bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
GROWTH, CYCLES, ASSET PRICES AND FINANCE
Authors: Taylor Lance
Published: March 2011

Several Kaleckian models are set out. Harrod‐ and Domar‐style investment functions are specified, and combined with distributive dynamics to generate Goodwin‐style cycles. A counterclockwise cycle in a two‐dimensional phase diagram for capacity utilization and the wage share is based on long‐run profit‐led demand and a profit squeeze at high activity levels, consistent with Domar. Harrod‐style investment and short‐run wage‐led demand generate counterfactual clockwise cycles. Financial dynamics involving the equity valuation ratio are considered. Both the ratio and equity price inflation demonstrate positive own‐feedback. The ratio can be stabilized cyclically by capital stock growth and/or rising household net worth or debt. Debt accumulation persists (or ‘overshoots’) after equity price inflation switches to a negative rate. A Minsky‐style model with Harrodian investment can be stabilized by accumulation of business debt.
PSYCHOLOGY AND THE RATIONALITY OF EMOTION
Authors: CLORE GERALD L.
Published: March 2011

Human thought is often automatic, heuristic, unconscious, and guided by emotion instead of being strictly logical and reasoned. Rather than regarding these characteristics as limitations, however, they actually allow rational outcomes to be achieved without the high cost of conscious deliberation. For example, negative affective reactions to illogic often encourage adherence to standards of logic and coherence. Rather than acting to suppress emotion, cognition generally shapes affective reactions into specific emotions. Such emotions can then guide action by providing self‐education about likely consequences. Additionally, whereas cognitive constraints on negative emotions can reduce distress, freeing positive emotions from such constraints can enhance religious experience.
A novel spinocerebellar ataxia type 15 family with involuntary movements and cognitive decline
Authors: Castrioto A. , Prontera P. , Di Gregorio E. , Rossi V. , Parnetti L. , Rossi A. , Donti E. , Brusco A. , Calabresi P. , Tambasco N.
Published: March 2011

Background and purpose:  SCA15 is a recently identified spinocerebellar ataxia with pure cerebellar involvement. Here, we report a novel SCA15 Italian family with atypical clinical features.

Methods:  Three affected members from a three‐generation family segregating an autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia underwent clinical examination and genetic tests for hereditary ataxia.

Results:  All affected members present with cognitive impairment and two of them with mild intermittent involuntary movements in association with the clinical hallmarks of SCA15 (gait ataxia, balance impairment, and dysarthria). Genetic tests detected a large deletion spanning ITPR1 and SUMF1 genes in affected members.

Conclusion:  Our findings help enlarging the clinical spectrum of SCA15.
THE TORAH OF LEVINASIAN TIME
Authors: LIN YAEL
Published: March 2011

The topic of time is central to Levinas's philosophy. By examining aspects of the Biblical stories of Abraham and Moses compared with Greek myths, mainly that of Cronos devouring his children, this paper aims to show that Levinas's view of time, though certainly indebted to the Greek (i.e. philosophical) tradition, contains traces of Biblical experiences. Moreover, Levinas's interpretation of time will serve as a concrete demonstration of the way the Jewish experience enables Levinas to express his criticism of the philosophical‐Greek tradition.
Difficulties Experienced by Women in Prison
Authors: Sobel Suzanne B.
Published: March 2011

This article assembles data that identify some problems experienced by women incarcerated in prisons in the United States. Inequalities in occupational and educational programs offered in women's prisons in comparison with those offered in prisons for men are discussed. The impact of inadequate health and mental health services on the lives of these women is explored, and separation problems encountered by the woman prisoner and her family are examined. Some recommendations for change are suggested.
Changes in Female Sexuality: A Study of Mother/Daughter Communication and Generational Differences
Authors: Yalom Marilyn , Estler Suzanne , Brewster Wenda
Published: March 2011

Questionnaires on various aspects of female sexuality (including sexual activity in high school and college, sexual attitudes and values, and communication between mothers and daughters on sexual subjects) were completed by 141 women who graduated from college in 1954 and had college-age daughters and by 184 women who were sophomores at Stanford University in 1977–78. The present article reports (1) similarities and differences in sexual behavior between college-age women of the early 1950s and late 1970s, (2) communication between mothers and daughters on the subject of sex, and (3) the effects of generational change in sexual behavior and attitudes on the overall mother-daughter relationship.
Social Memory of Preschool Girls and Boys
Authors: Etaugh Ciaire , Whittler Tommy E.
Published: March 2011

In two experiments, 40 female and 40 male preschoolers attending a daycare center were shown photographs of children attending the center, and were asked either to name each pictured child (recall condition) or to point to the picture of the child as the experimenter said the child's name (recognition condition). In both experiments, girls and boys did not differ significantly in the number of correct identifications on either the recall or recognition tasks. The results do not support Feldstein's (1976) conclusion that preschool girls show better social memory than preschool boys.
Multiple Roles and Well-Being: A Study of Mothers of Preschool Age Children
Authors: Barnett Rosalind C.
Published: March 2011

