bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Renal and Vascular Mechanisms of Thiazolidinedione‐Induced Fluid Retention
Authors: Yang Tianxin , Soodvilai Sunhapas
Published: September 2008

Thiazolidinediones (TZDs) are peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor subtype γ (PPARγ) activators that are clinically used as an insulin sensitizer for glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. Additionally, TZDs exhibit novel anti‐inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiproliferative properties, indicating therapeutic potential for a wide variety of diseases associated with diabetes and other conditions. The clinical applications of TZDs are limited by the common major side effect of fluid retention. A better understanding of the molecular mechanism of TZD‐induced fluid retention is essential for the development of novel therapies with improved safety profiles. An important breakthrough in the field is the finding that the renal collecting duct is a major site for increased fluid reabsorption in response to rosiglitazone or pioglitazone. New evidence also indicates that increased vascular permeability in adipose tissues may contribute to edema formation and body weight gain. Future research should therefore be directed at achieving a better understanding of the detailed mechanisms of TZD‐induced increases in renal sodium transport and in vascular permeability.
Multiple Primary Sporadic Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors in the Adult: An Underestimated Entity
Authors: Gasparotto Daniela , Rossi Sabrina , Bearzi Italo , Doglioni Claudio , Marzotto Alessandra , Hornick Jason L. , Grizzo Alessandra , Sartor Chiara , Mandolesi Alessandra , Sciot Raf , Debiec-Rychter Maria , Dei Tos Angelo Paolo , Maestro Roberta
Published: September 2008

Purpose: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are commonly regarded as solitary tumors. The occurrence of multiple lesions is considered an extraordinary event restricted to pediatric GISTs and rare hereditary conditions. Beyond these well-defined situations, the presentation of multiple synchronous lesions is commonly viewed as the result of the metastatic spreading of a single primary GIST. Based on this axiom, patients with multifocal disease are classified as advanced stage and treated as such. Whether, indeed, the detection of several lesions in sporadic adult GIST patients may be suggestive of phenomena of tumor multiplicity still needs to be clarified.

Experimental Design: From a multicentric series of 442 consecutive cases, 26 of which with advanced disease, we selected 5 patients who presented up to three distinct GIST nodules. Five additional cases with similar characteristics were also contributed by two other institutions. The clonal relationship between the synchronous lesions was assessed by comparing KIT/PDGFRA mutation and microsatellite pattern.

Results: An independent origin of the synchronous lesions was established in 6 of 10 cases. Notably, in one patient, one lesion arose in the peritoneum, which is ordinarily regarded as a site of metastasis.

Conclusions: Our data indicate that a significant fraction of GIST patients with multifocal presentation are actually affected by multiple primary tumors, suggesting that mesenchymal GIST precursor cells of these individuals are somehow primed to transformation. Thus, in the presence of multifocal GIST manifestations, an accurate characterization of the different tumor sites should be undertaken for a proper patient staging and therapy planning.
Particulate Air Pollution as a Risk Factor for ST-Segment Depression in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease
Authors: Chuang Kai Jen , Coull Brent A. , Zanobetti Antonella , Suh Helen , Schwartz Joel , Stone Peter H. , Litonjua Augusto , Speizer Frank E. , Gold Diane R.
Published: September 2008

Background—

The association of particulate matter (PM) with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality is well documented. PM-induced ischemia is considered a potential mechanism linking PM to adverse cardiovascular outcomes.

Methods and Results—

In a repeated-measures study including 5979 observations on 48 patients 43 to 75 years of age, we investigated associations of ambient pollution with ST-segment level changes averaged over half-hour periods measured in the modified V
5
position by 24-hour Holter ECG monitoring. Each patient was observed up to 4 times within 1 year after a percutaneous intervention for myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndrome without infarction, or stable coronary artery disease without acute coronary syndrome. Elevation in fine particles (PM
2.5
) and black carbon levels predicted depression of half-hour–averaged ST-segment levels. An interquartile increase in the previous 24-hour mean black carbon level was associated with a 1.50-fold increased risk of ST-segment depression ≥0.1 mm (95% CI, 1.19 to 1.89) and a −0.031-mm (95% CI, −0.042 to −0.019) decrease in half-hour–averaged ST-segment level (continuous outcome). Effects were greatest within the first month after hospitalization and for patients with myocardial infarction during hospitalization or with diabetes.

