bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Field Data Examination of Policy Constructs Related to Fatigue Conditions in Law Enforcement Personnel
Authors: Senjo Scott R. , Dhungana Karla
Published: February 2009

This study used systematic, semistructured qualitative field interviews for a purposive sample of law enforcement agency directors (e.g., police chiefs, sheriffs) to analyze policy constructs that affect the relationship between fatigue and job performance in law enforcement. Trained interviewers gathered a breadth of field data that describe department-level approaches to policy on secondary employment, overtime, court appearances, and other job-related activities that affect the fatigue of line officers. The findings reveal the reality of a tired workforce but a low-level desire among agency chiefs to have fatigue reduction policy. Where such policy exists, a business-like managerialism dominated executive conceptualization rather than citizen safety or civil liability orientations. Informal controls, rather than formal rules, emerged as applicable tools used to address and reduce officer fatigue.
Mad, sad and hormonal: the gendered nature of adolescent sleep disturbance
Authors: Vallido Tamara , Jackson Debra , O'Brien Louise
Published: February 2009

Up to 40 percent of adolescents experience some form of sleep difficulty, with adolescent girls often reporting higher levels of sleep disturbance and daytime fatigue than boys. This article explores the literature surrounding female adolescent sleep disturbance. The findings reveal that sleep problems in young women can be linked to girls being at an increased risk for puberty-related fatigue, sexual abuse, a higher prevalence of mental illness and sensitivity to familial disruption, and increased domestic and grooming expectations. Implications for nursing practice include initiating conversations about sleep, sleep disturbance and sleeping arrangements when working with adolescent girls. Nurses should gather accurate sleep histories, provide adolescent girls and their caregivers with information and recommend interventions to improve sleep if necessary. Nurses should remain sensitive to the confounding effects of pubertal status, menarche and the cyclic release of hormones when designing and conducting future research into female adolescent sleep disturbance.
`Mommy knows best': parents' perceptions of their infant's health
Authors: Johnelle Sparks Patrice
Published: February 2009

The purpose of the research presented in this article is to analyze how parents assess their child's health, ranging from excellent to poor. Specifically, it asks how the sociodemographic and health characteristics of infants and parents influence parents' perceptions of their child's health status. The data for this research come from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study — Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), which are able to address the relationship between sociodemographic covariates and parents' perceptions of their child's health. Binary logistic regression techniques are used in a nested manner to model the way in which parents arrive at a subjective measure of their child's health status. The results indicate that prior diagnoses of health conditions, interaction with the health care system, parents' assessment of their own health and poverty status influence how parents determine their child's health status.
Category Boundaries Can Be Accentuated Without Increasing Intergroup Bias
Authors: Deffenbacher David M. , Park Bernadette , Judd Charles M. , Correll Joshua
Published: February 2009

Two studies tested whether the boundaries separating groups could be strengthened without increasing intergroup bias. Using a modified minimal group paradigm, the salience of the group distinction was manipulated through instructions that either called attention to the division between the two groups (high salience), or to dimensions orthogonal to group boundaries (low salience). High salience increased both perceived differences between the groups and perceived similarities within the groups. Moreover, participants demonstrated classic intergroup bias, expressing a preference for the ingroup over the outgroup. Critically, however, the magnitude of intergroup bias was not greater in the high salience condition. Study 2 replicated these effects using real groups with a preexisting stereotype. The results suggest that models of prejudice reduction need not rely on minimization of perceived group boundaries in order to be effective.
Everyday Interactions with University Authorities: Authority Treatment Quality, Outcome Favorability and First-Year Students' University Adjustment
Authors: Smith Heather J. , Olson Gerryann , Agronick Gail , Tyler Tom
Published: February 2009

Two hundred and twelve first-year undergraduates completed an authority interaction checklist every time they had a (self-defined) meaningful interaction with university authorities during the first two weeks of their first semester. Students' degree of university identification before they began the term moderated the influence of campus authorities' treatment quality on academic engagement three months later. These longitudinal data provide support for the argument that people who identify with the group the authority represents will interpret the authority's behavior as indicative of their value to the group.
Afterword: In Praise of the A Posteriori
Authors: Lash Scott
Published: February 2009

