bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Transitions to the Conventional: An Examination of a First Grader's Composing Process
Authors: Sipe Lawrence R.
Published: December 2009

A first grader's spontaneous utterances and actions while composing were audiotaped and observed for one school year. Data included both journal writing (self-sponsored) and writing assigned by the teacher. Seven shifts in composing process were identified, relating to his (a) use of resources, (b) focus and sharing, (c) revision process, (d) utilizing a stock of known words, (e) verbalizing while composing, (f) acquisition and application of case knowledge, and (g) control of spatial organization and serial order. Four factors that influenced these shifts were also identified: the pull of conventional forms, the social nature of composing, the importance of topic choice, and the role of the teacher. During the transitional period, a child's ownership of the process is set in a complex relationship with the teacher and peers as scaffold and the child's own increasing privileging of conventional forms.
Critical Issues: What Counts When Context Counts?: The Uncommon “Common” Language of Literacy Research
Authors: Rex Lesley , Green Judith , Dixon Carol , Barbara Santa ,   Classroom Discourse Group
Published: December 2009

Research into literacy published in journals such as the Journal of Literacy Research spans a range of disciplines and areas of study (e.g., reading, English education, composition). Even individual studies frequently take up interdisciplinary perspectives (e.g., anthropological, sociological, linguistic, educational, textual). The results are journals far ranging in their reach and rich in the knowledge they bring to literacy issues. However, such diversity of theoretical perspectives, research methods, and analytical methodologies also contributes to a confounding effect. In this article, we explore one such effect that occurs when a common term is used with different meanings. Although this may appear on the surface to be a problem easily remedied or even a rather trivial issue, in this article, we show just how consequential this practice can be when the goal is building knowledge from research that can inform practice, policy, and theory. This critical issue can be posed as a set of interrelated questions: Are we all talking about the same thing when we use words like literacy, reading, and even seemingly less resonant ones like context, the one addressed in this commentary? If we are, how do we know? And if we are not, what price are we paying for not considering the issue?
Learning about Culture, Language, and Power: Understanding Relationships among Personhood, Literacy Practices, and Intertextuality
Authors: Egan-Robertson Ann
Published: December 2009

This article theorizes about what the notions of personhood and intertextuality contribute to our conception of literacy teaching and learning. To do so, it provides definitions of key terms and a review of related literature from literacy studies, critical discourse analysis, and multicultural education. The article then presents an analytical framework for understanding interrelationships among personhood, literacy practices, and intertextuality. To elaborate on the theoretical ideas presented, the article draws on data from a study of an urban writing club in which a small group of eighth-grade female students used a number of research methods to explore issues of culture, language, and power that had importance to them. Analysis focuses on (a) the ways two students took up opportunities presented to them as they participated in the writing club for shaping and reshaping discourse practices about personhood along the dimensions of history, music, racial and ethnic identity, and womanhood, and (b) the significance of the framing of the study in providing opportunities for the students to make inter-textual links between their research studies and the literacy practices of community members.
The Depth and Dynamics of Context: Tracing the Sources and Channels of Engagement and Disengagement in Students' Response to Literature
Authors: Smagorinsky Peter , O'Donnell-Allen Cindy
Published: December 2009

In this article, we analyze one coauthor's 12th-grade English class, focusing on a small group of students who interpreted the character of Gertrude in Hamlet through a body biography, a life-sized human outline that students filled with words and images that represented their understanding of the character. We analyze the body biography production as a function of the social context of activity and then analyze the processes of composition involved in their production. Analysis of the data reveals that (a) the students exhibited different degrees of commitment to and involvement in the group task, (b) the degree of equity in productivity and social relations varied within the group in accordance with these different degrees of engagement, and (c) the inequity in social relations and contributions to the group product belied the degree to which the final interpretive product met the teacher's assessment criteria. We conclude with a reconsideration of the notion of engagement that includes attention to both the immediate social relations within the classroom and the histories of engagement that students bring to class.
Constructing Word Meanings: Strategies and Perceptions of Four Middle School Learners
Authors: Harmon Janis M.
Published: December 2009

Using verbal protocols as the major methodological tool, this qualitative inquiry investigated word meaning constructions of four middle school learners during self-selected reading events where learners targeted unfamiliar words. Interviews were also used to explore learner perceptions about vocabulary acquisition. Individual case study analyses and cross-case analyses unveiled similarities and differences in how focal learners constructed meanings for self-targeted words when forced to examine context. Focal learners used multiple strategies in single encounters with new words, were not inhibited by inaccurate word meaning constructions, focused on key words and phrases as they explored content, and relied on syntax to articulate definitions. Results indicate that these middle school learners were at least aware of ways to figure out unfamiliar words. Some readers in the study processed word meanings in flexible and diverse ways, whereas others exhibited a narrow band of strategies. Perceptions about word learning and attitude toward learning new words are important considerations for understanding vocabulary learning through independent reading.
Thirty Years of JRB/JLR: A Retrospective of Reading/Literacy Research
Authors: Guzzetti Barbara , Anders Patricia L. , Neuman Susan
Published: December 2009

