Constellation

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Medical Sciences

Kinds of Constellation

  • family constellation
  • satellite constellation


  • Selected Abstracts


    INTERACTION AND INTERSECTION: THE CONSTELLATION OF EMOTIONAL STABILITY AND EXTRAVERSION IN PREDICTING PERFORMANCE

    PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2007
    TIMOTHY A. JUDGE
    This study investigated the constellation of 2 Big 5 traits,Emotional Stability and Extraversion,in predicting job performance. Two forms of the constellation, one indirect (a statistical interaction) and the other direct (a measure of the intersection between the traits from the Big 5 circumplex), were used to predict job performance. Data were collected from employees and their supervisors at a regional health and fitness center. Results indicated that both measures predicted performance, even when controlling for the "main effects" of Emotional Stability and Extraversion, as well as 2 other relevant Big 5 traits (Agreeableness and Conscientiousness). These results suggest that the combination of Emotional Stability and Extraversion,reflecting a "happy" or "buoyant" personality,may be more important to performance than either trait in isolation. [source]


    Constellations and careers: toward understanding the effects of multiple developmental relationships

    JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Issue 3 2001
    Monica C. Higgins
    This paper examines the effects of individuals' primary and multiple developmental relationships in a longitudinal study of the careers of lawyers. By juxtaposing the effects of the primary developmental relationship with those of individuals' sets or ,constellations' of developmental relationships, the present study lends insight into if and when these two perspectives on mentoring yield different results regarding the effects of mentoring on protégé career outcomes. The findings from the present study show that while the quality of one's primary developer affects short-term career outcomes such as work satisfaction and intentions to remain with one's firm, it is the composition and quality of an individual's entire constellation of developmental relationships that account for long-run protégé career outcomes such as organizational retention and promotion. Further, results from the present study provide evidence that the constellation perspective explains greater variance with respect to protégé career outcomes than does the primary or more traditional perspective on mentoring. Implications for research on mentoring, developmental relationships, and careers are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Aldosterone Receptor Antagonism: Interface With Hyperkalemia in Heart Failure

    CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE, Issue 5 2004
    Domenic A. Sica MD
    Aldosterone receptor antagonism (ARA) is an increasingly well-accepted element of heart failure therapy. The experimental underpinnings for the use of ARA in heart failure are strong being linked to a variety of tissue-based cardiac effects characteristic of drugs in this class. However, the benefits of ARA therapy do not come without some risk since drugs in this class are potent inhibitors of renal potassium (K+) elimination. Thus, some increment in serum K+, up to and including the development of overt hyperkalemia (typically defined as a serum K+ value in excess of 6.0 mEq/L), is to be expected whenever they are used. Hyperkalemia attributable to ARA relates to several factors including ARA dose, patient predisposition to hyperkalemia, as in the case of renal failure, and dietary intake of K+. The risk of some change in serum K+ with ARA should not be a deterrent to use of drugs in this class but, rather should prompt careful surveillance for the onset of this potentially life-threatening electrolyte disturbance. The frequency of such scrutiny should be patient-specific and based on the constellation of risk factors for hyperkalemia. [source]


    Competing Rationales for Corporate Governance in France: Institutional Complementarities between Financial Markets and Innovation Systems

    CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, Issue 2 2008
    Soo H. Lee
    ABSTRACT Manuscript Type: Conceptual Research Question/Issue: This paper identifies the causes and consequences of corporate governance reform with reference to the French case. By disaggregating institutional complementarities into global and domestic dimensions, we analyze the path of institutional change compelled by financial efficiency and cooperative innovation. Research Findings/Results: Our analysis of the French case shows that both converging and diverging forces of institutional change coexist, shaping selective responses to globalization. While the adoption of the shareholder model is necessary for resource acquirement from the global capital markets, resource allocation in the cooperative innovation systems reinforces the stakeholder model. The French case confirms the sustainability of distinctive institutional complementarities, albeit with selective adaptation based on a sense-making social compromise. Theoretical Implications: The French case reminds us of the importance of distinctive institutional traditions and dominant social rationalities to understand the underlying logic of governance reform. The comparative research on corporate governance needs to address not just the cross-country variations in institutional arrangements and practices, but also the clash of competing rationales for reform explicitly in comparative terms within a single country context. Practical Implications: For foreign investors, it is vital to understand the unique institutional environment of state-centred stakeholder economies if they are to negotiate the best terms of return and to avoid unnecessary conflicts. French managers are expected to devise strategic choices responding to the competing rationales of governance. Managerial sense-making is essential for achieving sound long-term performance, upon which the legitimacy and sustainability of the constellation of selective governance rests. [source]


    Cellular oxygen sensing, signalling and how to survive translational arrest in hypoxia