This article begins with discussions of rationalist, a priori and empiricist, a posteriori thinking in philosophy. It then argues that classically, sociology is rationalist or a priori. Sociology — Weber, Simmel, Durkheim and Marx — moves from Kant's epistemological a priori to the social a priori. It moves from the question of how knowledge is possible to the question of how society is possible. This question of the possibility of society becomes quickly one of social control and social order in functionalism and Parsons. The article argues instead for an aposteriorist, de facto empiricist sociology that breaks with this ultimately normative question. This aposteriorist sociology would instead investigate social processes in their very factuality, their open-endedness, complexity, and path dependency. A priorism in sociology, I would argue, is dominant in both positivism and phenomenology. The article opposes to phenomenology's transcendentaI rationalism a `transcendental empiricism' that is illustrated with Edmund Burke's English and aposteriori aesthetics of the sublime. Sociology today needs to be relevant to study of `emerging' nations like China. The article argues for an aposteriorist, empiricist sociology here, and looks at debates on property law in today's China. Here we look at rationalist and a priori notions of clear, distinct and divisible property in Continental reception of Roman law. We counterpose to this English, empiricist ( a posteriori) Common Law notions of property as a bundle of rights, in which property is not clear and distinct but vague like a boundary object. We look at how this is instantiated in China. With François Jullien, we contrast a Chinese, effectively empiricist, aposteriorist notion of the universal to Western rationalist and a priori universalism. We look at the implications for international geopolitics and a possible Chinese route to democracy. With Jullien, we counterpose an aposteriorist Chinese notion of `activity' to the Western a priori notions of `action' found in Weber and Parsons. The Chinese `activity' is more processual, more relational, less goal-oriented, more path-dependent than our Western notion of `action'. The article argues that in the twenty-first century when national social control is partly displaced by global uncertainty, and when the ascendancy of the West is coming increasingly under question, that such an empiricist, aposteriorist sociology is suitable.
Infancy and Experience
Authors: Oswell David
Published: February 2009

This article explores the question of the empirical in the context of its related notion of experience, inasmuch as the latter explicitly brings into play issues about subjectivity. The article focuses directly on the ideas of the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben concerning infancy and experience, voice and speech, and bare life and politics. In doing so, an argument is made that questions Agamben's recourse to a particular form of linguistic model and makes evident the limitations that such a model poses for an understanding of significant transformations in modern forms of sovereignty regarding the socio-political articulation of highly domesticated voices. The study aims to provide some sociological and social theoretical ground for a consideration of the voice of infancy in contemporary forms of biopolitical sovereignty. In doing so, it suggests that infancy is more than a figuration of experimentation, inasmuch as its voice (hovering between babble and the comprehensible) may resonate across an empirical domain, which is reconfigured through such a voice (or voices) heard, taken seriously and touching others.
Deviance, Dissonance, and Détournement
Authors: Sandlin Jennifer A. , Callahan Jamie L.
Published: February 2009

Because emotion plays such a large part in the creation of the hegemony of consumerist ideology, we contend that any complete understanding of consumer resistance movements must also take into account the role of emotion in fighting against consumerist ideologies and global corporate control. In this article, we theorize about the role emotion plays in consumer resistance social movements — especially those using the resistance tactic of culture jamming. Drawing upon the frameworks of emotional hegemony and emotion management, we present an emotion cycle of resistance associated with consumer resistance activism. We illustrate the cycle by using examples from culture jamming enacted by groups such as Adbusters and Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping.
`Schizophrenic or Occult Harassed?'
Authors: Karlsson Lis Bodil
Published: February 2009

This article analyses a first-hand account written by a male voice hearer. He believed that he was exposed to black magic, while psychiatric staff diagnosed him as schizophrenic. Narrative analysis of the voice hearer's text revealed important knowledge, unrevealed if only the content of the text had been analysed. The voice hearer wanted to initiate dialogue with his readers, including professionals such as social workers. They should not simply dismiss a person as schizophrenic before listening to the story of one troubled by his voices. This study offers one possible way of using language within social work to communicate with the client about his condition.
Generating living theory and understanding in action research studies
Authors: Whitehead Jack
Published: February 2009

The paper explains how individuals can generate their living theories from action research as explanations for their educational influences in learning. The epistemological significance of these explanations is explored in terms of the energy and values that are expressed in explanatory principles of learning in enquiries of the kind, `How do I improve what I am doing?'. Limitations in the expression of the meanings of these explanatory principles through words on pages of printed text are overcome from a perspective of inclusionality and in multi-media explanations that focus on the embodied knowledges of action researchers. These explanations can be accessed through the live URLs provided in the article. Evidence that the explanations of educational influences in learning from Whitehead's educational research programme have been used by others is provided from the masters and doctoral degrees of other living theory action researchers.
Presumptions against school district secession
Authors: Murray Dale
Published: February 2009

While political philosophers have paid a great deal of attention to providing a theory of secession for cases of nations breaking away from nation-states, little has been said about perhaps the most common type of secession — school district secession. I argue that while there is no principled prohibition against school district secession, there are presumptions against the practice. After discussing why justice requires that all children are provided with an education that is autonomy-facilitating and also meets the standards of equality of opportunity, I show that many arguments offered for school district secession do not meet the criteria for justice. Finally, I investigate one policy alternative that concerned parents (at least those with more principled reasons for school district secession) may consider to mitigate their need to secede in cases where they seek more direct participation in the political decisions of their school districts.
The Effects of a Dementia Nurse Care Manager on Improving Caregiver Outcomes Outcomes
Authors: Specht Janet , Bossen Ann , Hall Geri Richards , Zimmerman Bridget , Russell Jane
Published: February 2009

