequences of Aβ, especially on tau phosphorylation at specific epitopes important for Alzheimer’s disease. Methods: We used cortices from Tg2576 mice at 7 days to 15 months of age. Results: MALDI-TOF MS revealed an age-dependent shift in the Aβ isoform pattern. Young animals displayed high cortical levels of the shorter Aβ isoforms (Aβ1–16 and Aβ1–17) compared to 15-month-old Tg2576 mice which mainly expressed Aβ1–40 and Aβ1–42. The Aβ1–42 showed an age-dependent increase, whereas total Aβ1–40 levels remained constant. The highest levels of TBS-soluble Aβ oligomers were found at 90 days of age. Brain Aβ build-up did not affect the phosphorylation of tau at the epitopes investigated. Conclusions: This study provides new information about age-dependent Aβ isoforms and oligomers as well as their effect on site-specific tau phosphorylation in this transgenic mouse model. Our observations suggest that the different human Aβ isoforms do not directly cause increased tau phosphorylation and that the cognitive deficits seen in this mouse model are only related to the Aβ overexpression.
Tachykinin-Immunoreactive Neurons in Developing Feline Neostriatum: Somatodendritic Morphogenesis Demonstrated by Combined Immunohistochemistry/Golgi Impregnation-Gold Toning
Authors: Fisher Robin , Boylan Marea
Published: February 2011

This investigation was designed to survey and characterize the development of a key link between chemically mediated neurotransmission and neuronal cytoarchitecture in mammalian basal ganglia. Peroxidase immunohistochemical and Golgi impregnation/gold toning methods were combined to doubly label the tachykinin neuromodulator signature and somatodendritic structure of neostriatal neurons in late fetal, postnatal and adult cats. The results supported 3 conclusions of considerable significance. (1) Colocalization of immunohistochemical and Golgi impregnation/gold toning labels is a feasible, rational and productive means to identify and determine the somatodendritic morphogenesis of tachykinin neurons. (2) The application of this method to developing feline neostriatum demonstrates directly that the principal tachykinin cells are medium-sized spiny neurons, which undergo progressive growth and elaboration of cell bodies, dendritic arbors and dendritic spines during the late fetal and postnatal periods. (3) There is a strong but incomplete concordance between tachykinin and medium-sized spiny neuronal phenotypes, because a minor variant of medium-sized spiny neurons and rare subgroups of medium- and large-sized sparse spiny neurons also show the tachykinin neuromodulator signature. Taken together, these results suggest that neostriatal neurons show an early commitment to heterogeneous tachykinin phenotypes, although the full and final expression of their somatodendritic characteristics coincides with synaptogenesis.
Doug Wright: “We Love to See Power Subverted”
Authors: Stanescu Saviana
Published: February 2011

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Doug Wright, the author of I Am My Own Wife, talks about the process of creating the dramatic text based on transcripts of conversations with East German transvestite Charlotte von Mehlsdorf.
Three Posters: Reflections on a Video/Performance
Authors: Khoury Elias , Mroué Rabih
Published: February 2011

Three Posters plays with fiction and truth by offering a voyeuristic view of multiple takes of Jamal Sati's farewell video testimonial, recorded shortly before his suicide mission, and juxtaposing them with an actor's real-time testimonial. The videos consider the limits of truth and its representations, asking: Were the artists violating the sacred space of the martyr in order to critique the concept of martyrdom and the powers that nourish such ideologies?
Staging Terror
Authors: Hesford Wendy S.
Published: February 2011

What might at first appear as two disparate performance spaces—a gallery and a theatre—are actually complementary aspects of the traumatic real. The juxtaposition of the Inconvenient Evidence photography exhibit on abuses at Abu Ghraib prison and the documentary play Guantánamo: “Honor Bound to Defend Freedom” suggests a correspondence between the documentary spectacles of war and theatre.
Putting the Document into Documentary: An Unwelcome Corrective?
Authors: Bottoms Stephen
Published: February 2011

“Verbatim drama,” the current trend in British documentary theatre, capitalizes on the presumed authenticity of the voices represented and on the “unmediated” theatricalization of the truths they ostensibly reveal. The works of Moisés Kaufman and his Tectonic Theater Project present an alternative, appropriating avantgarde theatre techniques and acknowledging the presence of the artist in shaping the representation of the realities depicted.
Why Language Fails: Deb Margolin's Reclamation of Silence
Authors: Alker Gwendolyn
Published: February 2011

