bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ciprofibrate therapy in patients with hypertriglyceridemia and low high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol: greater reduction of non-HDL cholesterol in subjects with excess body weight (The CIPROAMLAT study)
Authors: Aguilar-Salinas Carlos A , Assis-Luores-Vale Andréia , Stockins Benjamín , Rengifo Hector Mario , Filho José Dondici , Neto Abrahão Afiune , Rabelo Lísia Marcílio , Torres Kerginaldo Paulo , de Oliveira José Egídio Paulo , Machado Carlos Alberto , Reyes Eliana , Saavedra Victor , Florenzano Fernando , Hernández Ma Victoria , Jiménez Sergio Hernandez , Ramírez Erika , Vazquez Cuauhtémoc , Salinas Saul , Hernández Ismael , Medel Octavio , Moreno Ricardo , Lugo Paula , Alvarado Ricardo , Mehta Roopa , Gutierrez Victor , Gómez Pérez Francisco J
Published: July 2004

Background

Hypertriglyceridemia in combination with low HDL cholesterol levels is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy of ciprofibrate for the treatment of this form of dyslipidemia and to identify factors associated with better treatment response.

Methods

Multicenter, international, open-label study. Four hundred and thirty seven patients were included. The plasma lipid levels at inclusion were fasting triglyceride concentrations between 1.6–3.9 mM/l and HDL cholesterol ≤ 1.05 mM/l for women and ≤ 0.9 mM/l for men. The LDL cholesterol was below 4.2 mM/l. All patients received ciprofibrate 100 mg/d. Efficacy and safety parameters were assessed at baseline and at the end of the treatment. The primary efficacy parameter of the study was percentage change in triglycerides from baseline.

Results

After 4 months, plasma triglyceride concentrations were decreased by 44% (p < 0.001). HDL cholesterol concentrations were increased by 10% (p < 0.001). Non-HDL cholesterol was decreased by 19%. A greater HDL cholesterol response was observed in lean patients (body mass index < 25 kg/m2) compared to the rest of the population (8.2 vs 19.7%, p < 0.001). In contrast, cases with excess body weight had a larger decrease in non-HDL cholesterol levels (-20.8 vs -10.8%, p < 0.001). There were no significant complications resulting from treatment with ciprofibrate.

Conclusions

Ciprofibrate is efficacious for the correction of hypertriglyceridemia / low HDL cholesterol. A greater decrease in non-HDL cholesterol was found among cases with excess body weight. The mechanism of action of ciprofibrate may be influenced by the pathophysiology of the disorder being treated.
Multi-component based cross correlation beat detection in electrocardiogram analysis
Authors: Last Thorsten , Nugent Chris D , Owens Frank J
Published: July 2004

Background

The first stage in computerised processing of the electrocardiogram is beat detection. This involves identifying all cardiac cycles and locating the position of the beginning and end of each of the identifiable waveform components. The accuracy at which beat detection is performed has significant impact on the overall classification performance, hence efforts are still being made to improve this process.

Methods

A new beat detection approach is proposed based on the fundamentals of cross correlation and compared with two benchmarking approaches of non-syntactic and cross correlation beat detection. The new approach can be considered to be a multi-component based variant of traditional cross correlation where each of the individual inter-wave components are sought in isolation as opposed to being sought in one complete process. Each of three techniques were compared based on their performance in detecting the P wave, QRS complex and T wave in addition to onset and offset markers for 3000 cardiac cycles.

Results

Results indicated that the approach of multi-component based cross correlation exceeded the performance of the two benchmarking techniques by firstly correctly detecting more cardiac cycles and secondly provided the most accurate marker insertion in 7 out of the 8 categories tested.

Conclusion

The main benefit of the multi-component based cross correlation algorithm is seen to be firstly its ability to successfully detect cardiac cycles and secondly the accurate insertion of the beat markers based on pre-defined values as opposed to performing individual gradient searches for wave onsets and offsets following fiducial point location.
Low fasting low high-density lipoprotein and postprandial lipemia
Authors: Kolovou Genovefa D , Anagnostopoulou Katherine K , Pilatis Nektarios , Kafaltis Nikolaos , Sorodila Konstandina , Psarros Eleftherios , Cokkinos Dennis V
Published: July 2004

Background

Low levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and disturbed postprandial lipemia are associated with coronary heart disease. In the present study, we evaluated the variation of triglyceride (TG) postprandially in respect to serum HDL cholesterol levels.

Results

Fifty two Greek men were divided into 2 main groups: a) the low HDL group (HDL < 40 mg/dl), and b) the control group. Both groups were further matched according to fasting TG (matched-low HDL, and matched-control groups). The fasting TG concentrations were higher in the low HDL group compared to controls (p = 0.002). The low HDL group had significantly higher TG at 4, 6 and 8 h postprandially compared to the controls (p = 0.006, p = 0.002, and p < 0.001, respectively). The matched-low HDL group revealed higher TG only at 8 h postprandially (p = 0.017) compared to the matched-control group. ROC analysis showed that fasting TG ≥ 121 mg/dl have 100% sensitivity and 81% specificity for an abnormal TG response (auc = 0.962, p < 0.001).

