bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
English Learners: Challenges in Assessment and the Promise of Curriculum-Based Measurement
Authors: Sandberg Karen L. , Reschly Amy L.
Published: February 2010

Despite the growing body of research validating the use of curriculum-based measurement, few studies have focused on using this type of assessment with English learners. Proper assessment of English learners is essential for progress monitoring, determining language proficiency, predicting achievement, and identifying students with disabilities. However, because of linguistic and cultural factors, traditional norm-referenced standardized tests of achievement may not be valid for language minority students. In light of these issues, as well as the growing gap in achievement between language minority and language majority students, greater accountability in the education of English learners is needed. This article delineates some of the challenges in the assessment of English learners in schools, reviews studies that have used curriculum-based measurement with English learners, and outlines the usefulness of such an approach as part of a problem-solving model with this population. Limitations and areas for future research related to the use of curriculum-based measurement with English learners are also presented.
Nursing Care of Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy
Authors: I·sbir Gözde G. , Mete Samiye
Published: February 2010

Nursing theories and conceptual models need to be developed and used in practice for accumulation of nursing knowledge. The authors in this article explain the concepts and nursing process of the Roy adaptation model in light of an example with the nausea and vomiting of pregnancy. It is expected that the article will provide guidance for nurses who want to use the model while offering nursing care and conducting research.
Illuminating Person-Centered Care With Parse’s Teaching-Learning Model
Authors: Ursel Karen L. , Aquino-Russell Catherine E.
Published: February 2010

Person-centered care is illuminated in this paper through the lens of Parse’s teaching-learning model for students who were engaged in patient-centered care during a practicum on an acute care unit. Students’ perspectives changed as they tried on strategies for person-centered care and lived true presence with persons, while experiencing the satisfaction of knowing that they made a difference in the quality of life of the persons they were with.
Using Emerging Technologies to Enhance Learning
Authors: Wood Anya
Published: February 2010

The author in this article outlines how an acute care multi-site teaching hospital tapped into Web 2.0 technologies to enhance learning for nurses and others. In the process a way was found to increase participation, motivate, and engage nurses and others in ways that would not have been possible previously.
Readers Use Bayesian Estimation for Eye Movement Control
Authors: Engbert Ralf , Krügel André
Published: February 2010

During reading, saccadic landing positions within words show a pronounced peak close to the word center, with an additional systematic error that is modulated by the distance from the launch site and the length of the target word. Here we show that the systematic variation of fixation positions within words, the saccadic range error, can be derived from Bayesian decision theory. We present the first mathematical model for the saccadic range error; this model makes explicit assumptions regarding underlying visual and oculomotor processes. Analyzing a corpus of eye movement recordings, we obtained results that are consistent with the view that readers use Bayesian estimation for saccade planning. Furthermore, we show that alternative models fail to reproduce the experimental data.
Effects of Video-Game Ownership on Young Boys’ Academic and Behavioral Functioning
Authors: Weis Robert , Cerankosky Brittany C.
Published: February 2010

Young boys who did not own video games were promised a video-game system and child-appropriate games in exchange for participating in an “ongoing study of child development.” After baseline assessment of boys’ academic achievement and parent- and teacher-reported behavior, boys were randomly assigned to receive the video-game system immediately or to receive the video-game system after follow-up assessment, 4 months later. Boys who received the system immediately spent more time playing video games and less time engaged in after-school academic activities than comparison children. Boys who received the system immediately also had lower reading and writing scores and greater teacher-reported academic problems at follow-up than comparison children. Amount of video-game play mediated the relationship between video-game ownership and academic outcomes. Results provide experimental evidence that video games may displace after-school activities that have educational value and may interfere with the development of reading and writing skills in some children.
The Endocrinology of Exclusion
Authors: Maner Jon K. , Miller Saul L. , Schmidt Norman B. , Eckel Lisa A.
Published: February 2010

Social exclusion can have profound effects on a vast array of motivated psychological processes, from social withdrawal and aggression to prosocial behavior and social affiliation. The current studies examined motivationally tuned endocrinological consequences of exclusion by measuring the release of progesterone, a hormone that reflects an individual’s level of social-affiliative motivation. Results from two experiments indicate that release of progesterone following social exclusion depends on people’s levels of social anxiety and rejection sensitivity. Individuals high in social anxiety displayed a drop in progesterone in response to exclusion, a pattern consistent with a lack of affiliative motivation. In contrast, individuals high in rejection sensitivity displayed an increase in progesterone when given an opportunity to reaffiliate, a change consistent with a desire for compensatory social contact. These findings provide new insight into the immediate biological changes precipitated by social exclusion—changes that could initiate a range of motivated social responses.
Policy concertation, Europeanization and new political cleavages: The case of Switzerland
Authors: Afonso Alexandre
Published: February 2010

