bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lack of AMPKα2 enhances pyruvate dehydrogenase activity during exercise
Authors: Klein Ditte K. , Pilegaard Henriette , Treebak Jonas T. , Jensen Thomas E. , Viollet Benoit , Schjerling Peter , Wojtaszewski Jørgen F. P.
Published: August 2007

5′-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) was recently suggested to regulate pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) activity and thus pyruvate entry into the mitochondrion. We aimed to provide evidence for a direct link between AMPK and PDH in resting and metabolically challenged (exercised) skeletal muscle. Compared with rest, treadmill running increased AMPKα1 activity in α2KO mice (90%, P < 0.01) and increased AMPKα2 activity in wild-type (WT) mice (110%, P < 0.05), leading to increased AMPKα Thr172(WT: 40%, α2KO: 100%, P < 0.01) and ACCβ Ser227phosphorylation (WT: 70%, α2KO: 210%, P < 0.01). Compared with rest, exercise significantly induced PDH-E1α site 1 (WT: 20%, α2KO: 62%, P < 0.01) and site 2 (only α2KO: 83%, P < 0.01) dephosphorylation and PDHa[∼200% in both genotypes ( P < 0.01)]. Compared with WT, PDH dephosphorylation and activation was markedly enhanced in the α2KO mice both at rest and during exercise. The increased PDHaactivity during exercise was associated with elevated glycolytic flux, and muscles from the α2KO mice displayed marked lactate accumulation and deranged energy homeostasis. Whereas mitochondrial DNA content was normal, the expression of several mitochondrial proteins was significantly decreased in muscle of α2KO mice. In isolated resting EDL muscles, activation of AMPK signaling by AICAR did not change PDH-E1α phosphorylation in either genotype. PDH is activated in mouse skeletal muscle in response to exercise and is independent of AMPKα2 expression. During exercise, α2KO muscles display deranged energy homeostasis despite enhanced glycolytic flux and PDHaactivity. This may be linked to decreased mitochondrial oxidative capacity.
Oxygen availability and PCr recovery rate in untrained human calf muscle: evidence of metabolic limitation in normoxia
Authors: Haseler Luke J. , Lin Alexander , Hoff Jan , Richardson Russell S.
Published: August 2007

In contrast to their exercise-trained counterparts, the maximal oxidative rate of skeletal muscle in sedentary humans appears not to benefit from supplemental O2 availability but is impacted by severe hypoxia, suggesting a metabolic limitation either at or below ambient O2 levels. However, the critical level of O2 availability at which maximal metabolic rate is reduced in sedentary humans is unknown. Using 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy and arterial oximetry, phosphocreatine (PCr) recovery kinetics and arterial oxygenation were assessed in six sedentary subjects performing 5-min bouts of plantar flexion exercise followed by 6 min of recovery. Each trial was repeated while breathing one of four different fractions of inspired O2 (FIO2) (0.10, 0.12, 0.15, and 0.21). The PCr recovery rate constant (a marker of oxidative capacity) was unaffected by reductions in FIO2, remaining at a value of 1.5 ± 0.2 min−1 until arterial O2 saturation (SaO2) fell to less than ∼92%, the average value reached breathing an FIO2 of 0.15. Below this SaO2, the PCr rate constant fell significantly by 13 and 31% to 1.3 ± 0.2 and 1.0 ± 0.2 min−1 ( P < 0.05) as SaO2 was reduced to 82 ± 3 and 77 ± 2%, respectively. In conclusion, this study has revealed that O2 availability does not impact maximal oxidative rate in sedentary humans until the O2 level falls well below that of ambient air, indicating a metabolic limitation in normoxia.
Aldosterone receptor antagonism alleviates proteinuria, but not malignant hypertension, in Cyp1a1-Ren2 transgenic rats
Authors: Ortiz Rudy M. , Graciano Miguel L. , Mullins John J. , Mitchell Kenneth D.
Published: August 2007

The contribution of elevated aldosterone to the pathogenesis of malignant, ANG II-dependent hypertension remains uncertain. Therefore, we examined whether chronic mineralocorticoid receptor blockade attenuates the development of malignant hypertension in transgenic rats (TGRs) with inducible expression of the Ren2 gene [TGR(Cyp1a1Ren2)]. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured by radiotelemetry in male TGRs in three groups: 1) control ( n = 9), 2) hypertensives (HT; n = 8), and 3) hypertensives + spironolactone (11 mg·kg−1·day−1 sc; HTS; n = 8). Malignant hypertension was induced with dietary indole-3-carbinol (0.3%) for 10 days. Metabolic measurements were taken at the beginning of the study and at days 2 and 9. HT exhibited elevated SBP (125 ± 3 vs. 187 ± 5 mmHg), plasma renin activity (5 ± 1 vs. 29 ± 10 ng ANG I·ml−1·h−1), plasma ANG II (175 ± 39 vs. 611 ± 74 fmol/ml), and plasma aldosterone (0.31 ± 0.04 vs. 5.42 ± 1.02 nmol/l). Urinary aldosterone excretion increased 5.5-fold by day 2 and an additional 90% by day 9. HT was associated with a 1.8-fold increase in proteinuria by day 9 that was alleviated by treatment with spironolactone (25 ± 5 vs. 13 ± 3 mg/day), suggesting that aldosterone contributes to the renal damage observed in malignant hypertension. Urinary Na+ excretion was decreased 76% on day 2, despite a sixfold increase in urinary aldosterone excretion. Decrease in urinary Na+ excretion on day 2 in HT suggests that Na+ reabsorption was increased in response to the increase in aldosterone; however, the lack of a change in SBP between HT and HTS suggests that mechanisms independent of aldosterone stimulation make a greater contribution to the maintenance of elevated arterial pressure in malignant hypertension in Cyp1a1-Ren2 transgenic rats.
Proactive and Reactive Mechanisms Play a Role in Stepping on Inverting Surfaces During Gait
Authors: Nieuwenhuijzen P.H.J.A. , Duysens J.
Published: August 2007

