bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of Iron II on Hydroxyapatite Dissolution and Precipitation in vitro
Authors: Delbem A.C.B. , Alves K.M.R.P. , Sassaki K.T. , Moraes J.C.S.
Published: July 2012

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of iron II on the dissolution and precipitation of synthetic hydroxyapatite (HA). HA powder was suspended in solutions of iron (0.84 µg/ml, Fe0.84; 18.0 µg/ml, Fe18; 70.0 µg/ml, Fe70), fluoride (1,100 µg/ml, F1,100), and deionized water and submitted to pH cycling. After pH cycling, the samples were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The concentrations of fluoride, calcium, phosphorus, and iron were also analyzed. The data were submitted to ANOVA, and analyzed by Tukey’s test (p < 0.05). The infrared spectrum showed a reduction in all bands corresponding to phosphates and hydroxyls and an increase in the carbonate band in the groups with iron. The intensity of the phosphate bands increased and that of the hydroxyl bands decreased in the group F1,100. It was observed that there was a higher concentration of Ca in the group F1,100, with no significant difference between the groups Fe18 and Fe70 (p > 0.05). There was an increase in Fe concentration in the HA directly related to the Fe concentration of the treatment solutions. Results show that the presence of Fe causes the precipitation of apatite with high solubility.
Left Bundle-Branch Block Induced by Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation Increases Risk of Death
Authors: Houthuizen Patrick , Van Garsse Leen A.F.M. , Poels Thomas T. , de Jaegere Peter , van der Boon Robert M.A. , Swinkels Ben M. , ten Berg Jurriën M. , van der Kley Frank , Schalij Martin J. , Baan Jan , Cocchieri Ricardo , Brueren Guus R.G. , van Straten Albert H.M. , den Heijer Peter , Bentala Mohamed , van Ommen Vincent , Kluin Jolanda , Stella Pieter R. , Prins Martin H. , Maessen Jos G. , Prinzen Frits W.
Published: July 2012

Background—

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a novel therapy for treatment of severe aortic stenosis. Although 30% to 50% of patients develop new left bundle-branch block (LBBB), its effect on clinical outcome is unclear.

Methods and Results—

Data were collected in a multicenter registry encompassing TAVI patients from 2005 until 2010. The all-cause mortality rate at follow-up was compared between patients who did and did not develop new LBBB. Of 679 patients analyzed, 387 (57.0%) underwent TAVI with the Medtronic CoreValve System and 292 (43.0%) with the Edwards SAPIEN valve. A total of 233 patients (34.3%) developed new LBBB. Median follow-up was 449.5 (interquartile range, 174–834) days in patients with and 450 (interquartile range, 253–725) days in patients without LBBB (
P
=0.90). All-cause mortality was 37.8% (n=88) in patients with LBBB and 24.0% (n=107) in patients without LBBB (
P
=0.002). By multivariate regression analysis, independent predictors of all-cause mortality were TAVI-induced LBBB (hazard ratio [HR], 1.54; confidence interval [CI], 1.12–2.10), chronic obstructive lung disease (HR, 1.56; CI, 1.15–2.10), female sex (HR, 1.39; CI, 1.04–1.85), left ventricular ejection fraction ≤50% (HR, 1.38; CI, 1.02–1.86), and baseline creatinine (HR, 1.32; CI, 1.19–1.43). LBBB was more frequent after implantation of the Medtronic CoreValve System than after Edwards SAPIEN implantation (51.1% and 12.0%, respectively;
P
<0.001), but device type did not influence the mortality risk of TAVI-induced LBBB.

Conclusions—

All-cause mortality after TAVI is higher in patients who develop LBBB than in patients who do not. TAVI-induced LBBB is an independent predictor of mortality.
Small Machines
Authors: McEuen Paul L.
Published: July 2012

Over the last fifty years, small has emerged as the new big thing. The reduction of information and electronics to nanometer dimensions has revolutionized science, technology, and society. Now scientists and engineers are creating physical machines that operate at the nanoscale. Using approaches ranging from lithographic patterning to the co-opting of biological machinery, new devices are being built that can navigate, sense, and alter the nanoscale world. In the coming decades, these machines will have enormous impact infields ranging from biotechnology to quantum physics, blurring the boundary between technology and life.
Fossils Everywhere
Authors: Shubin Neil H.
Published: July 2012

History is omnipresent in the natural world, from inside rocks on the continents to the genes, cells, and organs of each creature on the planet. Linking the historical records of rocks, fossils, and genes has been a boon to understanding the major events in evolution. We use these seemingly different lines of evidence as tools for discovery: analyses of genes can predict likely places to find fossils, and new fossils can provide the means to interpret insights from genetics. Viewed in this way, every living thing on Earth is the extreme tip of a deeply branched tree of life that extends three billion years into the past. Genes and fossils reveal how deeply connected our species is to the rest of the living world and the planet itself.
The Coming Epidemic of Neurologic Disorders: What Science Is – and Should Be – Doing About It
Authors: Petsko Gregory A.
Published: July 2012