The relation of well-being to involvement in multiple roles was examined in a study of 134 Caucasian women. All subjects were married and mothers of at least one preschool child; 50 were also paid workers. Two indices of well-being were used: (a) self-esteem; and (b) satisfaction with one's current role pattern. No differences in level of well-being were found between the employed and nonemployed groups. Findings were discussed in relation to theoretical perspectives on multiple role involvement.
Increased availability of angiotensin AT1 receptors leads to sustained arterial constriction to angiotensin II in diabetes – role for Rho‐kinase activation
Authors: Bagi Zsolt , Feher Attila , Cassuto James , Akula Komala , Labinskyy Nazar , Kaley Gabor , Koller Akos
Published: March 2011

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Antagonists of angiotensin AT1 receptors elicit beneficial vascular effects in diabetes mellitus. We hypothesized that diabetes induces sustained availability of AT1 receptors, causing enhanced arterial constriction to angiotensin II.

EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH To assess functional availability of AT1 receptors, constrictions to successive applications of angiotensin II were measured in isolated skeletal muscle resistance arteries (∼150 µm) of Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats and of their controls (+/Fa), exposed acutely to high glucose concentrations (HG, 25 mM, 1 h). AT1 receptors on cell membrane surface were measured by immunofluorescence.

KEY RESULTS Angiotensin II‐induced constrictions to first applications were greater in arteries of ZDF rats (maximum: 82 ± 3% original diameter) than in those from +/Fa rats (61 ± 5%). Constrictions to repeated angiotensin II administration were decreased in +/Fa arteries (20 ± 6%), but were maintained in ZDF arteries (67 ± 4%) and in +/Fa arteries vessels exposed to HG (65 ± 6%). In ZDF arteries and in HG‐exposed +/Fa arteries, Rho‐kinase activities were enhanced. The Rho‐kinase inhibitor, Y27632 inhibited sustained constrictions to angiotensin II in ZDF arteries and in +/Fa arteries exposed to HG. Levels of surface AT1 receptors on cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) were decreased by angiotensin II but were maintained in VSMCs exposed to HG. In VSMCs exposed to HG and treated with Y27632, angiotensin II decreased surface AT1 receptors.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS In diabetes, elevated glucose concentrations activate Rho‐kinase which inhibits internalization or facilitates recycling of AT1 receptors, leading to increased functional availability of AT1 receptors and sustained angiotensin II‐induced arterial constriction.
Clinical Evaluation of Two Different Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Systems: A Single Center Report
Authors: Yu Kun , Long Cun , Hei Feilong , Li Jingwen , Liu Jinping , Ji Bingyang , Gao Guodong , Zhang Haitao , Song Yunhu , Wang Wei
Published: March 2011

Refinements in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) equipment, including heparin‐coated surfaces, centrifugal pump, membrane oxygenator, and more biocompatible pump‐oxygenator circuits, have reduced procedure‐related complications and have made ECMO a safe and effective therapy for critical patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of two different ECMO circuit systems in a clinical setting and compare their outcomes. From December 2004 to December 2009, 121 patients required ECMO for primary or postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock at our heart center. We used the Medtronic circuit system in our earlier series (Group M, n = 64), and from July 2007, ECMO was carried out mainly with the Quadrox D PLS circuit system (Group Q, n = 56). We retrospectively summarized and analyzed the data of these patients. The evaluation was based on the comparison between properties of the membrane oxygenators and pumps, anticoagulation therapy, circuit‐related complications, and clinical outcomes. Support pump flow rates, platelet counts, and trans‐membrane pressure drops (TMPDs) of preoxygenator and postoxygenator pressures were compared between two groups at the time of support established (T1) and support established for 24 h (T2). There were no significant differences between the two groups with regard to patient characteristics and pre‐ECMO data. The support pump flow rates and platelet counts at different times were comparable in the two groups. The cannulation technique, ECMO duration, and mean heparin dosage were similar in both groups. There were also no significant differences between the groups in mortality or complications related to bleeding and organ dysfunction. Compared with the M group, the Q group experienced less mechanical failure of the ECMO circuit. The Quadrox PLS circuit system showed less circuit thrombus formation (P < 0.045), less plasma leakage (P < 0.001), and less need for replacement of oxygenators (P < 0.001). Furthermore, frequency of hemolysis during ECMO was significantly lower (P < 0.045). In addition, at T1 and T2, TMPDs were significantly lower in the Q group. Our results suggest that both ECMO circuit systems provide similar effects for safe clinical application, but the Quadrox PLS ECMO circuit system demonstrated partially improved biocompatibility in terms of improved cell preservation, lower TMPDs, less plasma leakage, and thrombus formation.
Radical Design and Technology Epiphanies: A New Focus for Research on Design Management
Authors: Verganti Roberto
Published: March 2011