Ankle inversions have been studied extensively during standing conditions. However, inversion traumas occur during more dynamic conditions, like walking. Therefore in this study sudden ankle inversions were elicited in 12 healthy subjects who stepped on a trap door while walking on a treadmill. First, 10 control trials (0° of rotation) were presented. Then, 20 stimulus (25° of rotation) and control trials were presented randomly. EMG recordings were made of six lower leg muscles. All muscles showed a short-latency response (SLR) of about 40 ms and a late-latency response (LLR) of about 90 ms. The peroneal muscles showed the largest amplitudes in both responses. The functionally more important, larger, and more consistent LLR response was too late to resist the induced stretch during the inversion. The functional relevance of this response must lie after the inversion. During the first trial a widespread “startle-like” coactivation of the LLR was observed. The last trials showed only a recruitment of the peroneal muscles and, to a lesser extent, the gastrocnemius lateralis, which is seen as a switch from reactive control to more proactive adaptive strategies. These proactive strategies were investigated separately by comparing trials in which inversion was expected (but did not occur) with those in which subjects knew that no inversion would occur. Anticipation of a possible inversion was expressed in decreased tibialis anterior activity before initial contact, consistent with a more cautious and stable foot placement. Furthermore, immediately after landing, the peroneal muscles were activated to counteract the upcoming stretch.
Expression and Secretion of CXCL8 (IL-8), Release of Tryptase and Transcription of Histidine Decarboxylase mRNA by Anti-IgE-Activated Human Umbilical Cord Blood-Derived Cultured Mast Cells
Authors: Castellani Maria L. , Shaik Yasdani B. , Perrella Alessandro , Frydas Stavros , Simeonidou Isaia , Salini Vincenzo , Tetè Stefano , Conti Chiara M. , Vecchiet Jacopo , Theoharides Theoharides C. , Conti Pio , De Lutiis Maria A.
Published: August 2007

Activation of cytokine receptors and alterations in cytokines are thought to play important roles in neuronal dysfunction and in the pathogenesis of the nervous system diseases. CXCL8 (IL-8) is a CXC chemokine with chemotactic and inflammatory properties. Chemokines control mast cell infiltration in several inflammatory diseases, including stress and neurological dysfunctions. Using isolated human umbilical cord blood-derived cultured mast cells (HUCMC) from hematopoietic stem cells CD34+, mast cells were immunologically activated with anti-IgE at concentrations of 1, 5, 10 and 20 µg/ml leading to the dose-dependent production of IL-8 (p < 0.05). The increase in IL-8 mRNA expression was also noted when the cells were treated with anti-IgE at 10 µg/ml for 6 h. Immunologically activated HUCMC provoked the generation of tryptase in a dose- and time-dependent manner. We also found increased histidine decarboxylase (HDC) expression in activated HUCMC after 6 h of incubation, a rate-limiting enzyme responsible for the generation of histamine from histidine. Taken together, these results confirm that anti-IgE-activated mast cells release inflammatory mediators including CXCL8, a CXC chemokine which regulates several biological effects of mast cells, e.g. chemoattraction, and possibly causes cell arrest.
Three-Dimensional Echocardiographic Analysis of Left Ventricular Function during Hemodialysis
Authors: Krenning Boudewijn J. , Voormolen Marco M. , Geleijnse Marcel L. , van der Steen Anton F.W. , ten Cate Folkert J. , Ie Eric H.Y. , Roelandt Jos R.T.C.
Published: August 2007

Background: The effects of hemodialysis (HD) on left ventricular (LV) function have been studied by various echocardiographic techniques (M-mode, 2D echocardiography). These studies are hampered by a low accuracy of measurements because of geometric assumptions regarding LV shape. Three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) overcomes this limitation. Methods: We tested the feasibility of 3DE assessment of LV function during HD. Conventional biplane Simpson rule (BSR) and single plane area length method (SPM) for LV function analysis were used as a reference. Results: 12 HD patients were studied and in 10 (83%) a total of 80 3D datasets were acquired. In 3 patients, one dataset (4%) was of insufficient quality and excluded from analysis. Correlation between SPM, BSR and 3DE for calculation of end-diastolic (EDV, r = 0.89 and r = 0.92, respectively), end-systolic volume (ESV, r = 0.92 and r = 0.93, respectively) and for ejection fraction (EF, r = 0.90 and r = 0.88, respectively) was moderate. Limits-of-agreement results for EDV and ESV were poor with confidence intervals larger than 30 ml. Both 2DE methods underestimated end-diastolic and end-systolic volume, while overestimating ejection fraction. Conclusion: 3DE is feasible for image acquisition during HD, which opens the possibility for accurate and reproducible measurement of LV function during HD. This may improve the assessment of the acute effect of HD on LV performance, and guide therapeutic strategies aimed at preventing intradialytic hypotension.
Dose Requirements among Hemodialysis Patients Treated with Darbepoetin-α or Epoetin-β
Authors: Prata M. Martins , Dos Santos Joao Pinto , Hegbrant Jorgen , Schmid Christopher H. , Pereira Brian J.G. , Wald Ron
Published: August 2007

