bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Does lack of a moral feeling brain indicate moral disability? Children diagnosed with callous unemotional traits, emotion regulation and the potential of treatment with oxytocin
Authors: Mackenzie Robin , Watts John 
Published: September 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to consider oxytocin as a treatment for children diagnosed with callous unemotional [CU] traits, emotion regulation and whether moral disability is a meaningful category.Design/methodology/approachThe paper discusses the relationship between psychiatric diagnoses, moral opprobrium and disability in relation to emotion regulation and diagnoses of callous unemotional conduct disorder (CUCD) and psychopathy, together with current research on oxytocin in humans.FindingsDiagnoses of callous unemotional traits and psychopathy are problematic as a result of inbuilt moral opprobrium, while treating CUCD with oxytocin to promote prosociality through mandating a moral feeling brain oversimplifies how this neuropeptide operates in humans.Originality/valueOxytocin is currently under trial as a treatment for behavioural variant fronto‐temporal dementia, where patients display symptoms similar to those diagnosed with CUCD. As genetic, environmental and ethnic factors affect oxytocin's effects in humans, caution is warranted before supporting its use to treat CUCD. Moreover, such use may represent a reductionist technofix compared with addressing socioeconomic factors promoting the manifestation of CU traits as an adaptation.
Assessing the ethnocentric tendencies of different age‐cohorts in an emerging market
Authors: Deb Madhurima , Roy Chaudhuri Himadri 
Published: September 2012

PurposeThe main purpose of this study was to investigate what leads consumers to ethnocentrism and the effects of their ethnocentrism on attitudes toward country of origin (CO), and subsequently on purchase intentions (PI). The other objective was to study the knowledge and product preferences of different age‐cohort's, about CO of high and low technology products.Design/methodology/approachResults are derived from primary data collected from a consumer sample in India. Data analysis was done using SPSS and AMOS.FindingsThe Indians, who are found to be ethnocentric, are also willing to purchase products from other countries. Indian consumers showed preferences for products from the USA and Japan over China and the UK. Additionally, from the result of age‐cohort analysis, age was found to have a significant effect on the attitude toward CO and product preference.Research limitations/implicationsConsumers were asked to evaluate the attributes of foreign‐origin products without reference to a specific product group and this could be one of the limitations of the study.Practical implicationsThese findings provide useful insights to the marketer about the impact of CE on attitude towards CO and cohort's preference for CO of different products. Such information will help the marketer to devise suitable strategies. The paper contributes to research on CE by confirming some of the earlier results with a consumer sample from India.Originality/valueThis paper both supports and contributes to the existing literature by studying CE and CO on a diverse range of product categories, using an age‐cohort analysis.
Treatment options to improve anorectal function following rectal resection: a systematic review
Authors: Maris A. , Devreese A. M. , D’Hoore A. , Penninckx F. , Staes F. 
Published: September 2012

AbstractAim  Common problems after rectal resection are loose stools, faecal incontinence, increased frequency and evacuation difficulties, for which there are various therapeutic options. A systematic review was conducted to assess the outcome of treatment options aimed to improve anorectal function after rectal surgery.Method  Publications including a therapeutic approach to improve anorectal function after rectal surgery were searched using the following databases: MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, Pedro, CINAHL, Web of Science, PsychInfo and the Cochrane Library. The focus was on outcome parameters of symptomatic improvement of faecal incontinence, evaluation of defaecation and quality of life.Results  The degree of agreement on eligibility and methodological quality between reviewers calculated with kappa was 0.85. Fifteen studies were included. Treatment options included pelvic floor re‐education (n = 7), colonic irrigation (n = 2) and sacral nerve stimulation (SNS) (n = 6). Nine studies reported reduced incontinence scores and a decreased number of incontinent episodes. In 10 studies an improvement in resting and squeeze pressure was observed after treatment with pelvic floor re‐education or SNS. Three studies reported improved quality of life after pelvic floor re‐education. Significant improvement of the Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life Scale was found in three studies after SNS.Conclusion  Conservative therapies such as pelvic floor re‐education and colonic irrigation can improve anorectal function. SNS might be an effective solution in selected patients. However, methodologically qualitative studies are limited and randomized controlled trials are needed to draw evidence‐based conclusions.
Odanacatib, a selective cathepsin K inhibitor to treat osteoporosis: safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics – results from single oral dose studies in healthy volunteers
Authors: Stoch S. Aubrey , Zajic Stefan , Stone Julie A. , Miller Deborah L. , van Bortel Lucas , Lasseter Kenneth C. , Pramanik Barnali , Cilissen Caroline , Liu Qi , Liu Lida , Scott Boyd B. , Panebianco Deborah , Ding Yu , Gottesdiener Keith , Wagner John A. 
Published: September 2012