The past decade has ushered in a growth of interest on design, both among scholars and practitioners. The consequence has been the development of a wealth of new theories on design, innovation, and design management. After a decade of studies, we have developed significant understanding about how firms may better analyze customer needs through user‐centered design, how they can generate better ideas through brainstorming methods and multidisciplinary teams, how consumers value the form of products. Yet, as often happens in research, many studies have focused on the most visible and measurable forms of design (those connected to the clear processes and methods of user‐centered design). The consequence is that, apart from a few exceptions, the focus of theory development has been on incremental innovation enabled by design: better user interface, improvements, differentiation, nice ideas and features that get rapidly imitated and obsolete. Scholars have often neglected some of the most intriguing forms of design, i.e., when design brings a radical perspective, when it contributes to the redefinition of an industry, and the creation of a new paradigm. In this short note I hope to set the stage for this new frontier of research in design management. In particular I propose two fields of investigation: the role of design to radically innovate the meaning of products and services, and the interaction of radical design with radical technologies, which I call technology epiphanies, i.e., the identification of the most powerful meaning enabled by a breakthrough technology.
Design Is Everything?
Authors: Ulrich Karl T.
Published: March 2011

This essay attempts to demarcate the industrial practice of product design and situate it in the context of academic research. The term product design presents definitional challenges, as it is used in practice in different ways, and even varies in usage regionally. For this article, product design is “conceiving and giving form to goods and services that address needs.” The activity of product design can be thought of as comprising several key decisions. Because the decisions of product design do not map cleanly to any one academic discipline, the subject has not garnered enough attention in any one field to develop fully its own academic identity. Scholarly research in product design has often been cultivated by the emergence of a methodological paradigm. While several such paradigms are in use, several others offer substantial promise.
The Role of Fear in Our Love of God: A Lutheran Perspective
Authors: Largen Kristin Johnston
Published: March 2011

Abstract:  Lutheran Christians in particular have been taught in the Catechism to “fear and love God.” This article questions the assumption that in a contemporary context, fear and love can helpfully co‐exist, examining the different ways in which “fear of God” is a challenging concept for twenty‐first‐century Christians to understand. The article concludes with suggestions for how “fear of God” might be re‐interpreted and re‐articulated in a constructive way, leading to a more meaningful Christian life in the world today.
Erotic Love: Reading Kierkegaard with and without Marion
Authors: Søloft Pia
Published: March 2011

Abstract:  The claim of this article is that in Søren Kierkegaard's notion of love as a basic urge in every human being we find a special dialectic between lack and surplus, between need‐love and gift‐love. Through a comparison with Jean‐Luc Marion's description of erotic love in The Erotic Phenomenon, I demonstrate that Kierkegaard's insistence that love is greater than everything and therefore prior to both existence and knowledge seems, on the one hand, to point in the direction of a metaphysical anchoring of love, which would be foreign to Marion. But at the same time, Kierkegaard, like Marion, stresses that we have a universal, human experience of love, which is anchored bodily and sensed phenomenally. This duality points to the fact that Kierkegaard had a much more nuanced notion of love than that simple distinction between eros and agape that Anders Nygren invented.
Difficult but Necessary: Conditions of a Contemporary Theology of Love
Authors: Nørager Troels
Published: March 2011

Abstract:  Nørager takes his point of departure in the observation that in modernity “love” has increasingly and undisputedly acquired the status as the fundamental attribute of God. This in turn, however, has made a theology of love vulnerable to the critique leveled by Ludwig Feuerbach, who argued forcefully that God's love in reality was nothing but humanity's ideal of perfect love. Briefly rehearsing two of the most important solutions to this conundrum (Søren Kierkegaard and Anders Nygren), Nørager finds both of them unduly polemical toward “natural” love, leaving us with the idea of a dichotomy or inner opposition between human and divine love. Instead, Nørager points toward a new theology of love where eros and agape are recognized as differing aspects within a continuum of love, and where human and divine love are perceived as mirroring one another.
Love and Eschatology
Authors: Jeanrond Werner G.
Published: March 2011

Abstract:  This article reflects on the connection between Christian hope for salvation and Christian praxis today. Following a discussion of Christian approaches to hope, salvation, and reconciliation, the eschatological potential of love is explored in conversation with significant theologies of love in Western Christianity. It is argued that love, properly understood, offers the most adequate and dynamic horizon for approaching God's coming reign and for being transformed in the process.
Differences in Ventriculoatrial Intervals During Entrainment and Tachycardia: A Simpler Method for Distinguishing Paroxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia with Long Ventriculoatrial Intervals
Authors: GONZÁLEZ‐TORRECILLA ESTEBAN , ALMENDRAL JESÚS , GARCÍA‐FERNÁNDEZ FRANCISCO J. , ARIAS MIGUEL A. , ARENAL ANGEL , ATIENZA FELIPE , DATINO TOMÁS , ATEA LEONARDO F. , CALVO DAVID , PACHÓN MARTA , FERNÁNDEZ‐AVILÉS FRANCISCO
Published: March 2011

VA Intervals to Distinguish PSVT. Introduction: Usefulness of the interval between the last pacing stimulus and the last entrained atrial electrogram (SA) minus the tachycardia ventriculoatrial (VA) interval in the differential diagnosis of supraventricular tachycardias with long (>100 ms) VA intervals has not been prospectively studied in a large series of patients. Our objective was to assess the usefulness of the difference SA–VA in diagnosing the mechanism of those tachycardias in patients without preexcitation. The results were compared with those obtained using the corrected return cycle (postpacing interval—tachycardia cycle length—atrioventricular [AV] nodal delay).