Iowa's Administration on Aging's Alzheimer's Disease Demonstration Grant to the States was a project to implement and evaluate a nurse care management model of service delivery for persons with dementia or care recipient and their family caregiver that was integrated with the case management system. The goal of the nursing service delivery model was to maintain persons with dementia safely in their homes, by connecting them with appropriate services and providing support to the care recipient and caregivers. Outcomes measures were evaluated over time. This article defines the role of dementia nurse care management and shares the results of the outcomes measurements. The evaluation showed that caregivers assisted by nurse care managements were more likely to show improvement in their stress levels, endurance potential, and well-being. This improvement was consistent over time.
Eye Tracking During a Visual Paired Comparison Task as a Predictor of Early Dementia
Authors: Crutcher Michael D. , Calhoun-Haney Rose , Manzanares Cecelia M. , Lah James J. , Levey Allan I. , Zola Stuart M.
Published: February 2009

The authors present findings from a behavioral task (visual paired comparison) using infrared eye-tracking that could potentially be useful in predicting the onset of Alzheimer's disease. Delay intervals of 2 seconds and 2 minutes were used between the initial viewing of a picture and when the picture was displayed alongside a novel picture. Eye-tracking revealed that at the 2-second delay, 6 patients with mild cognitive impairment, 15 matched control participants (normal control), and 4 neurological control participants with Parkinson's disease performed comparably, viewing the novel picture greater than 71% of the time. When the delay increased to 2 minutes, patients with mild cognitive impairment viewed the novel picture only 53% of the time (P < .05), while control participants and participants with Parkinson's disease remained above 70%. These findings demonstrate the usefulness of this task for assessing normal as well as impaired memory function.
Vision Restoration Through Extrastriate Stimulation in Patients With Visual Field Defects: A Double-Blind and Randomized Experimental Study
Authors: Jobke Sandra , Kasten Erich , Sabel Bernhard A.
Published: February 2009

Background. Vision restoration therapy (VRT) to treat visual field defects used single-point visual stimulation in areas of residual vision up to now. The question arises if the efficiency of restoration can be increased when the entire region of blindness is trained by a visual stimulus aimed at activating extrastriate pathways (extrastriate VRT). Methods. In this crossover study, 18 patients with visual field defects with prior VRT experience were treated with 2 training paradigms. Group 1 (n = 8) first used extrastriate VRT followed by conventional standard VRT. Group 2 (n = 10) trained in reverse order. Visual field size was assessed with computer-based perimetry and subjective vision with the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ). Results . In group 1, stimulus detection in high-resolution perimetry (HRP) improved by 5.9% ( P < .01) after extrastriate VRT. After the second training period (standard VRT), detection further improved by 1.8% ( P = .093). In group 2, detection performance improved after standard VRT by 2.9% ( P < .05) and after extrastriate VRT by 2.9% ( P < .05). Detection performance increased twice as much after extrastriate VRT (4.2%) than after standard VRT (2.4%; P < .05). All changes in fixation performance were unrelated to detection improvements. NEI-VFQ did not show any significant changes. Conclusion. Greater improvement after extrastriate VRT is interpreted as an activation of extrastriate pathways by massive “spiral-like” stimulation. These pathways bypass the damaged visual cortex, stimulating extrastriate cortical regions, and are thought to be involved in blindsight.
Implementing a clinical academic career pathway in nursing; criteria for success and challenges ahead
Authors: Latter Sue , Clark Jill Macleod , Geddes Cathy , Kitsell Fleur
Published: February 2009

Abstract

Following the United Kingdom Clinical Research Collaboration’s (UKCRC) (2007) recommendations on careers in clinical research, there has been growing anticipation in the United Kingdom about the real potential for establishing career pathways for nurses and allied health professionals that will enable them to combine a focus on both clinical and academic roles. However, it is recognized that the implementation of this initiative will require charting largely untested waters, with issues ranging from establishing joint University: health service employment contracts, to harmonizing clinical and research roles and ensuring sustainability of funding for clinical academic posts. This paper will outline the implementation of a pilot clinical academic career initiative, which has been modelled on the UKCRC framework. We will illuminate the processes and structures employed and reflect on the factors that appear critical to the successful establishment of a clinical academic career pathway. Additionally, our experience has enabled us to identify challenges that will need to be addressed by a range of stakeholders if clinical academic careers are to flourish and deliver their potential at a national level as a modern career option for nurses and allied health professionals.
A review of nurse educator career pathways; a European perspective
Authors: Jackson Christine , Bell Louise , Zabalegui Adelaida , Palese Alvisa , Sigurðardóttir Árún K , Owen Sara
Published: February 2009