Background/Aims: In a cohort of hemodialysis patients, we evaluated the hypothesis that weekly administration of intravenous (IV) darbepoetin-α (DA) was associated with lower total erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) requirements as compared to a regimen of multiple subcutaneous (SC) doses per week of epoetin-β (EB). Methods: We studied 1,159 hemodialysis patients who were treated exclusively with either IV DA or SC EB across a network of Portuguese clinics during 2004. Linear regression was used to assess the adjusted relationship between the ESA regimen and weekly ESA requirements over the period of observation. Generalized estimating equations were applied in order to model the population average effects of the correlated mean weekly ESA dose for each individual. We also calculated propensity scores for the receipt of DA and assessed the relationship between ESA type and dose requirement within each quintile of the score. Results: The adjusted dose of IV DA, when expressed as a proportion of the dose used in EB-treated patients, did not differ from the dose administered to EB recipients (0.961, 95% CI 0.904, 1.021). A similar relationship was observed within each propensity score quintile. Conclusions: Hemodialysis patients who received IV DA had dose requirements that were similar to their counterparts who were treated with SC EB. A once-weekly dosing regimen and avoidance of SC administration enhance the attractiveness of DA as an alternative to traditional ESAs. The potential for unmeasured confounding, restriction to a population that was treated with a single ESA preparation and application of a 200 IU:1 µg EB:DA dose conversion are important limitations of this study.
Apparatus, Attention, and the Body: The Theatre Machines of Boris Charmatz
Authors: Siegmund Gerald
Published: August 2007

The final installment of a continuing series on choreography considering the mutual interrogation of philosophy and dance, the articles propose a tentative ethics of dance as a “practical philosophy” under the influence of Gilles Deleuze read through specific choreographic practices. Gerald Siegmund describes his private experience of Boris Charmatz's choreographic machine as a metaphor for the entrapment of theatre and as generative of new bodily subjectivities. Introducing anthropological applications of cognitive science to the particular strategies of choreographers working in Brazil, Christine Greiner argues for a political conception of self through dance. Examining the kinetics of the face in RoseAnne Spradlin's Survive Cycle, Victoria Anderson Davies meditates on the relationship of facial expression to language, to consciousness, and to movement.
Researching Dance in the Wild: Brazilian Experiences
Authors: Greiner Christine
Published: August 2007

The final installment of a continuing series on choreography considering the mutual interrogation of philosophy and dance, the articles propose a tentative ethics of dance as a “practical philosophy” under the influence of Gilles Deleuze read through specific choreographic practices. Gerald Siegmund describes his private experience of Boris Charmatz's choreographic machine as a metaphor for the entrapment of theatre and as generative of new bodily subjectivities. Introducing anthropological applications of cognitive science to the particular strategies of choreographers working in Brazil, Christine Greiner argues for a political conception of self through dance. Examining the kinetics of the face in RoseAnne Spradlin's Survive Cycle, Victoria Anderson Davies meditates on the relationship of facial expression to language, to consciousness, and to movement.
Creative Endurance and the Face Machine: RoseAnne Spradlin's Survive Cycle
Authors: Davies Victoria Anderson
Published: August 2007

The final installment of a continuing series on choreography considering the mutual interrogation of philosophy and dance, the articles propose a tentative ethics of dance as a “practical philosophy” under the influence of Gilles Deleuze read through specific choreographic practices. Gerald Siegmund describes his private experience of Boris Charmatz's choreographic machine as a metaphor for the entrapment of theatre and as generative of new bodily subjectivities. Introducing anthropological applications of cognitive science to the particular strategies of choreographers working in Brazil, Christine Greiner argues for a political conception of self through dance. Examining the kinetics of the face in RoseAnne Spradlin's Survive Cycle, Victoria Anderson Davies meditates on the relationship of facial expression to language, to consciousness, and to movement.
The “Rehabilitation” of Howard Brenton
Authors: Reinelt Janelle
Published: August 2007

Janelle Reinelt explores playwright Howard Brenton's return to Britain's national stages after almost a decade's absence, discussing recent productions that address the fraught relationship between religious belief and human conduct. Joshua Chambers-Letson contemplates the queer politics of failure in regard to Nao Bustamante's Hero, which challenges the value of “normality” via the possibility of a communal being-in-failure for queers, people of color, and other nonnormative subjects. Engaging South Africa's 2006 National Arts Festival, Daniel Larlham addresses the country's national transformations through its changing artistic landscape, newly opened to a variety of imaginative, discursive, and affective spaces in which a communal historical consciousness might develop.
The Politics of Failure: Nao Bustamante's Hero
Authors: Chambers-Letson Joshua
Published: August 2007