AimsTo evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of odanacatib (ODN), a cathepsin K inhibitor, in humans.MethodsTwo double‐blind, randomized, placebo‐controlled, single oral dose studies were performed with ODN (2–600 mg) in 44 healthy volunteers (36 men and eight postmenopausal women).ResultsAdverse experiences (AEs) with single doses of ODN were transient and mild to moderate, with the exception of one severe AE of gastroenteritis. Headache was the most frequent AE. After absorption of ODN (initial peak concentrations 4–6 h postdose), plasma concentrations exhibited a monophasic decline, with an apparent terminal half‐life of ∼40–80 h. The area under the curve0‐24 hours (AUC0–24 h), concentration at 24 hours (C24 h) and maximum concentration (Cmax,overal) increased in a less than dose‐proportional manner from 2 to 600 mg. Administration of ODN with a high‐fat meal led to ∼100% increases in AUC0–24 h, Cmax,day1, Cmax,overall and C24 h relative to the fasted state, while administration with a low‐fat meal led to a ∼30% increase in those parameters. Reduction of biomarkers of bone resorption, the C‐ and N‐telopeptides of cross‐links of type I collagen, (CTx and NTx, respectively), was noted at 24 h for doses ≥5 mg and at 168 h postdose for ≥10 mg. In postmenopausal women administered 50 mg ODN, reductions in serum CTx of −66% and urine NTx/creatinine (uNTx/Cr) of −51% relative to placebo were observed at 24 h. At 168 h, reductions in serum CTx (−70%) and uNTx/Cr (−78%) were observed relative to baseline. Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling characterized the ODN concentration/uNTx/Cr relation, with a modeled EC50 value of 43.8 nM and ∼80% maximal reduction.ConclusionsOdanacatib was well tolerated and has a pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile suitable for once weekly dosing.
The role of olfactory cues in the sequential radiation of a gall‐boring beetle, Mordellistena convicta
Authors: RHODES BRADLEY C. , BLAIR CATHERINE P. , TAKAHASHI MIZUKI K. , ABRAHAMSON WARREN G. 
Published: September 2012

1. Herbivorous insects often have close associations with specific host plants, and their preferences for mating and ovipositing on a specific host‐plant species can reproductively isolate populations, facilitating ecological speciation. Volatile emissions from host plants can play a major role in assisting herbivores to locate their natal host plants and thus facilitate assortative mating and host‐specific oviposition.2. The present study investigated the role of host‐plant volatiles in host fidelity and oviposition preference of the gall‐boring, inquiline beetle, Mordellistena convicta LeConte (Coleoptera: Mordellidae), using Y‐tube olfactometers. Previous studies suggest that the gall‐boring beetle is undergoing sequential host‐associated divergence by utilising the resources that are created by the diverging populations of the gall fly, Eurosta solidaginis Fitch (Diptera: Tephritidae), which induces galls on the stems of goldenrods including Solidago altissima L. (Asteraceae) and Solidago gigantea Ait.3. Our results show that M. convicta adults are attracted to galls on their natal host plant, avoid the alternate host galls, and do not respond to volatile emissions from their host‐plant stems.4. These findings suggest that the gall‐boring beetles can orient to the volatile chemicals from host galls, and that beetles can use them to identify suitable sites for mating and/or oviposition. Host‐associated mating and oviposition likely play a role in the sequential radiation of the gall‐boring beetle.
Mental health nursing and the problematic of supervision as a confessional act
Authors: BANKS D. , CLIFTON A. V. , PURDY M. J. , CRAWSHAW P. 
Published: September 2012

Accessible summary

Mental health nursing has a long tradition of ‘monitoring and managing’ how nurses behave, this has not always benefitted either service users or nurses.