Feminist performance artist Deb Margolin is well known for her loquacious and witty performances. Most recently, however, her focus has been on the use of silence in her explorations of the failure of language in performance. In recent pieces such as Index to Idioms and O Yes I Will, Margolin challenges feminist ideas of absence as well as patriarchal standards of language through a reclamation of silence.
Reply to Bhatt and Pancheva's “Late Merger of Degree Clauses”: The Irrelevance of (Non)conservativity
Authors: Grosu Alexander , Horvath Julia
Published: February 2011

According to Bhatt and Pancheva (2004), two effects they attribute to degree constructions (obligatory extraposition effects and scope rigidity effects determined by the superficial position of degree phrases/clauses) can be given a unified analysis in terms of an extension of Fox and Nissenbaum's (1999) analysis of extraposition in conjunction with the nonconservativity of (certain) degree words. We show that, under full preservation of Bhatt and Pancheva's theoretical assumptions, their account faces at least three problems: (a) one of the phenomena they propose to unify, the one involving scope effects, does not exist; (b) (non)conservativity is irrelevant to obligatory extraposition effects; and (c) contrary to their tacit assumption, Trace Conversion is at most an optional procedure for DegP chains.

We propose an alternative, nonsemantic treatment of obligatory extraposition effects, which subsumes them under an independently needed adjacency constraint on prehead modifiers. Furthermore, we note that the facts brought up here and in Bhatt and Pancheva 2004 call into question the quantificational approach to degree constructions.
Clitic Climbing and the Dual Status of Sembrare
Authors: Haegeman Liliane
Published: February 2011

For some speakers of Italian (reported in Cinque 2004), Italian sembrare ‘seem’ has dual status. On the one hand, it is a lexical verb, with an experiencer argument; on the other hand, it behaves like a “restructuring verb.” In the latter case, sembrare is incompatible with an experiencer argument and it allows clitic climbing. This article identifies several contexts in which clitic climbing is not possible with sembrare and offers an account in terms of Cinque's proposals about the functional hierarchy of the clause. The article also examines sembler, the French cognate of sembrare, and argues, contra Cinque 2002, that it behaves like a lexical verb. Finally, it shows that the two instantiations of Italian sembrare correspond to two verbs in Dutch: schijnen and lijken.
Nonstationarity in Multifactor Models of Discrete Jump Processes, Memory, and Application to Cloud Modeling
Authors: Horenko Illia
Published: February 2011

Because of the mathematical and numerical limitations, standard statistical methods known from the literature are not applicable to inferring jump processes under exogenous influence. Such processes can be considered, for example, in the atmosphere (transitions between different cloud types) and in the ocean (phase transitions between water and ice). Reasons for these intrinsic limitations of standard methods are investigated and a method for the inference of discrete microscopic jump models based on macroscopic ensemble observations is presented. It significantly extends the recently developed methods of nonstationary Markov model parameterization (which are constrained to a single exogenous factor and to direct individual observations of the jump process realizations). The main advantage of the new method is the possibility of inference from indirect ensemble observations with multiple exogenous factors. Moreover, this method allows for a new possibility to test whether the available time series is best described via stationary or nonstationary and Markovian (with memory) or independent (without memory) processes. It also allows estimation of the relative significance of the exogenous factors and their impact on the jump probabilities. The new framework provides a unified toolkit for data analysis of jump processes with the same level of detail now possible for standard continuous state space tools. The resulting numerical algorithm is applied to analysis of the total relative cloud cover data in the midlatitudes and in the tropics under the influence of some meteorologically relevant local and global exogenous factors.
Perspectives on Behavior Settings
Authors: Wicker Allan W.
Published: February 2011

The basic unit of ecological psychology, the behavior setting, has been conceptualized and studied from two contrasting but complementary perspectives. This article describes both and proposes development of an additional perspective incorporating the subjective experiences of setting occupants. According to the traditional view, behavior settings are self-regulating, extrapersonal systems that not only provide opportunities for occupants but also constrain their actions. The contemporary view focuses on individual and group sense-making in settings: Occupants attend to, assess, and act on environmental events in light of their current knowledge and beliefs. It also considers the larger contexts of settings. Ecological psychologists have largely neglected feelings and emotions arising from people’s direct experiences of, and in, the settings they occupy. Research is needed to link such experiences with the setting features identified by the traditional and contemporary perspectives. An ethnographer’s published account of a single behavior setting, a hostess club in Japan, provides illustrations for each viewpoint presented.
Greening Africana Studies: Redemption, Redevelopment, and Remuneration in the Black Community
Authors: Patterson Rubin , Lambert Nicole
Published: February 2011