Methods and Results: We included 314 consecutive patients with inducible sustained supraventricular tachycardias with VA intervals >100 ms undergoing an electrophysiologic study. Atrial tachycardias were excluded. Tachycardia entrainment was attempted through pacing trains from right ventricular apex. The SA–VA difference and the corrected return cycle were calculated for every patient. Electrophysiologic study revealed 82 atypical AV nodal reentrant tachycardias (AVNRT) and 237 AV reentrant tachycardias (AVRT) using septal (n = 91) or free‐wall (n = 146) accessory pathways (APs). A SA–VA difference >110 ms identified an atypical AVNRT with sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of 99%, 98%, 95%, and 99.5%, respectively. Similarly, these values were 88%, 83%, 77%, and 92% for SA–VA difference <50 ms in identifying AVRT through a septal versus free‐wall AP. The SA–VA difference showed higher accuracy in septal AP identification than that obtained using the corrected return cycle.

Conclusion: The difference SA–VA provides a simpler electrophysiologic maneuver that reliably differentiates atypical AVNRT from AVRT regardless of concealed AP location. (J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol, Vol. 22, pp. 915‐921, August 2011)
A Contemporary Reading of Advice and Consent
Authors: deLeon Peter , Gallagher B. Kathleen
Published: March 2011

This essay revisits deLeon's argument describing the development of the policy sciences. The authors propose two “new” phenomena that have affected the mission and shape of the policy sciences, one—the rise in importance of the non‐profit sector—being exogenous in nature, the second—the adoption of the concept of governance—being endogenous. It ends with an illustration.
Theories of the Policy Process: State of the Research and Emerging Trends
Authors: Nowlin Matthew C.
Published: March 2011

Over the last two decades many alternate theories of the policy process have been developed. This essay covers recent scholarship (from 2008 to 2010) regarding the major policy process theories. In addition, several recent trends in research are discussed including; the use of narrative in policy theory, issues that cross multiple subsystems, bureaucracy in the policy process, and synthesizing multiple theories and frameworks.
Whither Civil Defense and Homeland Security in the Study of Public Policy? A Look at Research on the Policy, the Public, and the Process
Authors: Ripberger Joseph T.
Published: March 2011

Though the policy science movement was born with the purpose of counseling the Department of Defense on a plethora of security matters, modern research within the field of public policy has tended to neglect issues of defense and security focusing instead on a wide variety of domestic problems. This nearly exclusive focus on domestic issues remained largely intact until September 11, 2001, when the threat of terrorism propelled defense and security back onto the disciplinary research agenda. Though exceptionally slow to adjust, policy scholars are gradually coming to terms with this new reality and are beginning to focus on security and defense in a way that informs policymakers and advances policy theory. This research note is meant to introduce interested readers to this trend by exploring broad themes and exemplar works within the field over the last few years.
Conceiving Silence: Infertility as Discursive Contradiction in Ireland
Authors: Allison Jill
Published: March 2011

This article examines the production and reproduction of silence around infertility in Ireland. Based on narratives collected during 18 months of fieldwork, this article locates the contradictory role of silence in both the private experiences of individuals faced with a difficulty conceiving and in institutions constituted as mechanisms of public support. For many people who experience infertility, silence is rooted in the social stigma associated with reproductive failure or sexual inadequacy. Silence protects privacy while at the same time foreclosing both challenges to assumptions that fertility is the norm and any counterdiscourse to the heteronormative, profamily society in Ireland. I show how the reproduction of silence about infertility is a legacy of Ireland's history, reproductive politics, and the cultural idiom of choice. I argue that support networks and Internet bulletin boards on websites create opportunities to dialogue in silence, reproducing isolation rather than creating public discourse.
Strange Distance: Towards an Anthropology of Interior Dialogue
Authors: Irving Andrew
Published: March 2011

The capacity for a complex inner life—encompassing inner speech, imaginative reverie, and unarticulated moods—is an essential feature of living with illness and a principal means through which people interpret, understand, and manage their condition. Nevertheless, anthropology lacks a generally accepted theory or methodological framework for understanding how interiority relates to people's public actions and expressions. Moreover, as conventional social–scientific methods are often too static to understand the fluidity of perception among people living with illness or bodily instability, I argue we need to develop new, practical approaches to knowing. By placing the problem of interiority directly into the field and turning it into an ethnographic, practice‐based question to be addressed through fieldwork in collaboration with informants, this article works alongside women living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda with the aim of capturing the unvoiced but sometimes radical changes in being, belief, and perception that accompany terminal illness.
“Who Is Healthy among the Korwa?” Liminality in the Experiential Health of the Displaced Korwa of Central India
Authors: Gaur Mokshika , Patnaik Soumendra M.
Published: March 2011