Conclusions—

ST-segment depression is associated with increased exposure to PM
2.5
and black carbon in cardiac patients. The risk of pollution-associated ST-segment depression may be greatest in those with myocardial injury in the first month after the cardiac event.
ST-Segment Recovery and Outcome After Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction
Authors: Buller Christopher E. , Fu Yuling , Mahaffey Kenneth W. , Todaro Thomas G. , Adams Peter , Westerhout Cynthia M. , White Harvey D. , van 't Hof Arnoud W.J. , Van de Werf Frans J. , Wagner Galen S. , Granger Christopher B. , Armstrong Paul W.
Published: September 2008

Background—

Primary percutaneous coronary angioplasty is an effective and widely adopted treatment for acute myocardial infarction. A simple method of determining prognosis after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) would facilitate appropriate care and expedite hospital discharge. Thus, we determined the prognostic importance of various measures of ST-segment–elevation recovery after primary PCI in a large, contemporary cohort of patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

Methods and Results—

We analyzed ECG data describing the magnitude and extent of ST-segment elevation and deviation before and early after (ie, 30 minutes) primary PCI in the study cohort of 4866 subjects with electrocardiographically high-risk ST-elevation myocardial infarction enrolled in the Assessment of PEXelizumab in Acute Myocardial Infarction (APEX-AMI) trial. Associations among 6 methods for calculating ST-segment recovery, biomarker estimates of infarct size (ie, peak creatine kinase, creatine kinase-MB, and troponin I and T), and prespecified clinical outcomes (ie, rates of 90-day death and 90-day death, heart failure, or shock) were examined. All ST-segment–recovery methods provided strong prognostic information regarding clinical outcomes. A simple ST-segment–recovery method of residual ST-segment elevation measurement in the most affected lead on the post-PCI ECG performed as well as complex methods that required comparison of pre- and post-PCI ECGs or calculation of summed ST-segment deviation in multiple leads (ie, worst-lead residual ST elevation: adjusted hazard ratio for 90-day death rate [reference <1 mm]: 1 to <2 mm, 1.23 [95% CI 0.74 to 2.03]; ≥2 mm, 2.22 [95% CI 1.35 to 3.65], corrected c-index=0.832; 90-day death/congestive heart failure/shock [reference <1 mm]: 1 to <2 mm, 1.55 [95% CI 1.06 to 2.26]; ≥2 mm, 2.33 [95% CI 1.59 to 3.41], corrected c-index=0.802). Biomarker estimates of infarct size declined in association with enhanced ST-segment recovery.

Conclusions—

An ECG performed early after primary PCI is a simple, widely available, inexpensive, and powerful prognostic tool applicable to patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction.
Carotid Plaque, Arterial Stiffness Gradient, and Remodeling in Hypertension
Authors: Beaussier Hélène , Masson Ingrid , Collin Cédric , Bozec Erwan , Laloux Brigitte , Calvet David , Zidi Mustapha , Boutouyrie Pierre , Laurent Stéphane
Published: September 2008

The analysis of plaque mechanics along the longitudinal axis (bending strain) may provide useful information because repetitive bending strain of an atherosclerotic plaque can fatigue the wall material and result in plaque rupture. Whether essential hypertension is associated with a specific pattern of bending strain has not yet been determined. The study included 92 patients with an atherosclerotic plaque on the common carotid artery: 66 patients with essential hypertension, either treated or not, and 26 normotensive patients. A novel noninvasive echotracking system (ArtLab; Esaote, The Netherlands) was used to measure intima-media thickness, diameter, and distensibility at 128 sites on a 4-cm-long carotid segment. Carotid plaque was either less elastic than adjacent carotid artery (inward strain) or more elastic (outward strain). Inward strain was more frequently associated with an inward plaque remodeling, whereas an outward strain was more frequently associated with an outer remodeling. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, patients with essential hypertension were more likely to exhibit an inward strain of carotid plaque (odds ratio=6.9 [1.4 to 34.9];
P
<0.02), independently of 2 factors favoring inward strain: an outer remodeling (odds ratio=4.6 [1.7 to 13.4];
P
<0.005) and the absence of renin-angiotensin system blockers (odds ratio=4.8 [1.1 to 20.4];
P
<0.05). In conclusion, arterial wall material of hypertensive patients was less elastic at the site of the plaque than upstream, and carotid was inwardly strained in the zone affected by plaque. This may generate a high level of stress concentrations and fatigue, exposing the plaque to a greater risk of rupture.
Excess Dietary Salt Alters Angiotensinergic Regulation of Neurons in the Rostral Ventrolateral Medulla
Authors: Adams Julye M. , McCarthy John J. , Stocker Sean D.
Published: September 2008

Excess dietary salt intake contributes to or exacerbates some forms of hypertension by increasing sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) and arterial blood pressure (ABP) through angiotensin II (Ang II) type 1 receptor activation in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM). Despite this interaction among dietary salt, Ang II, and the RVLM, no studies have directly examined whether dietary salt by itself alters Ang II-dependent responses and regulation of RVLM neurons, SNA, and ABP. Therefore, the present study directly tested this hypothesis. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed normal chow and given access to water or 0.9% NaCl solution for 14 days. Unilateral injection of Ang II (0.6, 6, and 60 pmol) into the RVLM produced a significantly greater increase in renal SNA and mean ABP of rats drinking 0.9% NaCl versus water. However, dietary salt did not alter mRNA levels of RVLM Ang II type 1a receptors or the SNA and ABP responses to stimulation of the dorsolateral funinculus. Additional experiments demonstrate that blockade of RVLM Ang II type 1 receptors significantly reduced renal SNA, splanchnic SNA, and mean ABP of rats drinking 0.9% NaCl but not water. Blockade of iontotropic glutamate receptors had no effect. Altogether, these findings suggest that elevated dietary salt enhances the sympathoexcitatory actions of Ang II in the RVLM via changes in the intrinsic properties of RVLM neurons. Moreover, elevated dietary salt intake differentially affects the tonic activity of the peripheral versus brain RVLM Ang II type 1 receptors to regulate baseline SNA and ABP.
The Advisory Centre on WTO Law: A Success Story, But for Whom?
Authors: Schunken Kenneth Ruwan
Published: September 2008