Abstract

In 1999, the Bologna declaration was established to increase standardisation of higher education including nursing education across Europe. This process encourages improved workforce mobility within the European Union as qualifications become increasingly recognised across a number of European countries. This article identifies current intelligence around a specific discipline in nursing: regarding the nurse educator, what is written and known about career pathways, the underlying influences within nurse training and further opportunities for study at the higher academic levels. A study of the literature across European countries together with a focus group workshop of nurse educators held in Udine, Italy, in November 2007 has enabled the authors to review the position and status of nurse educators across a number of European countries and identify factors affecting nurse educator mobility. Common themes and shared concerns have been identified as has recommendations for future research.
Macaulay's (Cyber) Children: The Cultural Politics of Outsourcing in India
Authors: Nadeem Shehzad
Published: February 2009

This article explores how globalization is shaping the aspirations and identities of the Indian middle class and in particular those employed by the outsourcing industry. While these aspirations do not have a clearly defined object, they cluster around an idea of the West as the locus of modernity.The West's mystique derives, no doubt as it did in the colonial period, from the fact that it is the author of dramatic change. But this also prompts a certain anxiety among the middle class that such change is somehow corrupting. Drawing on in-depth interviews and ethnographic fieldwork in India, I argue that globalization does not herald an era of unprecedented personal freedom, a belated modernity, nor does it signify a crisis of the `traditional' Indian family. It is an Indian morality play where the pleasure principle clashes with the demands of custom and obligation, where kama (pleasure) and dharma (duty) meet in uneasy suspension.
Visions of Wales: Visual Artists and Cultural Futures
Authors: Housley William
Published: February 2009

This article explores the narrative of prominent visual artists practising within post-devolution Wales. The article adopts a sociological approach and does not seek to engage with perspectives promoted by art history or cultural studies. It utilises exemplar narratives gathered from over 20 in-depth ethnographic interviews with established visual artists working in Wales and explores the manner through which practitioners display various configurations of cultural futures and, at the same time, occupy discursive roles in which the voice of the artist performs visionary and moralizing work in relation to Welsh art-world futures. The article concludes by arguing that such positions and narrative form crucial data and resources for re-conceptualizing cultural policy formation and modernization in which the voice of the artist is recognized, acknowledged and heard.
`From Molehills Mountains Made: An Examination of Red and Blue State Cultural Stereotypes
Authors: Koch Pamela Ray , Carr Steelman Lala
Published: February 2009

Since 2000, in the USA Republican voting states have been called red and the Democrat ones called blue. We explore whether or not the cultural stereotype that red states harbour more virtuous constituents than blue states has merit. We relate the extent to which electoral votes were cast for George Bush during the 2004 election, a variable that we specify as the degree of redness, to a scale of moral conduct at the state level. This scale is a composite of indicators of socially disapproved behaviours that conservatives in particular are more concerned about than are liberals in the USA. The scale is an equally weighted sum of ranks on 13 aggregated indicators of behaviours. Our scale includes activities that are most strongly advocated and campaigned against by conservatives and covers sexual behaviour, substance abuse, family breakdown, and crime rates. Data are extracted from a variety of sources in 2000. We examine the untested presumption that inhabitants of red states are more moral than those in blue states, as some commonly held stereotypes would lead us to believe. No matter how the analysis is conducted, we reach the same inescapable conclusion. The red state/ blue state dichotomy just does not pan out empirically.
Autotitratingversusstandard noninvasive ventilation: a randomised crossover trial
Authors: Jaye J. , Chatwin M. , Dayer M. , Morrell M. J. , Simonds A. K.
Published: February 2009

The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of automatic titration of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) with conventional NIV in stable neuromuscular and chest wall disorder patients established on long-term ventilatory support.

In total, 20 neuromuscular and chest wall disease patients with nocturnal hypoventilation treated with long-term NIV completed a randomised crossover trial comparing two noninvasive pressure support ventilators: a standard bilevel ventilator (VPAP III) and a novel autotitrating bilevel ventilator (AutoVPAP). Baseline physiological measurements, overnight polysomnography and Holter monitoring were repeated at the end of each 1-month treatment period.

Nocturnal oxygenation was comparable between the autotitrating device and standard ventilator, as were sleep efficiency, arousals and heart rate variability. However, there was a small significant increase in mean overnight transcutaneous carbon dioxide tension (median (interquartile range) 7.2 (6.7–7.7)versus6.7 (6.1–7.0) kPa) and a decrease in percentage stage 1 sleep (mean±sd16±9versus19±10%) on autotitrating NIV compared with conventional NIV.

Autotitrating noninvasive ventilation using AutoVPAP produced comparable control of nocturnal oxygenation to standard nonivasive ventilation, without compromising sleep quality in stable neuromuscular and chest wall disease patients requiring long-term ventilatory support for nocturnal hypoventilation.
Pulmonary necrobiotic nodules: a rare extraintestinal manifestation of Crohn's disease
Authors: Warwick G. , Leecy T. , Silverstone E. , Rainer S. , Feller R. , Yates D. H.
Published: February 2009

The present article reports the case of a 22-yr-old female with new onset Crohn's colitis, anterior uveitis and multiple pulmonary nodules which, on histological examination, were necrobiotic nodules. This is a rare but recognised pulmonary extraintestinal manifestation of Crohn's disease and only the fourth reported case. The present case report is followed by a brief review of the relevant literature.
Disease candidate gene identification and prioritization using protein interaction networks
Authors: Chen Jing , Aronow Bruce J , Jegga Anil G
Published: February 2009

Background

Although most of the current disease candidate gene identification and prioritization methods depend on functional annotations, the coverage of the gene functional annotations is a limiting factor. In the current study, we describe a candidate gene prioritization method that is entirely based on protein-protein interaction network (PPIN) analyses.