The Korwa, an indigenous community of Central India, were displaced from their forest abode four decades ago because of the state's forest policy. The resettled Korwa do not consider the new space their home and summarize their journey of displacement from hill forest to lowland villages in terms of deprivation of healthy life. The Korwa complain of fever, diffuse aches, fatigue, and frail bodies forming a part of their everyday lives thereby signaling the loss of experiential health attributed to alienation from the forest. During an intensive ethnographic fieldwork in Chhatisgarh, the Korwa informants were found to be drawing a sharp contrast between the “health‐generating” attributes of forest life and the “health‐threatening” miseries of current wage labor economy. Using liminality framework, this article attempts to understand health experiences of the displaced Korwa as embodiment of their social and material conditions of existence.
Immediate loading after implant placement following tooth extraction up‐regulates cellular activity in the dog mandible
Authors: Sato Ryuta , Matsuzaka Kenichi , Kokubu Eitoyo , Inoue Takashi
Published: March 2011

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate cellular activity of the cervical portion of peri‐implant tissue due to immediate loading after implant placement following tooth extraction from the dog mandible, in terms of morphological, immunohistochemical and molecular characteristics.

Material and methods: A sand‐blasted implant was inserted into the root septum bone of each extraction socket and was connected to a superstructure made from resin and then covered with an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene membrane. Implants without the superstructure were used as the non‐loading control group. Animals were sacrificed 1–3 weeks later and specimens were observed using light microscopy and mRNA levels were analyzed by real‐time polymerase chain reaction.

Results: The new bone formation ratio in the loading group at 3 weeks was significantly higher than in the non‐loading group. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP)‐positive cells were observed in tissues around the implant surface in both groups at each of the time periods. More osteocalcin (OCN)‐positive cells were observed in the non‐loading group than in the loading group at 2 weeks. The expression of ALP mRNA in the loading group was significantly up‐regulated compared with the non‐loading group (P<0.05). The expression of OCN mRNA in the loading group was significantly up‐regulated compared with the non‐loading group at 2 weeks (P<0.05).

Conclusion: These results suggest that immediate loading after implant placement following tooth extraction osteogenic affects cellular activity of cervical portion of peri‐implant tissue.

To cite this article:
 Sato R, Matsuzaka K, Kokubu E, Inoue T. Immediate loading after implant placement following tooth extraction up‐regulates cellular activity in the dog mandible. Clin. Oral Impl. Res. xx, 2011; 000–000. doi: 10.1111/j.1600‐0501.2010.02118.x
The relationship between multi‐scale habitat heterogeneity and farmland bird abundance
Authors: Pickett Simon R. A. , Siriwardena Gavin M.
Published: March 2011

It has recently been proposed that losses in farmland habitat heterogeneity may have been a primary driver of the profound declines exhibited by many farmland bird species in recent decades. However, it has yet to be demonstrated which facets of heterogeneity and what spatial scales are most important for birds. Here we analyse the relationship between abundance and features of landscape heterogeneity at three spatial scales (1, 9 and 25 km2) for 32 bird species commonly associated with farmland. Heterogeneity was quantified using three contrasting indices reflecting 1) the spatial mixing of land uses, 2) variation in field sizes and 3) the density of field boundaries. The spatial mixing of land‐uses explained, on average, the most variation in, and was most likely to be positively associated with, abundance at all spatial scales. The majority of species (66–75%, depending on the spatial scale) were more common in heterogeneous landscapes overall; however, migrants, those under a high level of conservation concern and farmland specialist species tended to be less abundant in more heterogeneous landscapes at all scales. Ground‐nesting species were also more likely to be found in more homogeneous habitats than non‐ground‐nesters, but only at the finest spatial scale. Relationships between abundance and heterogeneity were generally consistent across spatial scales; however, species of high conservation concern had more variable associations compared with other species. These results highlight a potential role for farmland habitat heterogeneity in determining the abundance of many farmland species but suggest that population responses to an increase in heterogeneity would not be unanimously positive and would probably have negative impacts on some species, notably those that are already threatened.
Isolation determines patterns of species presence in highly fragmented landscapes
Authors: Boscolo Danilo , Paul Metzger Jean
Published: March 2011