The Earth's population is aging fast, and the coming sharp increase in the number of people over age sixty-five will bring with it an epidemic of age-related neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Currently, no cures exist for the major neurologic disorders. Unless cures can be found, by 2050 the cost of these diseases will exceed $1 trillion annually in the United States, and the burden for other countries will scale with their populations. Despite exciting advances in our understanding of these diseases, both government research funding and the efforts of industry have failed to keep pace with this unmet medical need. Private philanthropy has done better, but the total dollars spent on developing diagnostics and therapeutics for neurologic disorders still lags far behind that spent on much less prevalent diseases. The challenge for biomedical research in the next forty years is to identify markers that would allow early detection of high-risk cohorts, and to develop therapies that either will prevent the diseases from starting at all in susceptible populations or will arrest their progression before severe damage to the central nervous system has occurred.
Testing the Surge: Why Did Violence Decline in Iraq in 2007?
Authors: Biddle Stephen , Friedman Jeffrey A. , Shapiro Jacob N.
Published: July 2012

Why did violence decline in Iraq in 2007? Many policymakers and scholars credit the “surge,” or the program of U.S. reinforcements and doctrinal changes that began in January 2007. Others cite the voluntary insurgent stand-downs of the Sunni Awakening or say that the violence had simply run its course with the end of a wave of sectarian cleansing; still others credit an interaction between the surge and the Awakening. The difference matters for policy and scholarship, yet this debate has not moved from hypothesis to test. An assessment of the competing claims based on recently declassified data on violence at local levels and information gathered from seventy structured interviews with coalition participants finds little support for the cleansing or Awakening theses. Instead, a synergistic interaction between the surge and the Awakening was required for violence to drop as quickly and widely as it did: both were necessary; neither was sufficient. U.S. policy thus played an important role in reducing the violence in Iraq in 2007, but Iraq provides no evidence that similar methods will produce similar results elsewhere without local equivalents of the Sunni Awakening.
The Terrorism Delusion: America's Overwrought Response to September 11
Authors: Mueller John , Stewart Mark G.
Published: July 2012

The reaction of Americans to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, has been massively disproportionate to the actual threat posed by al-Qaida either as an international menace or as an inspiration or model for homegrown amateurs. An examination of the activities of international and domestic terrorist “adversaries” reveals that exaggerations and distortions of the threat have inspired a determined and expensive quest to ferret out, and even to create, the nearly nonexistent. The result has been an ill-conceived and remarkably unreflective effort to react to an event that, however tragic and dramatic in the first instance, should have been seen to be of only limited significance at least after a few years. Not only has the terrorism delusion had significant costs, but the initial alarmed perspective has been so internalized that anxieties about terrorism have persisted for more than a decade despite exceedingly limited evidence that much fear is justified.
Organizing Insurgency: Networks, Resources, and Rebellion in South Asia
Authors: Staniland Paul
Published: July 2012

A central question in civil war research is how state sponsorship, overseas funding, involvement in illicit economics, and access to lootable resources affect the behavior and organization of insurgent groups. Existing research has not arrived at any consensus, as resource wealth is portrayed as a cause of both undisciplined predation and military resilience. A social-institutional theory explains why similar resource wealth can be associated with such different outcomes. The theory argues that the social networks on which insurgent groups are built create different types of organizations with differing abilities to control resource flows. There is no single effect of resource wealth: instead, social and organizational context determines how these groups use available resources. A detailed comparative study of armed groups in the insurgency in Kashmir supports this argument. A number of indigenous Kashmiri insurgent organizations received substantial funding, training, and support from Pakistan from 1988 to 2003, but they varied in their discipline and internal control. Preexisting networks determined how armed organizations were built and how material resources were used. Evidence from other South Asian wars shows that this is a broader pattern. Scholars of civil conflict should therefore explore the social and organizational processes of war in their research.
High and Dry: New Observations of Tropospheric and Cloud Properties above the Greenland Ice Sheet
Authors: Shupe Matthew D. , Turner David D. , Walden Von P. , Bennartz Ralf , Cadeddu Maria P. , Castellani Benjamin B. , Cox Christopher J. , Hudak David R. , Kulie Mark S. , Miller Nathaniel B. , Neely Ryan R. , Neff William D. , Rowe Penny M.
Published: July 2012

Cloud and atmospheric properties strongly influence the mass and energy budgets of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS). To address critical gaps in the understanding of these systems, a new suite of cloud- and atmosphere-observing instruments has been installed on the central GIS as part of the Integrated Characterization of Energy, Clouds, Atmospheric State, and Precipitation at Summit (ICECAPS) project. During the first 20 months in operation, this complementary suite of active and passive ground-based sensors and radiosondes has provided new and unique perspectives on important cloud–atmosphere properties.