Results

For the first time, extended versions of the PageRank and HITS algorithms, and the K-Step Markov method are applied to prioritize disease candidate genes in a training-test schema. Using a list of known disease-related genes from our earlier study as a training set ("seeds"), and the rest of the known genes as a test list, we perform large-scale cross validation to rank the candidate genes and also evaluate and compare the performance of our approach. Under appropriate settings – for example, a back probability of 0.3 for PageRank with Priors and HITS with Priors, and step size 6 for K-Step Markov method – the three methods achieved a comparable AUC value, suggesting a similar performance.

Conclusion

Even though network-based methods are generally not as effective as integrated functional annotation-based methods for disease candidate gene prioritization, in a one-to-one comparison, PPIN-based candidate gene prioritization performs better than all other gene features or annotations. Additionally, we demonstrate that methods used for studying both social and Web networks can be successfully used for disease candidate gene prioritization.
Detection and quantification of Lyme spirochetes using sensitive and specific molecular beacon probes
Authors: Saidac Diana S , Marras Salvatore AE , Parveen Nikhat
Published: February 2009

Background

Lyme disease, caused byBorrelia burgdorferi, affects a large number of people in both the USA and Europe. The mouse is a natural host for this spirochete and is widely used as a model system to study Lyme pathogenesis mechanisms. Since disease manifestations often depend upon the spirochete burden in a particular tissue, it is critical to accurately measure the bacterial number in infected tissues. The current methods either lack sensitivity and specificity (SYBR Green), or require independent analysis of samples in parallel to quantitate host and bacterial DNA (TaqMan). We have developed a novel molecular beacon-based convenient multiplex real-time quantitative PCR assay to identify and detect small numbers ofB. burgdorferiin infected mouse tissues.

Results

We show here that molecular beacons are effective, sensitive and specific probes for detecting and estimating wide-ranging numbers ofB. burgdorferiin the presence of mouse DNA. In our assays, the spirocheterecAand the mousenidogengene amplicons were detected simultaneously using molecular beacons labeled with different fluorophores. We further validated the application of these probes by quantifying the wild-type strain andbgp-defective mutant ofB. burgdorferi. Thebgp-defective mutant shows a ten-fold reduction in the level of spirochetes present in various tissues.

Conclusion

The high sensitivity and specificity of molecular beacons makes them superior probes for the detection of small numbers ofB. burgdorferi. Furthermore, the use of molecular beacons can be expanded for the simultaneous detection and quantification of multiple pathogens in the infected hosts, including humans, and in the arthropod vectors.
Five QTL hotspots for yield in short rotation coppice bioenergy poplar: The Poplar Biomass Loci
Authors: Rae Anne M , Street Nathaniel Robert , Robinson Kathryn Megan , Harris Nicole , Taylor Gail
Published: February 2009

Background

Concern over land use for non-food bioenergy crops requires breeding programmes that focus on producing biomass on the minimum amount of land that is economically-viable. To achieve this, the maximum potential yield per hectare is a key target for improvement. For long lived tree species, such as poplar, this requires an understanding of the traits that contribute to biomass production and their genetic control. An important aspect of this for long lived plants is an understanding of genetic interactions at different developmental stages, i.e. how genes or genetic regions impact on yield over time.

Results

QTL mapping identified regions of genetic control for biomass yield. We mapped consistent QTL across multiple coppice cycles and identified five robust QTL hotspots on linkage groups III, IV, X, XIV and XIX, calling these 'Poplar Biomass Loci' (PBL 1–5). In total 20% of the variation in final harvest biomass yield was explained by mapped QTL. We also investigated the genetic correlations between yield related traits to identify 'early diagnostic' indicators of yield showing that early biomass was a reasonable predictor of coppice yield and that leaf size, cell number and stem and sylleptic branch number were also valuable traits.

Conclusion

These findings provide insight into the genetic control of biomass production and correlation to 'early diagnostic' traits determining yield in poplar SRC for bioenergy. QTL hotspots serve as useful targets for directed breeding for improved biomass productivity that may also be relevant across additional poplar hybrids.
Differential expression of Caveolin-1 in hepatocellular carcinoma: correlation with differentiation state, motility and invasion
Authors: Cokakli Murat , Erdal Esra , Nart Deniz , Yilmaz Funda , Sagol Ozgul , Kilic Murat , Karademir Sedat , Atabey Nese
Published: February 2009

Background

Caveolin-1 is the main component of caveolae membrane structures and has different roles during tumorigenesis in different cancer types with varying expression profiles, indicating that the role of caveolin-1 varies according to tumor type. In this study, we investigated the role and expression of caveolin-1 in hepatocellular carcinogenesis.