Nurses are professionally required to seek guidance from more experienced colleagues to reflect, examine and improve on their practice.

Formal and informal guidance, known as supervision, often reinforces traditional values and practices that do not challenge the status quo.

To improve outcomes for service users and empower mental health nurses it is important that nurses adopt much more critical forms of reflection.

AbstractMental health nurses frequently draw on self‐disclosure practices within their working relationships. These ‘confessional’ acts can in turn be predicated on traditional assumptions of moral authority exercised by more senior colleagues. More broadly, attention has been drawn to the increasing significance of ‘technologies of the self’ inside neo‐liberal regimes of governance. Through various forms of self‐disclosure people are obliged ‘to speak the truth about themselves’. By publically declaring themselves as ‘fit for purpose’ nurses are required to be reflexive, self‐monitoring individuals, capable of constructing their own identities and biographies, and guided by expert knowledges. In this way, risk becomes a form of governance, as the individuals continually find themselves balancing risks and opportunities. Foucault's insights into the importance of ‘care of the self’ and ‘surveillance of the self’ to systems of social order and governance, such as mental health services, are significant in identifying nursing as a potential form of confessional practice. ‘Reflective practice’ and ‘clinical supervision’ are therefore ‘technologies’, functioning as ‘modes of surveillance’, and as ‘confessional practices’. So ‘clinical supervision’ may be understood as part of a process of ‘governance’ that does not necessarily empower nurses, but can act to guide, correct and modify ways in which they conduct themselves.
Three Decades of Implementation Research in Higher Education: Limitations and Prospects of Theory Development
Authors: Kohoutek Jan 
Published: September 2012

AbstractThe article adopts a comparative approach to review three periods of theory development in research into higher education policy implementation. Given the conceptual affinity between Cerych and Sabatier's 1986 seminal study into higher education policy implementation and public policy implementation theory, the field of public policy is chosen for reference and comparison. The article argues, first, that the underlying characteristics of higher education research such as sector‐isolatedness, application drift and sensitivity to political agendas hindered the development of sector‐specific theories of policy implementation. Second, this gap in theory formation started to be narrowed from the late 1990s onwards, due to critical reappraisal of the 1986 study and due to limited utilisation of mid‐range theory concepts conceived within or related to the public policy field. It is through the utilisation of such public policy theory that higher education implementation research may reach a more mature stage.
Action Research to Strengthen Women Weavers’ Self‐Care in North‐East Thailand
Authors: Nilvarangkul Kessarawan , Srithongchai Niramol , Saensom Donwiwat , Smith John F. , Supornpan Ausa , Tumnong Chuanpit 
Published: September 2012

AbstractObjectiveThe objective of this research was to improve self‐care and work safety practices among women weavers in North‐East Thailand.Design and SampleAction research was used with a sample of 107 weavers and 15 community and local government stakeholders from six rural villages. Formative and summative evaluation was carried out over 10 months following initial implementation of five action plans, and after 5 years.MeasuresQualitative data were collected via focus groups, formal and informal interviews and research field notes. Women's self‐care issues and safety problems, and weaving‐related environmental pollution emerged from the content analyses. Five action plans were created.ResultsResults showed that through action research the women were empowered to identify personal and work‐related health issues, environmental contamination concerns, and lack of social and community support systems. Over time they developed capacity for working collectively to address these. Five year follow‐up revealed many of the changes made were ongoing, and well‐integrated into community life.ConclusionsThe study reaffirmed the potential for public health or community nurses and other health personnel for enhancing community health status via action research with vulnerable populations; in this case, rural village women weavers in North‐East Thailand.
Nitrogen Retention by Soil Biota; A Key Role in the Rehabilitation of Natural Grasslands?
Authors: Kemmers Rolf H. , Bloem Jaap , Faber Jack H. 
Published: September 2012