Janelle Reinelt explores playwright Howard Brenton's return to Britain's national stages after almost a decade's absence, discussing recent productions that address the fraught relationship between religious belief and human conduct. Joshua Chambers-Letson contemplates the queer politics of failure in regard to Nao Bustamante's Hero, which challenges the value of “normality” via the possibility of a communal being-in-failure for queers, people of color, and other nonnormative subjects. Engaging South Africa's 2006 National Arts Festival, Daniel Larlham addresses the country's national transformations through its changing artistic landscape, newly opened to a variety of imaginative, discursive, and affective spaces in which a communal historical consciousness might develop.
“White Cities,” “Diamond Zulus,” and the “African Contribution to Human Advancement”: African Modernities and the World's Fairs
Authors: Kruger Loren
Published: August 2007

From the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries, representations of Africans at the world's fairs were often aligned with the colonial cultural logic of contrasting the “savage” Other with the “civilized” subject, illustrating the politics of modernity, racialization, and imperial conquest. Certain showcases, however, at the world's fairs in the U.S. and South Africa—as well as performances in the white urban environments of Chicago and Johannesburg—undid this binary by introducing new spectacular economies depicting African modernities.
Highway 61 Revisited
Authors: McGinley Paige
Published: August 2007

Tracing the inverted traveling cultural roots of the Great Migration back toward the “source” of Delta blues music, blues tourists take a sonic journey from North to South in the U.S. that remembers black diasporic and migrational patterns of blues traveling—distinguishing between the economic, social, and political circumstances that often radically differentiate two modes of being “on the road.”
Present-Day Kutiyattam: G. Venu's Radical and Reactionary Sanskrit Theatre
Authors: DuComb Christian
Published: August 2007

G. Venu, a scholar and practitioner of kutiyattam, responds to contemporary political conditions in Kerala and draws on the work of India's experimental Theatre of Roots movement in his unexpectedly classical production of Sakuntala. Though imbricated in both the traditional and the avantgarde—creating what Venu aptly calls “present-day kutiyattam”—the question remains: will the project's politics be read to the radical or the revolutionary?
Common and Unique Neural Activations in Autobiographical, Episodic, and Semantic Retrieval
Authors: Burianova Hana , Grady Cheryl L.
Published: August 2007

This study sought to explore the neural correlates that underlie autobiographical, episodic, and semantic memory. Autobiographical memory was defined as the conscious recollection of personally relevant events, episodic memory as the recall of stimuli presented in the laboratory, and semantic memory as the retrieval of factual information and general knowledge about the world. Our objective was to delineate common neural activations, reflecting a functional overlap, and unique neural activations, reflecting functional dissociation of these memory processes. We conducted an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging study in which we utilized the same pictorial stimuli but manipulated retrieval demands to extract autobiographical, episodic, or semantic memories. The results show a functional overlap of the three types of memory retrieval in the inferior frontal gyrus, the middle frontal gyrus, the caudate nucleus, the thalamus, and the lingual gyrus. All memory conditions yielded activation of the left medial-temporal lobe; however, we found a functional dissociation within this region. The anterior and superior areas were active in episodic and semantic retrieval, whereas more posterior and inferior areas were active in autobiographical retrieval. Unique activations for each memory type were also delineated, including medial frontal increases for autobiographical, right middle frontal increases for episodic, and right inferior temporal increases for semantic retrieval. These findings suggest a common neural network underlying all declarative memory retrieval, as well as unique neural contributions reflecting the specific properties of retrieved memories.
Partial Reform Equilibrium, Chinese Style
Authors: Shih Victor
Published: August 2007

Incomplete financial reform in China is puzzling because Premier Zhu Rongji, a seemingly promarket technocrat, was largely insulated from explicitly rent-seeking pressure and leftist ideology when he carried out a massive restructuring of Chinese banks in 1997. Yet at the end of his tenure as premier, the financial sector continued to channel the bulk of savings toward the state. Given the complexity of Zhu's policies, we cannot begin analyzing them if we conceive reform as a neat, coherent policy shift. In this article, competing hypotheses of policy change are tested on Zhu's financial “reform,” which is conceptualized as a bundle of discrete policies, each having different and at times contradictory impact on the economy. With this conceptualization, banking centralization, the Herculean efforts to digest nonperforming loans, and stagnation in interest rate and private banking reform can best be understood as a coherent political survival strategy.
Explaining the Dominance of Legacy Unions in New Democracies
Authors: Caraway Teri L.
Published: August 2007

The continued dominance of legacy unions—state-backed unions inherited from the previous nondemocratic regime—has received little scholarly scrutiny. Through an analysis of Indonesia, this article presents a focused theoretical framework for analyzing the staying power of legacy unions and the strategies they pursue to maintain their dominance. The author argues that the capacity of legacy unions to survive is a product of inherited advantages (membership, institutional, and legal) and the transition context (economic conditions, union competition, and partisan links). Legacy unions adopt three strategies for survival—carrots, sticks, and reform—and pursue a strategy of reform only when they retain meager inherited advantages and face an unfavorable transition context. The article also offers suggestions for additional research to further develop the theoretical framework.
Political Accountability and the Room to Maneuver
Authors: Sattler Thomas , Freeman John R. , Brandt Patrick T.
Published: August 2007