In fragmented landscapes, changes in habitat availability, patch size, shape and isolation may affect survival of local populations. Proposing efficient conservation strategies for such species relies initially on distinguishing the particular effects of those factors. To address these issues, we investigated the occurrence of 3 bird species in fragmented Brazilian Atlantic Forest landscapes. Playback techniques were used to collect presence/absence data of these species inside 80 forest patches, and incidence models were used to infer their occupancy pattern from landscape spatial structure. The relative importance of patch size, shape and surrounding forest cover and isolation was assessed using a model selection approach based on maximum likelihood estimation. The presence of all species was in general positively affected by the amount of surrounding habitat and negatively affected by inter‐patch distances. The joint effects of patch size and the surrounding landscape characteristics were important determinants of occupancy for two species. The third species was affected only by forest cover and mean patch isolation. Our results suggest that local species presence is in general more influenced by the isolation from surrounding forests than by patch size alone. We found evidence that, in highly fragmented landscapes, birds that can not find patches large enough to settle may be able to overcome short distances through the matrix and include several nearby patches within their home‐ranges to complement their resource needs. In these cases, patches must be defined as functionally connected habitat networks rather than mere continuous forest segments. Bird conservation strategies in the Atlantic forest should focus on increasing patch density and connectivity, in order to implement forest networks that reduce the functional isolation between large remnants with remaining core habitat.
Local drug delivery for oral mucosal diseases: challenges and opportunities
Authors: Sankar V , Hearnden V , Hull K , Juras D Vidovic , Greenberg MS , Kerr AR , Lockhart PB , Patton LL , Porter S , Thornhill M
Published: March 2011

Oral Diseases (2011) 17 (Suppl. 1), 73–84

There are few topical formulations used for oral medicine applications most of which have been developed for the management of dermatological conditions. As such, numerous obstacles are faced when utilizing these preparations in the oral cavity, namely enzymatic degradation, taste, limited surface area, poor tissue penetration and accidental swallowing. In this review, we discuss common mucosal diseases such as oral cancer, mucositis, vesiculo‐erosive conditions, infections, neuropathic pain and salivary dysfunction, which could benefit from topical delivery systems designed specifically for the oral mucosa, which are capable of sustained release. Each condition requires distinct penetration and drug retention profiles in order to optimize treatment and minimize side effects. Local drug delivery may provide a more targeted and efficient drug‐delivery option than systemic delivery for diseases of the oral mucosa. We identify those mucosal diseases currently being treated, the challenges that must be overcome and the potential of novel therapies. Novel biological therapies such as macromolecular biological drugs, peptides and gene therapy may be of value in the treatment of many chronic oral conditions and thus in oral medicine if their delivery can be optimized.
Metabolism of Ophthalmic Timolol: New Aspects of an Old Drug
Authors: Volotinen Marjo , Hakkola Jukka , Pelkonen Olavi , Vapaatalo Heikki , Mäenpää Jukka
Published: March 2011

Abstract:  Glaucoma is a common eye disease that can cause irreversible blindness if not diagnosed and treated in the early stages of progression. This disease is often, albeit not always, associated with increased intraocular pressure, which is also the most important risk factor for glaucoma. Currently, the only treatment option of glaucoma is reduction of intraocular pressure. A β‐adrenergic antagonist, timolol, has been used for the treatment of glaucoma and increased intraocular pressure for more than 30 years and still remains the drug of choice. Locally, timolol is well tolerated. However, it has been reported that approximately 80% of a topically administered eye drop is systemically absorbed. Thus, ophthalmic timolol may cause severe adverse cardiovascular and respiratory effects. On the basis of the aforementioned situation, it is somewhat surprising to notice that the metabolism of timolol has only recently been studied in detail even though the drug has been used for decades. Earlier clinical studies have suggested that timolol is metabolized by CYP2D6, an important member of the cytochrome P450 family. Our recent in vitro studies demonstrated convincingly that CYP2D6 is the main enzyme contributing to timolol metabolism, although also CYP2C19 may have a minor role. Liver is the principal site of timolol metabolism, because – according to our recent findings – only negligible amounts of CYP2D6 are expressed in human ocular tissues. After topical administration, systemic timolol concentrations may be high enough to cause cardiovascular and respiratory adverse effects especially in patients who are CYP2D6 poor metabolizers or use concomitant CYP2D6 inhibitors.
Structural Complexity and Distance from Source Habitat Determine Invertebrate Abundance and Diversity
Authors: Mormul Roger P. , Thomaz Sidinei M. , Takeda Alice M. , Behrend Rômulo D.
Published: March 2011

The structural complexity of habitats and the distance from the dispersion source are considered important determinants of species diversity. The fractal dimensions of substrates are a strong alternative measure for quantifying the structural complexity. In this paper, we tested the hypothesis that structural complexity and distance from a dispersion source affect the density and diversity of macro‐invertebrates on submersed macrophytes. To test this hypothesis, we used artificial substrates with different fractal dimensions, which were incubated at different distances from a dispersion source (a stand of macrophytes) in a Neotropical floodplain lake. The relationship between the structural complexity of macrophytes and the density and diversity of invertebrates attached to artificial substrates was positive and significant. On the other hand, distance from the dispersion source negatively affected both the density and diversity of the attached invertebrates. For Oligochaeta, however, there was a significant effect of structural complexity for the artificial plants positioned further away, but it was not significant in the plants positioned closer to the dispersion source. Thus, the effects of complexity depended on the distance from the dispersion source, at least for this specific group of macro‐invertebrates. These results suggest that both structural complexity and distance from the dispersion source should be considered together to explain the diversity of invertebrates in river–floodplain systems. In addition, our results show that there is great potential for using fractal dimensions as a tool to quantify structural complexity in aquatic habitats, especially at the small spatial scales perceived by macro‐invertebrates.