Conclusions

The delayed TG clearance postprandially seems to result in low HDL cholesterol even in subjects with low fasting TG. The fasting TG > 121 mg/dl are predictable for abnormal response to fatty meal.
Quality of life and emotional distress in advanced prostate cancer survivors undergoing chemotherapy
Authors: Trask Peter C
Published: July 2004

Prostate cancer continues to occur in over 230,000 men each year. Although the majority of these will be diagnosed in the early stages, there remains a proportion who will either be diagnosed in late stage disease or develop progressive disease. In patients with advanced disease, research has recently focused on using chemotherapy for symptom management and palliation. Given that the focus is not on cure, the effect of chemotherapy on quality of life is of utmost importance. The present article will 1) summarize the current chemotherapeutic studies that have included a quality of life component, with a particular focus on pain and fatigue, 2) discuss the issue of distress in advanced prostate cancer patients treated with chemotherapy, and 3) suggest future research directions.

From the studies that have investigated quality of life, it appears that several chemotherapeutic agents reduce pain and fatigue, although the development of fatigue is often the dose-limiting factor of some agents. The assessment of overall quality of life has occurred in several studies, however, an examination into the impact of chemotherapy on functional status and interpersonal relationships has not been studied. Finally, in contrast to the numerous studies in early stage prostate cancer patients, the presence and effect of distress in chemotherapy-treated prostate patients has not been examined. As such, increased attention is needed to quality of life during phase I-III chemotherapy trials.
A unique dedifferentiated tumor of the retroperitoneum
Authors: Karmali Shahzeer , Benediktson Halligrimur , Temple Walley , Bathe Oliver F
Published: July 2004

Background

Dedifferentiated liposarcomas represent heterogeneous tumors with lipomatous and nonlipomatous elements starkly juxtaposed. It is thought that the high grade nonlipomatous elements of the tumor portend a worse prognosis.

Case Presentation

A 19.8 kg heterogeneous retroperitoneal tumor was successfully and completely resected. Because of its extent, no additional treatment modalities were practicable. The tumor soon recurred. The recurrent tumor differed from the primary tumor in that it was more homogeneous, consisting mainly of nonlipogenic, calcific tissue.

Conclusions

Dedifferentiated liposarcomas are known to have a very high recurrence rate. The biological behavior of dedifferentiated liposarcomas is likely dictated by the most aggressive element of these heterogeneous tumors.
How can Health Behavior Theory be made more useful for intervention research?
Authors: Jeffery Robert W
Published: July 2004

Background

The present paper expresses the author's views about the practical utility of Health Behavior Theory for health behavior intervention research. The views are skeptical and perhaps even a bit exaggerated. They are, however, also based on 20-plus years of in-the-trenches research focused on improving health behavior practice through research.

Discussion

The author's research has been theoretically driven and has involved measurement of varying variables considered to be important theoretical mediators and moderators of health behavior. Regretfully, much of this work has found these variables wanting in basic scientific merit. Health Behavior Theory as we have known it over the last 25 years or so has been dominated by conceptualizations of behavior change processes that highlight cognitive decision-making. Although much of health behavior practice targets what people do rather than what they think, the logic of focusing on thoughts is that what people think about is the key to what they will do in the future, and that interventions that can measure and harness those processes will succeed to a greater extent than those that do not. Unfortunately, in the author's experience, the premise of cognitive theories has fallen short empirically in a number of ways. The cognitive schemata favored by most health behavior theories are difficult to measure, they do not predict behavioral outcomes very well, there is little evidence that they cause behavior, and they are hard to change directly.

It is suggested that health behavior researchers reconsider their use of these theories in favor of models whose variables are more accessible to observation and experimental manipulation and that most importantly have strong empirical support.
Antisecretory factor expression is regulated by inflammatory mediators and influences the severity of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
Authors: Davidson Todd S , Hickey William F
Published: July 2004

Antisecretory factor (ASF) was originally identified as a potent inhibitor of intestinal fluid secretion induced by a number of enterotoxins. In addition to its involvement in intestinal fluid secretion, ASF modulates the proliferation of memory/effector T cells and is expressed by cells of the immune system. This report describes the role of ASF in modulating immune responses and assesses the regulation of ASF during an in vivo immunological reaction. ASF expression was redistributed during adoptively transferred experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), and in response to other inflammatory stimuli. Administration of the anti-ASF antibody TLD-1A8A increased the clinical severity and duration of the disease. Consistent with these findings, addition of TLD-1A8A to T cell proliferation assays resulted in up-regulation of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-18 and IL-6 and in down-regulation of IL-10. Furthermore, we identified cytokines that regulated the expression of ASF at both the mRNA and protein level. ASF, therefore, appears to play a previously unappreciated and potentially important role in the regulation of immune responses.
Plasminogen activator inhibitor-2 (PAI-2) in eosinophilic leukocytes
Authors: Swartz Jonathan M , Byström Jonas , Dyer Kimberly D , Nitto Takeaki , Wynn Thomas A , Rosenberg Helene F
Published: July 2004