Each volume/issue of the past 30 years of the Journal of Reading Behavior/Journal of Literacy Research, the journal of the National Reading Conference (nrc), was hand-searched to examine trends in literacy research. Perusal of research articles and special features of the journal revealed trends across decades in authorship, participants, methods, themes, and topics. Findings include that the major themes of text, tests and assessment, and instruction shifted in importance over the three decades. Unlike results of an earlier review of nrc yearbooks, the nrc journal has contained more reports of quantitative than qualitative research. Recommendations are made to conduct more integrative reviews and qualitative studies, including special populations, varied ethnic and cultural groups, and second-language learners.
Collaborative Literacy Activity in Print-Enriched Play Centers: Exploring the “Zone” in Same-Age and Multi-Age Groupings
Authors: Christie James F. , Stone Sandra J.
Published: December 2009

This study describes the collaborative literacy activity that occurred in one teacher's sociodramatic play center in two situations: when she taught a multi-age (k-2) class and a year later when she taught a same-age kindergarten. In each situation, 15 hours of free play were videotaped and a detailed transcript was made of the action and dialogue that occurred. We analyzed the data to compare the collaborative literacy interactions that occurred in the play center under the two grouping arrangements and to test the assumption that collaborative learning always flows from “experts” to “novices,” a basic tenet of the zone of proximal development. Our findings showed that the children in the multi-age group engaged in a larger amount and a broader range of collaborative literacy activities than did the children in the same-age kindergarten. We also found the collaborative interactions that occurred in the play center were more complex than the zone of proximal development would lead one to believe. Many collaborative interactions in both groups were multi-directional in nature, with the “expert” and “novice” roles not firmly set.
About Hopes, Aspirations, and Uncertainty: First-Grade English-Language Learners' Emergent Reading
Authors: Fitzgerald Jill , Noblit George W.
Published: December 2009

This article describes the reading development of two Hispanic children during their first-grade year of school. Their literacy emergence is portrayed in relation to the teacher's (and to some extent the children's families') expectations and the classroom balanced reading program. This qualitative study, written here in the “I-witnessing” or “confessional” narrative genre, was conducted in the first author's classroom while on reassignment in her 17th year as a university professor of Literacy Studies. The children's reading development is interpreted in light of current controversies in second-language learning, including whether English orality must precede literacy.
Critical Issues: Forging Conceptual Unum in the Literacy Field of Pluribus: An Agenda-Analytic Perspective
Authors: Mosenthal Peter B.
Published: December 2009

The paper explores two alternative agendas that define educational and literacy practices and policies in the United States. The first is the unum agenda, which focuses on developing readers who are good citizens and effective workers. The second is the pluribus agenda, which serves to promote appreciation of diversity, empowerment of disadvantaged groups, and enhanced reader sense of self-esteem. The article argues that deciding questions of “what should be” in practice and policy cannot be determined by neutral appeal to research. Rather, how “good” research, practice, and policy are determined depends, in large measure, on the agenda that one selects to promote education and literacy in the first place. It is noted that, to date, researchers, teachers, and politicians (as well as other educational consumer groups) have tended to advocate for their favorite agenda while dismissing others. The result has been the promulgation of contradiction and confusion. To lend some rationality to the current situation, a method for dealing with competing agendas (as dilemmas) is proposed.
Perspectives on AAC systems by the users and by their communication partners
Authors: McCall Fiona , Marková Ivana , Murphy Joan , Moodie Eleanor , Collins Sarah
Published: December 2009

The study examined the perspectives of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) users and their ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ communication partners in relation to two areas of relevance to AAC: firstly, communication strategies, and secondly, advantages and disadvantages of AAC systems. With respect to communication strategies, it was found that formal communication partners thought that more vocabulary for communicating social purposes was actually available to AAC users and they were less aware of daily routines within day and residential environments. With respect to advantages and disadvantages, three main areas of concern emerged: the effect of the AAC system on the users' communication; features of AAC systems; and the effect of AAC on the users' quality of life. Both high‐ and low‐technology AAC systems were seen as having advantages and disadvantages. This study demonstrates the important contribution to be made by AAC users in the provision of a new set of priorities based on their user experiences.
Early intervention in a case of jargon aphasia: Efficacy of language comprehension therapy
Authors: Grayson Elaine , Hilton Rose , Franklin Sue
Published: December 2009

A client with dysphasia was treated during the first six months following onset. A cognitive neuropsychological model of language processing was used to establish the levels of impairment in auditory comprehension. Three separate phases of therapy were administered: a semantic therapy; a period of therapy where both semantics and auditory processing were treated; and therapy designed to enhance the processing of words in a sentence. Four assessments were used to measure changes between each therapy phase and the results demonstrate that improvement occurred in a pattern which suggests specific effects of treatment.
Specialist speech and language therapists' use and evaluation of visual speech aids
Authors: Coventry Kenny R. , Clibbens John , Cooper Margaret
Published: December 2009