Abstract in Portuguese is available athttp://www.blackwell‐synergy.com/loi/btp.
Creating Egalitarian Families among the Adult Children of Turkish- and Polish-Origin Immigrants in Sweden
Authors: Goldscheider Fran , Goldscheider Calvin , Bernhardt Eva M.
Published: March 2011

This article analyzes the factors shaping egalitarian family relationships among those with two Swedish-born parents and those with at least one parent born in Poland or Turkey. We ask: (1) What factors affect sharing domestic tasks and do they also shape the division of child care responsibilities? (2) Do these effects differ, depending on the extent of exposure to Swedish life? We analyze data from a longitudinal survey conducted between 1999 and 2003. Holding egalitarian work–family attitudes affects actual sharing of housework, but much more for those growing up in more socially integrated than in less integrated families.
Transnational Home Engagement among Latino and Asian Americans: Resources and Motivation
Authors: Tamaki Emi
Published: March 2011

Is immigrant groups’ assimilation to host society at odds with their engagement with the country of ancestral origin? This study divides the concept of assimilation into socioeconomic resources and attachment to host society, and argues that assimilation and transnational perspectives are coexisting paradigms. Analyses using the nationally representative samples of Latino and Asian Americans indicate that higher-order generations reduce the odds of home country engagement, i.e., frequent return visits; attachment to American society does not discourage return visits; socioeconomic resources increase frequent visits; and the country of origin is a significant predictor of home country visits.
Association between preoperative magnetic resonance imaging, pain intensity and quantitative sensory testing in patients awaiting lumbar diskectomy
Authors: Hegarty Dominic , O’Connor Owen J , Moore Micheal , O’Regan Kevin N , Shorten George , Maher Michael M
Published: March 2011

Introduction: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers important information regarding the morphology, location and size of a herniated disc, which influences the decision to offer lumbar diskectomy (LD). This study aims to examine the association between clinical neurophysiologic indices including pain intensity and quantitative sensory testing (QST), and the degree of lumbar nerve root compromise depicted on magnetic resonance (MR) in patients awaiting LD.

Methods: With institutional ethical approval, 16 patients (American Society of Anaesthesiologists Grades I‐II, 18–65 years) with radicular pain for greater than 3 months undergoing elective LD were studied. Preoperative pain was assessed using (i) a visual analogue scale measuring pain intensity at rest and with movement and (ii) by quantifying pain sensory thresholds (St), pain perception thresholds (PPt), and pain tolerance threshold (PTt) using QST. MR images were independently graded by two radiologists blinded to the clinical data using the Pfirrmann grading system. Statistical analyses using Student's t‐tests and Pearson's correlation were preformed where appropriate.

Results: This study showed that: (i) findings on MR imaging corresponded with the symptomatic side and distribution of the pain; (ii) the degree of nerve root compromise, detected on MRI correlated with increased pain intensity at rest; and (iii) QST identified a trend towards higher St, PPt and PTt in patients with higher Pfirrmann grades.

Conclusions: The Pfirrmann grading system of nerve root compromise may be clinically useful preoperatively as a method of identifying individuals who would benefit most from LD. However, additional studies with greater patient numbers and longer follow‐up are required to definitively confirm the findings of this study.
Relative efficacy of different MRI signs in diagnosing active Crohn's disease, compared against a histological gold standard
Authors: Lasocki Arian , Pitman Alexander , Williams Richard , Lui Belinda , Kalade Andrius V , Farish Stephen
Published: March 2011

Introduction: There has been growing interest in the use of MRI in assessing Crohn's disease because of its lack of ionising radiation. Many MRI signs have been described in the literature, but their relative utility is unknown.

Methods: The MRIs of the bowel performed at 1.5 Tesla were blindly reviewed on 26 patients with recent histology (surgery and/or colonoscopy and their associated reports) according to a dedicated pro forma. Each patient's bowel was divided into nine segments. Each segment was assessed as to the presence or absence of 15 MRI signs described in the literature: abnormal gadolinium enhancement (both subjective and objective), wall oedema, fat oedema, fat proliferation, nodal enlargement, free fluid, wall nodularity, serosal blurring, mural thickening >4 mm, stricture, multi‐segmental disease, fistula, abscess and layered contrast enhancement. The results were compared against a histological gold standard with a six‐point scale of disease severity.