This year marks the 40th year of Africana Studies in the academy, and while great gains have been made, there is one glaring area of study absent from the field—the environment. Given that African peoples globally suffer disproportionately from environmental degradation as well as the role that the burgeoning “Green Jobs” sector could have in engendering job growth in the Black community, the environment should play a role in Africana Studies programs and research. This article showcases the absence of an environmental focus in both Black scholarly research and Africana Studies programs—and other academic programs—across the country. Given the important role that the environment plays in the Black community and could continue to play in the near future, this article advocates for the necessity of an environmental focus within the field of Africana Studies.
Examining the Long-Term Racial Disparities in Health and Economic Conditions Among Hurricane Katrina Survivors: Policy Implications for Gulf Coast Recovery
Authors: Toldson Ivory A. , Ray Kilynda , Hatcher Schnavia Smith , Straughn Louis Laura
Published: February 2011

This study examines disparities in the long-term health, emotional well-being, and economic consequences of the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes. Researchers analyzed the responses of 216 Black and 508 White Hurricane Katrina survivors who participated in the ABC News Hurricane Katrina Anniversary Poll in 2006. Self-reported data of the long-term negative impact of the hurricane on personal health, emotional well-being, and finances were regressed on race, income, and measures of loss, injury, family mortality, anxiety, and confidence in the government. Descriptive analyses, stepwise logistic regression, and analyses of variance revealed that Black hurricane survivors more frequently reported hurricane-related problems with personal health, emotional well-being, and finances. In addition, Blacks were more likely than Whites to report the loss of friends, relatives, and personal property.
Manifestations of Nommo: Afrocentric Analysis of President Barack Obama
Authors: Howard Sheena C.
Published: February 2011

This research seeks to uncover how the African oral element of nommo is manifested in President Obama and how his use of nommo is facilitated as he communicates across racial lines.
Between Black and Brown: Blaxican (Black-Mexican) Multiracial Identity in California
Authors: Romo Rebecca
Published: February 2011

This article explores the racial/ethnic identities of multiracial Black-Mexicans or “Blaxicans.” In-depth interviews with 12 Blaxican individuals in California reveal how they negotiate distinct cultural systems to accomplish multiracial identities. I argue that choosing, accomplishing, and asserting a Blaxican identity challenges the dominant monoracial discourse in the United States, in particular among African American and Chicana/o communities. That is, Blaxican respondents are held accountable by African Americans and Chicanas/os/Mexicans to monoracial notions of “authenticity.” The process whereby Blaxicans move between these monoracial spaces to create multiracial identities illustrates crucial aspects of the social construction of race/ethnicity in the United States and the influence of social interactions in shaping how Blaxicans develop their multiracial identities.
Memory Brokers, Shameful Pasts, and Civil War Commemoration
Authors: Holyfield Lori , Beacham Clifford
Published: February 2011

This article examines the commemoration of the American Civil War via the symbolic structure of “fragmented” and “multivocal” commemorative sites. Through observation, thick description, and interviews, this work examines the contested commemoration of the American Civil War with regard to race, slavery, and collective sentiment. The role of memory brokers in the commemoration process, both past and present, is identified, placing the commemoration of the American Civil War within a shame-centered framework. Illustrations of the symbolic structure of the sites and ideological struggles to recognize the role of slavery as a cause for war, as well as the role of Black soldiers in the war’s outcome, may add to our understanding of U.S. race relations, both past and present.
In Search of an Authentic African American and/or Black Identity: Perspectives of First Generation U.S.-Born Africans Attending a Predominantly White Institution
Authors: De Walt Patrick S.
Published: February 2011

The discourse on African American/Black identity, as illustrated by the “Obama Phenomenon,” continues to evolve as current ways of nomenclature and identifying “what is African American and/or Black identity” are, in effect, challenged by a generation of U.S.-born Africans. This case study explored the perceptions about African American/Black identity of six First Generation U.S.-Born Africans attending a predominantly White institution. The resulting narratives highlighted their perceived tensions and harmonies with Continental Africans, Generational African Americans, and, in some cases, other cultural/racial groups. Their stories offer more support for recognizing the heterogeneity within the African American/Black community. The university context serves as one of the primary sites where they engaged these tensions and harmonies concerning their racial/cultural/linguistic identities.
Got on My Traveling Shoes: Migration, Exile, and Home in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy
Authors: Montgomery Maxine L.
Published: February 2011