This article investigates the impact of Europeanization on corporatist policy concertation by emphasizing the mediation of political cleavages.The analysis shows that in Switzerland, Europeanization has tended to strengthen policy concertation on labour market issues related to the EU, whereas this type of policy-making has weakened over strictly domestic social and economic issues. European integration creates divisions within the political right, prompting employers to collaborate with trade unions in order to gather sufficient political support. By contrast, the right is more united over domestic issues, and employers do not need to cooperate with trade unions.
What explains high unemployment among low-skilled workers? Evidence from 21 OECD countries
Authors: Oesch Daniel
Published: February 2010

In OECD countries, unemployment disproportionately affects low-skilled workers. This article examines four explanations: wage-setting institutions, employment regulation, globalization and monetary policy. The analysis is based on pooled regressions for 21 affluent countries over the period 1991—2006. We find no support for the argument that low-skilled workers’ employment prospects are hindered by legal minimum wages or strict employment protection, nor that wage inequality improves low-skilled employment. By contrast, investment in active labour market policies pays off and low real interest rates are associated with significantly less low-skilled unemployment. Hence, low-skilled workers’ job prospects seem enhanced by a combination of active labour market programmes with monetary policy that fully exploits the economy’s growth potential.
Employee participation and involvement: Experiences of aerospace and automobile workers in the UK and Italy
Authors: Richardson Mike , Danford Andy , Stewart Paul , Pulignano Valeria
Published: February 2010

This article questions the view of leading advocates of lean production and high-performance work practices that these increase employee influence. It examines workers’ experiences in the automobile and aerospace sectors in Italy and the UK. Despite national differences in industrial relations and cultural differences between firms, a significant democratic deficit existed in all cases.
Overexpression of interferon-activated gene 202 (Ifi202) correlates with the progression of autoimmune glomerulonephritis associated with the MRL chromosome 1
Authors: Ichii O. , Kamikawa A. , Otsuka S. , Hashimoto Y. , Sasaki N. , Endoh D. , Kon Y.
Published: February 2010

B6.MRLc1(82—100) congenic mice carrying the telomeric region of lupus-prone MRL chromosome 1 develop autoimmune glomerulonephritis (GN). The GN susceptibility locus of B6.MRLc1(82—100) contains the interferon activated gene 200 (Ifi200) family, which consists of Ifi202, 203, 204, and 205. Recently, Ifi202 was suggested as a candidate gene for murine lupus. In this study, we assessed the association between Ifi200 family and GN in several disease models. We compared the expression of Ifi200 family members in 24 organs between the C57BL/6 and B6.MRLc1(82-100). The expressions of Ifi200 family members differed between strains, and the most dramatic differences appeared in Ifi202 expression. Briefly, in the blood, immune organs, lungs, and testes mRNA expression was higher in B6.MRLc1(82—100) mice. In the kidney and immune organs, only Ifi202 expression increased with the development of GN in B6.MRLc1(82—100), and significant differences from C57BL/6 were observed even before disease onset. Ifi202 expression in the kidneys of BXSB, NZB/WF1, and MRL/lpr was also significantly high in the early- and late-disease stages. Furthermore, laser microdissection-reverse-transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis confirmed the high Ifi202 expression in all areas of B6.MRLc1(82—100) kidneys. In conclusion, in the Ifi200 family, Ifi202 expressions in the kidney and immune organs significantly increased with GN progression.
Fashion as Methodology
Authors: Parkins Ilya
Published: February 2010

Recent feminist scholarship has shown that women’s anteriority to ‘the modern’ — and even to time itself — was a powerful and persistent feature of the temporal imaginary at the height of industrial modernity, from about 1860 to 1940. Neo-Marxist work on the time of modernity, for its part, indicates that the dualistic understanding of temporality that structures the trope of feminine timelessness is marked by instabilities and contradictions. Fashion, I argue, makes apparent these instabilities. Approaching the debates on modern temporality through the lens of fashion adds complexity to theories of women’s positioning vis-à-vis modernity, showing that women were invoked simultaneously as modernity’s antitheses and its exemplars. I suggest that the register of ephemerality advanced by fashion offers a useful framework for understanding the variable visibility of women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
What If Time Is a Dimension of Events, Not an Envelope for Them?
Authors: Deeds Ermarth Elizabeth
Published: February 2010

Any discussion of time must first indicate what kind of time is involved. Most discussions of time simply take for granted a particular kind of time, one which was invented for modern Europe beginning in the Quattrocento and perfected in the nineteenth century, one which has been specific to a particular phase of western culture, and its empiricist tendencies. This kind of time has been broadly challenged since the turn of the twentieth century and across the range of practice from art to physics, and a new kind of time has emerged from these challenges. Just as ‘modern’ time emerged from the Renaissance, so what might be called postmodern or discursive time has emerged from the tectonic cultural shifts of the past century. This essay distinguishes between these two kinds of time as they effect discussion of important topics, for example the topic of gender.
Principles of Wound Care in Hospice and Palliative Medicine
Authors: Navaid Musharraf , Melvin Terry , Berube Judy , Dotson Sherri
Published: February 2010