High atop the GIS, the atmosphere is extremely dry and cold with strong near-surface static stability predominating throughout the year, particularly in winter. This low-level thermodynamic structure, coupled with frequent moisture inversions, conveys the importance of advection for local cloud and precipitation formation. Cloud liquid water is observed in all months of the year, even the particularly cold and dry winter, while annual cycle observations indicate that the largest atmospheric moisture amounts, cloud water contents, and snowfall occur in summer and under southwesterly flow. Many of the basic structural properties of clouds observed at Summit, Greenland, particularly for low-level stratiform clouds, are similar to their counterparts in other Arctic regions.

The ICECAPS observations and accompanying analyses will be used to improve the understanding of key cloud–atmosphere processes and the manner in which they interact with the GIS. Furthermore, they will facilitate model evaluation and development in this data-sparse but environmentally unique region.
Rain Rate and Water Content in Hurricanes Compared with Summer Rain in Miami, Florida
Authors: Black Robert A. , Hallett John
Published: July 2012

Liquid water content (g m−3), precipitation rate (mm h−1), and radar reflectivity (dBZ) are inferred from cross sections of particle images obtained by aircraft. Each dataset is presented in a probability format to display changing functional relationships for the selected intervals. The probability of intercepting a given quantity during a flight provides guidance in required instrument sensitivity together with the frequency of precipitation and liquid water content events for given rainfall totals. These data are compared with surface rain rate obtained over two years in the May–October warm seasons in Miami, Florida, with a Hotplate rain gauge. The warm season Miami surface rain-rate probability distribution is similar to the 2005 hurricane rain-rate distribution. Rain rates > ~120 mm h−1 were responsible for over one-half of the accumulation, even though lighter rain dominated by time. Hurricane rainfall is somewhat more intense than the normal surface convective rainfall in that 10% of the 1977–2001 (old) hurricane rain rates exceeded 20 mm h−1, whereas only 10% of the surface rain rates exceeded only ~10 mm h−1. The shape of the rain-rate probability distributions from the 2005 (recent) hurricane data was nearly identical to the probability distribution of rain rates in the Miami data. The radar reflectivity distributions were similar, whose 90% level was about 45 dBZ for the old storms and about 35 dBZ for the 2005 storms. These data clearly show the low bias of the 2005 hurricane data caused by the systematic avoidance of heavy precipitation.
Direct Radiative Effect of Mineral Dust on the Development of African Easterly Waves in Late Summer, 2003–07
Authors: Ma Po-Lun , Zhang Kai , Shi Jainn Jong , Matsui Toshihisa , Arking Albert
Published: July 2012

Episodic events of both Saharan dust outbreaks and African easterly waves (AEWs) are observed to move westward over the eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean. The relationship between the warm, dry, and dusty Saharan air layer on the nearby storms has been the subject of considerable debate. In this study, the Weather Research and Forecasting model is used to investigate the radiative effect of dust on the development of AEWs during August and September, the months of maximum tropical cyclone activity, in years 2003–07. The simulations show that dust radiative forcing enhances the convective instability of the environment. As a result, most AEWs intensify in the presence of a dust layer. The Lorenz energy cycle analysis reveals that the dust radiative forcing enhances the condensational heating, which elevates the zonal and eddy available potential energy. In turn, available potential energy is effectively converted to eddy kinetic energy, in which local convective overturning plays the primary role. The magnitude of the intensification effect depends on the initial environmental conditions, including moisture, baroclinity, and the depth of the boundary layer. The authors conclude that dust radiative forcing, albeit small, serves as a catalyst to promote local convection that facilitates AEW development.
Assimilating MODIS and AMSR-E Snow Observations in a Snow Evolution Model
Authors: Fletcher Steven J. , Liston Glen E. , Hiemstra Christopher A. , Miller Steven D.
Published: July 2012

In this paper four simple computationally inexpensive, direct insertion data assimilation schemes are presented, and evaluated, to assimilate Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) snow cover, which is a binary observation, and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System (EOS) (AMSR-E) snow water equivalent (SWE) observations, which are at a coarser resolution than MODIS, into a numerical snow evolution model. The four schemes are 1) assimilate MODIS snow cover on its own with an arbitrary 0.01 m added to the model cells if there is a difference in snow cover; 2) iteratively change the model SWE values to match the AMSR-E equivalent value; 3) AMSR-E scheme with MODIS observations constraining which cells can be changed, when both sets of observations are available; and 4) MODIS-only scheme when the AMSR-E observations are not available, otherwise scheme 3. These schemes are used in the winter of 2006/07 over the southeast corner of Colorado and the tri-state area: Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska. It is shown that the inclusion of MODIS data enables the model in the north domain to have a 15% improvement in number of days with a less than 10% disagreement with the MODIS observation 24 h later and approximately 5% for the south domain. It is shown that the AMSR-E scheme has more of an impact in the south domain than the north domain. The assimilation results are also compared to station snow-depth data in both domains, where there is up-to-a-factor-of-5 underestimation of snow depth by the assimilation schemes compared with the station data but the snow evolution is fairly consistent.
Fertility Patterns of Child Migrants
Authors: Adserà Alícia , Ferrer Ana M. , Sigle-Rushton Wendy , Wilson Ben
Published: July 2012