Methods

We analyzed the expression of Caveolin-1 in 96 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 29 cirrhosis, 20 normal liver tissues and 9 HCC cell lines by immunostaining and western blotting, respectively. After caveolin-1 was stably transfected to HepG2 and Huh7 cells, the effects of Caveolin-1 on the cellular motility, matrix invasion and anchorage-independent growth were studied. Also, caveolae structure was disrupted in endogenously caveolin expressing cells, SNU 449 and SNU 475 by addition of methyl-β-cyclodextrin and analyzed cellular motility and invasion.

Results

In HCC cell lines, Caveolin-1 expression is correlated to differentiation and basal motility status of these cells. The percentage of Caveolin-1 positivity was found extremely low in normal liver tissue (5%) while it was increased in cirrhosis (45%) and in HCC (66%) (p = 0.002 and p = 0.001 respectively). Cav-1 expression in poorly differentiated HCC samples has been found significantly higher than well differentiated ones (p = 0.001). The caveolin-1 expression was found significantly higher in tumor cells than its peritumoral cirrhotic tissues in HCC samples (p < 0.001). Additionally, the patients with positive staining for Caveolin-1 had significantly higher portal vein invasion than those with negative staining (p = 0.02). Caveolin-1 overexpression increased motility and invasion of HepG2 and Huh7 cells. And disruption of caveolae results in a dramatic decline in both motility and invasion abilities in SNU-449 and SNU-475 cells. Furthermore, caveolin-1 overexpression resulted in down-regulation of E-cadherin while up-regulation of Vimentin. Also, it increased secreted MMP-2 and expression levels of MMP-9 and MT1-MMP. There was no significant difference in colony formation in soft agar between stable clones and parental ones.

Conclusion

In conclusion, stepwise increase in Cav-1 expression in neoplastic stage with respect to pre-neoplastic stage during hepatocellular carcinogenesis and its ability to stimulate HCC cell motility and invasiveness indicate that this protein plays a crucial role in tumor progression.
Loss of heterozygosity of TRIM3 in malignant gliomas
Authors: Boulay Jean-Louis , Stiefel Urs , Taylor Elisabeth , Dolder Béatrice , Merlo Adrian , Hirth Frank
Published: February 2009

Background

Malignant gliomas are frequent primary brain tumors associated with poor prognosis and very limited response to conventional chemo- and radio-therapies. Besides sharing common growth features with other types of solid tumors, gliomas are highly invasive into adjacent brain tissue, which renders them particularly aggressive and their surgical resection inefficient. Therefore, insights into glioma formation are of fundamental interest in order to provide novel molecular targets for diagnostic purposes and potential anti-cancer drugs. Human Tripartite motif protein 3 (TRIM3) encodes a structural homolog of Drosophila brain tumor (brat) implicated in progenitor cell proliferation control and cancer stem cell suppression. TRIM3 is located within the loss of allelic heterozygosity (LOH) hotspot of chromosome segment 11p15.5, indicating a potential role in tumor suppression. ...

Methods

Here we analyze 70 primary human gliomas of all types and grades and report somatic deletion mapping as well as single nucleotide polymorphism analysis together with quantitative real-time PCR of chromosome segment 11p15.5.

Results

Our analysis identifies LOH in 17 cases (24%) of primary human glioma which defines a common 130 kb-wide interval within the TRIM3 locus as a minimal area of loss. We further detect altered genomic dosage of TRIM3 in two glioma cases with LOH at 11p15.5, indicating homozygous deletions of TRIM3.

Conclusion

Loss of heterozygosity of chromosome segment 11p15.5 in malignant gliomas suggests TRIM3 as a candidate brain tumor suppressor gene.
A closer look at the increase in suicide rates in South Korea from 1986–2005
Authors: Kwon Jin-Won , Chun Heeran , Cho Sung-il
Published: February 2009

Background

Suicide rates have recently been decreasing on average among OECD countries, but increasing trends have been detected in South Korea, particularly since the 1997 economic crisis. There have been no detailed analyses about the changes of the suicide rates over time periods in Korea. We examined trends in both absolute and proportional suicide rates over the time period of economic development, crisis, and recovery (1986 – 2005) as well as in birth cohorts from 1924 to 1978.

Methods

We used data on total mortality and suicide rates from 1986 to 2005 published online by the Korean National Statistical Office (NSO) and extracted data for individuals under 80 years old. The analyses of the trends for 1) the sex-age-specific total mortality rate, 2) the sex-age-specific suicide rate, and 3) the sex-age-specific proportional suicide rate in 1986–2005 were conducted. To demonstrate the birth cohort effect on the proportional suicide rate, the synthetic birth cohort from 1924 to 1978 from the successive cross-sectional data was constructed.