Developing countries are facing problems in their efforts to access the WTO Dispute Settlement system. This article deals with the several problems these counties are facing. The Advisory Centre on WTO Law was founded to contribute to the greater participation of developing and least developed countries in the WTO dispute settlement system and to enhance the credibility of the WTO dispute settlement system. I will discuss the legal foundations and current operations of the ACWL. In addition, I will provide practical solutions in order to improve the operations of the Advisory Centre. These solutions contribute to a more fair and equal participation of developing and least developed countries in the WTO dispute settlement system.
Ireland and Medical Research with Minors: Some Medico-Legal Aspects
Authors: Sheikh Asim
Published: September 2008

The practice of medical research with minors in Ireland consist of practices pertaining to therapeutic and non-therapeutic medical research. Clinical trials (a category of therapeutic research), is governed by legislation. However, any other therapeutic research (non-clinical trials research) and non-therapeutic research, e.g. observational medical research such as a longitudinal study of children or non-therapeutic research such as blood sample collection for analysis of cause of disease, are unregulated by legislation. This, article will outline and describe some of the medico-legal issues involved in both types of research and will comment on matters such as what national law exists, how the directive on good clinical practice has been implemented, what guidelines, if any, exist.
Doppler Lidar Estimation of Mixing Height Using Turbulence, Shear, and Aerosol Profiles
Authors: Tucker Sara C. , Senff Christoph J. , Weickmann Ann M. , Brewer W. Alan , Banta Robert M. , Sandberg Scott P. , Law Daniel C. , Hardesty R. Michael
Published: September 2008

The concept of boundary layer mixing height for meteorology and air quality applications using lidar data is reviewed, and new algorithms for estimation of mixing heights from various types of lower-tropospheric coherent Doppler lidar measurements are presented. Velocity variance profiles derived from Doppler lidar data demonstrate direct application to mixing height estimation, while other types of lidar profiles demonstrate relationships to the variance profiles and thus may also be used in the mixing height estimate. The algorithms are applied to ship-based, high-resolution Doppler lidar (HRDL) velocity and backscattered-signal measurements acquired on the R/V Ronald H. Brown during Texas Air Quality Study (TexAQS) 2006 to demonstrate the method and to produce mixing height estimates for that experiment. These combinations of Doppler lidar–derived velocity measurements have not previously been applied to analysis of boundary layer mixing height—over the water or elsewhere. A comparison of the results to those derived from ship-launched, balloon-radiosonde potential temperature and relative humidity profiles is presented.
Neighborhood Disadvantage and Reliance on the Police
Authors: Schaible Lonnie M. , Hughes Lorine A.
Published: September 2008

Contemporary theories suggest that, due to limited access and generalized distrust, residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods are relatively unlikely to report matters to police. Although existing studies reveal few ecological differences in crime reporting, findings may be limited to victim/offense subsets represented in aggregated victimization data. Using calls-for-service (CFS) data from a Pacific Northwest city, this study assesses the degree to which neighborhood block groups ( N = 164) vary in incidents reported to police overall and subsequent to the elimination of a major nonemergency-reporting mechanism. Two hypotheses are assessed: First, CFS rates will vary inversely with neighborhood disadvantage, net of the effect of objective levels of crime and other control variables; second, CFS originating in affluent neighborhoods will exhibit greater year-to-year decreases relative to disadvantaged neighborhoods following reduction of local reporting services in 2004. Findings from spatial analyses indicate that residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods tend to rely on police for assistance as much as, if not more than, people elsewhere.
The Responsibility to Protect: An Idea Whose Time Has Come … and Gone?
Authors: Evans Gareth
Published: September 2008

How far did the unanimous agreement on the responsibility to protect at the 2005 UN World Summit really mark the international community's acceptance of a new norm supporting collective action — including ultimately military action — when governments through either incapacity or ill-will fail to protect their own people from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity? This article describes the rapid initial emergence and acceptance of the concept, but also the subsequent denial and evasion by a number of governments of the commitments they signed up to in 2005. It addresses the five main conceptual misunderstandings and misapprehensions evident in the public debate that need to be overcome if the argument in support of the responsibility to protect is to be won.
Habermas' Method: Rational Reconstruction
Authors: Pedersen Jørgen
Published: September 2008