Many studies of the room to maneuver make no provision for popular evaluation of policy. They assert rather than demonstrate popular satisfaction with policy choices and macroeconomic outcomes. The authors present a framework that explicitly models channels for popular preferences to influence policies and outcomes. Results for economic policy making in Britain do not support the room to maneuver thesis. In the authors' sample (1981 to 1997), the British government was responsive to changes in political evaluations, and its policy choices effectively fed back into popular evaluations of government policy. However, this accountability mechanism worked outside the real economy. Shifts in popular evaluations induced changes in policy but had no impact on inflation and economic growth. Government capacity to shape macroeconomic outcomes was limited, and popular influence over economic policy was ineffectual. This form of accountability probably existed because British citizens had difficulty gauging the real impacts of their government's policies.
Policy Coherence or Conformance? The New World Bank—International Monetary Fund—World Trade Organization Rhetoric on Trade and Investment in Developing Countries
Authors: Grabel Ilene
Published: August 2007

This article traces the concept of “policy coherence” in new debates over development policy space, explores the codification of coherence through International Monetary Fund World Bank World Trade Organization cooperation and recent bi- and multilateral trade agreements, and critiques the abuse of this concept. Today, coherence is code for “policy conformance.” The task is not to remove coherence from the lexicon of development policy but instead to rescue it in pursuit of expanded space for heterogeneous, autonomous paths to development.
The Rise of Rentier Capitalism and the Financialization of Real Sectors in Developing Countries
Authors: Demir Firat
Published: August 2007

Using microlevel company panel data, the article analyzes the impacts of financial liberalization on real investment behavior under capital market imperfections, volatile macroprices, and changing country risk levels. The findings suggest that financial liberalization in developing countries has become instrumental in channeling real sector savings to speculative short-term investments instead of long-term investment projects and hence altering the pattern of capital accumulation in the real sectors of the economy.
Corporate and Cooperative Solutions for the Agrarian Crisis in Developing Countries
Authors: Motiram Sripad , Vakulabharanam Vamsi
Published: August 2007

This article discusses credit and marketing arrangements for small farmers in developing countries. The authors draw on the mixed experience with agricultural cooperatives in developing countries to present the design of a credit and marketing cooperative. The authors argue that in conjunction with other state policies, this arrangement works better for small farmers than other alternatives, in particular corporate ones.
The Benefits of Progressive Taxation in Economic Development
Authors: Weller Christian E.
Published: August 2007

Progressive income taxation may result in a more equitable income distribution, higher revenues, less financial and economic volatility, and faster growth. The evidence shows a link with higher revenues and a more equitable income distribution but also with larger deficits. There is no link to output volatility and growth. The alternative of a value-added tax does not offer universally better outcomes, either in isolation or in combination with progressive taxes.
Fighting Global Poverty, Three Ways
Authors: Koechlin Tim
Published: August 2007

This article provides a critical assessment of three ambitious books (Sachs's The End of Poverty, Bhagwati's In Defense of Globalization, and Easterly's The Elusive Quest for Growth ), each of which seeks to (re)frame debates over poverty, development, growth, globalization, and more. The insights and shortcomings of these three books remind us that the status quo is not working and that a rich understanding of globalization and development requires a serious consideration of alternative visions of each.
Climate Change, Peak Oil, and Globalization: Contradictions of Natural Capital
Authors: Curtis Fred
Published: August 2007

This article argues that economic globalization may be undermined by predicted impacts of global warming and peak oil (depletion). They are projected to cause significant damage to transportation infrastructure and increase transportation costs. They may also increase business risk, food prices, and general prices. As a result, the long distance exploitation of cheap labor may lose much of its economic profitability in coming decades, and supply chains may contract to regional and local lengths.
A Disaggregate Analysis of Profit Rates in Turkish Manufacturing
Authors: Memis Emel
Published: August 2007

This study analyzes profit rate trends in Turkish manufacturing at the subsectoral level during the period from 1970 to 2000. Previous studies provide profit rates only at the aggregate level due to a lack of subsectoral capital stock data availability. Generating capital stock series, the author calculates the profit rates for selected subsectors. Applying Weisskopf's method, changes in the profit rate are decomposed, and evidence is found for a rising significance of conflict-based factors over “environmental” factors.
The Price-Form as a Fractional Reflection of the Aggregate Value of Commodities
Authors: Saros Daniel E.
Published: August 2007

The new interpretation of the labor theory of value has raised awareness among Marxist economists that the value of money must be incorporated in a coherent manner into any solution that is proposed to the long-standing transformation problem. The author proposes a fiat money form of value that extends Marx's theory of money and offers a new approach to the transformation procedure based on a reinterpretation of socially necessary abstract labor time.
Mosaic Trisomy r(14) Associated With Epilepsy and Mental Retardation
Authors: Tzoufi Meropi , Kanioglou Chrisanthi , Dasoula Aggeliki , Asproudis Ioannis , Tsatsoulis Agathoklis , Sismani Carolina , Patsalis Philippos C. , Georgiou Ioannis , Syrrou Maria
Published: August 2007

