bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The use of molecular markers as a method to predict the response to neoadjuvant therapy for advanced stage rectal adenocarcinoma
Authors: Edden Y. , Wexner S. D. , Berho M. 
Published: June 2011

AbstractAim  The response to combined neoadjuvant therapy for advanced stage rectal adenocarcinoma is predictive of outcome. In addition to both clinical and pathological features, the expression of a variety of molecules may provide another method of identifying tumour responsiveness to pre‐operative therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate several markers in the apoptotic pathway as well as expression of Cox‐2 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) to determine their ability to predict response to neoadjuvant therapy.Method  In total, 152 patients with advanced rectal adenocarcinoma were treated with neoadjuvant therapy followed by resection. Paraffin‐embedded sections obtained before and after therapy were assessed by immunohistochemical staining for Cox‐2, VEGF, p53, p21, p27, Bax, BCL‐2 and apoptosis protease‐activating factor 1 (APAF‐1). These stains were correlated with tumour regression grade, complete pathological response and T‐downstaging of the surgical specimen. Clinical and pathological data were also collected. Data were analysed using the χ2 and Spearman’s correlation tests.Results  Pathological complete response was seen in 24.5% of patients. Amongst the apoptosis‐associated markers, only APAF‐1 expression was found to be significantly associated with tumour regression grade (P < 0.001), complete pathological response (P < 0.031) and T‐downstaging (P < 0.004). On multivariate analysis, APAF‐1 expression was found to be independently associated with good tumour regression grade. In contrast, overexpression of Cox‐2 and VEGF in pretreatment biopsies was related to less tumour regression (P < 0.003) and less likelihood of T‐downstaging (P < 0.03).Conclusion  Immunohistochemical evaluation of initial biopsy specimens of rectal cancer with APAF‐1, Cox‐2 and VEGF may predict tumour response to neoadjuvant therapy in patients with advanced rectal adenocarcinoma. Those with an expected limited response may be considered for other investigational neoadjuvant protocols.
Student use of animated pedagogical agents in a middle school science inquiry program
Authors: Bowman Catherine D. D. 
Published: June 2011

AbstractAnimated pedagogical agents (APAs) have the potential to provide one‐on‐one, just‐in‐time instruction, guidance or mentoring in classrooms where such individualized human interactions may be infeasible. Much current APA research focuses on a wide range of design variables tested with small samples or in laboratory settings, while overlooking important practical issues relating to large‐scale, school‐based implementations. The present study provides an early step in addressing this gap by investigating the patterns, affordances and challenges of sustained classroom use of APAs. During a 15‐class‐period science curriculum, middle school students in the treatment groups (nDr C‐1 = 191; nDr C‐2 = 181) had uninterrupted classroom access to one of the two APAs, while control group students (n = 149) completed the same curriculum without APA access. Usage patterns indicate that students accessed the APAs on a fluctuating, “as needed,” basis corresponding to the introductory, information‐gathering, and synthesis and reporting segments of the curriculum. Survey results revealed no statistically significant difference in student feelings toward the APAs between the two treatments. While treatment students reported that the APAs were unique, reliable, timely resources, interviews indicate little difference between their experiences with the curriculum and those of the control group. Results presented here provide guidance for researchers and practitioners.
Longitudinal evidence on financial expectations in Albania
Authors: Duval Laetitia , Wolff François‐Charles 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThis article focuses on the effect of remittances on financial expectations in Albania using longitudinal data covering the period 2002–2004. To study the dynamics of income satisfaction at the household level, we use subjective data on past, current and future financial situations and estimate random and fixed effect ordered Probit models. We find that households are more optimistic about the future when they have experienced an improvement in their financial situation in the past and when they have received private transfers from foreign countries.
Remittances, Transnational Dahiras and Governance in Senegal
Authors: Diedhiou Alpha 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThe potential role of transnational organisations in fostering effective governance goes unexplored despite the increasing positive role that these organisations are playing today. In Senegal, a whole range of non‐state actors have always played a substantial socio‐economic role, even before the rise of the post‐colonial state. The Murid brotherhood can be regarded as part of this category of customary non‐state actors. In the 1980s, young Murids started to organize themselves in what can be viewed as self‐help community‐based organisations whose functions included the provision of social safety nets to their adherents. By the late 1980s, the scope of these youth organisations, ordahiras, expanded beyond the national boundaries. Mention of thesedahirasin the vast development literature has so far been confined to the socio‐economic importance of the money they remit.This paper offers to transcend this focus on financial remittances, to explore the potential political role of internationaldahirasin their home country. By playing the role of alternative providers of social services,dahirashave propelled themselves to a position of legitimate non‐state actors with political clout. Today, some of them are starting to hold government to account for their actions. Their political power is not only derived from their affiliation with customary centres of authority, but it is also the resultant of their increased financial autonomy.Because transnationaldahirainterventions in Senegal are mostly associated with the role of remittances, their relations with the state are analysed through the lens of revenue generation and other processes of state formation such as internal bargaining between the state and societal forces. The paper is an examination of the potential role of transnationaldahirasin demands for responsive governance. Its analytical orientation is placed within the theoretical premises of the “drivers of change” approach, fiscal sociology of state making and governance.
Sleep duration varies as a function of glutamate and GABA in rat pontine reticular formation
Authors: Watson Christopher J. , Lydic Ralph , Baghdoyan Helen A. 
Published: June 2011