“Got on My Traveling Shoes” examines Toni Morrison’s (2008) A Mercy in terms of its engagement with tropes of migration, exile, and home. This article builds upon the scholarship of critics such as Paul Gilroy, Homi Bhabha, Carol Boyce Davies, bell hooks, and Morrison herself in arguing that the author’s latest novel refigures the essentialist model of double-consciousness reified in W.E.B. DuBois’s The Souls of Black Folk and gestures toward a liminal home existing outside fixed cultural bounds. The article’s unique contribution to the transnational studies conversation centers on the analysis of Morrison’s re-inscription of the moment of race consciousness. Through an inventive use of language, Morrison not only disrupts the fixed historiography underlying figurations of the American Empire, she also creates a new, hybrid personal whose complex subjectivity defies reductive attempts at racial categorization. A Mercy therefore mediates against simplistic genealogical notions embedded in “DuBoisian” ways of perception, even as it lays the groundwork for a more nuanced reading of American history.
Structure and/or Culture: Explaining Racial Differences in Work Values
Authors: Kashefi Max
Published: February 2011

Limited research has been exclusively conducted to explain the racial differences in work values, though the subject is theoretically and substantively significant in the workplace. This study reexamines the findings of previous studies that African American workers attach significantly higher values to the “extrinsic rewards” than Whites while White workers value the “intrinsic rewards” significantly higher than their Black counterparts. The article proposes that the socioeconomic improvements of African American workers, before and after entering the workplace, have transformed their work values. The proposition is based on William Wilson’s discussions that Blacks like their White counterparts are doing the same in high-status occupational contexts. Based on recent theories of occupational socialization, four sets of work values, including intrinsic and extrinsic, have been analyzed. The findings reveal persistence of racial differences on work values during the last few decades. However, when the occupational contexts are taken into consideration, racial differences in three out of fours sets of work values turn out to be nonsignificant, supporting Wilson’s arguments that culturally developed work attitudes have been reshaped within high-status occupational contexts.
Time-dependent deformation of closed-cell PVC foam
Authors: Poapongsakorn P. , Kanchanomai C.
Published: February 2011

Time-dependent deformation behaviors of closed-cell polyvinyl chloride (PVC) foams (113 and 176 kg/m 3 foam densities) under tension were studied at various strain rates (10—5—10—1 s —1). It was found that the tensile properties including modulus, yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and fracture strain were time dependent. Modulus and strength increased with increasing strain rate, while fracture strain decreased with increasing strain rate. Strain recoveries after unloading were also found to be time dependent. At low strain rates, more permanent deformations were observed, and the strain recoveries were less than those at high strain rates. Cell-wall buckling and crazing were dominant mechanisms at low strain rates, which enhanced the time-dependent strain and reduced the foam strength. However, the time-dependent strains decreased, and the failure mechanism became brittle fracture at higher strain rates.
The blast resistance of a woven carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy composite
Authors: Yazid Yahya M. , Cantwell W.J. , Langdon G.S. , Nurick G.N.
Published: February 2011

The blast resistance of a carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy (CFRE) resin has been investigated through experiments on a range of panels. The panels were subjected to blast loading by detonating small quantities of plastic explosive at a fixed stand-off distance. A ballistic pendulum was used to provide a measure of the impulse imparted to the specimen. Tests were undertaken at impulses up to those required to completely destroy the laminates. An examination of the damaged panels highlighted a number of different fracture mechanisms including delamination, top surface fiber buckling, fiber fracture, and shear failure along the edges of the plates. The impulses associated with the onset of fiber fracture and complete target failure were found to increase in a linear fashion for the range of panels considered here. The experimental data are compared with previously published results from similar tests on a woven carbon fiber-reinforced poly-ether-imide. Here, it was demonstrated that the CFRE offered a similar blast resistance to that of the thermoplastic—matrix composite.
Low-velocity impact behavior of fiber metal laminates
Authors: Tsartsaris N. , Meo M. , Dolce F. , Polimeno U. , Guida M. , Marulo F.
Published: February 2011