Given the prominent position Habermas' philosophy has gained, it is surprising that his method, rational reconstruction, has not caused more debate. This article clarifies what this method consists of, and shows how it is used in two of Habermas' research programs. The method is an interesting, but problematic way of confronting some of the basic epistemological questions in the social sciences. It represents an alternative to both the empirical-analytical and the hermeneutic tradition. On the basis of this methodology, Habermas' work is situated between the transcendental and the empirical approach. A fundamental problem is that it remains unclear how to test the hypothesis put forward through rational reconstruction.
No Letters: Hobbes and 20th-Century Philosophy of Language
Authors: Grundy W.P.
Published: September 2008

The author argues that Thomas Hobbes anticipates a set of questions about meaning and semantic order that come to fuller expression in the 20th century, in the writings of W.V.O. Quine, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Donald Davidson, Jacques Derrida, and Richard Rorty. Despite their different points of departure, these 20th-century writers pose a number of profound questions about the conditions for the stability of meaning, and about the conditions that govern the use of the term “language” itself. Though the more recent debate benefits from a set of philosophical tools unavailable in the seventeenth century, the author further argues that Hobbes performs a number of maneuvers in his texts from which his 20th-century successors would profit.
Population Pharmacokinetics of Tenofovir in AIDS Patients
Authors: Gagnieu Marie‐Claude , Barkil Mirna El , Livrozet Jean‐Michel , Cotte Laurent , Miailhes Patrick , Boibieux André , Guitton Jérôme , Tod Michel
Published: September 2008

The interindividual variability of tenofovir pharmacokinetics in HIV+ patients is quite large, but the sources of variability are incompletely understood. Intraindividual variability has not been characterized, although it may have an impact on efficacy and therapeutic drug monitoring. The aims of the study were to estimate intraindividual variability of tenofovir clearance and to assess interactions with associated antiviral drugs. Tenofovir concentrations (median 2; range, 1–5) were measured in 175 patients during several dosing intervals. Covariates and dosing regimen of associated antiretroviral drugs were recorded prospectively. The data were analyzed by a population approach. The final model was a 2‐compartment model with first‐order absorption rate. The elimination clearance was found to be related to the ratio of body weight to serum creatinine. Among the 15 drugs coadministered, no interaction on tenofovir kinetics was significant. The global variability of CL/F, after accounting for variability to variation of body weight and serum creatinine, was about 50%, with 20% due to interindividual variability and 30% due to interoccasion variability. In a few patients, clearance (and AUC) could vary by a factor of 2 between occasions. The interoccasion variability was not related to the delay between occasions. In the context of drug monitoring, for a given patient, the dose should not be adapted unless the variation of concentration between 2 occasions is large, or the 24‐hour trough concentration at steady state is lower than 12 μg/L.
Sunken Costs and Desired Plans: Examining Different Types of Investments in Close Relationships
Authors: Goodfriend Wind , Agnew Christopher R.
Published: September 2008

Although the concept of investments in romantic relationships has featured prominently in close relationships research, there have been no empirical analyses of different types of investments and their possible differential predictive power regarding relationship state or fate. With data from five independent samples, the authors offer and examine investments that differ in terms of their timing (past vs. planned) and materiality (tangible vs. intangible). Cross-sectional and longitudinal tests of hypotheses regarding these investment types provide evidence for the utility of considering specific types of investments in predicting a variety of important relationship factors, including commitment, stability, and the impact of breakup on relationship partners. Intangible investments and planned investments were found to be particularly robust predictors of key relational states and outcomes.
Leader Emergence: The Case of the Narcissistic Leader
Authors: Brunell Amy B. , Gentry William A. , Campbell W. Keith , Hoffman Brian J. , Kuhnert Karl W. , DeMarree Kenneth G.
Published: September 2008

These studies investigate whether individuals with high narcissism scores would be more likely to emerge as leaders during leaderless group discussions. The authors hypothesized that narcissists would emerge as group leaders. In three studies, participants completed personality questionnaires and engaged in four-person leaderless group discussions. Results from all three studies reveal a link between narcissism and leader emergence. Studies 1 and 2 further reveal that the power dimension of narcissism predicted reported leader emergence while controlling for sex, self-esteem, and the Big Five personality traits. Study 3 demonstrates an association between narcissism and expert ratings of leader emergence in a group of executives. The implications of the propensity of narcissists to emerge as leaders are discussed.
Types of individuation in relation to parents: Predictors and outcomes
Authors: Kruse Joachim , Walper Sabine
Published: September 2008

Individuation in relation to father and mother is one of the key developmental tasks of adolescence, and has been conceptualized as gaining autonomy while maintaining relatedness to parents. Research on high-conflict, divorced and step-families suggests that specific stressors in these family types may compromise successful individuation by undermining relatedness, triggering insecurities or leading to early independence. This study takes a typological approach (1) seeking to identify distinct patterns of adolescents' relationships to mother and residential father figure (biological or stepfather), (2) testing the effects of family structure and dynamics, and (3) investigating links between type of individuation and adolescents' adjustment. The sample consisted of N = 649 adolescents in Germany aged between 10 and 20 years who lived in nuclear, single-mother or stepfather families. The Munich Individuation Test of Adolescence (MITA) was used to assess individuation. For n = 473 adolescents data on individuation in relation to the biological or stepfather were available. Cluster analyses resulted in three types of individuation regarding mothers and four types regarding fathers. In particular, children from (nuclear) families with high interparental conflict were at risk for an insecure ambivalent relationship. Securely individuated youth showed significantly better adjustment in a variety of outcomes.
Cultural predictors of the parenting cognitions of immigrant Chinese mothers and fathers in Canada
Authors: Costigan Catherine , Su Tina F.
Published: September 2008