The author presents a case report of an elderly patient who was extremely frail and debilitated. The patient was a resident of a skilled care facility because of advanced chronic illnesses that included end-stage Alzheimer, dementia, and Parkinson disease. This patient had acquired multiple stages III to IV pressure ulcers. Aggressive wound care treatment was initiated with partial success, but the patient passed away before the wound could completely heal. Medical literature was reviewed to offer the best possible wound care approach in providing care to patients who are terminally ill without compromising the patient’s dignity and comfort and at the same time delivering cost-effective quality care.
Reliability and Validity of the Euthanasia Attitude Scale (EAS) for Hong Kong Medical Doctors
Authors: Tang Wai-Kiu , Mak Kwok-Kei , Kam Philip Ming-Ho , Ho Joanna Wing-Kiu , Chan Denise Che-Ying , Suen To-Lam , Lau Michael Chak-Kwan , Cheng Adrian Ka-Chun , Wan Yuen-Ting , Wan Ho-Yan , Hussain Assad
Published: February 2010

This study aimed to examine the reliability and validity of the Euthanasia Attitude Scale (EAS) in Hong Kong medical doctors. A total of 107 medical doctors (61.7% men) participated in a survey at clinical settings in 2008. The 21-item EAS was used to assess their attitudes toward euthanasia. The mean (standard deviation) and median of the EAS were 63.60 (60.31) and 63.00. Total EAS scores correlated well with ‘‘Ethical Considerations,’’ ‘‘Practical Considerations,’’ and ‘‘Treasuring Life’’ (Spearman ρ =.37-.96, P < .001) but not ‘‘Naturalistic Beliefs.’’ The construct validity of the 3-factor model was appropriate (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin [KMO] value = 0.90) and showed high internal consistency (Cronbach α =.79-.92). Euthanasia Attitude Scale may be a reliable and valid measure for assessing the attitudes toward euthanasia in medical professionals.
Dementia, Goals of Care, and Personhood: A Study of Surrogate Decision Makers’ Beliefs and Values
Authors: Kaldjian Lauris C. , Shinkunas Laura A. , Bern-Klug Mercedes , Schultz Susan K.
Published: February 2010

Surrogate decision makers for persons with advanced dementia play a key role in making decisions about medical treatments for their loved ones. We conducted in-depth interviews of 20 surrogates to examine their goals of care preferences and beliefs about personhood. All surrogates believed the goal of comfort was important, and 30.0% believed that curing physical problems was important. Significant proportions of surrogates acknowledged dementia-related changes in patients’ ability to reason, communicate, and relate to others. Qualitative findings demonstrated diverse beliefs regarding the impact of dementia on factors related to personhood, for example, dignity, respect from others, and having a life worth living. In conclusion, the surrogates we interviewed expressed diverse preferences regarding goals of care and diverse assessments about the impact of dementia on personhood.
Implementing Evidence-Based Practices: Considerations for the Hospice Setting
Authors: Sanders Sara , Mackin Melissa Lehan , Reyes Jimmy , Herr Keela , Titler Marita , Fine Perry , Forcucci Chris
Published: February 2010

With increased regulation and scrutiny of outcomes, hospice programs are being challenged to consider the implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs). This study reports findings from hospice director interviews and staff focus groups, which occurred following the completion of a multifaceted translating research into practice (TRIP) intervention designed to promote evidence-based pain management practices. The purpose of this article is to provide background on the use of EBPs, to report facilitators and barriers to overall implementation of pain management EBPs in hospice, and to provide recommendations for hospices interested in increasing the use of EBPs. Three areas for evaluation prior to implementing an EBP initiative in hospices were identified: community, agency, and staff cultures. Recommendations for implementation of EBPs in hospices are provided.
On the Use of Delay Equations in Engineering Applications
Authors: Kyrychko Y.N. , Hogan S.J.
Published: February 2010

This paper is a review of applications of delay differential equations to different areas of engineering science. Starting with a general overview of delay models, we present some recent results on the use of retarded, advanced and neutral delay differential equations. An emerging area for modeling with the help of delay equations is real-time dynamic substructuring, or hybrid testing. We introduce the main idea of this technique together with the latest advances. Special emphasis is given to the development of the theory and applications of partial delay differential equations. The review concludes with a summary of some open problems and questions concerning the analysis of spatially extended delayed systems.
Social evolution of international politics: From Mearsheimer to Jervis
Authors: Shiping Tang
Published: February 2010

I advance an endogenous explanation for the systemic transformation of international politics and offer to neatly resolve the debate between offensive realism and defensive realism through a social evolutionary approach. I contend that international politics has always been an evolutionary system and it has evolved from an offensive realism world to a defensive realism world. Consequently, offensive realism and defensive realism are appropriate grand theories of international politics for two different historical epochs. Different grand theories of international politics are for different epochs of international politics, and different epochs of international politics actually need different theories of international politics. Because international politics has always been an evolutionary system, non-evolutionary approaches will be intrinsically incapable of shedding light on the evolution of the system. The science of international politics must be a genuine evolutionary science and students of international politics must ‘give Darwin his due’.
'Remix My Lit'
Authors: Murray Simone
Published: February 2010