We report a patient with moderate mental retardation, benign clinical course of epilepsy, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The patient has a mosaic karyotype with 2 cell lines: 1 with a ring chromosome 14 [r(14)], and 1 with an apparently duplicated r(14) chromosome.
Neonatal Arterial Ischemic Stroke and Sinovenous Thrombosis Associated With Meningitis
Authors: Fitzgerald Karima C. , Golomb Meredith R.
Published: August 2007

This series describes 5 neonates with meningitis associated with arterial ischemic stroke or cerebral sinovenous thrombosis identified from a tertiary children's hospital perinatal stroke database. A retrospective chart review was performed to collect data on clinical presentations, type of meningitis, radiographic and electroencephalographic findings, neonatal intensive care unit course and complications, additional risk factors associated with stroke, and outcomes. The proportion of arterial ischemic stroke and sinovenous thrombosis in the database associated with meningitis was calculated. Neonates came to medical attention because of seizures (2), hydrocephalus (1), and behavior changes (2). The median age of presentation was birth (range, 0—18 days). Meningitis was bacterial in 4 and viral in 1. The median time from symptom onset to identification of the causative organisms of meningitis was 16.8 days (range, 13—23 days) and from symptom onset to diagnosis of stroke was 11 days (range, 4—18 days). One child had arterial ischemic stroke. Four had cerebral sinovenous thrombosis. One child died in the neonatal intensive care unit. Outcome data were available for 3 of the 4 surviving children; all had some degree of neurological deficit. All 5 of the neonates described had risk factors for perinatal thrombosis or embolization in addition to meningitis. Meningitis is associated with 1.6% (1/63) of cases of arterial ischemic stroke and 7.7% (4/52) of cases of cerebral sinovenous thrombosis in our perinatal stroke database. Further work is needed to clarify when infarction occurs during meningitis and which children are at highest risk.
Benign Afebrile Seizures in Acute Gastroenteritis: Is Rotavirus the Culprit?
Authors: Iyadurai Stanley , Troester Matthew , Harmala John , Bodensteiner John
Published: August 2007

Three patients, a 2-year-old girl, a 14-month-old girl, and a 15-month-old boy, were admitted with multiple episodes of benign afebrile seizures. Electroencephalograms recorded 1 or 2 days after the last seizure revealed epileptiform discharges. All 3 patients developed a fulminant Rotazymepositive diarrhea toward the end of their respective hospital stay. The prospects of immunological detection in diagnosis and treatment are discussed.
Clinical and Inheritance Profiles of Hyperekplexia in Jordan
Authors: Masri Amira Taher , Hamamy Hanan A.
Published: August 2007

Hyperekplexia is a rare nonepileptic disorder characterized by excessive startle response to acoustic, visual, or other stimuli. Patients with hyperekplexia are often misdiagnosed as having epilepsy. The presentation modalities, phenotypes, and the modes of inheritance among patients with hyperekplexia from 9 Jordanian families are described. All families were referred with the preliminary diagnosis of uncontrolled seizures with onset of the disease in the neonatal period and with variable and atypical presenting features. The inheritance profile in 4 families was compatible with autosomal recessive and in 1 family with autosomal dominant inheritance. Four families showed sporadic cases of hyperekplexia. This is the first report of a series of patients with hyperekplexia from Jordan. The clinical manifestations show atypical features that have not been previously reported, pointing to the probable broader clinical spectrum of this entity. Recognition of the syndrome allows for prompt proper management and provision of genetic counseling.
Applying artificial neural networks to the diagnosis of organic dyspepsia
Authors: García-Altés Anna , Santín Daniel , Barenys Mercè
Published: August 2007

Background. Dyspepsia diagnoses and treatment decisions are made in situations in which multiple factors must be taken into account. Evolving from neuro-biological insights, artificial neural networks (ANNs) can employ multiple factors in resolving medical prediction, classification, pattern recognition, and pattern completion. The objective of this study was to compare predictive results classifying people with organic dyspepsia with Helicobacter pylori testing (rapid urease test), a scoring system based on patients' symptoms (derived using logistic regression), classification and regression trees (CART) and the most common ANN approach used in medicine: a feed-forward multilayer perceptron (MLP) trained by back-propagation. Methods. A scoring system, CART algorithm, and MLP model were constructed. Predictive accuracy was calculated for them and for Helicobacter pylori testing.