This study explored the predictors of parenting cognitions among 94 married immigrant Chinese couples with early-adolescent children in Canada. Mothers and fathers separately completed questionnaires assessing their culturally based parenting cognitions (interdependent childrearing goals, family obligation expectations and Chinese parent role beliefs), Chinese cultural values and exposure to Canadian culture. The parenting cognitions of mothers and fathers were quite similar. Stronger endorsement of Chinese cultural values by fathers was significantly related to stronger endorsement of culturally based parenting cognitions. The same relations were found for mothers, except in contexts where mothers participated highly in Canadian culture. For all parents, the extent of exposure to Canadian culture was not directly related to parenting cognitions. The results highlight how parenting is embedded in a cultural context and suggest that parents' ideas about childrearing may change after immigration only when core cultural values are modified.
Ontological Assumptions and Generalizations in Qualitative (Audience) Research
Authors: Höijer Birgitta
Published: September 2008

In media and communication studies, a number of social science and humanistic perspectives converge. As a multidisciplinary field, however, it tends to borrow methods from diverse disciplines and theoretical schools quite eclectically, without taking into consideration the fact that they may be based on various basic implicit assumptions. Underlying the methods, there are quite different suppositions about the nature of reality, and about the nature of knowledge and how to gain knowledge. We rarely make that explicit when using specific methods or combinations of methods. The aim of this article is to discuss qualitative research and focus on ontological assumptions behind our methodological arguments and choices. Generalization, often seen as the Achilles heel of qualitative research, is also discussed and its relation to ontological positions clarified. Qualitative audience research is used to substantiate the discussion, but the problems discussed are of a more general nature and valid for qualitative research in general.
Art for Art's Sake or Selling Up?
Authors: Faulkner Simon , Leaver Adam , Vis Farida , Williams Karel
Published: September 2008

This article explores the discrepancy between the vision of the broadcast producer as a creative in pursuit of `art for art's sake' and current trends within the broadcasting sector, where large `super-indies' dominate and smaller producer-owners become rich by selling up. At a theoretical level, the article explores how representations of the producer as artist frame the historic and current policy debates, so that `liberating the creative' has become the key policy object. At an empirical level the article shows how, in response to regulatory changes, a slow-growing market and the influence of external financial backers, the sector has become dominated by acquisitive super-indies, who buy small and medium-sized firms from willing sellers who treat their firm as a real option to be cashed in the future, because selling up can make them a millionaire.
A Model for Evaluating Risk Reporting
Authors: Vasterman Peter , Scholten Otto , Ruigrok Nel
Published: September 2008

The media's coverage of risk issues is often criticized for neglecting the scientific perspective on risk. This criticism, however, ignores the social context in which journalists operate: they have to report on people's worries about health-threatening issues and they have to cover actions taken by the government to address these worries. The media have to report on such issues, irrespective of the fact that in terms of scientific risk assessment the risk may be negligible. In this article, a new evaluation model for media coverage of risk is developed on the basis of a content analysis of two risk issues — universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) base stations and fine particle pollution (FPP) — and extensive consultation with prominent journalists, scientists and stakeholders in the Netherlands. The model defines criteria regarding sources, frames, amplification, risk perception, scientific data and the language used in the coverage. This approach offers a concrete starting point for the reporters who cover these issues in the daily news pages.
Impact of Trainings on Child Care Providers' Attitudes and Perceived Competence Toward Inclusion
Authors: Baker-Ericzén Mary J. , Garnand Mueggenborg Mary , Shea Mary M.
Published: September 2008

This study examined a comprehensive modularized inclusion training program provided to 1,298 diverse early child care providers (center-based, family home, and license exempt settings) on providers' attitudes and perceived competence toward inclusion. Second, factors (number of trainings attended and provider characteristics) associated with positive changes were examined. All of the providers significantly changed their attitudes and perceived competence toward inclusion with substantial effect sizes; however, providers attending three or more sessions demonstrated more change compared to others. Examination of provider characteristics on outcomes revealed a race-ethnicity main effect in which Asian and Pacific Islander providers changed their attitudes toward inclusion more than other providers. The positive results of this study suggest that a modularized provider training approach may offer an avenue for improving inclusive child care as previous research revealed strong relationships between staff educational experiences and quality of care in inclusive child care settings.
A study of the teratogenic and fetotoxic effects of large doses of barbital, hexobarbital and butobarbital used for suicide attempts by pregnant women
Authors: Timmermann G , Czeizel AE , Bánhidy F , Ács N
Published: September 2008