The publishing buzzword of the last few years has undoubtedly been ‘open access’. But typically this has referred to scientific journal publishing, only recently expanding to include humanities research. This article goes further in asking what might an open access literary culture look like? Developments around online publishing, electronic-books, print on demand and digital libraries see publishers facing challenges on every side. How might publishers’ traditional role as gatekeepers of literary culture be similarly usurped in an environment characterized by networked books, wiki-novels and fictional ‘rip and burn’ practices? Outlining three exciting recent experiments in open-access literature, this article considers what the digital future of literature might look like, and what its impact will be on writers, publishers and readers.
Independent Community Archives and Community-Generated Content
Authors: Flinn Andrew
Published: February 2010

This article examines recent developments in community archives and histories, and in particular the impact of technologies that encourage individuals to create and/or share their own historical content. Concomitantly, more archives and heritage institutions are experimenting with allowing their ‘communities of users’ to submit commentary and content to collection descriptions and catalogues. Some have seen such community histories and user content as challenging notions of professionalism and the authority of the ‘expert’ voice, and this article will seek to explore the ways in which this might be the case. However, the article will also argue that, technology aside, these challenges are not fundamentally new but that they reside firmly in the traditions of history from below, oral history, History Workshop and many other attempts to give recognition to less privileged voices. Ultimately, such material is surely an opportunity for archivists and historians to broaden the range of the sources that their work draws upon; whether they make use of these opportunities depends largely on their interests and the focus of their studies or collections.
Speech Recordings at the British Library
Authors: Cleary Steve
Published: February 2010

A single historical sound file posted on the web by the British Library may reach more listeners in a day than it did in the whole of the pre-internet age of telephone enquiries and listening appointments on the premises. Yet most of the Library’s vast sound archive remains available for consultation only through outmoded facilities. Why is this, and how does a national sound archive respond to rapidly changing and increasingly demanding user expectations?
Gamers Telling Stories
Authors: Albrechtslund Anne-Mette
Published: February 2010

In this article, I introduce a theoretical framework, based on the philosophy of Paul Ricoeur, for grasping how and why members of online communities construct narratives in their communications with one another. This is exemplified through a study of how players from one particular game, World of Warcraft , make sense of their gaming experience, and how they build and uphold a community identity by telling stories online. I argue that in studying and conceptualizing these types of texts through the proposed theoretical framework, we can gain insights into the process of the formation of meaning and the building of identity and community in an online setting.
SEL1L deficiency impairs growth and differentiation of pancreatic epithelial cells
Authors: Li Shuai , Francisco Adam B , Munroe Robert J , Schimenti John C , Long Qiaoming
Published: February 2010

Background

The vertebrate pancreas contains islet, acinar and ductal cells. These cells derive from a transient pool of multipotent pancreatic progenitors during embryonic development. Insight into the genetic determinants regulating pancreatic organogenesis will help the development of cell-based therapies for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Suppressor enhancer lin12/Notch 1 like (Sel1l) encodes a cytoplasmic protein that is highly expressed in the developing mouse pancreas. However, the morphological and molecular events regulated by Sel1l remain elusive.

Results

We have characterized the pancreatic phenotype of mice carrying a gene trap mutation in Sel1l. We show that Sel1l expression in the developing pancreas coincides with differentiation of the endocrine and exocrine lineages. Mice homozygous for the gene trap mutation die prenatally and display an impaired pancreatic epithelial morphology and cell differentiation. The pancreatic epithelial cells of Sel1l mutant embryos are confined to the progenitor cell state throughout the secondary transition. Pharmacological inhibition of Notch signaling partially rescues the pancreatic phenotype of Sel1l mutant embryos.

Conclusions

Together, these data suggest that Sel1l is essential for the growth and differentiation of endoderm-derived pancreatic epithelial cells during mouse embryonic development.
The mitochondrial phylogeny of an ancient lineage of ray-finned fishes (Polypteridae) with implications for the evolution of body elongation, pelvic fin loss, and craniofacial morphology in Osteichthyes
Authors: Suzuki Dai , Brandley Matthew C , Tokita Masayoshi
Published: February 2010

Background

The family Polypteridae, commonly known as "bichirs", is a lineage that diverged early in the evolutionary history of Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish), but has been the subject of far less evolutionary study than other members of that clade. Uncovering patterns of morphological change within Polypteridae provides an important opportunity to evaluate if the mechanisms underlying morphological evolution are shared among actinoptyerygians, and in fact, perhaps the entire osteichthyan (bony fish and tetrapods) tree of life. However, the greatest impediment to elucidating these patterns is the lack of a well-resolved, highly-supported phylogenetic tree of Polypteridae. In fact, the interrelationships of polypterid species have never been subject to molecular phylogenetic analysis. Here, we infer the first molecular phylogeny of bichirs, including all 12 recognized species and multiple subspecies using Bayesian analyses of 16S and cyt-b mtDNA. We use this mitochondrial phylogeny, ancestral state reconstruction, and geometric morphometrics to test whether patterns of morphological evolution, including the evolution of body elongation, pelvic fin reduction, and craniofacial morphology, are shared throughout the osteichthyan tree of life.