Plasminogen activator inhibitor-2 (PAI-2) as a potential eosinophil protein was inferred from our gene microarray study of mouse eosinophilopoiesis. Here, we detect 47 kDa intracellular and ∼60 kDa secretory forms of PAI-2 in purified human eosinophil extracts. PAI-2 is present at variable concentrations in eosinophil lysates, ranging from 30 to 444 ng/106 cells, with a mean of 182 ng/106 cells from 10 normal donors, which is the highest per-cell concentration among all leukocyte subtypes evaluated. Enzymatic assay confirmed that eosinophil-derived PAI-2 is biologically active and inhibits activation of its preferred substrate, urokinase. Immunohistochemical and immunogold staining demonstrated PAI-2 localization in eosinophil-specific granules. Immunoreactive PAI-2 was detected in extracellular deposits in and around the eosinophil-enriched granuloma tissue encapsulating the parasitic egg in livers of wild-type mice infected with the helminthic parasite Schistosoma mansoni. Among the possibilities, we consider a role for eosinophil-derived PAI-2 in inflammation and remodeling associated with parasitic infection as well as allergic airways disease, respiratory virus infection, and host responses to tumors and metastasis in vivo.
MC-3 receptor and the inflammatory mechanisms activated in acute myocardial infarct
Authors: Getting Stephen J , Di Filippo Clara , Christian Helen C , Lam Connie W , Rossi Francesco , D'Amico Michele , Perretti Mauro
Published: July 2004

Investigation of the mechanisms activated by endogenous inhibitory pathways can lead to identification of novel targets for cardiovascular inflammatory pathologies. Here we exploited the potential protective role that melanocortin receptor type 3 (MC3-R) activation might play in a myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury model. In resting conditions, mouse and rat heart extracts expressed MC3-R mRNA and protein, without changes following ischemia-reperfusion. At the cellular level heart macrophages, but not fibroblasts or cardiomyocytes, expressed this receptor, as demonstrated by immunogold labeling. In vivo, administration of the melanocortin agonist MTII (10 μg per mouse equivalent to 9.3 nmol) 30 min prior to ischemia (25 min) attenuated mouse heart 2 h reperfusion injury by ∼40%, an effect prevented by the mixed MC3/4-R antagonist SHU9119 but not by the selective MC4-R antagonist HS204. Similar results were obtained when the compound was given at the beginning of the reperfusion period. Importantly, delayed myocardial damage as measured 24 h post-reperfusion was equally protected by administration of 10 μg MTII. The focus on MC3-R was also substantiated by analysis of the recessive yellow (e/e) mouse, bearing a mutated (inactive) MC1-R, in which MTII was fully protective. Myocardial protection was associated with reduced markers of systemic and local inflammation, including cytokine contents (interleukin-1 and KC) and myeloperoxidase activity. In conclusion, this study has highlighted a previously unrecognized protective role for MC3-R activation on acute and delayed heart reperfusion injury. These data may open new avenues for therapeutic intervention against heart and possibly other organ ischemia-reperfusion injury.
Insulin-like growth factor-I stimulates IL-10 production in human T cells
Authors: Kooijman Ron , Coppens Astrid
Published: July 2004

There is vast body of evidence that the insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I exerts immunomodulatory effects in vitro and in vivo. In vitro studies indicate that stimulatory effects of IGF-I may be exerted through augmentation of inflammatory cytokine production. To further explore the immunomodulatory effects of IGF-I through regulation of cytokine production, we tested the in vitro effects of IGF-I on the secretion of inflammatory T helper cell type 1 (Th1) and Th2 cytokines by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). To this end, PBMC were stimulated with the T cell mitogen phytohemagglutinin (PHA), and cytokines in the culture media were assessed after 18, 42, 66, and 80 h of culture. We found that IGF-I stimulated the secretion of the Th2 cytokine interleukin (IL)-10 by 40–70% in PHA-stimulated PBMC. In addition, we observed a small stimulatory effect (15%) on the secretion of another Th2 cytokine IL-4. The secretion of IL-2, IL-5, IL-6, interferon-γ, and the inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor α was not or was hardly affected. IL-10 secretion was also stimulated in purified T cells, and we established that IGF-I also stimulated IL-10 mRNA expression by 100–150%. The monocyte-activating bacterial cell-wall product lipopolysaccharide induced IL-10 production in PBMC, but this was not affected by IGF-I. As IL-10 predominantly exerts anti-inflammatory actions and suppresses Th1-dependent immune responses, our results indicate that IGF-I may exert inhibitory actions on inflammatory and Th1-mediated cellular immune responses through stimulation of IL-10 production in T cells.
Polymorphonuclear leukocytes from patients with severe sepsis have lost the ability to degrade fibrin via u-PA
Authors: Moir E , Greaves M , Adey G D , Bennett B
Published: July 2004