Results. MLP model had a sensitivity of 0.91 (0.81 for all data) and a specificity of 0.74 (0.79 for all data) for test data. That compares favorably with Helicobacter pylori testing (sensitivity = 0.80, specificity = 0.43), the scoring system (sensitivity = 0.85, specificity = 0.60), and the CART model (sensitivity = 0.88, specificity = 0.53). Diagnostic accuracy, the area under the curve, was 0.82 using the MLP model, 0.61 using Helicobacter pylori testing, 0.78 using the scoring system, and 0.72 for the test set using CART. Conclusions. The results of the analysis showed that the ANN model derived has better predictive accuracy than Helicobacter pylori testing, than a scoring system based on patients' symptoms and than a decision tree algorithm (CART). ANN model could be used as a predictive tool for organic dyspepsia and would be useful in the process of referral of dyspeptic patients from primary care to endoscopy units.
Markov transition models for binary repeated measures with ignorable and nonignorable missing values
Authors: Xiaowei Yang  , Shoptaw Steven , Kun Nie  , Juanmei Liu  , Belin Thomas R.
Published: August 2007

Motivated by problems encountered in studying treatments for drug dependence, where repeated binary outcomes arise from monitoring biomarkers for recent drug use, this article discusses a statistical strategy using Markov transition model for analyzing incomplete binary longitudinal data. When the mechanism giving rise to missing data can be assumed to be `ignorable', standard Markov transition models can be applied to observed data to draw likelihood-based inference on transition probabilities between outcome events. Illustration of this approach is provided using binary results from urine drug screening in a clinical trial of baclofen for cocaine dependence. When longitudinal data have `nonignorable' missingness mechanisms, random-effects Markov transition models can be used to model the joint distribution of the binary data matrix and the matrix of missingness indicators. Categorizing missingness patterns into those for occasional or `intermittent' missingness and those for monotonic missingness or `missingness due to dropout', the random-effects Markov transition model was applied to a data set containing repeated breath samples analyzed for expired carbon monoxide levels among opioid-dependent, methadone-maintained cigarette smokers in a smoking cessation trial. Markov transition models provide a novel reconceptualization of treatment outcomes, offering both intuitive statistical values and relevant clinical insights.
Segmental modeling of changing viral load to assess drug resistance in HIV infection
Authors: Liang H.
Published: August 2007

Studies of viral dynamics are important to our understanding of the pathogenesis of HIV-1 infection and in assessment of the potency of antiretroviral therapies. Although many different viral dynamic models and methods for estimating viral dynamic parameters have been proposed and used in various studies, none has been entirely satisfactory. We propose here a segmental model to describe the viral load, and estimate the dynamic parameters by using a mixed-effects model. We address the relation between the baseline viral load and the decay rate of the first phase of viral load decay, and divide patients into three categories on the basis of their changing viral load patterns.
Journalism and Institutional Review Boards
Authors: Dash Leon
Published: August 2007

The author opposes any Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) overseeing the work of journalism professors and journalism students in any academic institution. He argues that the tendency for IRBs to require anonymity for persons interviewed immediately reduces the credibility of any journalistic story. The composition of an IRB is questioned on grounds that its faculty and public members may be uncomfortable with the thrust of a journalistic inquiry and, in reaction, thwart the intention of a journalist by refusing approval. The medical human subject IRB model of oversight is supported, but the author is perplexed how this medical model has awkwardly extended into such areas a social science. The journalist's first obligation is to the public's right to know under the First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution and IRB oversight unconstitutionally interferes with that obligation. Moreover, IRB oversight amounts to “prior restraint,” a practice the U. S. Supreme Court ruled is unconstitutional in the “Pentagon Papers” case.
“Ready-to-Recruit” or “Ready-to-Consent” Populations? Informed Consent and the Limits of Subject Autonomy
Authors: Fisher Jill A.
Published: August 2007

This article queries the pharmaceutical industry's concept of “ready-torecruit” populations by examining its recruitment strategies for clinical trials and the types of human subjects who participate in these drug studies. The argument is that the pharmaceutical industry has profited from a system composed of what can more aptly be characterized as ready-to-consent populations, meaning populations who do not have better alternatives than participation in clinical trials. Furthermore, through qualitative research, this article aims to highlight some of the limitations of current U.S. federal regulation and to show how these limits signal problems that are not normally discussed in the medical ethics literature about research on human subjects. It does this by examining the impotence of informed consent—both as a concept and as a practice—in light of recruitment strategies and the structural reasons motivating individuals to participate in clinical trials.
Telling Tales out of School
Authors: Goode Jackie
Published: August 2007

As U.K. school exam results continue to rise, perennial accusations appear in the media of the “dumbing down” of the curriculum and of employers' complaints about school leavers' lack of basic literacy skills. In this context, Andrew Motion, the poet laureate, has raised questions about how to provide an inspiring English curriculum, the place of creativity and imagination within it, and how much emphasis there should be on the nuts and bolts of language. If idealism isn't added into the mix, he asserts, it will have denied English the chance to fulfill its proper responsibilities to strike a balance between functional values, literary values, human values, and philosophical values. This article explores these issues. It continues an earlier story told in QI, and by drawing on contemporaneous diary extracts from the author's 1960s schooldays, it introduces and acknowledges the significance of a character who had remained hidden there.
Sustained and Focused Attention Deficits in Adult ADHD
Authors: Marchetta Natalie D. J. , Hurks Petra P. M. , De Sonneville Leo M. J. , Krabbendam Lydia , Jolles Jelle
Published: August 2007