Results

Our molecular phylogeny reveals 1) a basal divergence between Erpetoichthys and Polypterus, 2) polyphyly of P. endlicheri and P. palmas, and thus 3) the current taxonomy of Polypteridae masks its underlying genetic diversity. Ancestral state reconstructions suggest that pelvic fins were lost independently in Erpetoichthys, and unambiguously estimate multiple independent derivations of body elongation and shortening. Our mitochondrial phylogeny suggested species that have lower jaw protrusion and up-righted orbit are closely related to each other, indicating a single transformation of craniofacial morphology.

Conclusion

The mitochondrial phylogeny of polypterid fish provides a strongly-supported phylogenetic framework for future comparative evolutionary, physiological, ecological, and genetic analyses. Indeed, ancestral reconstruction and geometric morphometric analyses revealed that the patterns of morphological evolution in Polypteridae are similar to those seen in other osteichthyans, thus implying the underlying genetic and developmental mechanisms responsible for those patterns were established early in the evolutionary history of Osteichthyes. We propose developmental and genetic mechanisms to be tested under the light of this new phylogenetic framework.
Novel induced mlo mutant alleles in combination with site-directed mutagenesis reveal functionally important domains in the heptahelical barley Mlo protein
Authors: Reinstädler Anja , Müller Judith , Czembor Jerzy H , Piffanelli Pietro , Panstruga Ralph
Published: February 2010

Background

Recessively inherited natural and induced mutations in the barley Mlo gene confer durable broad-spectrum resistance against the powdery mildew pathogen, Blumeria graminis f.sp. hordei. Mlo codes for a member of a plant-specific family of polytopic integral membrane proteins with unknown biochemical activity. Resistant barley mlo mutant alleles identify amino acid residues that are critical for Mlo function in the context of powdery mildew susceptibility.

Results

We molecularly analyzed a novel set of induced barley mlo mutants and used site-directed mutagenesis in combination with transient gene expression to unravel novel amino acid residues of functional significance. We integrate these results with previous findings to map functionally important regions of the heptahelical Mlo protein. Our data reveal the second and third cytoplasmic loop as being particularly sensitive to functional impediment by mutational perturbation, suggesting that these regions are critical for the susceptibility-conferring activity of the Mlo protein. In contrast, only mutations in the second but not the third cytoplasmic loop appear to trigger the Endoplasmic Reticulum-localized quality control machinery that ensures the biogenesis of properly folded membrane proteins.

Conclusion

Our findings identify functionally important regions of the polytopic barley Mlo protein and reveal the differential sensitivity of individual protein domains to cellular quality control.
Chronic pain associated with the Chikungunya Fever: long lasting burden of an acute illness
Authors: de Andrade Daniel Ciampi , Jean Sylvain , Clavelou Pierre , Dallel Radhouane , Bouhassira Didier
Published: February 2010

Background

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is responsible for major epidemics worldwide. Autochthonous cases were recently reported in several European countries. Acute infection is thought to be monophasic. However reports on chronic pain related to CHIKV infection have been made. In particular, the fact that many of these patients do not respond well to usual analgesics suggests that the nature of chronic pain may be not only nociceptive but also neuropathic. Neuropathic pain syndromes require specific treatment and the identification of neuropathic characteristics (NC) in a pain syndrome is a major step towards pain control.

Methods

We carried out a cross-sectional study at the end of the major two-wave outbreak lasting 17 months in Réunion Island. We assessed pain in 106 patients seeking general practitioners with confirmed infection with the CHIK virus, and evaluated its impact on quality of life (QoL).

Results

The mean intensity of pain on the visual-analogical scale (VAS) was 5.8 ± 2.1, and its mean duration was 89 ± 2 days. Fifty-six patients fulfilled the definition of chronic pain. Pain had NC in 18.9% according to the DN4 questionnaire. Conversely, about two thirds (65%) of patients with NC had chronic pain. The average pain intensity was similar between patients with or without NC (6.0 ± 1.7 vs 6.1 ± 2.0). However, the total score of the Short Form-McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ)(15.5 ± 5.2 vs 11.6 ± 5.2; p < 0.01) and both the affective (18.8 ± 6.2 vs 13.4 ± 6.7; p < 0.01) and sensory subscores (34.3 ± 10.7 vs 25.0 ± 9.9; p < 0.01) were significantly higher in patients with NC. The mean pain interference in life activities calculated from the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) was significantly higher in patients with chronic pain than in patients without it (6.8 ± 1.9 vs 5.9 ± 1.9, p < 0.05). This score was also significantly higher in patients with NC than in those without such a feature (7.2 ± 1.5 vs 6.1 ± 1.9, p < 0.05).