The teratogenic potential of barbiturates is debated. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of very large doses of different barbiturates, except phenobarbital and amobarbital, on fetal development in pregnant women who attempted suicide. These self-poisoned pregnant women were identified among the patients of the Department of Toxicology Internal Medicine, Korányi Hospital, Budapest. The prevalence at birth of congenital abnormalities and intrauterine fetal growth, based on pregnancy age at delivery and birth weight, as well as cognitive-behavioral status in exposed children born to mothers who attempted suicide with barbiturates alone or in combination with other drugs, during pregnancy, were compared with their sibs as controls. Of 1044 women with self-poisoning during pregnancy between 1960 and 1993, 411 delivered live-born babies; of these, 367 (89.3%) exposed children were evaluated. Of the 367 exposed children, 6, 5, 4 and 4 were born to mothers who attempted suicide with very large doses of Barbamid® (butobarbital and aminophenazone), hexobarbital, butobarbital and Belloid® (butobarbital, hyoscyamine and secalis cornuti alkaloida) tablets, respectively. Of 19 exposed children, two children with a congenital inguinal hernia were born to mothers who attempted suicide with 30 tablets of Belloid® (900 mg butobarbital) in the 20th postconceptional week or with 20 tablets of Belloid® in combination with chlordiazepoxide (100 mg) and nitrazepam (100 mg) in 12th postconceptional week. However, the critical period for production of congenital inguinal hernia is in the last months of pregnancy. None of the exposed children born to the other 12 pregnant women who attempted suicide with these barbiturates between the third and 12th postconceptional week, i.e., during the critical period for production of most major congenital abnormalities, had a congenital abnormality. Congenital abnormalities did not occur among 16 sib controls. Intrauterine fetal growth was similar between sibs and exposed children; cognitive status and behavioral scale also did not indicate any neurotoxic effects from large doses of these barbiturates. The very large doses of barbital, hexobarbital and/or butobarbital used for self-poisoning during pregnancy were not teratogenic to the children, although it must be recognized that the number of exposed children was limited.
Management of the Obstetric Patient with Status Asthmaticus
Authors: Elsayegh Dany , Shapiro Janet M.
Published: September 2008

Status asthmaticus requiring mechanical ventilation is an uncommon, life-threatening disorder in obstetric patients. The unique physiologic changes of pregnancy, impact of the fetus on the maternal condition, and concerns for fetal and maternal health and survival are particular concerns in critical illness. Furthermore, the issues of hypoxemia and hypercapnia, ventilator management and complications make this disease of respiratory failure an especially important area for review. There is abundant literature on the management of asthma during pregnancy; however the literature is very limited in those with status asthmaticus who require intensive care unit admission. We report our intensive care unit experience in the management of status asthmaticus in 5 pregnant patients and review the literature on management of status asthmaticus during pregnancy.
The Pathways Model of Assault
Authors: Chambers Jemma C. , Ward Tony , Eccleston Lynne , Brown Mark
Published: September 2008

Research on offending behavior rehabilitation suggests that offenders would gain the maximum benefit from programs that reflect the individual needs of different types of offender. Multivariate theories of offending behavior are thus required to inform individualized rehabilitation. The aim of the current study was to construct a multivariate model for the prolific offense of assault. Qualitative methodology was used to construct a descriptive model of assault for 25 adult assault offenders. The model incorporated the development of violent behavior, types of anger, violence motivation, and the assault offense. The model consisted of 14 categories, 10 of which allowed for individual differences in behavior. A total of 35 participant transcripts were then coded through the model where the individual differences occurred. Five main offense types were found. The characteristics of the types of assault offense gave indications for how rehabilitation may be targeted for each group.
Effect of Melting Temperature and Injection Speed on Microstructure of ABS + 20 wt%PC/Al Flake M talized Plastics
Authors: Lin C.B. , Feng Chi-Yuan , Lee Hung-Chou , Chang Z.C.
Published: September 2008

This research discusses the effect of melt temperature (200, 240, and 270°C) and injection speed (18, 25, and 35%) on orientation distribution and weight fraction of aluminum flakes in ABS+20wt%PC plates. Aluminum flake's aspect ratio increases with melt temperature but is not influenced by injection speed. The weight fraction of aluminum flakes is higher in the core layer than in the surface layer but is not influenced by injection speed. Conversely, the weight fraction of aluminum flakes in the surface layer is inversely proportional to both injection speed and melt temperature. For molds with long flow path from a single-point sprue, aluminum flakes tend to congregate into piles in the surface layer, and the weight fraction of aluminum flakes decreases with increasing injection distance. Aluminum flakes are oriented randomly on the outer side of the bolt hole, but along the direction of flow on the inner side of the bolt hole.
Who Watches the Watchers? Towards an Ethic of Surveillance in a Digital Age
Authors: Stoddart Eric
Published: September 2008