Fibrin persistence in the vasculature is an important complication of sepsis that can often lead to mortality. We have previously established that polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) from healthy individuals have the capacity to degrade fibrin via urokinase-type plaminogen activator (u-PA). We have also demonstrated an increase in u-PA antigen in the plasma of patients suffering from septic shock. In this study, we investigate the hypothesis that PMN from patients with sepsis have lost their fibrinolytic ability and that this might contribute to the persistence of fibrin deposits We show here that PMN from these patients do not express any u-PA activity, despite retaining some u-PA antigen. Additionally, thrombi prepared from the whole blood of the patients exhibit reduced endogenous lysis compared with those from healthy individuals. These data indicate that loss of fibrinolytic activity from PMN may be a contributing factor in fibrin persistence in the microvasculature in sepsis.
Comparison of the Efficacy, Toxicity, and Pharmacokinetics of a Uracil/Tegafur (UFT) Plus Oral Leucovorin (LV) Regimen Between Japanese and American Patients With Advanced Colorectal Cancer: Joint United States and Japan Study of UFT/LV
Authors: Shirao K. , Hoff P.M. , Ohtsu A. , Loehrer P.J. , Hyodo I. , Wadler S. , Wadleigh R.G. , O'Dwyer P.J. , Muro K. , Yamada Y. , Boku N. , Nagashima F. , Abbruzzese J.L.
Published: July 2004

Purpose

To compare the efficacy, toxicities, and pharmacokinetics of an oral regimen consisting of uracil/tegafur (UFT) and leucovorin (LV) between Japanese patients and patients in the United States with previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer.

Patients and Methods

Forty-four Japanese patients and 45 patients in the United States were enrolled in concurrent nonrandomized phase II trials. UFT 300 mg/m2/d and leucovorin 75 mg/d were administered orally for 28 days followed by a 7-day rest period. The total daily dose of each drug was divided into three equal doses. Treatment was repeated every 5 weeks until disease progression. Blood samples for the pharmacokinetic study were obtained after the initial dose on day 1 of the first course.

Results

The response rate for the Japanese patients and the patients in the United States was 36.4% (95% CI, 22.4% to 52.2%) and 34.1% (95% CI, 20.5% to 49.9%), respectively. The only major toxicity was diarrhea, and other toxicities were mild in both populations. The incidence of grade 3 or higher diarrhea in the Japanese and Americans was 9% and 22%, respectively. Although the area under the curve and maximum concentration of fluorouracil were found to be slightly higher in the Japanese patients than the patients in the United States, and area under the curve–adjusted body surface area appeared to be comparable between the two groups.

Conclusion

The efficacy and pharmacokinetic parameters of UFT and LV are comparable in Japanese and American patients; however, a difference in toxicity profile, specifically diarrhea, was noted. This oral regimen of UFT and LV is considered to have similar activity against metastatic colorectal cancer and to have acceptable toxicity in patients in both countries.
Pattern of Care at the End of Life: Does Age Make a Difference in What Happens to Women With Breast Cancer?
Authors: Gagnon Bruno , Mayo Nancy E. , Hanley James , MacDonald Neil
Published: July 2004

Purpose

In the last 40 years, palliative care has become the standard of care at the end of life. However, there are limited data about the degree of access to such care at the population level.

Methods

Using administrative databases, a care-oriented profile score was created to describe the care received during the last 6 months of life for 2,291 women who were dying of breast cancer in the province of Quebec, Canada, during the years 1992 to 1998. The care received was described through indicators of care that would reflect a palliative care philosophy. An ordinal score was developed for comparisons among age groups of women using a proportional odds ordinal regression model.

Results

We found that only 6.9% of women died at home, while 69.6% of them died in acute care beds. While most women (75%) had few indicators indicating provision of palliative care during the last 6 months of life, younger women (< 50 years) were even less likely (odds ratio, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.90) to receive such care compared with middle aged women (50 to 59 years; serving as the reference group), while older women (> 70 years) were more likely (odds ratio, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.49 to 2.29).

Conclusion

Our study indicates that a sizeable proportion of women terminally ill from breast cancer do not have access to palliative care—an issue that health care policy makers may wish to explore further.
Promoter Methylation of Retinoic Acid Receptor Beta 2 and the Development of Second Primary Lung Cancers in Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer
Authors: Kim Jin Seuk , Lee Haengbung , Kim Hojoong , Shim Young Mog , Han Joungho , Park Joobae , Kim Duk-Hwan
Published: July 2004

Purpose

To investigate whether the promoter hypermethylation of retinoic acid receptor beta 2 (RARβ2) is associated with the development of second primary lung cancers (SPLCs) differentially according to smoking status in primary non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Patients and Methods

We retrospectively analyzed the relationship between RARβ2 methylation and the SPLC development in a total of 342 NSCLCs. The methylation status of RARβ2 was determined by using methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction. The difference in the time to SPLC development was analyzed by using the log-rank test and the Cox proportional hazards model. The median follow-up was 4.1 years.