Results

Age standardized suicide rates in South Korea increased by 98% in men (from 15.3 to 30.3 per 100,000) and by 124% in women (from 5.8 to 13.0 per 100,000). In both genders, the proportional increase in suicide rates was more prominent among the younger group aged under 45, despite the absolute increase being attributed to the older group. There were distinct cohort effects underlying increasing suicide rates particularly among younger age groups.

Conclusion

Increasing suicide rates in Korea was composed of a greater absolute increase in the older group and a greater proportional increase in the younger group.
Help-seeking behaviors for female sexual dysfunction: a cross sectional study from Iran
Authors: Vahdaninia Mariam , Montazeri Ali , Goshtasebi Azita
Published: February 2009

Background

Female sexual dysfunctions (FSD) are prevalent multifactor problems that in general remain misdiagnosed in primary health care. This population-based study investigated help-seeking behaviors among women with FSD in Iran.

Methods

This was a cross sectional study carried out in Kohgilouyeh-Boyer-Ahmad province in Iran. Using quota sampling all sexually active women aged 15 and over registered in primary health care delivery centers were studied. Experience of sexual problems was assessed using an ad-hoc questionnaire (Female sexual dysfunction: help-seeking behaviors survey) containing 14 items. Trained female nurses interviewed all participants after a verbal informed consent. Data were analyzed in a descriptive manner.

Results

In all 1540 women were studied. Of these, 786 (51%) cases had experienced at least one of the FSD problems. Results showed that 35.8% of women with FSD had sought no professional help and the most reasons for not seeking help were identified as: 'time constraints' and believing that it 'did not occur to me' (39.1 and 28.5% respectively). Sixty one percent of women who sought help for FSD reported that 'doctor gave me a definite diagnosis' and 'a definite treatment plan was given' in 57% of cases.

Conclusion

The study findings indicated that FSD problems were prevalent and many women did not seek help for their problem. Finding 'time constraints' and believing that the problem 'did not occur to me' as the most cited reasons for not seeking help might facilitate to understand potential barriers that exist in recognition and treatment of the female sexual dysfunctions. Since FSD might have a negative impact on interpersonal relationships and women's quality of life, it seems that there is need to address the problem both at local and national primary health care services.
Evidence-based effect size estimation:An illustration using the case of acupuncture for cancer-related fatigue
Authors: Johnston Michael F , Hays Ron D , Hui Ka-Kit
Published: February 2009

Background

Estimating a realistic effect size is an important issue in the planning of clinical studies of complementary and alternative medicine therapies. When a minimally important difference is not available, researchers may estimate effect size using the published literature. This evidence-based effect size estimation may be used to produce a range of empirically-informed effect size and consequent sample size estimates. We provide an illustration of deriving plausible effect size ranges for a study of acupuncture in the relief of post-chemotherapy fatigue in breast cancer patients.

Methods

A PubMed search identified three uncontrolled studies reporting the effect of acupuncture in relieving fatigue. A separate search identified five randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with a wait-list control of breast cancer patients receiving standard care that reported data on fatigue. We use these published data to produce best, average, and worst-case effect size estimates and related sample size estimates for a trial of acupuncture in the relief of cancer-related fatigue relative to a wait-list control receiving standard care.

Results

Use of evidence-based effect size estimation to calculate sample size requirements for a study of acupuncture in relieving fatigue in breast cancer survivors relative to a wait-list control receiving standard care suggests that an adequately-powered phase III randomized controlled trial comprised of two arms would require at least 101 subjects (52 per arm) if a strong effect is assumed for acupuncture and 235 (118 per arm) if a moderate effect is assumed.

Conclusion

Evidence-based effect size estimation helps justify assumptions in light of empirical evidence and can lead to more realistic sample size calculations, an outcome that would be of great benefit for the field of complementary and alternative medicine.
Are classification criteria for vasculitis useful in clinical practice? Observations and lessons from Colombia
Authors: Patarroyo Paúl Alejandro Méndez , Restrepo José Félix , Rojas Samanda Adriana , Rondón Federico , Matteson Eric L , Iglesias-Gamarra Antonio
Published: February 2009

Introduction

Idiopathic systemic vasculitis represents a group of clinical entities having non-specific etiology with the common characteristic of acute or chronic inflammatory compromise of the small and large vessels walls, associated with fibrinoid necrosis.

Objectives

To describe the most common inflammatory vascular diseases in a long historical cohort of patients from San Juan de Dios Hospital located in Bogota, Colombia using two different systems and a clinical histopathological correlation format, and to make a comparison between them.

Methods

We reviewed all previously ascertained cases of vasculitis confirmed by biopsy processed between 1953 and 1990, and systematically collected data on all new cases of vasculitis from 1991 to 1997 at the Hospital San Juan de Dios (Bogota – Colombia). The cases were classified in accordance with the Chapel Hill Consensus criteria, and the system proposed by J.T. Lie.