Sixty speech and language therapy service managers and 233 specialist speech and language therapists (SLTs) throughout the UK completed a postal questionnaire which asked for caseload data, patterns of use of visual speech aids (VSAs) and ratings of VSAs on a number of dimensions (in a follow‐up to the survey carried out by Coventry, Clibbens, Cooper and Rood, 1997). Information was also elicited about frequency of use of VSAs together with comments relating to the range of applicability of each type of aid. The results revealed that no VSA scored better than average ratings and, in particular, ‘Portability’ and ‘Affordability’ scored lowest overall. In addition, no differences were found in ratings of particular VSAs between specialist types. The caseload data reported also confirmed the need to take baserate into account when purchasing and designing VSAs.
Voice therapy for dysphonia—still more art than science?
Authors: Dunnet Catherine P. , Mackenzie Kenneth , Sellars G. Cameron , Robinson Kenneth , Wilson Janet A.
Published: December 2009

Before evaluation of the efficacy of voice therapy is possible it is necessary to define established practice. The aim of this study therefore was to assess the prevailing treatment strategies among UK voice therapists for commonly presenting causes of dysphonia.
Mincle is a long sought receptor for mycobacterial cord factor
Authors: Matsunaga Isamu , Moody D. Branch
Published: December 2009

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a leading killer worldwide, yet the adjuvancy of its cell wall has proven to be a valuable therapeutic tool for vaccination and immunotherapy. Much research effort has focused on the mycobacterial glycolipid trehalose-6,6’-dimycolate (TDM), a potent immunostimulant that is also known as cord factor. Now, the identification of the monocyte-inducible C-type lectin (Mincle) as an essential receptor for TDM provides new insight into the formation of the characteristic granulomas in tuberculosis and an avenue for rational adjuvant design.
Flux regulation of cardiac ryanodine receptor channels
Authors: Liu Yiwei , Porta Maura , Qin Jia , Ramos Jorge , Nani Alma , Shannon Thomas R. , Fill Michael
Published: December 2009

The cardiac type 2 ryanodine receptor (RYR2) is activated by Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release (CICR). The inherent positive feedback of CICR is well controlled in cells, but the nature of this control is debated. Here, we explore how the Ca2+ flux (lumen-to-cytosol) carried by an open RYR2 channel influences its own cytosolic Ca2+ regulatory sites as well as those on a neighboring channel. Both flux-dependent activation and inhibition of single channels were detected when there were super-physiological Ca2+ fluxes (>3 pA). Single-channel results indicate a pore inhibition site distance of 1.2 ± 0.16 nm and that the activation site on an open channel is shielded/protected from its own flux. Our results indicate that the Ca2+ flux mediated by an open RYR2 channel in cells (∼0.5 pA) is too small to substantially regulate (activate or inhibit) the channel carrying it, even though it is sufficient to activate a neighboring RYR2 channel.
Antioxidant Activity of Lawsonia inermis Extracts Inhibits Chromium(VI)‐Induced Cellular and DNA Toxicity
Authors: Guha Gunjan , Rajkumar V. , Kumar R. Ashok , Mathew Lazar
Published: December 2009

Hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) is a very strong oxidant which consequently causes high cytotoxicity through oxidative stress. Prevention of Cr(VI)‐induced cellular damage has been sought in this study in aqueous and methanolic extracts of Lawsonia inermis Linn. (Lythraceae), commonly known as Henna. The extracts showed significant (P < .05) potential in scavenging free radicals (DPPH• and ABTS•+) and Fe3+, and in inhibiting lipid peroxidation. DNA damage caused by exposure of pBR322 to Cr(VI)‐UV is markedly inhibited by both extracts in varying degrees. A distinct decline in Cr(VI)‐induced cytotoxicity was noticed in MDA‐MB‐435S (human breast carcinoma) cells with an increase in dosage of both extracts individually. Furthermore, both extracts proved to contain a high content of phenolic compounds which were found to have a strong and significant (P < .05) positive correlation to the radical scavenging potential, lipid peroxidation inhibition capacity and cyto‐protective efficiency against Cr(VI)‐induced oxidative cellular damage. HPLC analysis identified some of the major phenolic compounds in both extracts, which might be responsible for the antioxidant potential and the properties of DNA and cyto‐protection. This study contributes to the search for natural resources that might yield potent therapeutic drugs against Cr(VI)‐induced oxidative cell damage.
Health and Medical Preparedness and Response to the 2008 Republican National Convention
Authors: Hick John L. , Frascone Ralph J. , Grimm Katherine , Hillman Merle , Griffith Jayne , Hogan Michael , Trotsky-Sirr Rebecca , Braun Jane
Published: December 2009

Objective: National security special events occur yearly in the United States. These events require comprehensive advance planning for health and medical contingencies in addition to law enforcement concerns. The planning for and impact of the Republican National Convention (RNC) on the City of St Paul and the Minneapolis–St Paul metropolitan area is described.

Methods: Descriptive analysis of events was provided by the authors based on their planning and operational experiences. Daily data were gathered from area hospitals, emergency medical services agencies, the National Weather Service, federal medical teams, and the Minnesota Department of Health to capture the impact of the RNC on emergency department activity, nonemergency surgery, emergency medical services run volumes, patient visits to onsite and offsite medical clinics, and general hospital occupancy in the metropolitan area.