The low-velocity impact response of a range of fiber metal laminate (FML) panels was investigated through testing and finite element simulations. The objective of this study was to understand the impact-damage resistance of these novel composites, so that they can be designed optimally for impact-resistant aircraft applications. The FML panels were made up of aluminum alloy 7475 T761 and unidirectional S2 glass/epoxy oriented in a cross-ply configuration. Experimental tests were performed using a free-fall drop dart testing machine. The plate specimens were constrained on a circular edge by the clamping fixture. The shape and the nature of the damage inflicted by impact were evaluated using both destructive cross-sectional microphotography and nondestructive ultrasonic techniques. The tests showed that FML laminates are capable of absorbing energy through localized plastic deformation and through failure at the interface between the layers. In particular, delaminations occurred in the back face of the aluminum-alloy sheet and its adjacent fiber-reinforced epoxy layer and in between adjacent fiber-reinforced epoxy layer. The finite element code, LS-DYNA3D, was used to perform numerical simulations of low-velocity impact to predict the complex damage propagations. The computed post-impact deformed shapes and damage patterns were found to be fairly close to experimental results.
Numerical/analytical methods to evaluate the mechanical behavior of interlock composites
Authors: Nehme Samer , Hallal Ali , Fardoun Farouk , Younes Rafic , Hagege Benjamin , Aboura Zoheir , Benzeggagh Malk , Chehade Fadi Hage
Published: February 2011

It is seen that 2.5D interlocks are particular reinforcements for high advanced applications (i.e., spatial and aeronautics fields) that are believed to have a high structural potential. This kind of reinforcement entails to consider the composite as a structure because interlocks are built by crossing the warp yarns with the weft (or fill) yarns in the three directions. In this article, a new numerical and analytical model is proposed. To evaluate the mechanical behavior, one may obtain numerically, the anisotropic elastic engineering constants from a finite element model (FEM). This technique of virtual testing consists of modeling the composite at the meso-scale to obtain a macro-scale response with a stress—strain analysis. At the moment, numerical simulations of such materials mainly involve geometrical models and automated tetrahedral meshes that make it difficult to cope with the orthotropic behavior of yarns materials. We thus propose a new meshing methodology to build an elementary volume made of tetrahedra for the isotropic matrix and of mapped hexaedra for the transversely isotropic yarns in order to achieve the FE discretization. A new analytical model is also been proposed, based on a geometrical modeling of the yarns using sinusoidal function and on homogenization at the macrolevel based on both iso-strain and iso-stress assumptions. This model allows the estimation of stiffness matrix of the composite in terms of the properties of its constituents and the geometry of the fabric. Two 2.5D interlock composites from the ‘layer—layer’ family are studied where the nine engineering constants are evaluated. The FEM and the analytical model show a good agreement with each other and with available in-plane Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio experimental results.
Single‐Dose Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics, and Pharmacodynamics of Etamicastat (BIA 5–453), a New Dopamine β‐Hydroxylase Inhibitor, in Healthy Subjects
Authors: Rocha José Francisco , Vaz‐Da‐Silva Manuel , Nunes Teresa , Igreja Bruno , Loureiro Ana I. , Bonifácio Maria João , Wright Lyndon C. , Falcão Amílcar , Almeida Luis , Soares‐Da‐Silva Patricio
Published: February 2011

The safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of etamicastat (BIA 5–453), a novel dopamine β‐hydroxylase (DβH) inhibitor, were investigated in 10 sequential groups of 8 healthy male subjects under a double‐blind, randomized, placebo‐controlled design. In each group, 6 subjects received a single dose of etamicastat (2, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 400, 600, 900, or 1200 mg) and 2 subjects received placebo. Etamicastat was well tolerated at all dose levels tested. Maximum plasma etamicastat concentrations occurred at 1 to 3 hours postdose. Elimination was biphasic, characterized by a first short early elimination half‐life followed by a longer elimination phase of 16 to 20 hours for etamicastat doses of 100 mg and above. A high interindividual variability of pharmacokinetic parameters of etamicastat and its acetylated metabolite was observed. Pharmacogenomic data showed that N‐acetyltransferase type 2 (NAT2) phenotype (rapid or slow N‐acetylating ability) was a major source of variability. In NAT2 poor acetylators, the area under the plasma concentration‐time curve from time zero to the last sampling time at which concentrations were at or above the limit of quantification (AUC0‐t) of etamicastat was twice that observed in rapid acetylators. Consistent with that finding, AUC0‐t of the acetylated metabolite was markedly higher in NAT2 rapid acetylators compared with poor acetylators. Inhibition of DβH activity was observed, reaching statistical significance for etamicastat doses of 100 mg and above.
Does Discussion With Disagreement Discourage All Types of Political Participation? Survey Evidence From Hong Kong
Authors: Lee Francis L. F.
Published: February 2011