This article examines the fertility of women who migrated as children to one of three OECD countries—Canada, the United Kingdom, and France—and how it differs from that of native-born women, by age at migration. By looking at child migrants whose fertility behavior is neither interrupted by the migration event nor confounded by selection, the authors obtain a unique perspective on the adaptation process as a mechanism that explains variation in observed foreign and native-born fertility differentials. The authors find patterns that are broadly consistent with the adaptation hypothesis—which posits that as migrants become accustomed to their host countries, their fertility norms begin to resemble those of the native population—and, on average, limited cross-national variation in fertility differentials. The effect of exposure to the host country, however, seems to vary by country of origin, a finding that underscores the importance of taking into account the heterogeneity of the foreign-born population.
How Do Children of Mixed Partnerships Fare in the United Kingdom? Understanding the Implications for Children of Parental Ethnic Homogamy and Heterogamy
Authors: Platt Lucinda
Published: July 2012

Many claims are made about the significance of interethnic partnerships for individuals and for society. Such partnerships continue to be seen as a “barometer” of the openness of society and have spawned extensive analysis investigating their patterns, trends, and determinants. But we know little about the experience of children growing up in families of mixed parentage. In the United Kingdom, the increase in the self-defined “mixed” population is often celebrated. But there has been little quantitative sociological analysis that has investigated the circumstances of the children of mixed ethnicity partnerships. Using two large-scale UK datasets that cover a similar period, this article evaluates the extent to which mixed parentage families are associated with circumstances (both economic and in terms of family structure) that tend to be positive or negative for children’s future life chances and how these compare to those of children with parents from the same ethnic group. It shows that there is substantial variation according to the outcome considered but also according to ethnic group. Overall, children in mixed parentage families do not unequivocally experience the equality of outcomes with majority group children that the assimilation hypothesis implies.
We Know Very Little
Authors: Fester Rachel , Gasman Marybeth , Nguyen Thai-Huy
Published: July 2012

In this article, the authors examine the literature on accreditation in postsecondary education in the United States and, in particular, on accreditation as it influences historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). First, the authors discuss some of the challenges of preparing a literature review on this topic. Second, they explain what accreditation entails in the United States, including a description of accrediting agencies and the accreditation review process. Third, they review both the academic and the more general literature on accreditation in general. Fourth, they review both the academic and the general literature on accreditation as it shapes HBCUs. Finally, they discuss lessons learned from the literature, including both gaps and areas for improvement.
Organizing R&D Consortia for Path Creation and Extension: The Case of Semiconductor Manufacturing Technologies
Authors: Sydow Jörg , Windeler Arnold , Schubert Cornelius , Möllering Guido
Published: July 2012

Taking issue with the classical theory of path dependence, we capture the active agency involved in collective efforts aimed at extending a current technological path and, in parallel, at creating a new path in the field of leading-edge international semiconductor manufacturing. We apply structuration theory in order to analyse the practices of path constitution that traditional evolutionary views of lock-in and irreversibility in path processes have neglected. Drawing on 96 interviews since 2003 and extensive secondary sources in the field of semiconductor manufacturing in Europe, Japan and the United States, we perform a qualitative, longitudinal and multi-level case analysis; in this analysis we trace, in particular, the strategic development of a path-extending technological option besides a potentially path-breaking new generation of lithography for chip manufacturing systems. Our results provide deep insights into the collective and collaborative dimension of organizing R&D in processes of technology development. Thereby, we contribute to a theory of technological paths that considers collective embedded agency and takes into account interorganizational forms for an understanding of the innovation dynamics in science-based industries such as semiconductor manufacturing.
Clandestine Organizations, al Qaeda, and the Paradox of (In)Visibility: A Response to Stohl and Stohl
Authors: Schoeneborn Dennis , Scherer Andreas Georg
Published: July 2012

In a recent article published in this journal, Stohl and Stohl (2011) examine the phenomenon of clandestine organizations from a communication-centered perspective. The authors draw primarily on the work of the ‘Montreal School’ of organizational communication, which stresses the constitutive role of communication for organizations. In this response, we argue that the Stohls’ paper does not make full use of the paradigmatic turn that the Montreal School offers to organization studies. In our view, the authors overemphasize the role of communication among organizational members in the constitution of organizations. In contrast, we argue that organizations can also be ‘talked into existence’ by the communicative acts of third parties (e.g., the media), a view that is consistent with the Montreal School’s work. Moreover, drawing on the Stohls’ central example of the terrorist organization al Qaeda, we suggest that the attribute ‘clandestine’ does not capture the essence of that organization because it is characterized by extreme invisibility of its governance structures and by extreme visibility of its terrorist activities. We believe it is the reversion of the relation between invisibility and visibility that differentiates al Qaeda from legitimate organizations such as private businesses and ensures its perpetuation against all odds.
Provider Practices Impact Adequate Diagnosis of Sleep Disorders in Children With Epilepsy
Authors: Jain Sejal V. , Simakajornboon Narong , Glauser Tracy A.
Published: July 2012