Objective: To examine the specificity of deficits in focused attention and sustained attention in adults with ADHD and to evaluate the effect of comorbidity. Method: Twenty-eight adults with ADHD without comorbidity were compared with 28 ADHD outpatients with comorbidity. Two control groups were used: 68 adults referred for ADHD but with another psychopathology rather than ADHD (non-ADHD) and 28 healthy controls. All participants completed attention tests of the Amsterdam Neuropsychological Tasks program. Results: Both ADHD groups demonstrated a sustained attention deficit relative to the control groups, as indicated by a disproportionate deterioration of speed fluctuation with time-on-task reflecting temporal lapses in attention. Only the ADHD+ group showed focused attention deficits in that they were less able to ignore irrelevant information. Conclusion: These findings show that adults with ADHD have specific deficits in sustained attention. Additional deficits in focused attention are confined to outpatients with ADHD and comorbidity. (J. of Att. Dis. 2008; 11(6) 664-676)
The Experience of Receiving a Diagnosis and Treatment of ADHD in Adulthood
Authors: Young Susan , Bramham Jessica , Gray Katie , Rose Esther
Published: August 2007

Objective: To evaluate the psychological impact of receiving a diagnosis of ADHD in adulthood and treatment with medication and to examine how diagnosis and treatment with medication changes an individual's self-perception and view of the future. Method: Participants were eight individuals diagnosed with ADHD at a tertiary service. Semistructured interviews were conducted and the data were analyzed according to the principles of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Results: Three master themes emerge from the analysis: Participants engage in a (a) review of the past, particularly how they feel different from others, (b) the emotional impact of the diagnosis, and (c) consideration of the future. These themes suggest a six-stage model of psychological acceptance of a diagnosis of ADHD: (a) relief and elation, (b) confusion and emotional turmoil, (c) anger, (d) sadness and grief, (e) anxiety, and (f) accommodation and acceptance. Conclusion: The model indicates an important role for psychological treatment, which should begin at the point of diagnosis. Cognitive behavioral techniques will help clients diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood cope with the adjustment process. Adults should be taught skills to anticipate future hurdles and challenges and apply appropriate coping strategies. (J. of Att. Dis. 2008; 11(4) 493-503)
Monitoring the randomized trials of the Women's Health Initiative: the experience of the Data and Safety Monitoring Board
Authors: Wittes Janet , Barrett-Connor Elizabeth , Braunwald Eugene , Chesney Margaret , Cohen Harvey Jay , DeMets David , Dunn Leo , Dwyer Johanna , Heaney Robert P. , Vogel Victor , Walters LeRoy , Yusuf Salim
Published: August 2007

Data Safety Monitoring Committees (DSMB) for large, long-term randomized trials of agents in common use face challenging problems especially when the emerging data indicate unanticipated effects. The DSMB for the Women's Health Initiative Clinical Trials, on observing early indication of a surprising adverse cardiovascular effect of post-menopausal hormones, spent several years deliberating what recommendations it should make. This paper describes the dilemmas faced by the DSMB and the considerations it made over the course of its existence. The paper concludes with some recommendations for other DSMBs.
An exploratory test for an excess of significant findings
Authors: Ioannidis John PA , Trikalinos Thomas A
Published: August 2007

Background The published clinical research literature may be distorted by the pursuit of statistically significant results.

Purpose We aimed to develop a test to explore biases stemming from the pursuit of nominal statistical significance.

Methods The exploratory test evaluates whether there is a relative excess of formally significant findings in the published literature due to any reason (e.g., publication bias, selective analyses and outcome reporting, or fabricated data). The number of expected studies with statistically significant results is estimated and compared against the number of observed significant studies. The main application uses α = 0.05, but a range of α thresholds is also examined. Different values or prior distributions of the effect size are assumed. Given the typically low power (few studies per research question), the test may be best applied across domains of many meta-analyses that share common characteristics (interventions, outcomes, study populations, research environment).

Results We evaluated illustratively eight meta-analyses of clinical trials with >50 studies each and 10 meta-analyses of clinical efficacy for neuroleptic agents in schizophrenia; the 10 meta-analyses were also examined as a composite domain. Different results were obtained against commonly used tests of publication bias. We demonstrated a clear or possible excess of significant studies in 6 of 8 large meta-analyses and in the wide domain of neuroleptic treatments.

Limitations The proposed test is exploratory, may depend on prior assumptions, and should be applied cautiously.

Conclusions An excess of significant findings may be documented in some clinical research fields. Clinical Trials 2007; 4: 245—253; http://ctj.sagepub.com
The role of intention to treat in analysis of noninferiority studies
Authors: Wiens Brian L , Zhao William
Published: August 2007

In analysing clinical trials designed to show superiority of one treatment compared to another, it is standard to use an intention to treat analytic approach. In active-controlled noninferiority studies, this is not standard, due to concerns that such an analysis will inflate the chance of falsely rejecting the null hypothesis, accepting therapeutic noninferiority when it is not justified. The reasons for using intention to treat (ITT) approaches in superiority studies include a desire to capture all information on study subjects, a need to prevent bias, and assurance that comparative groups are, on average, equivalent in prognostic factors. In this commentary, we argue that these same justifications carry over to noninferiority studies, and that for those and other reasons it should be the preferred analytic approach. We review regulatory guidelines, and propose a number of approaches to minimizing the potential disadvantages of the ITT approach in the noninferiority setting. Clinical Trials 2007; 4: 286—291; http://ctj.sagepub.com