Results

Of 165,556 biopsy tissue specimens obtained during this period from our hospital, 0.18% had vasculitis, perivasculitis or vasculopathy. These included 304 histopathological biopsies from 292 patients. Cutaneous leukocytoclastic vasculitis (64 histological specimens) was the most frequently encountered type of "primary" vasculitis followed by thromboangiitis obliterans (38 specimens), and polyarteritis nodosa (24 specimens). Vasculitis associated with connective tissue diseases (33 specimens) and infection (20 specimens) were the main forms of secondary vasculitis, a category that was omitted from the Chapel Hill consensus report. We found that 65.8% of our histopathological diagnoses could not be classified according to the Chapel Hill classification, and 35.2% could not be classified according to the classification of Lie. Only 8.9% of cases remained unclassified by our system after clinical and histological correlation.

Conclusion

Current vasculitis classification schemes are designed for classification, rather that diagnosis of disease and do not adequately address some common forms of inflammatory vascular diseases, including those of infectious etiology and unusual etiology seen in clinical practice. Based on our clinical experience, we suggest a classification outline which practitioners can use which emphasizes correlation of the clinical picture to the histopathology findings for diagnosis and therapy, which may promote better clinical practice and standardization for clinical trials.
Methodological issues in estimating survival in patients with multiple primary cancers: an application to women with breast cancer as a first tumour
Authors: Rosso Stefano , Ricceri Fulvio , Terracini Lea , Zanetti Roberto
Published: February 2009

Background

Comparing survival of patients with a single tumour and patients with multiple primaries poses different methodological problems. In population based studies, where we cannot rely on detailed clinical information, the issue is disentangling the share of survival probability from the first and second cancer, and their compounded effect. We examined three hypotheses: A) the survival probability since the first tumour does not change with the occurrence of a second tumour; B) the probability of surviving a tumour does not change with the presence of a previous primary; C) the probabilities of surviving two subsequent primary tumours are independent (additivity hypothesis on mortality rates).

Methods

We studied the survival probabilities modelling mortality rates according to hypotheses A), B) and C). Mortality rates were calculated using Aalen-Johansen estimators which allowed to discount for the lag-time survival before developing a second tumour. We applied this approach to a cohort of 436 women with breast cancer (BC) and a subsequent tumour in the resident population of Turin, Italy, between 1985 and 2002.

Results

We presented our results in term of a Standardised Mortality Ratio calculated (SMR
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) after 10 years of follow-up. For hypothesis A we observed a significant excess mortality of 2.21 (95% C.I. 1.94 – 2.45). Concerning hypothesis B we found a not significant SMR
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of 0.98 (95% C.I. 0.87 – 1.10). The additivity hypothesis (C) was not confirmed as it overestimated the risk of death, in fact SMRs
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were all below 1: 0.75 (95% C.I. 0.66 – 0.84) for BC and all subsequent cancers, 0.72 (95% C.I. 0.55 – 0.94) for BC and colon-rectum cancer, 0.76 (95% C.I. 0.48 – 1.14) for BC and corpus uteri cancer (not significant).

Conclusion

This method proved to be useful in disentangling the effect of different subsequent cancers on mortality. In our application it shows a worse long-term mortality for women with two cancers than that with BC only. However, the increase in mortality was lower than expected under the additivity assumption.
ALK-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: report of four cases and review of the literature
Authors: Beltran Brady , Castillo Jorge , Salas Renzo , Quiñones Pilar , Morales Domingo , Hurtado Fernando , Riva Luis , Winer Eric
Published: February 2009

Background

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (ALK-DLBCL) is a rare lymphoma with several clinicopathological differences from ALK-positive anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). The latest WHO classification of lymphomas recognizes ALK-DLBCL as a separate entity.

Methods

A comprehensive comparison was made between the clinical and pathological features of the 4 cases reported and those found in an extensive literature search using MEDLINE through December 2008.

Results

In our series, three cases were adults and one was pediatric. Two cases had primary extranodal disease (multifocal bone and right nasal fossa). Stages were I (n = 1), II (n = 1), III (n = 1) and IV (n = 1). Two cases had increased LDH levels and three reported B symptoms. IPI scores were 0 (n = 1), 2 (n = 2) and 3 (n = 1). All cases exhibited plasmablastic morphology. By immunohistochemistry, cases were positive for cytoplasmic ALK, MUM1, CD45, and EMA; they marked negative for CD3, CD30 and CD20. Studies for EBV and HHV-8 were negative. The survival for the patients with stage I, II, III and IV were 13, 62, 72 and 11 months, respectively.

Conclusion

ALK-DLBCL is a distinct variant of DLBCL with plasmacytic differentiation, which is characterized by a bimodal age incidence curve, primarily nodal involvement, plasmablastic morphology, lack of expression of CD20, aggressive behavior and poor response to standard therapies, although some cases can have prolonged survival as the cases reported in this study. ALK-DLBCL does not seem associated to immunosuppression or the presence of EBV or HHV8. Further prospective studies are needed to optimize therapies for this entity.