Conclusions

There exists a specific chronic pain condition associated to CHIKV. Pain with NC seems to be associated with more aggressive clinical picture, more intense impact in QoL and more challenging pharmacological treatment.
Can primary optimal cytoreduction be predicted in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer preoperatively?
Authors: Mousavi Azam-Sadat , Mazhari Marjan Moradi , Guilani Mitra Modares , Ghaemmaghami Fatemeh , Behtash Nadereh , Akhavan Setareh
Published: February 2010

Introduction

Prediction of optimal cytoreduction in patients with advanced epithelial ovarian caner preoperatively.

Methods

Patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer who underwent surgery for the first time from Jan. to June 2008 at gynecologic oncology ward of TUMS (Tehran University of Medical Sciences) were eligible for this study. The possibility of predicting primary optimal cytoreduction considering multiple variables was evaluated. Variables were peritoneal carcinomatosis, serum CA125, ascites, pleural effusion, physical status and imaging findings.

Univariate comparisons of patients underwent suboptimal cytoreduction carried out using Fisher's exact test for each of the potential predictors. The wilcoxon rank sum test was used to compare variables between patients with optimal versus suboptimal cytoreduction.

Results

41 patients met study inclusion criteria. Statistically significant association was noted between peritoneal carcinomatosis and suboptimal cytoreduction. There were no statistically significant differences between physical status, pleural effusion, imaging findings, serum CA125 and ascites of individuals with optimal cytoreduction compared to those with suboptimal cytoreduction.

Conclusions

Because of small populations in our study the results are not reproducible in alternate populations. Only the patient who is most unlikely to undergo optimal cytoreduction should be offered neoadjuvant chemotherapy, unless her medical condition renders her unsuitable for primary surgery.
Selection against spermatozoa with fragmented DNA after postovulatory mating depends on the type of damage
Authors: Hourcade Juan D , Pérez-Crespo Miriam , Fernández-González Raúl , Pintado Belén , Gutiérrez-Adán Alfonso
Published: February 2010

Background

Before ovulation, sperm-oviduct interaction mechanisms may act as checkpoint for the selection of fertilizing spermatozoa in mammals. Postovulatory mating does not allow the sperm to attach to the oviduct, and spermatozoa may only undergo some selection processes during the transport through the female reproductive tract and/or during the zona pellucida (ZP) binding/penetration.

Methods

We have induced DNA damage in spermatozoa by two treatments, (a) a scrotal heat treatment (42 degrees C, 30 min) and (b) irradiation with 137Cs gamma-rays (4 Gy, 1.25 Gy/min). The effects of the treatments were analyzed 21-25 days post heat stress or gamma-radiation. Postovulatory females mated either with treated or control males were sacrificed at Day 14 of pregnancy, and numbers of fetuses and resorptions were recorded.

Results

Both treatments decreased significantly implantation rates however, the proportion of fetuses/resorptions was only reduced in those females mated to males exposed to radiation, indicating a selection favoring fertilization of sperm with unfragmented DNA on the heat treatment group. To determine if DNA integrity is one of the keys of spermatozoa selection after postovulatory mating, we analyzed sperm DNA fragmentation by COMET assay in: a) sperm recovered from mouse epididymides; b) sperm recovered from three different regions of female uterine horns after mating; and c) sperm attached to the ZP after in vitro fertilization (IVF). Similar results were found for control and both treatments, COMET values decreased significantly during the transit from the uterine section close to the uterotubal junction to the oviduct, and in the spermatozoa attached to ZP. However, fertilization by IVF and intracytoplasmatic sperm injection (ICSI) showed that during sperm ZP-penetration, a stringent selection against fragmented-DNA sperm is carried out when the damage was induced by heat stress, but not when DNA fragmentation was induced by radiation.

Conclusion

Our results indicate that in postovulatory mating there is a preliminary general selection mechanism against spermatozoa with low motility and fragmented-DNA during the transport through the female reproductive tract and in the ZP binding, but the ability of the ZP to prevent fertilization by fragmented-DNA spermatozoa is achieved during sperm-ZP penetration, and depends on the source of damage.
Contribution of Light Scattering to near Infrared Absorption in Milk
Authors: Cattaneo Tiziana M.P. , Cabassi G. , Profaizer M. , Giangiacomo R.
Published: February 2010