The essay considers contemporary surveillance strategies from a Christian ethical perspective. It discusses first surveillance as a form of speech in the light of biblical themes of truthfulness, then draws on principles of subsidiarity and solidarity. Surveillance is dignified as human work whilst its dehumanizing outcomes are challenged. It is concluded that surveillance must contribute to human dignity and that accountability for data must follow a revised model of subsidiarity, appropriate to network rather than linear socio-political relationships. Mutual responsibility for one another's data-image is derived from solidarity which, further, offers a response to the angst of a culture of suspicion.
From Eschatology to Anthropology: The Development of Pannenberg's Thought Over Christian Ethics
Authors: Kam Ming Wong
Published: September 2008

The anthropological turn, which Pannenberg decisively and successfully executed in the early 1980s, has provided his latest ethical argumentation with an extra dimension and increased depth. Pannenberg now believes that ethics has its foundations in anthropology rather than directly in dogmatics. The ethical as a common concern of all humankind must not be isolated and made independent of metaphysics and religion. For only then can the claim of universal validity for ethics be sustained, which in turn Pannenberg sees as the condition of its binding nature for Christians. Our awareness of moral obligations would become vague when it cannot be clarified in terms of any universally valid norms. Our final verdict on Pannenberg's new approach, however, must await greater clarity on whether his universal moral claim can withstand the potent challenge arising in today's increasingly pluralistic world; otherwise, his latest methodology would only bring him from the historicist fringe to the anthropologist margin.
Billboard jungle
Authors: Johnson Joy
Published: September 2008

Loser Ken Livingstone's director of media during the recent London mayoral election, Johnson questions the validity of a newspaper with a monopoly in the capital coming out for one candidate, as opposed to a political party, in such a contest. She writes: "For months Londoners had been regaled with banner first edition, front-page headlines such as 'Ken's Aide and Lost Millions'. These were then plastered on publicity billboards that appeared at the entrances of most tube stations, and all the major ones, and outside newsagents throughout the city. And there they stayed for the entire day, or, if such a story led the paper on a Friday, for the whole weekend." Perhaps it was the billboards that won the election for Boris Johnson, she argues.
Fighting fire, with words as weapons
Authors: Mbanga Wilf
Published: September 2008

As President Robert Mugabe continues to reduce the country to rubble, the editor of its biggest-selling paper, The Zimbabwean, reports on chilling tactics of suppression: "Despite having an arsenal of anti-press laws at his disposal, the leader of Zimbabwe's military junta, Robert Mugabe, has resorted to using brute force and the threat of assassination to silence the independent media. Yet another list, prepared by Mugabe's much-loathed Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), is doing the rounds of internet websites. I take a cursory look at the list, and yawn. The same old names are there - all the stalwarts of our profession who endeavour constantly to bring to the world's attention through our writings the appalling atrocities being committed in the name of sovereignty by the Mugabe regime."
What happened to playing fair?
Authors: Linklater Magnus
Published: September 2008

Standards of press behaviour have plunged and the PCC sees much of this as "inevitable", writes editor and columnist Linklater. Now's the time for those at the sharp end to revolt: "When innocent citizens are caught in the crossfire of media investigation, it is the responsibility of the reporter to remember that the measure of an intrusive inquiry should not just be the depth of tomorrow's headline, but the human being on the receiving end of it. It is, of course, the responsibility of editors and proprietors to ensure that their newspapers observe the basic rules that should govern all good journalism. But ultimately, it is the reporter, the correspondent, the writer of first instance who must decide, by listening to his or her own conscience, whether they are treating their subjects with decency and respect rather than cavalier disregard for everything except the next day's headline."
An Interactivist-Hermeneutic Metatheory for Positive Psychology
Authors: Chambers Christopher John , Campbell Robert L.
Published: September 2008

Drawing on Bickhard's interactivism along with philosophical hermeneutics, we outline a plausible ontology of human action and development that might serve as a metatheory for positive psychology. Our nondualistic metatheory rests on a distributed notion of agency. The kinds of morally imbued social practices that are identified by hermeneutic theorists constitute one level of agency. At the first level of agency, persons are already committed, at least by implication, to folk psychologies that cover positive emotion, positive traits, and positive institutions. Higher levels of agency and knowing emerge through the process of development. The higher knowing levels incorporate the capacity for conscious self-reflexive awareness, which permits the person to consciously deliberate and form theories of the good person and the good life. These more consciously formed positive folk psychologies are always in a dialectical relationship with the more implicit and embodied understandings of the good life as manifested in social practices, emotional experiences, and habitual thoughts. We suggest that this framework helps to account for the `diversity of goods' that underlie our lives and to clarify the relationship that the professional positive psychologist will have with his or her native folk psychology.
Problematic Ontological Underpinnings of Positive Psychology
Authors: Slife Brent D. , Richardson Frank C.
Published: September 2008