Results: There were no epidemiological signal events. Weather was not extreme. Confrontations between protestors and law enforcement resulted in frequent use of riot-control agents. Protestors sought medical care from “street medics” and their affiliated free clinics in preference to usual medical facilities. Emergency departments close to the event venue reported decreased patient volumes. Hospitals close to the venue reported significantly decreased nonemergency surgical case volumes. Local hospitals implemented access controls and in 1 case, shut down ventilation systems due to riot-control agent deployment in the streets outside. Emergency medical services volumes were near average, with the exception of St Paul Fire Department on the day of a major protest march.

Conclusions: Planning and operational response for the RNC consumed large amounts of time and resources. The RNC had minimal patient impact on the health care system and in fact caused significant volume decreases at hospitals proximate to the venue. Although contingencies available for a mass casualty event were not needed, they must continue to be available for all such events. Health and medical preparedness and funding is not adequately detailed in the planning framework for national security special events, and this should be a focus for future events. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2009;3:224–232)
miR-19 is a key oncogenic component of mir-17-92
Authors: Olive Virginie , Bennett Margaux J. , Walker James C. , Ma Cong , Jiang Iris , Cordon-Cardo Carlos , Li Qi-Jing , Lowe Scott W. , Hannon Gregory J. , He Lin
Published: December 2009

Recent studies have revealed the importance of multiple microRNAs (miRNAs) in promoting tumorigenesis, among which mir-17-92/Oncomir-1 exhibits potent oncogenic activity. Genomic amplification and elevated expression of mir-17-92 occur in several human B-cell lymphomas, and enforced mir-17-92 expression in mice cooperates with c-myc to promote the formation of B-cell lymphomas. Unlike classic protein-coding oncogenes, mir-17-92 has an unconventional gene structure, where one primary transcript yields six individual miRNAs. Here, we functionally dissected the individual components of mir-17-92 by assaying their tumorigenic potential in vivo. Using the Eμ-myc model of mouse B-cell lymphoma, we identified miR-19 as the key oncogenic component of mir-17-92, both necessary and sufficient for promoting c-myc-induced lymphomagenesis by repressing apoptosis. The oncogenic activity of miR-19 is at least in part due to its repression of the tumor suppressor Pten. Consistently, miR-19 activates the Akt–mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) pathway, thereby functionally antagonizing Pten to promote cell survival. Our findings reveal the essential role of miR-19 in mediating the oncogenic activity of mir-17-92, and implicate the functional diversity of mir-17-92 components as the molecular basis for its pleiotropic effects during tumorigenesis.
Nearby inverted repeats fuse to generate acentric and dicentric palindromic chromosomes by a replication template exchange mechanism
Authors: Mizuno Ken'Ichi , Lambert Sarah , Baldacci Giuseppe , Murray Johanne M. , Carr Antony M.
Published: December 2009

Gene amplification plays important roles in the progression of cancer and contributes to acquired drug resistance during treatment. Amplification can initiate via dicentric palindromic chromosome production and subsequent breakage–fusion–bridge cycles. Here we show that, in fission yeast, acentric and dicentric palindromic chromosomes form by homologous recombination protein-dependent fusion of nearby inverted repeats, and that these fusions occur frequently when replication forks arrest within the inverted repeats. Genetic and molecular analyses suggest that these acentric and dicentric palindromic chromosomes arise not by previously described mechanisms, but by a replication template exchange mechanism that does not involve a DNA double-strand break. We thus propose an alternative mechanism for the generation of palindromic chromosomes dependent on replication fork arrest at closely spaced inverted repeats.
Overcoming inhibition in the spindle checkpoint: Figure 1.
Authors: Vanoosthuyse Vincent , Hardwick Kevin G.
Published: December 2009

Spindle checkpoint silencing is a critical step during mitosis that initiates chromosome segregation, yet surprisingly little is known about its mechanism. Protein phosphatase I (PP1) was shown recently to be a key player in this process, and in this issue of Genes & Deverlopment, Akiyoshi and colleagues (pp. 2887–2899) identify budding yeast Fin1p as a kinetochore-localized regulator of PP1 activity toward checkpoint targets. Here we review recent mechanistic insights and propose a working model for spindle checkpoint silencing.
Insect intestinal mucins and serine proteases associated with the peritrophic matrix from feeding, starved and moulting Mamestra configurata larvae
Authors: Toprak U. , Baldwin D. , Erlandson M. , Gillott C. , Hegedus D. D.
Published: December 2009

Insect intestinal mucins (McIIM2‐4) expressed in the midgut of feeding, starved and moulting Mamestra configurata larvae were identified. McIIM2 and McIIM4 were associated with the peritrophic matrix (PM). PMs from feeding and starved larvae were translucent and contained organized chitin bundles perpendicular to their long axis, whereas PM from moulting larvae consisted of an inner opaque mass surrounded by an outer translucent sleeve. Serine protease genes (McSP1, McSP2, McSP25 and McSP29) were also expressed in these larvae and several serine proteases were associated with the PM. Serine protease activity was also detected in the midgut of feeding, starved and moulting larvae.
Living ‘a life like ours’: support workers' accounts of substitute decision‐making in residential care homes for adults with intellectual disabilities
Authors: Dunn M. C. , Clare I. C. H. , Holland A. J.
Published: December 2009

Background  In England and Wales, the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) provides a new legal framework to regulate substitute decision‐making relating to the welfare of adults who lack the capacity to make one or more autonomous decisions about their care and support. Any substitute decision made on behalf of an adult lacking capacity must be in his/her ‘best interests’. However, the value of adopting established principles and procedures for substitute decision‐making in practice is uncertain, and little is known about the legal or ethical dynamics of social care support, including the day‐to‐day residential support provided to adults with intellectual disabilities (ID).