The presence of milk fat globule emulsion produces scattering phenomena on near infrared (NIR) radiation through the raw milk. Numerically, 80% of milk fat globules have a diameter of less than 3μm interfering with the radiation having a wavelength from 1 μm to 2.5 μm with a radiation dispersion in all directions. Consequently, the NIR transmitted radiation does not behave in accordance with Lambert–Beer's law: the NIR spectra of milk samples with high fat content have high offset values and lower specific absorptions than those of samples with lower fat levels. Usually, this problem is reduced by acting at the level of sample preparation (homogenisation), of optical geometry (transflectance mode coupled with the use of an integrating sphere to collect the widespread radiation) and using chemometric regression models able to optimise non-linear spectral responses. Transmittance measurements have already been exploited for the determination of macro-composition in the agro-food and in the dairy fields. In this work, a set of 150 individual milk samples, collected over three days from a single farm with 49 milking cows, was analysed with Fourier transform-NIR apparatus in order to study the effects of scattering on partial least squares predictors for casein. The spectra of non-homogenised raw whole milk and the respective skimmed samples were collected in transmission mode. Using the true scattering curves obtained by subtraction from the raw milk spectra of skimmed milk spectra the extended multiplicative scatter correction (EMSC) estimate of scattering effects was optimised. EMSC uses polynomial filters in modelling the aspecific absorptions due to the scattering effects. The correct scatter elimination can help in the individuation and interpretation of the true predictors in calibration procedures.
Near Infrared Spectroscopy Using Short Wavelengths and Leave-One-Cow-Out Cross-Validation for Quantification of Somatic Cells in Milk
Authors: Tsenkova Roumiana , Meilina Hesti , Kuroki Shinichiro , Burns David H.
Published: February 2010

A short wavelength near infrared (NIR) analysis method for somatic cell count (SCC) determination in unhomogenised raw milk was developed. NIR spectra (700–1100nm) of unhomogenised milk samples from 14 cows during days 7 to 36 of their lactation were measured for two consecutive years. Measurements from animals with different physiological conditions (healthy and mastitic)were included. A “leave-one-cow-out” cross-validation partial least square (PLS) regression model for SCC in the raw milk was developed. Good correlation ( R2=0.76) was observed between estimated and reference SCC levels in milk samples when the differential spectra and SCC reference values were used for developing the PLS model. The NIR estimation achieved a standard error of 0.3 LogSCC. The results were well within the range needed for real-time monitoring of milk on a daily basis. Thus, the NIR method may prove to be a valuable tool for monitoring somatic cells in routine milk samples analysed for dairy cow health management.
New vistas in fullerene endohedrals: Functionalization with compounds from main group elements
Authors: Tsuchiya Takahiro , Akasaka Takeshi , Nagase Shigeru
Published: February 2010

This paper describes the convenient method of isolating endohedral metallofullerenes by means of selective reduction from carbon soot extracts. Successful isolation in large amount by utilizing this method allows examination of the selective chemical modification of monometallofullerenes. Furthermore, isolation of missing metallofullerenes as their derivatives is also mentioned.
Culinary Nationalism
Authors: ferguson priscilla parkhurst
Published: February 2010

Culinary consciousness raisers, cooking texts often serve as vehicles of national identification. From Pampille (Marthe Allard Daudet) and her cookbook, Les Bons Plats de France, in 1913 to the international culinary competitions of today such as the Bocuse d'or, culinary distinction promotes national interests. In contrast to the strident nationalism of the early twentieth century, culinary nationalism today operates in an increasingly globalized world. National culinary distinction defines the nation and sells its products in a highly competitive international arena. A recent culinary text, the South Korean film Le Grand Chef [Sik Gaek  ] (2007), illustrates the phenomenon, subsuming national culinary promotion in a mega culinary competition, all in the service of Korean culinary achievement.
Discovering Terroir in the World of Chocolate
Authors: nesto bill
Published: February 2010

The author investigates the applicability of the word ““terroir”” to chocolate. As a Master of Wine, wine journalist, and wine educator, the author has tried to understand how ““terroir,”” the environmental and human factors associated with growing vines and making wine, impacts the flavor of wine. Comparing and contrasting viticulture and winemaking to cacao farming and chocolate manufacture, the author analyzes to what degree terroir could be a concept that informs chocolate appreciation. He notes that the great distances between cacao farms and factories encourage the perception of cacao and chocolate as commodities. He observes that the varietal and origin nomenclature of cacao can be at worst misleading and generally lacks clarity and precision. He shows how the many steps that transform cacao into chocolate threaten the expression of terroir in the final product. Yet he acknowledges that there could be a basis for use of the word in the world of cacao and chocolate.
An Apt and Noble Gift: Gorham's Rebekah Pitcher
Authors: dehan amy miller
Published: February 2010

This article explores the significance of a silver pitcher, given as a wedding gift from a father to his daughter in 1854. This early example of Gorham silver hollowware, now part of the Cincinnati Art Museum's collection, is decorated with scenes from the Biblical Old Testament story of the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 24). The popularity and significance of the Biblical Rebekah in the mid to late nineteenth century reveals the symbolism behind the pitcher's design and a father's gift.
““Another Form of Her Genius””: Lee Miller in the Kitchen
Authors: conekin becky e.
Published: February 2010