Past studies have found contradicting evidence regarding the influence of political discussion with disagreeing others on political participation. This study argues that the impact of discussion with disagreement is likely to depend on the type of participatory activities involved. It conceptualizes a distinction between position-taking and nonposition-taking activities. The former refers to activities designed to have potential participants taking up a set position on a specific matter, whereas the latter refers to activities not designed as such. It is argued that discussion with disagreeing others is likely to suppress participation in position-taking activities, since such activities leave lesser room for participants to express the complexities of and possible ambivalence in their views. In contrast, discussion with disagreeing others may encourage participation in nonposition-taking activities. Relevant hypotheses are tested with a survey conducted in Hong Kong examining the impact of discussion and disagreement on voting, protest participation, and calling into talk radio.
Pushing the Envelope for Cultural Appropriateness
Authors: Davis Rachel E. , Peterson Karen E. , Rothschild Steven K. , Resnicow Ken
Published: February 2011

Purpose

This study explores the potential utility of a culturally tailored diabetes management intervention approach by testing associations between acculturation and diabetes-related beliefs among Mexican-American adults with type 2 diabetes.

Methods

Data from 288 Mexican-American adults with type 2 diabetes were obtained via a bilingual, telephone-administered survey. Participants were drawn from a stratified, random sample designed to obtain maximum variability in acculturation. The survey assessed diabetes-related beliefs, intervention preferences, and the following three acculturation constructs from the Hazuda acculturation and assimilation scales: Spanish use, value for preserving Mexican culture, and interaction with Mexican Americans.

Results

Only one outcome—preference for a program for Mexican Americans—was associated with all three acculturation variables. Spanish use was positively associated with belief in susto as a cause of diabetes, preference for expert-driven health guidance, and involvement of others in taking care of diabetes. Value for preserving Mexican culture was related to a more holistic view of health, as evidenced by an increased likelihood of consulting a curandero, use of prayer, and interest in a diabetes program with religious content. Value for cultural preservation was also related to higher suspicion of free diabetes programs. Interaction with Mexican Americans was associated with a belief that insulin causes blindness.

Conclusion

Findings from this study suggest distinct relationships between acculturation constructs and diabetes-related beliefs and preferences, thus arguing against the use of a single acculturation construct to determine diabetes intervention design. Cultural tailoring may enhance the cultural appropriateness and ultimate effectiveness of diabetes interventions for Mexican American adults.
Opening Closed Minds: The Combined Effects of Intergroup Contact and Need for Closure on Prejudice
Authors: Dhont Kristof , Roets Arne , Van Hiel Alain
Published: February 2011

Five studies tested whether need for closure (NFC) moderates the relation between intergroup contact and prejudice toward immigrants. The results consistently showed that intergroup contact was more strongly associated with reduced levels of prejudice among people high in NFC compared to people low in NFC. Studies 1 ( N = 138 students) and 2 ( N = 294 adults) demonstrated this moderator effect on subtle, modern, and blatant racism. Study 2 also replicated the moderator effect for extended contact. An experimental field study (Study 3; N = 60 students) provided evidence of the causal direction of the moderator effect. Finally, Studies 4 ( N = 125 students) and 5 ( N = 135 adults) identified intergroup anxiety as the mediator through which the moderator effect influences modern and blatant racism as well as hostile tendencies toward immigrants. The role of motivated cognition in the relation between intergroup contact and prejudice is discussed.
Finding the Faithless: Perceived Atheist Prevalence Reduces Anti-Atheist Prejudice
Authors: Gervais Will M.
Published: February 2011

Although prejudice is typically positively related to relative outgroup size, four studies found converging evidence that perceived atheist prevalence reduces anti-atheist prejudice. Study 1 demonstrated that anti-atheist prejudice among religious believers is reduced in countries in which atheists are especially prevalent. Study 2 demonstrated that perceived atheist prevalence is negatively associated with anti-atheist prejudice. Study 3 demonstrated a causal relationship: Reminders of atheist prevalence reduced explicit distrust of atheists. These results appeared distinct from intergroup contact effects. Study 4 demonstrated that prevalence information decreased implicit atheist distrust. The latter two experiments provide the first evidence that mere prevalence information can reduce prejudice against any outgroup. These findings offer insights about anti-atheist prejudice, a poorly understood phenomenon. Furthermore, they suggest both novel directions for future prejudice research and potential interventions that could reduce a variety of prejudices.
Heterosexual Romantic Couples Mate Assortatively for Facial Symmetry, But Not Masculinity
Authors: Burriss Robert P. , Roberts S. Craig , Welling Lisa L. M. , Puts David A. , Little Anthony C.
Published: February 2011