Results

SPLCs developed in 19 (5.6%) of the 342 NSCLCs, and overall incidence rate of SPLC development was 1.54 per 100 patient-years. SPLCs did not occur in 39 patients who had not smoked. After controlling for possible confounding factors, the hazard of failure for former smokers with RARβ2 hypermethylation was about 2.87 (95% CI, 0.92 to 13.64; P = .08) times higher compared to those without RARβ2 methylation. However, for current smokers, hypermethylation of the RARβ2 was found to have a protective effect against the SPLC development (hazard ratio = 0.23; 95% CI, 0.11 to 0.87; P = .03).

Conclusion

Hypermethylation of RARβ2 promoter had a differential effect on the development of SPLCs in NSCLC, and this was dependent on smoking status. Our study suggests that a combination of retinoids and/or a demethylating agent may be effective in the prevention of SPLCs in never-smokers and former smokers with NSCLC.
Affective and cognitive control of persons and behaviours
Authors: Trafimow David , Sheeran Paschal , Lombardo Bridget , Finlay Krystina A. , Brown Jennie , Armitage Christopher J.
Published: July 2004

Three studies assessed the relative contribution of affect and cognition to determining behavioural intentions for a variety of behaviours using both betweenparticipants and within‐participants analyses. The between‐participants analyses showed that affect tends to make more of a contribution than does cognition for more behaviours. However, the within‐participants analyses indicated that there are strong individual differences among people. Some people are more under affective control, across behaviours, whereas other people are more under cognitive control. The most interesting finding was that, despite the potential independence of between‐participants and within‐participants analyses (Mischela, 1990), between‐participants analyses on subsamples created from the within‐participants analyses showed significant dependence. The predictive validity of affect vs. cognition depended upon whether participants were affectively or cognitively controlled.
Psychoanalysis as a resource for understanding emotional ruptures in the text: The case of defensive masculinities
Authors: Gough Brendan
Published: July 2004

Recent theory and research on men and masculinities within feminist and critical social psychologies has largely drawn upon social constructionism and discourse analysis. This work has been useful in extending our understanding of contemporary discourses drawn upon by men to construct masculine identities and/or to construct ‘subordinated others’ such as women and gay men. But it has been pointed out that discourse analytic work does not adequately account for emotional or experiential dimensions to (masculine) identities. To address this problem, several writers have turned to versions of psychoanalytic theory as this perspective is directly concerned with emotional life. Psychoanalysis has been reworked so that concepts traditionally read as intra‐psychic essences (e. g. anxiety, desire, defence) are re‐interpreted as interpersonal and contextual. Informed by this work, I argue that a psychoanalytic, particularly Kleinian, reading of focus group discussions with heterosexual men can help illuminate aspects of the contemporary reproduction of masculinities. I use data collected from a ‘men and masculinities’ project and focus primarily on emotive talk which ‘others’ gay men and women. Concepts such as ‘projection’ are used to connect the men's constructions of others with shared anxieties about masculinities. The implications and advantages of pursuing psychoanalytic accounts of (masculine) subjectivities within social psychology are then discussed.
Making sense of ‘barebacking’: Gay men's narratives, unsafe sex and the ‘resistance habitus’
Authors: Crossley Michele L.
Published: July 2004

Why do some gay men continue to engage in unsafe sexual practices despite the known and widely publicized risks of HIV infection? Dominant models of health promotion have been criticized for reducing this complex psychosocial issue to a question of instrumental technique — ‘use a condom every time’. Accordingly, there has recently been an attempt to develop a deeper understanding of unsafe sexual practices by paying attention to the ‘subjective meaning’ manifest in gay men's own accounts of their behaviour. However, this paper argues that such studies have failed to develop an adequate understanding of the historical nature of such behaviours and the way in which they are embedded in a ‘cultural psyche’ that the individual gay man may not even be consciously aware of. Accordingly, using published autobiographical and fictional narratives written by gay men over three different periods of gay history (pre‐AIDS, during AIDS and ‘post’‐AIDS), this paper aims to show that contemporary ‘barebacking’ behaviour may constitute one manifestation of a ‘resistance’ or ‘transgressional’ ‘habitus’ that has remained a consistent feature of gay men's individual and social psyche since the early days of gay liberation. The paper discusses the potentially health‐damaging implications of this ‘habitus’ and the possibility and desirability of facilitating change.
Moderation of cognition‐intention and cognition‐behaviour relations: A meta‐analysis of properties of variables from the theory of planned behaviour
Authors: Cooke Richard , Sheeran Paschal
Published: July 2004

Meta‐analysis was used to quantify the moderating effects of seven properties of cognitions—accessibility, temporal stability, direct experience, involvement, certainty, ambivalence and affective‐cognitive consistency—on cognition‐intention and cognition‐behaviour relations. Literature searches revealed 44 studies that could be included in the review. Findings showed that all of the properties, except involvement, moderated attitude‐behaviour consistency. Similarly, all relevant moderators improved the consistency between intentions and behaviour. Temporal stability moderated PBC‐behaviour relations, certainty moderated subjective norm‐intention relations, and ambivalence, certainty, and involvement all moderated attitude‐intention relations. Overall, temporal stability appeared to be the strongest moderator of cognition‐behaviour relations.
Prejudice on the stage: Self‐monitoring and the public expression of group attitudes
Authors: Klein Olivier , Snyder Mark , Livingston Robert W.
Published: July 2004