    ACTA PHYSIOLOGICA, Issue 2 2009
    M. Fähling
    Abstract Hypoxia is a consequence of inadequate oxygen availability. At the cellular level, lowered oxygen concentration activates signal cascades including numerous receptors, ion channels, second messengers, as well as several protein kinases and phosphatases. This, in turn, activates trans -factors like transcription factors, RNA-binding proteins and miRNAs, mediating an alteration in gene expression control. Each cell type has its unique constellation of oxygen sensors, couplers and effectors that determine the activation and predominance of several independent hypoxia-sensitive pathways. Hence, altered gene expression patterns in hypoxia result from a complex regulatory network with multiple divergences and convergences. Although hundreds of genes are activated by transcriptional control in hypoxia, metabolic rate depression, as a consequence of reduced ATP level, causes inhibition of mRNA translation. In a multi-phase response to hypoxia, global protein synthesis is suppressed, mainly by phosphorylation of eIF2-alpha by PERK and inhibition of mTOR, causing suppression of 5,-cap-dependent mRNA translation. Growing evidence suggests that mRNAs undergo sorting at stress granules, which determines the fate of mRNA as to whether being translated, stored, or degraded. Data indicate that translation is suppressed only at ,free' polysomes, but is active at subsets of membrane-bound ribosomes. The recruitment of specific mRNAs into subcellular compartments seems to be crucial for local mRNA translation in prolonged hypoxia. Furthermore, ribosomes themselves may play a significant role in targeting mRNAs for translation. This review summarizes the multiple facets of the cellular adaptation to hypoxia observed in mammals. [source]


    Neurophysiological and genetic distinctions between pure and comorbid anxiety disorders,

    DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, Issue 5 2008
    Mary-Anne Enoch M.D.
    Abstract Anxiety disorders are often comorbid with major depression (MD) and alcohol use disorders (AUD). Two common functional polymorphisms in catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT Val158Met) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF Val66Met) genes have been implicated in the neurobiology of anxiety and depression. We hypothesized that attentional response and working memory (auditory P300 event-related potential and Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale, Revised digit symbol scores) as well as genetic vulnerability would differ between pure anxiety disorders and comorbid anxiety. Our study sample comprised 249 community-ascertained men and women with lifetime DSM-III-R diagnoses. We analyzed groups of participants with pure anxiety disorders, pure MD, pure AUD, comorbid anxiety, and no psychiatric disorder. Participants were well at the time of testing; state anxiety and depressed mood measures were at most only mildly elevated. Individuals with pure anxiety disorders had elevated P300 amplitudes (P=0.0004) and higher digit symbol scores (P<0.0001) compared with all the other groups. Individuals with comorbid anxiety had the greatest proportion of COMT Met158 and BDNF Met66 alleles (P=0.009) as well as higher harm avoidance-neuroticism (P<0.0005) than all other groups. Our results suggest that there may be two vulnerability factors for anxiety disorders with differing genetic susceptibility: (a) heightened attention and better working memory with mildly elevated anxiety-neuroticism, a constellation that may be protective against other psychopathology; and (b) poorer attention and working memory with greater anxiety-neuroticism, a constellation that may also increase vulnerability to AUD and MD. This refinement of the anxiety phenotype may have implications for therapeutic interventions. Depression and Anxiety 0:1,10, 2007. Published 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


    Ruminative coping among patients with dysthymia before and after pharmacotherapy

    DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, Issue 4 2007
    Owen Kelly Ph.D.
    Abstract The pivotal role of rumination in relation to other coping strategies was assessed in chronically depressed (dysthymic disorder) individuals versus nondepressed controls. Individuals with dysthymia demonstrated elevated use of rumination and other emotion-focused strategies (emotional expression, emotional containment, self- and other-blame). Among patients with dysthymia, rumination was linked to this limited array of emotion-focused efforts and diminished use of cognitive disengagement, whereas among controls, rumination was correlated with a broad constellation of problem- and emotion-focused strategies. Following 12 weeks of pharmacotherapy (sertraline), despite attenuation of depressed mood and reduced rumination, the limited relations between rumination and emotion-focused efforts persisted. Inflexibility in the ability to combine various coping efforts effectively may be characteristic of individuals with dysthymia, potentially increasing risk for recurrence. Depression and Anxiety 24:233,243, 2007. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