Results and conclusions: MRI correctly identified all 15 patients with at least established mucosal disease, and three of eight with only mild mucosal disease. Combining these results, a positive MRI correlated highly with at least early mucosal disease (positive predictive value 95%), while the presence of established mucosal disease was unlikely if MRI was negative (negative predictive value 100%). The MRI signs found to be the most sensitive for detecting active Crohn's disease were those related to the bowel wall, namely, wall thickening, nodularity, contrast enhancement and oedema. The most specific signs were the presence of multi‐segmental disease, layered contrast enhancement and complications (fistula and abscess).
Patterns of failure for glioblastoma multiforme following concurrent radiation and temozolomide
Authors: Dobelbower Michael C , Burnett III Omer L , Nordal Robert A , Nabors Louis B , Markert James M , Hyatt Mark D , Fiveash John B
Published: March 2011

Purpose: To analyse patterns of failure in patients with glioblastoma multiforme treated with concurrent radiation and temozolomide.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of patients treated with concurrent radiation and temozolomide was performed. Twenty patients treated at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, with biopsy‐proven disease, documented disease progression after treatment, and adequate radiation dosimetry and imaging records were included in the study. Patients generally received 46 Gy to the primary tumour and surrounding oedema plus 1 cm, and 60 Gy to the enhancing tumour plus 1 cm. MRIs documenting failure after therapy were fused to the original treatment plans. Contours of post‐treatment tumour volumes were generated from MRIs showing tumour failure and were overlaid onto the original isodose curves. The recurrent tumours were classified as in‐field, marginal or regional. Recurrences were also evaluated for distant failure.

Results: Of the 20 documented failures, all patients had some component of failure at the primary site. Eighteen patients (90%) failed in‐field, 2 patients (10%) had marginal failures, and no regional failures occurred. Four patients (20%) had a component of distant failure in which an independent satellite lesion was located completely outside of the 95% isodose curve.

Conclusions: Radiation concurrent with temozolomide appears to be associated with a moderate risk of distant brain failure in addition to the high rate of local failure. The risk of distant failure was consistent with that observed with radiation alone, suggesting that temozolomide does not act to reduce distant brain failure but to improve local control.
Imaging, radiation oncology and randomised trials: Time for a change?
Authors: Duchesne Gillian M , Wang Shih‐Chang , Hicks Rodney J
Published: March 2011

We discuss the relevance of current trends in clinical trial conduct in light of the burgeoning need to underpin our practice with evidence, the contribution of novel imaging approaches to provide acceptable surrogate endpoints of effect and their place in the individualised medicine of the future.
Miracles in the waiting room of modernity: The canonisation of Dun Ġorġ of Malta
Authors: Baldacchino Jean‐Paul
Published: March 2011

This study will focus on the persistence of ‘pre‐modern’ forms of religious belief in a secular age. By examining in detail the process of canonisation of St. George Preca, the first Maltese saint, this study will explore concepts of the self and relations to the body in a Catholic modernity. The focus on miracles and canonisation in a context other than that of a North Atlantic modernity also allows me to highlight the need to understand the complex relationships among: (i) the official church and believers; (ii) the local elite and the populace; and ultimately, (iii) between religion and science. Lastly, in keeping with the phenomenological and experiential imperatives shared with the contributors to this volume, I conclude this article by outlining what, through an intimate engagement with the religious beliefs of ‘others’, I have come to believe miracles are about: True body event.
Protection against advanced glycation end products and oxidative stress during the development of diabetic keratopathy by KIOM-79
Authors: Kim Junghyun , Kim Chan-Sik , Kim Hyojun , Jeong Il-Ha , Sohn Eunjin , Kim Jin Sook
Published: March 2011

Objectives

KIOM-79 is a mixture of 80% ethanol extracts of parched Puerariae radix, gingered Magnoliae cortex, Glycyrrhizae radix and Euphorbiae radix. The preventive effect of KIOM-79 on the development of diabetic keratopathy has been investigated.

Methods

Seven-week-old male Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats were treated with KIOM-79 (50 mg/kg body weight) once a day orally for 13 weeks. The thickness of the cornea was measured and the extent of corneal cell death was detected by a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labelling assay. The expression of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine, nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB), Bax and Bcl-2 were evaluated in corneal tissues.

Key findings

The administration of KIOM-79 prevented corneal oedema and apoptotic cell death of corneal cells. The accumulation of AGE in corneal tissues was reduced in ZDF rats treated with KIOM-79. Moreover, KIOM-79 attenuated oxidative DNA damage, NF-κB activation and Bax overexpression in the cornea.

Conclusions

The results suggested that KIOM-79 exhibited corneal protective properties by not only reducing oxidative stress but inhibiting the AGEs/NF-κB downstream signal pathway during the development of diabetic keratopathy.
A New Computationally Efficient Model for Tempering in Multitrack Laser Hardening in Medium Carbon Steels
Authors: Fortunato Alessandro , Orazi Leonardo , Tani Giovanni
Published: March 2011

The bottleneck in laser hardening principally occurs when large surfaces have to be treated because this process situation leads to multitrack laser scanning in order to treat all the component surfaces. Unfortunately, multitrack laser trajectories generate an unwanted tempering effect that depends on the overlapping of two close trajectories. To reduce the softening effects, a simulator capable to optimize the process parameters, such as laser power and speed and number and types of trajectories, could sensibly increase the applicability of the process. In this paper, an original model for the tempering is presented. By introducing a tempering time factor for the martensitic transformation, the hardness reduction can be predicted according to any laser process parameters, material, and geometry. Experimental comparisons will be presented to prove the accuracy of the model.