J. Neurochem. (2011) 118, 571–580.AbstractThe oral part of the pontine reticular formation (PnO) is a component of the ascending reticular activating system and plays a role in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness. The PnO receives glutamatergic and GABAergic projections from many brain regions that regulate behavioral state. Indirect, pharmacological evidence has suggested that glutamatergic and GABAergic signaling within the PnO alters traits that characterize wakefulness and sleep. No previous studies have simultaneously measured endogenous glutamate and GABA from rat PnO in relation to sleep and wakefulness. The present study utilized in vivo microdialysis coupled on‐line to capillary electrophoresis with laser‐induced fluorescence to test the hypothesis that concentrations of glutamate and GABA in the PnO vary across the sleep/wake cycle. Concentrations of glutamate and GABA were significantly higher during wakefulness than during non‐rapid eye movement sleep and rapid eye movement sleep. Regression analysis revealed that decreases in glutamate and GABA accounted for a significant portion of the variance in the duration of non‐rapid eye movement sleep and rapid eye movement sleep episodes. These data provide novel support for the hypothesis that endogenous glutamate and GABA in the PnO contribute to the regulation of sleep duration.
Diapause induction and photoperiodic clock in Chilo suppressalis (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)
Authors: CHEN Fang , HAN Yongqiang , HU Qiongbo , HOU Maolin 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThe mature larvae of the rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis Walker (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) enters facultative diapause in response to short‐day conditions in the autumn (August–September). Diapause induction and photoperiodic clock mechanism were investigated in C. suppressalis larvae reared on an artificial diet in the present study. The critical night length for diapause induction was about 9 h 53 min to 10 h 39 min at 22 to 28°C. The third‐instar larvae were found to be relatively sensitive to diapause induction. Photoperiodic response under non‐24‐h light–dark cycles showed that scotophase length played an essential role in the induction of larval diapause in C. suppressalis, and consecutive exposure to long‐night cycles was necessary for a high diapause incidence. In the Nanda–Hamner experiment, diapause incidence peaked at scotophase of 12 h and dropped rapidly at scotophases > 24 h. In the Bünsow experiment, diapause incidence was clearly suppressed, especially at the light pulse located 8 h in the scotophase. Both the Nanda–Hamner and Bünsow experiments showed no rhythmic fluctuations with a period of about 24 h; thus the photoperiodic clock in C. suppressalis is a non‐oscillatory hourglass timer or a rapidly damping circadian oscillator.
Introduction to “Long‐Term Fieldwork”
Authors: TAGGART JAMES M. , SANDSTROM ALAN R. 
Published: June 2011