AbstractEnvironmental stress is the main cause of the decline of species diversity in low‐productive fen meadows in the Netherlands. Attempts to restore species diverse fen meadows e.g. by sod cutting frequently fail. We supposed that unsuccessful efforts are due to ignoring the impact of environmental stress on the performance of soil biota, which play a key role in N‐immobilization and keeping available‐N for primary production low. We investigated both pristine and degraded natural sites and successfully and unsuccessfully restored sites of poor and rich fen meadows. We determined plant species composition, soil chemical properties, N‐pools in soil biota, N‐mineralization rates, and N‐fluxes. In pristine rich and poor fen meadows, mineral‐N was poorly available for primary production due to a strong N‐immobilization by soil biota. Annual N‐immobilization fluxes exceeded by far the annual N‐harvest by primary production. N‐immobilization in pristine fens was higher than in degraded fens. In successfully restored rich fens, net N‐mineralization was lower and N‐immobilization higher than in the unsuccessful category. From our results, we derived the hypothesis that in degraded or in unsuccessfully restored fens the soils internal N‐balance shifted from N‐immobilization to net N‐mineralization, favoring biomass production but disadvantaging plant species diversity. N‐retention driven by an active N‐immobilizing soil biological community, is likely a decisive process for successful recovery of plant species diversity in low productive fen meadows. We recommend that restoration techniques should stimulate a functionally diverse soil fauna, as this may enhance the storage of available nutrients in the soil food web.
Stereoelectroencephalography in the “difficult to localize” refractory focal epilepsy: Early experience from a North American epilepsy center
Authors: Gonzalez‐Martinez Jorge , Bulacio Juan , Alexopoulos Andreas , Jehi Lara , Bingaman William , Najm Imad 
Published: September 2012

SummaryPurpose:  Stereo‐electroencephalography (SEEG) enables precise recordings from deep cortical structures, multiple noncontiguous lobes, as well as bilateral explorations while avoiding large craniotomies. Despite a long reported successful record, its application in the United States has not been widely adopted. We report on our initial experience with the SEEG methodology in the extraoperative mapping of refractory focal epilepsy in patients who were not considered optimal surgical candidates for other methods of invasive monitoring. We focused on the applied surgical technique and its utility and efficacy in this subgroup of patients.Methods:  Between March 2009 and May 2011, 100 patients with the diagnosis of medically refractory focal epilepsy who were not considered optimal candidates for subdural grids and strips placement underwent SEEG implantation at Cleveland Clinic Epilepsy Center. Demographics, noninvasive clinical data, number and location of implanted electrodes, electrophysiologic localization of the epileptic zone, complications, and short‐term seizure outcome after resection were prospectively collected and analyzed.Key Findings:  Mean age was 32 years (range 5–68 years); 54 were male and 46 female. The mean follow‐up after resection was 15 months. In total, 1,310 electrodes were implanted. Analyses of the SEEG recordings resulted in the electrographic localization of the epileptogenic focus in 96 patients. In the group of 75 patients who underwent resection, only 53 had at least 12 months follow‐up. From this group, 33 patients (62.3%) were seizure‐free at the end of the follow‐up period. The presence of abnormal pathologic finding was strongly associated with postoperative seizure control (p = 0.005). The risk of hemorrhagic complications per electrode was 0.2%.Significance:  In patients who are not considered to be ideal candidates for subdural grids and strips implantation, the SEEG methodology is a safe, useful and reliable alternative option for invasive monitoring in patients with refractory focal epilepsy, providing an additional mean for seizure localization and control in a “difficult to localize” subgroup of patients.
Rapamycin has age‐, treatment paradigm‐, and model‐specific anticonvulsant effects and modulates neuropeptide Y expression in rats
Authors: Chachua Tamar , Poon Ka‐Lai , Yum Mi‐Sun , Nesheiwat Leigh , DeSantis Kara , Velíšková Jana , Velíšek Libor 
Published: September 2012