According to self‐monitoring theory (Snyder, 1987), high self‐monitors tailor their self‐presentation for the sake of desired public appearances, whereas low selfmonitors are relatively unlikely to practice such situationally guided impression management strategies. It was therefore predicted that, when asked to publicly express their attitudes regarding a social group, high self‐monitors would modify their expressive behaviour in a direction consistent with the attitudes attributed to their audience. Conversely, low self‐monitors would be unaffected by their audience's attitude towards this group. A study was conducted to test this hypothesis: participants, whose level of self‐monitoring and prejudice towards homosexuals had been previously measured, were asked toreport their thoughts regarding this group in an open‐ended manner. They anticipated discussing these thoughts with an audience perceived as either prejudiced or tolerant, orthey expected that their responses would remain private. In line with predictions, highself‐monitors expressed more prejudice when the audience was perceived as prejudiced than tolerant, whereas low self‐monitors were not affected by the audience's attitude.
Citizenship in practice
Authors: Barnes Rebecca , Auburn Timothy , Lea Susan
Published: July 2004

The idea of citizenship dates back to classical antiquity. It was originally concerned to address legitimacy of occupancy in the public sphere. Our empirical study contributes to the project of developing a social psychology of the citizen by focusing on the dynamics of such membership, specifically rights and identities. The authors briefly describe a number of existing psychological models of the citizen. Drawing on the main theoretical principles of discursive psychology, rather than asking, ‘who is the citizen?’ in terms of mental states, we suggest a shift in focus to the more social question, ‘how do people claim citizenship and to what ends?'. We present an analysis of private letters of complaint that formed part of a larger mixed data set used in a recent research programme centred on disputes over Britain's newer travellers’ rights of settlement. Specifically our analysis demonstrates how some of the letter writers generate a basis for claims‐making by making relevant a citizenship/ governance alignment of identities. We also demonstrate how the entitlements associated with the category citizen are built up and action‐oriented rather than flowing from the (unproblematic) assumption of citizenship. Finally we discuss how citizenship can be used for the purposes of inclusion and exclusion.
Alcohol Provider Liability in Canada and the United Kingdom: Legal and Cultural Influences
Authors: Chamberlain Erika
Published: July 2004

This article describes the extent of alcohol provider liability in Canada and the United Kingdom. While the Canadian courts focus their analysis on the foreseeability of harm, the UK courts determine the duty of care based on an alcohol provider's assumption of responsibility. This has led to a much broader, more paternalistic duty of care for alcohol providers in Canada. Commercial providers have been subject to a broad duty of care since the 1970s, and the lower courts have more recently considered imposing liability on so-called ‘social hosts’ in certain circumstances. In contrast, the UK courts have been hesitant to impose any kind of alcohol-related liability, commenting that adults are responsible for the consequences of their own alcohol consumption. This article explores some of the potential legal and social reasons for this divergence in alcohol provider liability. The wide duty of care imposed on Canadian alcohol providers may be part of a larger trend to expand the duty of care, based on Canada's continuing allegiance to the Anns test. In addition, the divergent approaches may reflect public attitudes and government policies toward alcohol consumption in the two jurisdictions.
Re-Examining Public Policy—A Case for Conditional Fees in Singapore?
Authors: Yew Gary Chan Kok
Published: July 2004

Conditional fee agreements are currently prohibited in Singapore. The Singapore courts still adhere to the public policy considerations expressed in the English common law which proscribe maintenance and champerty. However, the United Kingdom as well as Ontario (Canada) and Australia have recently ‘departed’ from the old system prohibiting conditional fee agreements. It is thus timely for Singapore to re-examine the public policy arguments against conditional fee agreements and inquire whether a conditional fee based system ought to be introduced. Apart from the above jurisdictions, lessons will also be drawn from the problems and issues faced by the US and the rest of Canada in the implementation of conditional fees.
Legal Aid in the British Overseas Territories
Authors: O'Brien Derek , Epp John Arnold
Published: July 2004

The UK has adopted a hands-off approach towards the provision of legal aid amongst the Overseas Territories (OTs), allowing the government of each OT to make such provision as it deems necessary. The effect of this policy has been that the provision of legal aid amongst the OTs is a somewhat patchwork affair. There is no consensus about the extent of the responsibility to support publicly funded legal services, or how it is to be discharged.