Methods  This paper reports a qualitative, grounded theory analysis of 21 interviews with support workers working in residential care homes for adults with ID, and observations of care practices.

Results  In contrast to the narrow legal responsibilities placed upon them, it is argued that support workers interpret substitute decision‐making within a broad moral account of their care role, orientating their support towards helping residents to live ‘a life like ours’. In so doing, support workers describe how they draw on their own values and life experiences to shape the substitute decisions that they make on behalf of residents.

Conclusions  Support workers' accounts reveal clear discrepancies between the legal regulation of substitute decision‐making and the ways that these support workers make sense of their work. Such discrepancies have implications both for the implementation of the MCA, and for the role of support workers' values in the conceptualisation and delivery of ‘good’ care.
CD20‐depleting therapy in autoimmune diseases: from basic research to the clinic
Authors: Perosa F. , Prete M. , Racanelli V. , Dammacco F.
Published: December 2009

Abstract.  Perosa F, Prete M, Racanelli V, Dammacco F (University of Bari Medical School, Bari, Italy). CD20‐depleting therapy in autoimmune diseases: from basic research to the clinic (Review). J Intern Med 2010; 267: 260–277.

The B lymphocyte‐associated antigen CD20 is becoming an important immunotherapy target for autoimmune diseases, although its biological function has not been defined. Besides rheumatoid arthritis, growing experience with B cell‐depleting therapy indicates that it may be effective in Sjögren’s syndrome, dermatomyositis–polymyositis, systemic lupus erythematosus and some types of vasculitides. However, controlled clinical trials are still lacking for some of these indications. Infection has not been seen as a major limitation to this therapy, but reports of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in an extremely small number of patients are of concern. Here, we review the therapeutic actions of anti‐CD20 antibodies, and the recent and ongoing clinical trials with CD20‐depleting therapy in autoimmune diseases.
Nociceptin/Orphanin FQ Peptide in Hypothalamic Neurones Associated with the Control of Feeding Behaviour
Authors: Maolood N. , Meister B.
Published: December 2009

Nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ), an endogenous peptide agonist of the opioid N/OFQ receptor, has been implicated in the regulation of energy balance. In the present study, we have used immunohistochemistry to investigate the cellular localisation and colocalisation of N/OFQ‐immunoreactive cell bodies in hypothalamic regions containing neurones producing orexigenic or anorexigenic transmitters. In colchicine‐treated rats, N/OFQ immunoreactivity was demonstrated in many cell bodies of the arcuate nucleus (Arc), paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and lateral hypothalamic area (LHA). Double‐labelling revealed that N/OFQ was present in some neurones located in the ventrolateral part of the Arc producing pro‐opiomelanocortin, as shown by the presence of the anorexigenic peptides α‐melanocyte‐stimulating hormone (α‐MSH) and cocaine‐ and amphetamine‐regulated transcript and, occasionally, in single neurones of the ventrolateral Arc producing orexigenic agouti‐related peptide, but not neuropeptide Y. N/OFQ immunoreactivity was also demonstrated in a few tyrosine hydroxylase‐ or dynorphin (DYN)‐containing neurones in the dorsomedial part of the Arc. In the parvocellular PVN, N/OFQ was demonstrated in some thyrotrophin‐releasing hormone‐ or DYN‐, but not corticotrophin‐releasing hormone‐containing neurones. Most N/OFQ‐immunoreactive neurones in the LHA contained orexin‐ and DYN, but not melanin‐concentrating hormone. The results obtained, demonstrating the presence of N/OFQ in some α‐MSH‐ and in many orexin‐containing neurones, suggest a functional relationship between these neuropeptides and N/OFQ in the control of feeding behaviour and body weight.
Modified Vaccination Technique for Prophylactic and Therapeutic Applications to Combat Endogenous Antigen–Induced Disorders
Authors: Barabas Arpad Z. , Cole Chad D. , Barabas Arpad D. , Graeff Richard M. , Lafreniere Rene , Weir Donald M.
Published: December 2009