Sleep disorders significantly affect the lives of children with epilepsy. Limited data exist about provider practices concerning detection and correct diagnosis of sleep problems in epilepsy. The authors conducted this study to identify and correlate sleep screening methods, referral practices, referral reasons and final sleep diagnoses. They identified that 94% of the providers who had referred patients to the sleep center of a major children’s hospital used routine screening and 70% of them used 2 to 3 screening questions. This method, however, underidentified the patients at risk for sleep disorders. Moreover, in 40% of the children, sleep disorder was incorrectly anticipated, based on the initial symptoms. Of these children, 10% had no sleep disorder and 30% had unexpected sleep disorder. The authors conclude that better screening methods should be used for sleep disorders. Once identified, these patients should have formal sleep evaluation and management. Further studies are needed to develop screening questionnaires.
Managing Sales Force Compensation
Authors: Madhani Pankaj M.
Published: July 2012

There is a considerable debate on the question of direct sales force vis-à-vis reps. The convergence of direct sales force cost and commissions paid to reps is key in the initial decision to use direct sales force or reps based on an analysis to minimize total costs. The choice between direct sales force and independent reps can have a significant impact on the valuation of the organization. It is likely that an optimal point (of direct sales force and indirect reps) is reached where a specific “sales force structure” is adding the most value to the company, thereby resulting in higher valuation. The frameworks provided in this article will help managers of sales organizations faced with structuring decisions. The choice between a direct sales force and reps depends on many economic and non economic factors. The decision related to the use of direct sales force or reps should be investigated not only for their cost and return but also for the market dynamics, its sales range and reach in the market and the relative strengths of the reps.
Arterial and Venous Thromboses in Patients With Idiopathic (Immunological) Thrombocytopenia
Authors: Girolami Antonio , Marinis Gulia Berti de , Bonamigo Emanuela , Treleani Martina , Vettore Silvia
Published: July 2012

Immunological thrombocytopenias, as other forms of thrombocytopenia, are associated with bleeding. Occasionally, these patients manifest thrombotic events. A total of at least 29 patients were reported to have had either arterial (20 cases) or venous (9 cases) thrombosis while platelet count was less than 50 × 103/μL. The most frequent clinical manifestation was a myocardial infarction. Thrombosis occurred in the large majority of patients during prednisone therapy. Patients receiving cortisone or patients with Cushing syndrome show a hypercoagulable state characterized by elevated factor VIII levels, decreased fibrinolysis, and abnormal von Willebrand factor multimers composition. The same is probably true for prednisone-treated patients with thrombocytopenia. However, the 2 conditions are not identical since prednisone is a mainly glycoactive compound, whereas cortisol produced in excess in Cushing syndrome is mainly mineraloactive. The presence of large, young, hyperactive platelets may also play a role. Prednisone-treated patients with thrombocytopenia have to be considered as potentially thrombophilic.
The drafting history of the provision on the right to freedom from discrimination in the Ugandan Constitution with a focus on the grounds of sex, disability and sexual orientation
Authors: Mujuzi Jamil Ddamulira
Published: July 2012

Article 21 of the Constitution of Uganda provides that all persons are equal before the law and prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, colour, ethnic origin, tribe, birth, creed or religion, social or economic standing, political opinion or disability. This article examines the drafting history of Article 21, and then that of two grounds that received the most attention during the constitution-making process: sex and disability. The article illustrates that, although one delegate argued that the Constitution should prohibit discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation, this submission was rejected by most of the delegates. It also illustrates how the delegates’ views on homosexuality influenced the manner in which the constitutional provision on marriage was drafted. The author also, in passing, highlights the emerging jurisprudence of the Ugandan courts on Article 21, and shows that women’s rights organisations have relied on Article 21 to persuade the Constitutional Court to declare some provisions of some pieces of legislation unconstitutional.
Contested rural activities: Class, politics and shooting in the French countryside
Authors: Mischi Julian
Published: July 2012

This article illustrates the impact of environmental protection measures on social attitudes and political behaviour in rural France through the prism of hunting. Fieldwork was conducted in France’s second largest wetland, La Brière Regional Natural Park. Locals mobilize a claimed tradition of hostility toward a vaguely defined ‘them’ in order to protect their rural and collective rights. The European Union and the European ruling class have become another face of the threat against the rural way of life of the local working class. As this population felt growing pressure from industrial economic impoverishment and a rural sociability crisis, support for the pro-countryside political party ‘Hunting, Fishing, Nature and Traditions’ rose. This article depicts hunters’ growing concern over EU directives for the conservation of wild migratory birds, and then examines the mobilization and discourse of locals against some aspects of the policy of nature conservation.
AGT gene polymorphisms (M235T, T174M) are associated with coronary heart disease in a Chinese population
Authors: Li Xingsheng , Li Qiao , Wang Yongming , Li Yizhen , Ye Ming , Ren Jianli , Wang Zhigang
Published: July 2012

Objective:

The angiotensinogen ( AGT) gene has been shown to be involved in the development of coronary heart disease (CHD). However, the results have been inconsistent. In this study, the authors performed a meta-analysis to clarify the associations between AGT polymorphisms and CHD risk among the Chinese population.