Preferences for partners with symmetric and sex-typical faces are well documented and considered evidence for the good-genes theory of mate choice. However, it is unclear whether preferences for these traits drive the real-world selection of mates. In two samples of young heterosexual couples from the United Kingdom (Study 1) and the United States (Study 2), the authors found assortment for facial symmetry but not for sex typicality or independently rated attractiveness. Within-couple similarity in these traits did not predict relationship duration or quality, although female attractiveness and relationship duration were negatively correlated among couples in which the woman was the more attractive partner. The authors conclude that humans may mate assortatively on facial symmetry, but this remains just one of the many physical and nonphysical traits to which people likely attend when forming romantic partnerships. This is also the first evidence that preferences for symmetry transfer from the laboratory to a real-world setting.
Do Firms Forget About Their Past Acquisitions? Evidence From French Acquisitions in the United States (1988–2006)
Authors: Meschi Pierre-Xavier , Métais Emmanuel
Published: February 2011

Empirical studies of the relationship between acquisition experience and acquisition performance have had mixed results. Interestingly, these studies have found that acquisition experience does not necessarily increase acquisition performance. In particular, the extent to which the recency of the acquisition experience affects the performance of the focal acquisition remains equivocal. To investigate this issue, the authors adopt a perspective based on the concept of organizational forgetting. In the context of operations management, organizational forgetting explains the decrease in productivity that firms experience as a result of knowledge depreciation over time and interruptions to production. Cognitive psychology scholars find that the forgetting process follows specific laws. On the organizational level, these laws indicate that the organizational memory may deteriorate over time for three reasons: inefficient encoding, decay, and disuse. In the context of acquisitions, the authors examine how forgetting depreciates acquisition experience and, therefore, increases the likelihood of failure in subsequent acquisitions. They carry out a survival analysis on a population of 731 U.S. firms acquired by French firms between 1988 and 2006. The research shows that acquisition experience that is old or recent has no significant impact on acquisition performance. However, medium-term acquisition experience reduces the likelihood that the focal acquisition will fail. These findings are consistent with the laws on forgetting. This research also provides evidence of the existence of reinforcement mechanisms as well as a paradoxical influence of past alliances with the target.
Middle Managers’ Strategic Role in the Corporate Entrepreneurial Process: Attention-Based Effects
Authors: Ren Charlotte R. , Guo Chao
Published: February 2011

This article examines the strategic role of middle managers in the corporate entrepreneurial process from an attention-based perspective. By integrating literatures from multiple disciplines, the authors delineate the attention-based effects on how middle managers provide the impetus for different types of entrepreneurial opportunities (i.e., exploratory vs. exploitative initiatives). Specifically, middle managers, constrained by the attention structures of the firm, likely prescreen entrepreneurial opportunities from lower organizational levels and attend primarily to those that align with the strategic orientation of the firm. This tendency may be moderated by the presence of other players, middle managers’ structural positions, and the availability of slack resources. Moreover, in their efforts to sell initiatives to top management, middle managers may leverage “policy windows”—patterned regularities and irregularities in and around the organization—to exploit existing attention structures to their advantage or perhaps to dismantle those structures.
Testing the lexical recognition task with Spanish/English bilinguals in the United States
Authors: Fairclough Marta
Published: February 2011

This investigation intends to assess the effectiveness of a lexical recognition test (Meara & Buxton, 1987) as a placement tool that distinguishes among levels of two groups of students: Spanish heritage language learners (HLL) and second language learners (SLL). Three hundred and thirty university students from four different levels completed a 10-minute/200-word task based on Davies’ (2006) Spanish frequency corpora. The results were compared to those from a control group of bilingual graduate students. As comparison measures, about half of the students completed a Cloze Test while the rest were asked to carry out a Multiple-task Test. The results of the study suggest that for SLL, and HLL at the lower levels of language ability, a lexical test based on the 5000 most frequent words in Spanish is a valid and practical testing tool that correlates with other measures of language proficiency. For more advanced levels of HLL, a wider range of words is necessary to avoid the ceiling effect.
Language and practice
Authors: Collins Harry
Published: February 2011