Public health can be protected most effectively through vaccination programmes. However, while presently available vaccination techniques protects the individual by provoking immune responses against exogenous antigens (ags), such as those associated with certain bacteria and viruses, they cannot protect against or treat mishaps caused by endogenous ag. Recently, Barabas and colleagues have developed a new vaccination method, called modified vaccination technique (MVT), which allows the presentation of disease causing agents in such a way as to initiate and maintain desired immune response outcomes even in the context of mishaps associated with endogenous ag. For example, in an experimental autoimmune kidney disease, the MVT downregulated/terminated pathogenic immune responses that were causing morphological and functional changes of the kidney. The MVT promises, with appropriate case‐specific modifications, both preventative and curative applications for ailments, such as endogenous ag initiated mishaps (i.e. autoimmune diseases and cancer) and diseases caused by chronic infection, that are presently only treatable with drugs. To achieve specific immune responses, purified components of the vaccine (ag and antibodies) must be produced and assembled into immune complexes having the potential of inducing predetermined corrective immune response outcomes.
RNA Silencing in the Antiviral Innate Immune Defence – Role of DEAD‐box RNA Helicases
Authors: Ulvila J. , Hultmark D. , Rämet M.
Published: December 2009

RNA silencing is an efficient biochemical tool for gene knock downs as well as physiological phenomenon playing a major role in diverse biological processes. Recent knowledge suggests that the same protein families which mediate the experimental RNA interference (RNAi) in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster cells also contribute to the antiviral host defence in both invertebrate model organisms and mammals. Additionally, another branch of RNA silencing, the microRNAs (miRNAs), has been recently described in the context of host defence. In several studies, miRNAs have been shown to regulate essential immune responses. This review summarizes basic concepts of RNAi and miRNAs, especially in the context of immune defence, focusing on the newly discovered role of DEAD‐box helicases in the RNA interference and antiviral host defence.
Mapping of susceptibility locus for endometriosis within the HLA region using microsatellite markers in Japanese women
Authors: Matsuzaka Y. , Kikuti Y. Y. , Izumi S. , Suzuki T. , Cai L.‐Y. , Goya K. , Inoko H. , Makino T. , Kulski J. K. , Kimura M.
Published: December 2009

Abstract

Endometriosis is a female disorder characterized by the presence of uterine endometrial tissue in ectopic loci. Previous studies reported a higher prevalence of particular human leukocyte antigen (HLA) in endometriosis. In order to confirm the association between endometriosis and the HLA region, 15 polymorphic microsatellite markers distributed in the HLA class II to class III region were subjected to association analysis by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐based DNA typing of 89 patients and 136 healthy controls. Statistical analysis of the allelic frequency at each microsatellite locus showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the allele frequency distributions between the cases and controls. This finding suggests that the etiology of endometriosis does not involve the HLA class II genomic region and a portion of class III genomic region in the Japanese population.
HLA‐G and its relation to proliferation index in detection and monitoring breast cancer patients
Authors: Sayed D. , Badr G. , Maximous D. , Mikhail N. N. H. , Abu‐Tarboush F. , Alhazza I. M.
Published: December 2009

Abstract

Recent studies indicate an ectopic upregulation of the human leukocyte antigen G (HLA‐G) in tumor cells that may favor their escape from antitumor immune responses. The role of HLA‐G in breast cancer has not been defined. Other studies showed that HLA‐G transcription may be silenced by epigenetic mechanisms or activated by stress. This work aimed to clarify the expression of HLA‐G protein, estimate the possible prognostic role of HLA‐G expression and identify if this expression is linked to the DNA index (DI) and S phase fraction (SPF) in breast cancer. HLA‐G protein expression and the DNA parameters were studied by flow cytometry and serum secreted HLA‐G (sHLA‐G) levels were detected by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 45 breast cancer patients and 40 female blood donors as healthy donors. Surface HLA‐G was expressed on 40% and the cytoplasmic pattern with no membrane association in 24.4% of the malignant specimens. There was an increased serum sHLA‐G level in patients as compared with controls. There were negative correlations between cytoplasmic HLA‐G and both DI and SPF and between preoperative sHLA‐G and SPF with no relations with patients' clinical outcome. We cannot establish that HLA‐G protein can be a useful prognostic marker, but sHLA‐G may be used as a tumor marker in breast cancer patients.
First records of urban invasive Cryptotermes brevis (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae) in continental Spain and Portugal
Authors: Nunes L. , Gaju M. , Krecek J. , Molero R. , Teresa Ferreira M. , De Roca C. B.
Published: December 2009

Occurrence of the West Indian drywood termite, Cryptotermes brevis, is registered for the first time as established populations in Barcelona (Spain) and also additional information is given regarding a recent record from Lisbon (Portugal). This serious invasive termite pest was detected in five buildings in Barcelona, Spain and one building in Lisbon, Portugal.
Distribution of Airborne Fungal Propagule Concentrations in an Irrigated Cropland Zone
Authors: Muñoz Rodríguez Adolfo F. , Palacios Inmaculada Silva , Molina Rafael Tormo , Bernabé José Antonio Rodríguez
Published: December 2009