SUMMARYThis special issue presents new, original essays by anthropologists who have spent a great deal of time carrying out fieldwork in a variety of ways and under many different conditions. Their ways of doing long‐term fieldwork vary from revisiting the same community to doing multisited fieldwork to gain a broader comparative perspective in the discipline of anthropology. The authors wrestle with the meaning of their work after observing the people they befriended and studied undergo sometimes‐devastating changes, suffering deep life‐changing experiences themselves, and witnessing controversies over the value of doing and writing ethnography.
The Long and the Short of Ethnographic Research among the Nahua of Northern Veracruz, Mexico
Authors: SANDSTROM ALAN R. , SANDSTROM PAMELA EFFREIN 
Published: June 2011

SUMMARYLong‐term ethnographic fieldwork in Mexico provides the basis for a critical evaluation of commitment to a single research site over decades. We discuss positive and negative features of this strategy as well as its effect on understanding of basic anthropological concepts.
Narratives of Emotional Experience and Long‐Term Fieldwork among the Nahuat of Mexico
Authors: TAGGART JAMES M. 
Published: June 2011

SUMMARYThis article describes how the author learned through fieldwork, over a long period time and in different places, to recognize how the Nahuat organize their emotional experiences in narrative form according to a deeply inculcated social, psychological, and cultural pattern. It describes the path taken to understand what the Nahuat mean by love and envy, jealousy and desire and it affirms the value of the comparative method in anthropology.
At a Tangent to Belonging: “Career Progression” and Networks of Knowing Japanese Multinational Corporations
Authors: SEDGWICK MITCHELL W. 
Published: June 2011

SUMMARYThis article describes multisited ethnography at a Japanese multinational corporation, in progress for more than two decades. The focus of the fieldwork was the cross‐cultural experiences of Japanese salarymen with non‐Japanese coworkers. The author discusses what it meant for him to grow older along with Japanese salarymen informants working in factories in Thailand and France in an evolving political economy. He argues for shifting from a focus on place to one on relationships in multisited fieldwork.
Lenalidomide can be highly effective in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia despite T‐cell depletion and deletion of chromosome 17p
Authors: Arumainathan Arvind , Kalakonda Nagesh , Pettitt Andrew R. 
Published: June 2011

AbstractLenalidomide is an immunomodulatory agent with activity in a range of haematological cancers including chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). However, major questions remain concerning its effectiveness in patients with T‐cell depletion or deletion of TP53 on chromosome 17p. This case report provides insight into these questions by showing that lenalidomide/dexamethasone in combination can be highly effective as induction therapy for refractory 17p‐ CLL, that remission quality can be improved by subsequent maintenance with lenalidomide alone and that the anti‐leukaemic effects of lenalidomide and its stimulatory effects on non‐malignant B cells are preserved despite prolonged T‐cell depletion resulting from prior alemtuzumab/methylprednisolone.
Ex Umbris: Newman's New Evangelization
Authors: Ramsay Matthew 
Published: June 2011

AbstractNewman wrote many works arguing for the truth of the Christian faith. At the same time, he wrote positively regarding non-Christian beliefs and practices. This article investigates Newman's arguments for Christianity in light of his acceptance of non-Christian religions. Drawing primarily on the Grammar of Assent and the Oxford University Sermons, as well as Newman's poetry, prayers, and other works, I argue that Newman's acceptance of other religions forms the foundation of his Christian apologetic. I first look at Newman's view of non-Christian religions, where he sees an ascending movement of humanity searching for God and a descending movement of God revealing himself to humanity. Second, I look to Newman's understanding of human reasoning, which works holistically and not according to the rules of strict logic alone. Third, I argue that, for Newman, religious conversion models other types of assent, so religious knowledge and practice outside of Christianity are what allow a believer to recognize the truth of the Christian message. Finally, I present Newman's reflections on scriptural examples of evangelization, in which he sees a model of evangelization based on the principles discussed in this article.
Severity of Erectile Dysfunction Could Predict Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction in Patients without Overt Cardiac Complaint
Authors: El-Sakka Ahmed I. , Morsy Ayman M. , Fagih Bassam I. 
Published: June 2011

ABSTRACT

Introduction
It has been repeatedly demonstrated that presence of erectile dysfunction (ED) may predate the occurrence of overt event of coronary artery disease. However, the association between severity of ED and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) was rarely reported.