In this article an outline of the key elements of legal aid provision in those OTs with active legal aid schemes is provided, and a number of key issues that the authors identify as crucial to the development of legal aid amongst the OTs are discussed.
A New Zealand Perspective on Exemplary Damages
Authors: Todd Stephen
Published: July 2004

In a series of recent cases in New Zealand, some fundamental questions about the particular circumstances in which exemplary damages ought to be awarded have arisen. The decisions have tended to allow the award of these damages only in very limited circumstances and lead us to consider whether they ought any longer to be awarded at all. Punishment for conduct which is also criminal should be left to the criminal law and for non-criminal conduct is undesirable in principle. Other civil remedies, in particular an account of profits and aggravated damages, are available in appropriate circumstances.
Valuing Natural Resource Damages: A Transatlantic Lesson
Authors: Burlington Linda B.
Published: July 2004

This paper presents a comparison of the United States natural resource damage assessment regulations for restoration of natural resources, the 1992 International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage and the International Oil Pollution Fund provisions on reinstatement of environmental impacts caused by oil pollution, and the European Council proposed Directive on environmental damages. The author provides an in-depth description of the natural resource regulations for both hazardous substances and oil pollution events and demonstrates, through case examples in the United States, how the approach to determining natural resource damages has evolved in the United States from a focus on recovery of economic damages to a claim based upon actual restoration actions. The author also provides a brief discussion of current developments concerning natural resource damages and restoration in the United States and concludes with an analysis of the differences among the three natural resource damages regimes.
The Europeanisation of Contaminated Land
Authors: Layard Antonia
Published: July 2004

New initiatives are underway at the Community level to impose liability for environmental damage. This article considers these developments, particularly their effect on contaminated land. It concludes that as the proposed Directive has significant limitations it will leave much contaminated land in the Community to be cleaned up under domestic provisions.

This article also considers new developments on prevention, particularly through the European Commission Communication, Towards a thematic strategy for soil protection, issued in 2002 and the European Charter for the Protection and Sustainable Management of Soil. Again, however, the provisions in these documents are limited and do not as yet provide for consistent, precise levels of soil quality throughout the Community in the way that exists for other environmental media.

Consequently, although the ‘europeanisation’ of the contaminated land regime is currently underway, the article concludes that current laws and policies have significant limitations. So far, at least, liability for contaminated land ex post and prevention ex ante are still issues predominantly regulated by Member States.
‘Face to Face’: Rediscovering the Right to Confront Prosecution Witnesses
Authors: Friedman Richard D.
Published: July 2004

The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right of an accused ‘to confront the witnesses against him’. The United States Supreme Court has treated this Confrontation Clause as a broad but rather easily rebuttable rule against using hearsay on behalf of a criminal prosecution; with respect to most hearsay, the exclusionary rule is overcome if the court is persuaded that the statement is sufficiently reliable, and the court can reach that conclusion if the statement fits within a ‘firmly rooted’ hearsay exception. This article argues that this framework should be abandoned. The clause should not be regarded as a constitutionalisation of the rule against hearsay. Rather, it reflects a principle of long standing in common law systems, and even in some others, that a statement that is testimonial in nature may not be introduced against a criminal defendant unless he has had an opportunity to confront and examine the witness who made the statement. Recognition of that principle, which may be achieved in the pending case of Crawford v Washington, is of interest not only in the United States, but to all adjudicative systems.
The Role of Gender in Judicial Decision-Making: Similar Fact Evidence, the Rose West Trial and beyond
Authors: Winter Jo
Published: July 2004

This article uses the trial of Rose West as a window through which to examine and understand some of the processes underlying decisions to allow or exclude similar fact evidence in rape and other sexual offence trials. Drawing on research which has explored decisions to admit past sexual history evidence, it suggests that the same gendered presumptions which have informed them are at work in decisions to exclude similar fact evidence of previous rapes. In these areas, where the law allows for broad discretionary decision-making, such discretion is frequently exercised to the detriment of female complainants, but in the West case it was exercised to the cost of Rose West, a female defendant. The article argues that judicial decision-making should therefore be understood not just in terms of pro- or anti-defendant tendencies, but in terms of gendered thinking.
Questions of Fact in the Practice of Law: A Response to Allen and Pardo's ‘Facts in Law and Facts of Law’
Authors: Kirgis Paul F.
Published: July 2004

In an article in this journal, Professor Ronald Allen and Michael Pardo critiqued efforts to explain the fact–law distinction on ontological, epistemological or analytical grounds. Finding those efforts unavailing, the authors concluded that decisions to label an issue ‘legal’ or ‘factual’ rest on purely functional considerations turning on a complex set of variables including the conventional meanings of the terms, structural relationships among potential decision-makers, and a distinction between matters of general and specific import. In this response, it is argued that Allen and Pardo's critique is accurate to the extent it addresses the fact–law distinction from a general jurisprudential perspective, but that it fails to address or explain the fundamental consistency in the ways judges apply the fact–law terminology in practice. It is suggested that a pragmatic way to understand how the fact–law distinction has been invoked in practice is to focus on the types of inferences required to answer given adjudicative questions. It is concluded that ‘fact’ questions are those questions that, having survived the court's initial screening, call for inductive inferences about the transactions or occurrences in dispute, while all other questions are considered questions of ‘law’.
Irregularly Obtained Real Evidence: The Scottish Solution?
Authors: Duff Peter
Published: July 2004