The composition of fungal propagules (spores, sporangia and hyphae) in the atmosphere was studied in a zone of irrigated cropland in the lower floodplains (Vegas Bajas) of the River Guadiana (Badajoz, SW Spain). The air was sampled once or twice per week from May to August in 1998 and 1999, using portable Burkard volumetric traps at ground level, in 10 farms producing tomato, beet, plum, pear, nectarine and/or rice. The mean total concentrations were between 3460 and 76 955 propagules/m3. The genusCladosporiumwas the most abundant, amounting to 75.3% of the propagule total. Other frequent types, in approximate order of their abundance, wereAlternaria,Stemphylium, smoothUstilago, hyphae,Oidium, basidiospores,Aspergillus,Torula, uredospores,Epicoccumand roughUstilago. There were differences between farms which were explicable on the basis of the different crops and local conditions. For example, there seemed to be more airborne propagules where rice or beet was grown. The conditions neighbouring some farms, such as proximity to the river, also had a major effect on the temporal variation of the concentrations.
CLINICAL ADVANTAGES OF ENDOSCOPIC SUBMUCOSAL DISSECTION FOR GASTRIC CANCERS IN REMNANT STOMACH SURPASS CONVENTIONAL ENDOSCOPIC MUCOSAL RESECTION
Authors: Hoteya Shu , Iizuka Toshiro , Kikuchi Daisuke , Yahagi Naohisa
Published: December 2009

Aim:  Endoscopic submucosal dissection was developed to address the shortcomings of conventional endoscopic mucosal resection. The present study evaluated the benefits of endoscopic submucosal dissection compared with conventional endoscopic mucosal resection for the treatment of neoplasms arising from the remnant stomach after gastrectomy or esophagectomy.

Methods:  This study, which was designed as a historical control study, evaluated 22 gastric cancers in remnant cancers treated by conventional endoscopic mucosal resection and another 40 cancers treated by endoscopic submucosal dissection.

Results:  Patient characteristic between the two groups were not different except for tumor size, which was larger in patients with endoscopic submucosal dissection. The local complete resection rate and the curative resection rate were significantly higher in the endoscopic submucosal dissection group compared to those in the mucosal resection group (95.0% vs 40.9% and 80.0% vs 40.9%, respectively). Complication rate showed no significant difference in the two groups, although submucosal dissection required a longer operation time.

Conclusion:  Endoscopic submucosal dissection represents a reliable treatment for gastric cancers in the remnant stomach, surpassing endoscopic mucosal resection.
EFFICACY OF AZATHIOPRINE IN MILD OR MODERATE RELAPSE IN CROHN'S DISEASE: CLINICAL AND ENDOSCOPIC EVALUATION
Authors: Murakami Yuji , Matsui Toshiyuki , Hirai Fumihito , Takatsu Noritaka , Takaki Yasuhiro , Nagahama Takashi , Hisabe Takashi , Beppu Takahiro , Miyaoka Masaki , Maki Shinichiro , Takeichi Masao , Nishimura Taku , Ueki Toshiharu , Yao Kenshi
Published: December 2009

Aim:  The present study was aimed at evaluating the efficacy of azathioprine (AZA) in patients with active and relapsing Crohn's disease (CD) and the usefulness of endoscopy in this evaluation.

Methods:  The 53 patients with active CD treated with AZA at our hospital were subjected to the following retrospective analysis: (i) evaluation of the clinical efficacy of AZA through comparison of the Crohn's disease activity index (CDAI); (ii) analysis of the relationship of the clinical efficacy to the difference in the mean corpuscular volume (MCV); (iii) evaluation of mucosal healing through analysis of the scores of the endoscopic findings in 16 patients; and (iv) analysis of the relapse rate.

Results:  (i) Among the 53 patients, treatment was rated as having induced complete remission in 22.6%, as being effective in 41.5%, and as being ineffective in 13.3% of patients. The treatment was discontinued in 22.6% of patients. (ii) The post‐treatment MCV was significantly increased after treatment. (iii) When the ulcer score estimated after treatment was compared with that before the start of treatment, a significant improvement of the score was noted. (iv) When the non‐relapse rate after AZA therapy was calculated in the 41 patients followed up for 12 months, it was 84.8%.

Conclusion:  AZA was shown to cause endoscopic mucosal healing as well as clinical efficacy. In the present study, it was inferred that the efficacy of AZA therapy in CD patients is manifested clinically first and that mucosal healing is an effect that occurs later.
DOUBLE BALLOON ENDOSCOPE FACILITATES ENDOSCOPIC RETROGRADE CHOLANGIOPANCREATOGRAPHY IN ROUX‐EN‐Y ANASTOMOSIS PATIENTS
Authors: Iwamoto Sayaka , Ryozawa Shomei , Yamamoto Hironori , Taba Kumiko , Ishigaki Noriko , Harano Megumi , Iwano Hirotoshi , Sakaida Isao
Published: December 2009