Lee Miller was a Vogue cover girl in New York in the mid-to-late 1920s. In the early thirties she was Man Ray's muse, student, and lover in Paris, where she also worked as both photographer and model for Paris Vogue, as well as for numerous courtiers, including Patou and Scheperelli. The mid-thirties found her with her own successful photographic studio back in Manhattan. In WWII she served as British Vogue's official war correspondent and was one of the first photographers to enter liberated Dachau and Buchenwald. In 1957 Miller passed the Cordon Bleu course at their Paris school. Generally overlooked, if not overtly dismissed, Lee Miller's gourmet phase in the 1950s and 1960s is discussed in this article as ““another form of her genius.”” Always ahead of her time, Miller was a mezza maven and a tapas enthusiast. The home she shared with her husband, Roland Penrose, in the English countryside was frequently filled with weekend guests drawn from the international modern art world. For many of them she created ““food pictures,”” some inspired by their own works of art. She collected and invented recipes, often based on her extensive travels and sometimes as practical jokes and rebukes.
A Randomized Trial of Tailored Skin Cancer Prevention Messages for Adults: Project SCAPE
Authors: Glanz Karen , Schoenfeld Elinor R. , Steffen Alana
Published: February 2010

Objectives. We evaluated the impact of a mailed, tailored intervention on skin cancer prevention and skin self-examination behaviors of adults at moderate and high risk for skin cancer.

Methods. Adults at moderate and high risk for skin cancer were recruited in primary health care settings in Honolulu, HI, and Long Island, NY. After completing a baseline survey, participants were randomized to 2 groups. The treatment group received tailored materials, including personalized risk feedback, and the control group received general educational materials. Multivariate analyses compared sun protection and skin self-examination between groups, controlling for location, risk level, gender, and age.

Results. A total of 596 adults completed the trial. The tailored materials had a significant effect on overall sun-protection habits, the use of hats, the use of sunglasses, and the recency of skin self-examination. Some effects were moderated by location and risk level.

Conclusions. Tailored communications including personalized risk feedback can improve sun-protection behaviors and skin self-examination among adults at increased risk for skin cancer. These convenient, low-cost interventions can be implemented in a variety of settings and should be tested further to assess their long-term effectiveness.
Ethnic Density Effects on Birth Outcomes and Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy in the US Linked Birth and Infant Death Data Set
Authors: Shaw Richard J. , Pickett Kate E. , Wilkinson Richard G.
Published: February 2010

Objectives. We investigated whether mothers from ethnic minority groups have better pregnancy outcomes when they live in counties with higher densities of people from the same ethnic group—despite such areas tending to be more socioeconomically deprived.

Methods. In a population-based US study, we used multilevel logistic regression analysis to test whether same-ethnic density was associated with maternal smoking in pregnancy, low birthweight, preterm delivery, and infant mortality among 581 151 Black and 763 201 Hispanic mothers and their infants, with adjustment for maternal and area-level characteristics.

Results. Higher levels of same-ethnic density were associated with reduced odds of infant mortality among Hispanic mothers, and reduced odds of smoking during pregnancy for US-born Hispanic and Black mothers. For Black mothers, moderate levels of same-ethnic density were associated with increased risk of low birthweight and preterm delivery; high levels of same ethnic density had no additional effect.

Conclusions. Our results suggest that for Hispanic mothers, in contrast to Black mothers, the advantages of shared culture, social networks, and social capital protect maternal and infant health.
Lifetime Segmented Assimilation Trajectories and Health Outcomes in Latino and Other Community Residents
Authors: Castro Felipe González , Marsiglia Flavio F. , Kulis Stephen , Kellison Joshua G.
Published: February 2010

Objectives. Under an ecodevelopmental framework, we examined lifetime segmented assimilation trajectories (diverging assimilation pathways influenced by prior life conditions) and related them to quality-of-life indicators in a diverse sample of 258 men in the Pheonix, AZ, metropolitan area.

Methods. We used a growth mixture model analysis of lifetime changes in socioeconomic status, and used acculturation to identify distinct lifetime segmented assimilation trajectory groups, which we compared on life satisfaction, exercise, and dietary behaviors. We hypothesized that lifetime assimilation change toward mainstream American culture (upward assimilation) would be associated with favorable health outcomes, and downward assimilation change with unfavorable health outcomes.

Results. A growth mixture model latent class analysis identified 4 distinct assimilation trajectory groups. In partial support of the study hypotheses, the extreme upward assimilation trajectory group (the most successful of the assimilation pathways) exhibited the highest life satisfaction and the lowest frequency of unhealthy food consumption.

Conclusions. Upward segmented assimilation is associated in adulthood with certain positive health outcomes. This may be the first study to model upward and downward lifetime segmented assimilation trajectories, and to associate these with life satisfaction, exercise, and dietary behaviors.
Five Steps for Structural Reform in Clinical Cancer Research
Authors: Matheson Alastair
Published: February 2010

Despite advances in the prevention and early detection of cancer and the treatment of some malignancies, clinical research has not yet delivered treatment benefits of the magnitude anticipated after the launch of imatinib, which established highly effective new treatment standards. The primary impediments to progress are scientific, but the efficiency of research is also affected by structural deficiencies relating to where and by whom it is conducted, as well as how it is organized and regulated.

To optimize the research environment and maximize the benefits of improved funding, adjustments in the roles of government, industry, the academic community, national research bodies, and regulatory authorities are needed. A patchwork of reforms that are enabling in character and build on existing expertise can deliver substantial progress without the need for radical intervention.