Methods:

Published literature from PubMed, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang Data were searched. Pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a fixed- or random-effects model.

Results:

Fourteen studies (2540 cases and 2173 controls) for M235T polymorphism and five studies (655 cases and 815 controls) for T174M polymorphism were included in the meta-analyses. The results showed that M235T polymorphism was significantly associated with CHD risk under a recessive model (OR=1.65, 95% CI 1.22–2.25). There was also significant association between T174M polymorphism and CHD risk under a homogeneous co-dominant model (OR= 4.20, 95% CI 1.90–9.29) and a recessive model (OR=4.15, 95% CI 1.88–9.15). Further sensitivity analyses confirmed the significant association.

Conclusions:

The meta-analyses indicated the significant associations of two AGT polymorphisms (M235T, T174M) with CHD risk in the Chinese population.
Representing and Preventing Youth Crime and Disorder: Intended and Unintended Consequences of Targeted Youth Programmes in England
Authors: Kelly Laura
Published: July 2012

Drawing on a qualitative study conducted in England, this article argues that targeted youth projects often benefit participants, but over-stating their ability to prevent crime and ‘anti-social behaviour’ can be problematic. Voluntary services with limited resources ultimately focus on receptive young people, but pressure to justify funding encourages practitioners, programme managers and policy-makers to highlight the ‘riskiness’ of participants and publicize the most striking successes. Such practices can serve to consolidate negative representations of the risk posed by young people (or ‘define deviance up’) and give credence to the notions of choice and intractability that underpin punitive policies. Meanwhile, alternative justifications for youth provision are silenced.
Toward the Use of Human Resource Development for Societal Development
Authors: Kim Namhee
Published: July 2012

The Problem.

Although current human resource development (HRD) theory does not adequately address the issues and challenges faced by larger contexts, the methods originating from traditional HRD have been increasingly recognized as useful and effective interventions to deal with problems and issues that occur beyond a single organization or group of organizations.

The Solution.

To address the gap between traditional HRD frameworks and the social reality of complex and large system change projects, this article identifies major issues that encompass typical use of HRD for societal development (SD), including community development, international development, and organizations’ social responsiveness, and emphasizes the usefulness of organization development approach for SD.

The Stakeholders.

Multiple stakeholders, such as HRD professionals in the public sector, HRD students, nongovernmental organizations, policy developers, and nonprofit organizations, all of whom engage in SD in various contexts, can take advantage of these scholarly efforts to broaden the scope and boundaries of HRD.
Enhancement of Antitumor Activity of Low-Dose 5-Fluorouracil by Combination With Fuzheng-Yiliu Granules in Hepatoma 22 Tumor-Bearing Mice
Authors: Cao Zhiyun , Liao Lianming , Chen Xuzheng , Lan Lan , Hu Haixia , Liu Zhizhen , Chen Liwu , Huang Suping , Du Jian
Published: July 2012

Objective. The adverse effects of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) are well recognized. Fuzheng-Yiliu granule (FYG) is capable of enhancing the immune function and suppressing tumor growth. In the present study, the authors evaluated if FYG could synergize with low-dose 5-FU in inhibiting tumor growth. Methods. Hepatoma 22 (H22) tumor-bearing mice were treated with FYG (18 g/kg, ig), 5-FU (10 mg/kg, ip), or 5-FU plus FYG for 5 days. The relative tumor proliferation rates, tumor weight and apoptosis of tumor tissue were measured. White blood cell (WBC) and lymphocyte (LY) were counted. Interleukin-2 (IL-2) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-a) in the serum were measured. Results. FYG alone had antitumor effect. Combination of 5-FU and FYG produced a more potent antitumor effect and caused more marked apoptosis in tumor tissue (compared with vehicle, P < 0.01; compared with 5-FU or FYG, P < 0.05). Mice treated with 5-FU plus FYG had higher thymus index (P < 0.05) compared with the vehicle group. The numbers of both WBC and LY were decreased by 5-FU (compared with vehicle, P < 0.01), which was significantly reversed after FYG was administered (5-FU + FYG vs 5-FU, P < 0.01 and P < 0.05). Mice receiving FYG alone or FYG plus 5-FU had higher serum levels of TNF-a (P <0.01) compared with the vehicle. Conclusions. Traditional Chinese medical herbs capable of strengthening the body’s vital energy have great potential to be used as an adjuvant therapy for cancer patients who cannot tolerate the adverse effects of chemotherapy.
The Preventive and Therapeutic Effect of Acupuncture for Radiation-Induced Xerostomia in Patients With Head and Neck Cancer
Authors: Zhuang Liping , Yang Zongguo , Zeng Xiantao , Zhua Xiaoyan , Chen Zhen , Liu Luming , Meng Zhiqiang
Published: July 2012