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is the gold standard for the treatment of patients with pancreaticobiliary disorders, but endoscopic therapy is very difficult to carry out in patients with a Roux‐en‐Y anastomosis. We herein present the results of ERCP for patients with a Roux‐en‐Y anastomosis using a double‐balloon endoscope. Six patients (six men with a mean age of 69 years) who had undergone prior gastric resection with Roux‐en‐Y reconstruction were enrolled in the present study and underwent ERCP and associated procedures. ERCP was carried out with a double balloon endoscope, which has one balloon attached to the tip of the endoscope and another attached to the distal end of the soft overtube. In all patients, entering the Y loop was successfully accomplished, and the papilla of Vater was also reached in all cases (100%). Cannulation was successful in four patients (66.7%). The final diagnosis was choledocholithiasis in two patients, biliary fistula in one patient and pancreatic cancer in one patient. A needle‐knife precut papillotomy was carried out after placement of a bile duct stent in two patients, and injection of N‐butyl‐2‐cyanoacrylate into a biliary fistula was carried out in one patient. None of the patients suffered from any complications. A double balloon endoscope is therefore considered to be useful for carrying out ERCP and associated procedures in patients with a Roux‐en‐Y anastomosis.
Use and abuse of faecal occult blood tests in an acute hospital inpatient setting
Authors: Friedman A. , Chan A. , Chin L. C. , Deen A. , Hammerschlag G. , Lee M. , Liddell J. , Loh K. , Moore E. , Ng J. , Gibson P. R.
Published: December 2009

Background/Aims: The role of the faecal occult blood test (FOBT) is untested. The aims of this study were to define the use of FOBT in a general hospital setting and to determine its influence on patient management.

Methods: Case notes and laboratory reports were retrospectively reviewed in all FOBTs performed in 2006 across three acute hospitals, with specific reference to clinical setting, indication, influence over clinical decision‐making and management. Both guaiac and immunological tests were performed on all specimens.

Results: A total of 330 patients aged 2–104 (mean 74) years, 47% men, had 461 tests performed. A positive result was recorded in one or both tests in 64% of patients. Evidence of dietary restriction was found in only eight (2%) of patients and 218 (66%) patients took one or more medications that could have caused a false positive result. Indications were mostly for overt or suspected gastrointestinal blood loss with or without anaemia and/or iron deficiency, but 5% were for non‐bloody diarrhoea and 3% screening for colorectal cancer. Patient care was adversely affected or delayed in 54 patients (16%), mostly because of the result being the stimulus for the decision to refer or not for endoscopy. Only one was considered appropriate as a screening test for colorectal cancer.

Conclusions: The FOBT was applied in clinically inappropriate settings without consideration to confounding issues, and often led to inappropriate clinical decisions with considerable cost to hospital and patient. There is no place for FOBT in an acute hospital setting.
Development and Change at 40
Authors: White Ben
Published: December 2009

As Development and Change completes its fortieth year, this note first describes the emergence of the journal's critical, generalist identity. It then provides a glimpse into the journal's ‘kitchen’, comments on the transformation in global access and readership since the journal went online, and reflects on the past, present and future of journal publishing in international development studies.
The Midas Effect: A Critique of Climate Change Economics
Authors: Foster John Bellamy , Clark Brett , York Richard
Published: December 2009

Global climate change is perhaps the most serious problem the world faces. Despite its severity, mainstream economic approaches to addressing the problem fail to get to the root cause — the capitalist global economy — falling instead for ‘the Midas Effect’, the notion that ecological values can be converted into economic values. Here we highlight the severity of the global climate crisis, which requires that atmospheric carbon levels be reduced (to 350 ppm), and explain how capitalism is the primary driving force behind this crisis. We argue that to address this problem properly, nothing less than an ecological revolution is required, where we replace the current capitalist system with one based on meeting human needs in a sustainable way, not furthering capital accumulation.
Modeling Contextual Effects in Developmental Research: Linking Theory and Method in the Study of Social Development
Authors: Ojanen Tiina , Little Todd D.
Published: December 2009

This special section was inspired by the recent increased interest and methodological advances in the assessment of context‐specificity in child and adolescent social development. While the effects of groups, situations, and social relationships on cognitive, affective and behavioral development have long been acknowledged in theoretical discussions of social development, empirical research has largely relied on the assessment of individual differences rather than contextual differences in these processes—perhaps due to the fact that advanced data analytic techniques are required to access contextual dependencies in such data. While still developing, best practice data analytic techniques enable us to access the ‘social’ of social development in more precision today than ever before. In this special section we examine three of these techniques through the work of our invited authors.
Adult vocational training for migrants in North‐East Italy
Authors: Magnani Natalia
Published: December 2009

This article contributes to the study of policies for the integration of immigrants into the labour markets of European immigration countries by focusing on the specific issue of vocational training for immigrant workers in Italy. Vocational training has a central role in the European employment strategy. Moreover, with regard to migrants, it is also relevant to the topical issue of the governance of international labour migration.

The article analyses both the demand and the supply of vocational training in north‐east Italy, generally regarded as the rich and industrialised heart of the country. It draws on 30 interviews conducted with key informants and experts from local and regional governmental bodies, trade unions, employment offices, and private educational agencies in the main towns of the Veneto region.

Various types of vocational training for immigrant workers are considered, from traditional full‐time courses financed by the European Social Fund to new projects for the selection and pre‐training of immigrants in their countries of origin. The extent to which these policy tools are able to meet the actual needs of immigrant workers and of the local business sector is investigated, as well as their problematic interaction with the national regulatory framework for immigration control.