SummaryPurpose:  Rapamycin (RAP) has certain antiepileptogenic features. However, it is unclear whether these effects can be explained by the anticonvulsant action of RAP, which has not been studied. To address this question, we tested potential anticonvulsant effects of RAP in immature and adult rats using different seizure models and treatment paradigms. In addition, we studied changes in the expression of neuropeptide Y (NPY) induced by RAP, which may serve as an indirect target of the RAP action.Methods:  A complex approach was adopted to evaluate the anticonvulsant potential of RAP: We used flurothyl‐, pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)–, N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA)–, and kainic acid (KA)–induced seizures to test the effects of RAP using different pretreatment protocols in immature and adult rats. We also evaluated expression of NPY within the primary motor cortex, hippocampal CA1, and dentate gyrus (DG) after different pretreatments with RAP in immature rats.Key Findings:  We found the following: (1) RAP administered with short‐term pretreatment paradigms has a weak anticonvulsant potential in the seizure models with compromised inhibition. (2) Lack of RAP efficacy correlates with decreased NPY expression in the cortex, CA1, and DG. Specifically in immature rats, a single dose of RAP (3 mg/kg) 4 or 24 h before seizure testing had anticonvulsant effects against PTZ‐induced seizures. In the flurothyl seizure model only the 4‐h pretreatment with RAP was anticonvulsant in the both age groups. Short‐term pretreatments with RAP had no effects against NMDA‐ and KA‐induced seizures tested in immature rats. Long‐term pretreatments with RAP over 8 days did not show beneficial effect in all tested seizure models in developing rats. Moreover, the long‐term pretreatment with RAP had a slight proconvulsant effect on KA‐induced seizures. In immature rats, any lack of anticonvulsant effect (including proconvulsant effect of multiple doses of RAP) was associated with downregulation of NPY expression in the cortex and DG. In immature animals, after a single dose of RAP with 24 h delay, we found a decrease of NPY expression in DG, and CA1 as well.Significance:  Our data show weak age‐, treatment paradigm‐, and model‐specific anticonvulsant effects of RAP as well as loss of those effects after long‐term RAP pretreatment associated with downregulation of NPY expression. These findings suggest that RAP is a poor anticonvulsant and may have beneficial effects only against epileptogenesis. In addition, our data present new insights into mechanisms of RAP action on seizures indicating a possible connection between mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling and NPY system.
Human Nature from a Catholic Perspective
Authors: KOTERSKI JOSEPH 
Published: September 2012

AbstractCatholic views on personhood and human nature include emphasis on the dignity of each person, from womb to tomb. The claims made for this inviolable dignity invariably stem from the recognition that all human beings, regardless of their state of dependency, are made in the image of God and are thus the bearers of certain moral rights. But in our fallen state that image is wounded and needs to be repaired. Hence, Christians need to learn to recapitulate the life of Christ in their own lives by growing through the stages of human life according to the model that He presents to us. There are not only individual but corporate aspects to this growth. Catholic Social Teaching offers insights on the corporate and social condition in which we find ourselves. It has a healthy respect for the economic laws of the market and for the technical intricacies of efficient decision‐making processes in local, national, and world economies, but out of respect for human nature there are moral norms that need to be respected and that may never be violated. On the topic of property and private ownership, considerable attention is given to the very purpose of private property (namely, to provide individuals with a kind of independence that enhances their ability to do their duties to their dependence and that extends their freedom). But always correlated with this defense of private property is a sense of the social demands on private property that come from the common good and the communal purpose of all earthly goods.
Principal Concepts in Henry George's Theory of Natural Law: A Brief Commentary on The Science of Political Economy
Authors: PEDDLE FRANCIS K. 
Published: September 2012

AbstractGeorge sees the obstruction of the interaction between the active and passive factors of production, between the human and the natural, or anything that exacerbates the dualism between us and nature, as contrary to the functioning of political economy. His deliberations on the nature of action and desire lead to his formulation of the fundamental law of political economy. This essay elaborates on the guiding principles of that law, examines its basis in light of Ciceronian versus descriptive economics, considers its ramifications for socio‐political institutions and economic reform, and addresses the question of social versus economic justice. The recognition of the power of economic rent in the distribution of income and wealth has once again made George's philosophy of economics a guide for reforms in public finance, the alleviation of poverty, and the long‐term stewardship of the environment.