What are the relative contributions of language and physical practice to practical understanding? The resolution of a series of puzzles depends upon the answer. I argue that language is, and must be, more central than physical practice in individual acquisition of practical understanding. Only this makes it possible for there to be a sociology of scientific knowledge, for there to be scientific specialities, for there to be a division of labour in society and for there to be a society that is more than a set of narrow and isolated worlds. Physical practice remains central to human culture but its influence is at the collective level at which languages are formed, rather than the individual level at which practical abilities are acquired. Domain languages ‘contain’ practices, and it is from these that individuals draw much, usually most, of their practical understanding. Because the individual level and the domain level have not previously been distinguished, certain philosophical problems have been wrongly cast and mistakes have been made. Domains of practice/language are embedded within one another in fractal-like relationships, and this is how we can make sense of higher levels of coordinated action. The ideas of ‘special interactional expert’, ‘practice language’ and ‘methodological interactionalism’ are introduced.
Hepatotoxic activity of toluene inhalation and protective role of melatonin
Authors: Tas Ufuk , Ogeturk Murat , Meydan Sedat , Kus Ilter , Kuloglu Tuncay , Ilhan Necip , Kose Evren , Sarsilmaz Mustafa
Published: February 2011

This study was designed to investigate the harmful effects of toluene inhalation in the liver of rats and possible protective effects of melatonin on these detrimental effects. For this purpose, 21 adult male Wistar-albino rats were randomly divided into three equal groups. Animals in group I were used as control. The rats in group II were exposed to toluene (3000 ppm/1 hour/day) for 4 weeks, while the rats in group III were treated with melatonin (10 mg/kg/day, intraperitoneally [ip]) plus toluene inhalation. At the end of the experimental period, liver and blood samples were taken from the decapitated animals. Serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total bilirubin and albumin levels were determined. Liver tissue sections were stained with routine histological methods and examined under the light microscope. In addition, the sections were immunohistochemically stained using avidin-biotin-peroxidase method for determination of apoptosis. The liver tissue activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), catalase (CAT) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were also measured. Toluene inhalation significantly increased serum ALT, AST and tissue MDA, and decreased serum albumin, but did not affect serum ALP, total bilirubin levels and tissue SOD, GSH-Px and CAT activity when compared with controls. The increases in tissue MDA and serum ALT and AST levels induced by toluene inhalation were significantly inhibited by melatonin treatment. In light microscopic observations of tissues from toluene-inhaled rats, massive hepatocyte degeneration, ballooning degeneration and mild pericentral fibrosis were observed. Bax immune reactivity was also increased significantly. Melatonin treatment decreased the balloon degeneration, fibrosis and Bax immune reactivity in the liver of toluene-inhaled rats. In view of the present findings, it is suggested that melatonin has hepatoprotective effects against toluene toxicity via primarily antioxidative properties.
Handmade paper and cardboard industries: In health perspectives
Authors: Kulshreshtha Shweta , Mathur Nupur , Bhatnagar Pradeep
Published: February 2011

Generally, handmade paper industries are considered as eco-friendly industries. These industries are known to use vegetable dyes which are thought to be safe and non-toxic. However, cardboard industries are considered as pollution-causing industries. The present study focuses on the genotoxic assessment of handmade paper and cardboard industry’s effluent by Ames test using Salmonella typhimurium TA 98 and TA 100 strains. On mutagenicity analysis, effluents of both industries were found to be mutagenic with either one strain of Salmonella typhimurium or with both. Besides this, no significant difference was observed in effluent of both small-scale and large-scale handmade paper industries. Moreover, mutagenic compounds reach the nearby water body i.e. Amani Shah Drainage through connecting drain. Discharging of untreated effluent not only deteriorates the water quality but also reaches the food chain when used for irrigating nearby fields. Workers of these industries may suffer various health hazards when they are exposed to mutagenic effluent without having any information about it. Hence, discharging of effluents should thus be restricted or the workers while handling mutagenic substances should at least take proper precautions.
Impact of endosulfan on certain hematological and biochemical parameters of catfish Labeo fimbriatus: Sublethal study
Authors: Saravanan Manoharan , Alora Echuliath Vidhya  , Ramesh Mathan , Malarvizhi Annamalai , Kavitha Chokkalingam
Published: February 2011

Hematological and biochemical parameters are routinely used as indicators of the physiological or sublethal stress response to endogenous or exogenous changes in fish. In this work, the sublethal toxic effects of endosulfan (0.002 mg l-1) on certain hematological and biochemical parameters of Labeo fimbriatus were examined for 28 days and the analyses were made on 7, 14, 21, and 28 days. Endosulfan caused significant lower value of red blood corpuscles (RBC), hemoglobin, plasma glucose, and protein levels when compared to the control groups (p < 0.05). However, white blood corpuscles (WBC) increased throughout the study period. The results indicate that a low amount of endosulfan alters the hematological and biochemical parameters of fish, which can be useful in diagnosing the structural and functional status of fish exposed to toxicants.