Aim
The aim of this study was to assess the association between severity of ED and LVDD in patients without overt cardiac complaint.

Main Outcome Measures
The International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) was used to assess erectile function. Diastolic Doppler parameters measurements and tissue Doppler imaging were used to assess left ventricular diastolic function.

Methods
A total of 230 male ED patients without overt cardiac complaint were enrolled in this study. Erectile function was assessed using the IIEF. Patients were also screened for socio demographic data and medical comorbidities that included age, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. All patients were referred to cardiologist for cardiac assessment. Left ventricular diastolic function that included diastolic Doppler parameters measurements and tissue Doppler imaging were also assessed.

Results
Mean age ± standard deviation was 57.5 ± 5.6 (range of 42–81). There were significant associations between the following risk factors: age, obesity, smoking, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and increased severity of ED (P &lt; 0.05 for each). Of the patients, 77.4%, 74.8%, 80%, and 66.1

Conclusions
.  The current study clearly demonstrated that LVDD is prevalent among patients with ED-associated medical comorbidities without overt cardiac complaint. There were significant associations between increased severity of ED and presence of LVDD in those patients.
Improvement in Sexual Quality of Life of the Female Partner Following Vardenafil Treatment of Men with Erectile Dysfunction: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study
Authors: Martín-Morales A. , Graziottin A. , Jaoudé G. B. , Debruyne F. , Buvat J. , Beneke M. , Neuser D. 
Published: June 2011

Abstract

Introduction
Erectile dysfunction (ED) impacts on both members of the couple. Female partners of men with ED are more likely to report reduced sexual quality of life than women whose partners do not have ED.

Aim
To assess vardenafil efficacy in men with ED and determine the effects of treatment on their female partner's sexual quality of life.

Methods
Study participants comprised men aged 18–64 years with ED and their female partners. Eligible men had ED of ≥6 months' duration and a female partner who was motivated to support their ED treatment. Eligible women had a total Female Sexual Function Index score &gt;23.55, indicating absence of significant sexual dysfunction. Following a 4-week screening period, men were randomized to treatment with vardenafil 10 mg or placebo, which could be titrated to 20 or 5 mg after 4 weeks.

Main Outcomes Measures
Primary efficacy variables were question 3 of the Sexual Encounter Profile questionnaire (SEP3) and the quality-of-life domain of the modified Sexual Life Quality Questionnaire (mSLQQ-QOL).

Results
The intent-to-treat population included 343 couples, with 168 and 175 men receiving vardenafil or placebo, respectively. Vardenafil treatment significantly improved both erection maintenance and the female partners' sexual quality of life. Least squares (LS) mean SEP3 overall success rates after 12 weeks of treatment were 9.5 (baseline) vs. 67.2 (week 12) and 12.4 (baseline) vs. 24.2 (week 12) in the vardenafil and placebo groups, respectively (P &lt; 0.0001). In female partners, LS mean mSLQQ-QOL scores were 28.8 (baseline) vs. 68.2 (last observation carried forward [LOCF]) in the vardenafil group and 24.6 (baseline) vs. 40.5 (LOCF) in the placebo group (P &lt; 0.0001).