Background. Methods currently available to prevent and manage xerostomia which caused by radiotherapy in patients with head and neck caner have limited efficacy. Some studies suggest that acupuncture may be beneficial. Objectives. The authors evaluated the preventive and therapeutic effect of acupuncture for radiation-induced xerostomia among patients with head and neck cancer. Methods. PUBMED, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CBM, CAJD, Wan Fang database, and VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals were electronically searched, in conjunction with further manual search for relevant articles. Studies that met the inclusion criteria were systematically evaluated. Results. Three randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the therapeutic effect of acupuncture were included. One RCT on the preventive effect of acupuncture was found. Because of the considerable variation among included studies, meta-analysis was not possible. Two included RCTs used placebo controls, and both observed significant improvement in the salivary flow rates between acupuncture and control groups. However, no significant differences were found. Three included RCTs suggested that acupuncture for radiation-induced xerostomia can improve patients’ subjective symptoms. The only study evaluating the preventive effect of acupuncture for radiation-induced xerostomia showed positive changes in salivary flow rates (both unstimulated and stimulated) and dry mouth -related symptoms. Acupuncture treatment was well tolerated by all patients and no severe adverse effects were seen. Conclusions. Insufficient evidence is available to judge whether acupuncture is safe and whether it is effective in preventing or treating radiation-induced xerostomia. Significant research remains to be done before acupuncture can be recommended for routine use in radiation-induced xerostomia.
Time and Space in Play
Authors: Tobin Samuel
Published: July 2012

The Nintendo DS has been, given its huge popularity, relatively understudied. This article is a small step toward correcting that and, in doing so, contributes to game studies in general. Using Goffman’s and Benjamin’s theories of play and Innis’s analysis of media, this article explores the nature of play on a handheld videogame system as an illuminating case of the tension between time-based storage media and space-based transmission media. Storage, transmission, space, and time are intertwined and made complicit in the ways in which the Nintendo DS is used and played. By engaging with non-diegetic aspects of the video game experience, such as saving and pausing, we can begin to address the materiality of handheld video gaming systems as objects with which we play with and rework time and space. In turn, mobile play itself is highly contingent and spatial–temporal practices take on special significance in this light.
Desires at Play
Authors: Sundén Jenny
Published: July 2012

This article discusses knowledge production in game studies by exploring notions of emotion, closeness and (queer) desire in new media ethnography. It uses field notes and experiences from an ethnographic study of the online game World of Warcraft. As opposed to the kind of fieldwork where being, living, and staying in the field is the only option, new media ethnography brings with it the possibility of moving through different locations and bodies to the point where the borders between them may start to blur. The text positions itself within this very uncertainty to investigate its consequences for ways of knowing online game cultures. Drawing on autoethnography, as well as the body of ethnographic work interrogating erotic subjectivity and desire in the field, the discussion makes use of personal experiences - in particular an in-game as well as out-of-the game love affair - as potentially important sources of knowledge. Was it her, regardless of the game? Was it her through the game? Or was it the game “itself ”? The article provides the story of a particular way of being introduced to and of falling for a game, a woman, and the ways in which these two were intensely connected. Set against the backdrop of “the affective turn” in cultural and feminist theory, and in making visible how desire may circulate through game spaces, the article argues for an articulation of desire as intimately related to technology; of desiring technology and of technological, or perhaps technologized desires.
Risk Communication and Prostate Cancer
Authors: Ilic Dragan , Murphy Kerry , Green Sally
Published: July 2012

The format in which risk is communicated influences how patients make health care decisions. The same statistical information may be summarized differently according to relative risk reduction, absolute risk reduction, number needed to treat, or odds ratio. A total of 76 men participated in focus groups exploring their understanding of information about prostate cancer treatments when framed across these different formats. Using thematic analysis, it was identified that the study participant best understood information when outcomes were framed as an absolute risk reduction and in a positive frame. Patient education materials about prostate cancer treatment options should be reported as an increase in probability of survivorship rather than decrease in risk of mortality and incorporate impact of treatment on patient-centered quality-of-life outcomes.
‘Who are we to decide?’ Internal challenges to cultural authority in the contestation over human remains in British museums
Authors: Jenkins Tiffany
Published: July 2012

In the past three decades, human remains in museum collections have become the focus of contestation. This paper analyses the construction of the issue in Britain. The literature on contestation in the museum primarily identifies external influences: the market, the pressure of social movements and intellectual currents. I propose an additional influence of internal activism. Drawing on empirical material, I demonstrate important campaigning activity waged by actors inside the institution. The activities of campaigning museum professionals in promoting this issue is a response to a crisis of cultural authority, which has come about after decades of unremitting questioning of the purpose of the institution. The museum is traditionally understood as contributing to the cohesion and reproduction of capitalist society, as reinforcing dominant ideologies. These observations raise the question as to whether this function continues when members of the sector disown and question their authority.
If the People Like It, It Must Be Good: Criticism, Democracy and the Culture of Consensus
Authors: Hanrahan Nancy Weiss
Published: July 2012