In this article, we contend that many of the problems delineated in this special issue on positive psychology stem from an unexamined philosophical premise—its ontology. The world of `ontology' is vast and somewhat ill defined, but here we mean simply assumptions of what is ultimately real and fundamental, especially regarding the self. We first clarify and compare two major ontologies of the self, one that we argue underlies and spawns problems for positive psychology and one that we will describe as a promising alternative for the project of positive psychology. We focus on three important features of this project: (1) commitment to an ideal of the `disinterested observer'; (2) emotional satisfaction as a key conception; and (3) the tendency to view human phenomena as decontextualized from culture, history, and even physical situations. These features will display both how one set of ontological premises has underlain mainstream positive psychology and how the alternative offers a fresh perspective that addresses many issues within the field.
Prostate Cancer Presenting as an Endobronchial Mass: A Case Report With Literature Review
Authors: Garai Shakhee , Pandey Urmila
Published: September 2008

Endobronchial metastasis from a prostate cancer is uncommon. Diagnosis of prostate carcinoma after primary presentation with an endobronchial mass is very rare. The authors describe the case of an 84-year-old man with endobronchial metastases from prostatic carcinoma presenting primarily with pulmonary symptoms. The diagnosis of prostate cancer and endobronchial metastases was made by a bronchoscopic bronchial biopsy and confirmed by immunohistological staining with prostate-specific antigen. The importance of this manifestation along with clinical and therapeutic implications is discussed here.
Contribution of Specific Adventitious Microorganisms toward Evolution of Sugar and Organic Acid Profiles throughout Ripening of Model Portuguese Cheeses
Authors: Pereira C.I. , Franco M.I. , Gomes E.O. , Gomes A.M.P. , Malcata F.X.
Published: September 2008

Model cheeses, designed to mimic Portuguese traditional cheeses, were manufactured aseptically following a method that attempted to resemble artisanal manufacture practices: they were coagulated with either animal or plant rennet, and inoculated with defined strains of lactic acid bacteria, that had initially been recovered as major constituents of the native microflora of Serra da Estrela cheese, viz. Lactococcus and Lactobacillus genera, either independently or as a mixture. The gross composition, the microbial viability, and the organic compound profile in those model cheeses were monitored, throughout a 60 day-ripening period. Microbial viability, pH, and levels of acetic and lactic acids were the physicochemical and biological parameters that experienced the most significant changes in such matrices — which were, in turn, dependent on the type of inoculum used. No synergisms emerged upon combination of the two strains, in terms of sugar uptake and organic acid release. The contribution of each adventitious bacterium — either independently or in the presence of each other, to the development of expected biochemical characteristics of model cheeses (even though to a lower extent than in actual ones) was confirmed, whereas the type of rennet used proved to be not relevant.
The Anatomical Origin of Raw Meat Affects the Sensory and Chemical Characteristics of a Dry-Cured Beef Product: Cecina de León
Authors: Molinero C. , Martínez B. , Rubio B. , González-Fernández C. , García-Cachán M.D. , Jaime I.
Published: September 2008

This study presents the chemical composition and physicochemical and sensory properties of Spanish Cecina de León manufactured from three anatomical retail cuts (knuckle or babilla, topside or tapa, and silverside or contra). The silverside samples presented significantly ( p<0.05) more fat, and in consequence, less protein, carbohydrate, and ash content than the knuckle and the topside. The fatty acid profiles showed the knuckle samples as having less oleic acid and less monounsaturated fatty acids ( p<0.05) and showed its ratio of polyunsaturated and saturated fatty acids as falling below dietary recommendations (>0.4). On the other hand, the knuckle and the silverside showed more balanced ω 6/ω3 ratio (3.5). No differences ( p>0.05) were found between any of the sensorial parameters, except the textural ones: hardness, pastiness, and chewiness being higher in the silverside. Intermuscular fat was also higher ( p<0.05) in this cecina.
Snoezelen®
Authors: Botts Betsy H. , Hershfeldt Patti A. , Christensen-Sandfort Robyn J.
Published: September 2008

The purpose of this study was to critically review the empirical evidence surrounding three assertions presented by FlagHouse concerning Snoezelen® environments in day school public education settings. Given the absence of empirical literature examining the use of Snoezelen® in day school settings, the authors analyzed five studies that were conducted in residential settings. Findings indicate inconsistent effects of Snoezelen® environments on observable behavior, generalization of behaviors, and relaxation. With the increasing use of Snoezelen® in the American educational system, investigation of its efficacy is needed, particularly because of recent legislation calling for reliance on evidence-based practices. With the current paucity of empirical research, Snoezelen® environments do not meet the standards of evidence-based practice.
The famous and the infamous
Authors: Kornmeier Uta
Published: September 2008

A B S T R A C T • The relationship between Madame Tussaud's waxworks and the phenomenon of renown is close but remains hitherto unexamined. Studying the historic changes in this and previous waxwork exhibitions, however, reveals shifts in the underlying concepts of renown since the late 1600s. The most prominent shifts are from the baroque 'hero' to the grand homme of the Enlightenment, and from the 'great man' to the 'celebrity' in the nineteenth century. Madame Tussaud can be attributed with popularizing the Enlightenment idea of the 'great man' in Britain and with including in her exhibition the first media celebrities, whose renown she reinforced. •