Conclusions
Vardenafil treatment of men with ED improved both their erectile function and the sexual quality of life of their female partners.
Surgical endodontics: a review of current best practice
Authors: Fahey T. , O'Connor N. , Walker T. , Chin‐Shong D. 
Published: June 2011

AbstractAim: An apicectomy is an endodontic surgical procedure which involves root‐end resection, apical curettage and root‐end filling. This article aims to discuss current guidelines and review the recent literature published on this topic. Indications and contraindications are outlined. Various aspects of the surgical procedure are discussed, including flap design, root‐end surgical management and current recommended root‐end filling materials. The expected outcomes and associated complications are also presented.Materials and methods: A targeted electronic search of PubMed and Medline databases was carried out. The keywords used in the search were ‘apicectomy, microsurgical endodontics, mineral trioxide aggregate, microsurgical instruments’. Articles from peer‐reviewed journals were included. The search was limited to articles published since 1990.Recommendations and conclusions: It is currently recommended that microsurgical techniques are incorporated in the practice of surgical endodontics. Ultrasonic tips are advised for retrograde root preparation. Amalgam is no longer recommended as a retrograde filling material. Mineral trioxide aggregate is now the material of choice. Surgical endodontics is an area where postgraduate training is advisable for those practising it.
The Ethnic and Civic Foundations of Citizenship and Identity in the Horn of Africa
Authors: Bereketeab Redie 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThe article seeks to analyse the ethic and civic forms of citizenship and identity in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia and to some extent Sudan are pursuing the ethnic model. While Eritrea and Djibouti pursue the civic model, Somalia represents a special case. Ethnic citizenship may guarantee equal rights, self‐rule, and self‐fulfilment; however, it could also be a cause of division and irredentism. Civic citizenship could create unity and cohesion in polyethnic societies; it could also lead to majority domination. The article contends that both models are relevant where the national level could be served by the civic model and the sub‐national is served by the ethnic model. The article concludes that the politics of domination are the main obstacle to the equal rights of citizens, and therefore politics of domination should be replaced by the politics of rights.
Banal Nationalism, Football, and Discourse Community in Africa
Authors: Vidacs Bea 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThe article argues that despite the continuing relevance of ethnicity, the idea of the nation has taken root among Africans. This is due to a combination of factors, including the universal ideology of the nation‐state, the impact of the existence of such national borders on the imagination, and the influence of national symbols and icons, which naturalise the idea of the nation. Applying Michael Billig's notion of banal nationalism to Cameroon, the article focuses on linguistic practices as well as on popular appropriations of national symbols as contributing factors to the creation and maintenance of national consciousness. The analysis of a call‐in radio program broadcast on Cameroonian national radio during the 1994 FIFA World Cup illustrates that football created a discourse community that reinforced the idea of the nation both explicitly and implicitly. By participating in the debate, journalists and listeners alike – regardless of the tenor of their remarks – reinforced and further contributed to imagining the Cameroonian nation.
sGD: software for estimating spatially explicit indices of genetic diversity
Authors: SHIRK A.J. , CUSHMAN S.A. 
Published: June 2011

AbstractAnthropogenic landscape changes have greatly reduced the population size, range and migration rates of many terrestrial species. The small local effective population size of remnant populations favours loss of genetic diversity leading to reduced fitness and adaptive potential, and thus ultimately greater extinction risk. Accurately quantifying genetic diversity is therefore crucial to assessing the viability of small populations. Diversity indices are typically calculated from the multilocus genotypes of all individuals sampled within discretely defined habitat patches or larger regional extents. Importantly, discrete population approaches do not capture the clinal nature of populations genetically isolated by distance or landscape resistance. Here, we introduce spatial Genetic Diversity (sGD), a new spatially explicit tool to estimate genetic diversity based on grouping individuals into potentially overlapping genetic neighbourhoods that match the population structure, whether discrete or clinal. We compared the estimates and patterns of genetic diversity using patch or regional sampling and sGD on both simulated and empirical populations. When the population did not meet the assumptions of an island model, we found that patch and regional sampling generally overestimated local heterozygosity, inbreeding and allelic diversity. Moreover, sGD revealed fine‐scale spatial heterogeneity in genetic diversity that was not evident with patch or regional sampling. These advantages should provide a more robust means to evaluate the potential for genetic factors to influence the viability of clinal populations and guide appropriate conservation plans.