What is the role, if any, of professional music criticism in the age of the internet, and what are the potential consequences of its likely demise? How do we evaluate the claim that the erosion of traditional forms of cultural authority, including professional criticism, is inherently democratic? To address these questions, this paper compares professional music criticism with the technologically-mediated forms of cultural judgment that have increasingly replaced it, analyzing the shift from aesthetics to consensus as the basis for cultural judgment. Rather than signaling the end of cultural authority, the recent transformations of the music world are marked by the emergence of authority of a different kind.
High frequency failure of the Moje thumb carpometacarpal joint arthroplasty
Authors: Kaszap B. , Daecke W. , Jung M.
Published: July 2012

Arthroplasty is one of several options for treating symptomatic osteoarthritis of the thumb carpometacarpal joint. There are various hemi- and total arthroplasties available on the market. We report our experience of treating 12 patients with the Moje Acamo CMC1 prosthesis. We reviewed all the patients at a mean of 50 months postoperatively. All patients presented with loosening, migration or tilting of one or both implant components. Nine patients were symptomatic enough to warrant revision surgery with removal of the implant leaving a pseudarthrosis. At the last follow-up, five patients (42%) had already received revision surgery. All patients still possessing an implant showed progressive signs of implant loosening, although some of them had no symptoms. In order to assess their overall disadvantage compared with patients treated by primary trapeziectomy, the outcomes of these two groups were compared (matched pairs). The outcomes after revision surgery were comparable with those of primary trapeziectomy. We no longer use the Moje Acamo CMC1 implant and recommend that patients who have received this implant should be monitored carefully both clinically and radiologically.
Bidloo’s and De Lairesse’s early illustrations of the anatomy of the arm (1690): a successful collaboration between a prominent physician and a talented artist
Authors: IJpma F. F. A. , van Gulik T. M.
Published: July 2012

Govard Bidloo (1649–1713) was trained as a surgeon at the Amsterdam Guild of Surgeons, and later in his career, he became a professor of anatomy in The Hague and Leiden. At the end of the 17th century, he performed dissections on the corpses of executed criminals to teach and study anatomy. Based on his findings, he published a magnificent anatomical atlas in 1690, entitled Ontleding des Menschelijken Lichaams ( Dissection of the Human Body). The talented painter Gerard De Lairesse, a pupil of Rembrandt, made the drawings of the anatomical dissections for the atlas in close collaboration with the dissector. The drawings of Bidloo and De Lairesse represent, in a unique and artistic way, an early series of anatomical preparations of the arm and hand from more than 300 years ago.
Licorice abuse: time to send a warning message
Authors: Omar Hesham R. , Komarova Irina , El-Ghonemi Mohamed , Fathy Ahmed , Rashad Rania , Abdelmalak Hany D. , Yerramadha Muralidhar Reddy , Ali Yaseen , Helal Engy , Camporesi Enrico M.
Published: July 2012

Licorice extract has always been recognized as a sweetener and a thirst quencher. Its nutritive value is overrated by many who consume significant amounts and are prone to complications. Glycyrrhetic acid, the active metabolite in licorice, inhibits the enzyme 11-ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase enzyme type 2 with a resultant cortisol-induced mineralocorticoid effect and the tendency towards the elevation of sodium and reduction of potassium levels. This aldosterone-like action is the fundamental basis for understanding its health benefits and the wide spectrum of adverse effects. Herein, we present a comprehensive review of licorice along with the reported complications related to excess intake. Despite its apparent use in a few clinical scenarios, the daily consumption of licorice is never justified because its benefits are minor compared to the adverse outcomes of chronic consumption. The review highlights the importance of investigating the dietary habits and herbal remedies which are being used worldwide on cultural and habitual bases rather than reliable scientific evidence. Licorice is a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved food supplement used in many products without precise regulations to prevent toxicity. Increased awareness among the public is required through TV commercials, newspapers, internet sites, magazines and product labels regarding the upper limit of ingestion and health hazards associated with excess intake. We hope that this review will serve as a warning message that should be transmitted from physicians to patients to avoid excessive licorice intake as well as a message to the FDA to start regulating the use of this substance.
Yoga as an Alternative and Complementary Treatment for Hypertensive Patients
Authors: Sharma Manoj , Haider Taj
Published: July 2012

Hypertension is a worldwide public health concern. It is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Pharmacological therapy is the most popular method to control hypertension, but yoga has been identified as a promising alternative and complementary therapy to costly drugs. A systematic review is presented below to determine the efficacy of yoga. The criteria for study to be included were as follows: ( a) published in the English language, ( b) between January 1972 and March 2012, ( c) included any form of yoga as an intervention (with or without pharmacological therapy), ( d) used any quantitative study design, and ( e) measured blood pressure as an outcome. A total of 19 studies met these criteria. Of the 19 studies systematically analyzed, 12 demonstrated a significant change in blood pressure using yoga as part of the intervention. Limitations include a lack of theory-based approach, self-reporting errors, and few randomized controlled trials.