In determining whether to admit improperly obtained real evidence, the Scottish courts have engaged in a balancing act for over 50 years, weighing the public interest in the conviction of the guilty against the rights of the accused and the civil liberties of the citizenry. The Appeal Court's approach to this issue has not been particularly satisfactory and the result is an incoherent mass of detailed and often almost irreconcilable case law, rather than a principled framework to guide the trial courts in the exercise of this power.
The Disunity of Employment Law and Sentencing
Authors: Bagaric Mirko
Published: July 2004

This article discusses the lack of integration between criminal sanctions and employment deprivations (in the form of being dismissed from employment or disqualified from working in certain industries). Offenders who are employed in certain industries, especially the professions, often suffer a far greater net punishment upon being found guilty of a criminal offence than other offenders, thereby violating the principle of proportionality and the (related) principle of equality in the impact of sanctions. The reason that such a situation has developed is because criminal sanctions and employment deprivations have evolved from different streams of jurisprudence. This article argues that sentencers should impose a ‘net’ sanction for a criminal offence, thereby merging these streams of jurisprudence. This would require courts to be vested with the power to suspend or disqualify people from being employed in certain occupations. The legal analysis in this article focuses on case and statutory law in Australia, however, the same broad principles apply in all common law jurisdictions, including the UK. Hence, the reform proposals suggested in this article are relevant throughout the common law world.

‘As a matter of principle my view is that once a person has paid their debt to society, as the old expression goes, and done their time, then they should be able to live a normal life.’

Prime Minister, John Howard, commenting on the eligibility of jailed former One Nation leader Pauline Hanson to stand for Parliament at the expiration of her three-year jail term for electoral fraud1

‘A person's employment is usually one of the most important things in his or her life. It gives not only a livelihood but an occupation, an identity and a sense of self-esteem.’
Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) expression and activation in rat uterus during early pregnancy
Authors: Teng Chun-Bo , Diao Hong-Lu , Ma Hong , Cong Jing , Yu Hao , Ma Xing-Hong , Xu Li-Bin , Yang Zeng-Ming
Published: July 2004

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3), a member of the Stat family, is specifically activated during mouse embryo implantation. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression, activation and regulation of Stat3 in rat uterus during early pregnancy, pseudopregnancy, delayed implantation and artificial decidualization. Stat3 mRNA was highly expressed in the luminal epithelium on day 5 and in the luminal epithelium and underlying stromal cells at implantation sites on day 6 of pregnancy. There was a strong level of Stat3 protein expression and phosphorylation in the stromal cells near the lumen and in the luminal epithelium on day 5 of pregnancy, which was similar to day 5 of pseudopregnancy. In the afternoon of day 6, the strong level of Stat3 phosphorylation was detected only in the luminal epithelium. Stat3 was highly expressed and activated in the decidual cells from days 7 to 9 of pregnancy and under artificial decidualization in the present study. Our results suggest that the strong level of Stat3 activation in the luminal epithelium and underlying stromal cells during the pre-implantation period may be important for establishing uterine receptivity as in mice, and the high level of Stat3 expression and activation in decidual cells may play a role during decidualization.
Serotonin antagonist-induced lowering of prolactin secretion does not affect the pattern of pulsatile secretion of follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone in the bitch
Authors: Beijerink N J , Kooistra H S , Dieleman S J , Okkens A C
Published: July 2004

Dopamine agonists decrease plasma prolactin concentration and shorten the duration of anoestrus in the bitch. In order to determine whether this shortening results from decreased prolactin release or is due to another dopamine agonistic effect on the pulsatile release of FSH and LH, eight anoestrous beagle bitches were treated with a low dose of the serotonin antagonist metergoline (0.1 mg per kg body weight, twice daily) starting 100 days after ovulation. Six-hour plasma profiles of LH and FSH were obtained 7 days before, immediately before, 1 week after, and then at 2-week intervals after the start of the treatment with the serotonin antagonist until signs of pro-oestrus appeared. Plasma prolactin concentration was measured three times weekly from 75 to 142 days after ovulation and thereafter once weekly until the next ovulation, and was observed to decrease significantly after the start of treatment. The length of the interoestrous interval in the treated dogs was, however, not different from that in the preceding pretreatment cycle or from that in a group of untreated bitches. During the first weeks of treatment no changes were observed in the pulsatile plasma profiles of FSH and LH. Four weeks after the start of the treatment with the serotonin antagonist there was an increase in the mean basal plasma FSH concentration and the mean area under the curve for FSH, without a concurrent increase in LH secretion. The increase in FSH secretion continued until late anoestrus. In conclusion, the serotonin antagonist-induced lowering of plasma prolactin concentration was not associated with shortening of the interoestrous interval. The plasma profiles of LH and FSH were similar to those observed during physiological anoestrus, but different from those observed during anoestrus shortened by treatment with a dopamine agonist. Hence the prematurely induced oestrus observed during administration of dopamine agonists cannot be explained by a decreased plasma prolactin concentration but must be due to some other dopamine agonistic effect, probably increased FSH secretion. The observations in this study further strengthen the hypothesis that an increase in circulating FSH is essential for ovarian folliculogenesis and consequently the termination of anoestrus in the bitch.