    The use of neuroimaging in the diagnosis of mitochondrial disease

    DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES RESEARCH REVIEW, Issue 2 2010
    Seth D. Friedman
    Abstract Mutations in nuclear and mitochondrial DNA impacting mitochondrial function result in disease manifestations ranging from early death to abnormalities in all major organ systems and to symptoms that can be largely confined to muscle fatigue. The definitive diagnosis of a mitochondrial disorder can be difficult to establish. When the constellation of symptoms is suggestive of mitochondrial disease, neuroimaging features may be diagnostic and suggestive, can help direct further workup, and can help to further characterize the underlying brain abnormalities. Magnetic resonance imaging changes may be nonspecific, such as atrophy (both general and involving specific structures, such as cerebellum), more suggestive of particular disorders such as focal and often bilateral lesions confined to deep brain nuclei, or clearly characteristic of a given disorder such as stroke-like lesions that do not respect vascular boundaries in mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episode (MELAS). White matter hyperintensities with or without associated gray matter involvement may also be observed. Across patients and discrete disease subtypes (e.g., MELAS, Leigh syndrome, etc.), patterns of these features are helpful for diagnosis. However, it is also true that marked variability in expression occurs in all mitochondrial disease subtypes, illustrative of the complexity of the disease process. The present review summarizes the role of neuroimaging in the diagnosis and characterization of patients with suspected mitochondrial disease. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Dev Disabil Res Rev 2010;16:129,135. [source]


    Cardiovascular metabolic syndrome , an interplay of, obesity, inflammation, diabetes and coronary heart disease

    DIABETES OBESITY & METABOLISM, Issue 3 2007
    J. S. Rana
    Cardiovascular disease is currently one of the biggest causes of morbidity and mortality facing humanity. Such a paradigm shift of disease pattern over the last century has only worsened due to the alarming global prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes. In recent years there is increasing focus on inflammation as one of the key players in the patho-physiology of these disorders. In addition to these overt risk factors new research is unraveling the significance of a constellation of early metabolic abnormalities that include weight gain, insulin resistance, prehypertension and a specific pattern of dyslipidaemia. There exists a complex interrelationship of these various metabolic disorders and their effect on cardiovascular system. Simplified explanation can be that inflammation increases insulin resistance, which in turn leads to obesity while perpetuating diabetes, high blood pressure, prothrombotic state and dyslipidaemia. While inflammation and insulin resistance have direct adverse effects on cardiac muscle, these metabolic abnormalities as a whole cause causes cardiovascular complications; warranting a multi pronged therapeutic and preventive approach for the ,Cardiovascular Metabolic Syndrome' as an entity. [source]


    Insulin resistance , a common link between type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease

    DIABETES OBESITY & METABOLISM, Issue 3 2006
    Harold E. Lebovitz
    Evidence suggests that diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) may share an underlying cause(s), a theory known as the ,common soil' hypothesis. Insulin resistance is central both to the progression from normal glucose tolerance to type 2 diabetes and to a constellation of cardiovascular risk factors known as the metabolic syndrome. These risk factors include visceral obesity and dyslipidaemia characterized by low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, hypertriglyceridaemia and raised small dense low-density lipoprotein particle levels. Changes in adipose tissue mass and metabolism may link insulin resistance and visceral obesity, a condition that is common in type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, weight reduction, increased physical activity, metformin and acarbose have been shown to reduce the development of type 2 diabetes in genetically predisposed subjects and may decrease the high cardiovascular risk of patients with diabetes. Some fatty acid derivatives can affect energy metabolism by activating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), nuclear receptors that play a key role in energy homeostasis. These receptors represent an ideal therapeutic target for reducing cardiovascular risk, because they are involved in the regulation of both insulin action and lipid metabolism. In addition to lifestyle changes, PPAR, agonists such as thiazolidinediones are frequently beneficial and have been shown to ameliorate insulin resistance, while activation of PPAR, (e.g. by fibrates) can lead to improvements in free fatty acid oxidation and lipid profile, and a reduction in cardiovascular events. The development of agents with both PPAR, and PPAR, activity promises added benefits with amelioration of insulin resistance, delayed progression to and of type 2 diabetes and a reduction of CVD. [source]


    Rapid humanitarian assessments and rationality: a value-of-information study from Iraq, 2003-04

    DISASTERS, Issue 1 2007
    Aldo Benini
    Rapid assessments are one of the standard informational tools in humanitarian response and are supposed to contribute to rational decision-making.1 The extent to which the assessment organisation itself behaves rationally, however, is an open question. This can be evaluated against multiple criteria, such as the cost and value of the information it collects and its ability to adapt flexibly design or samples when the survey environment changes unforeseeably. An unusual data constellation from two concurrent recent (2003,04) rapid assessments in northern Iraq permits us to model part of the actual assessment behaviour in terms of geographical, community and prior substantive information attributes. The model correctly predicts the decisions, in 79 per cent of the 2,425 local communities in focus, that data collector teams in the Emergency Mine Action Survey made to visit or not to visit. The analysis demonstrates variably rational behaviour under conditions of insecurity, repeated regrouping and incomplete sampling frames. A pronounced bias towards very small rural settlements is irrational for the overall results, but may be a rational strategy of individual survey workers seeking to prolong their employment. Implications for future assessments are sketched in the areas of tools for urban surveys, greater adaptability, including early feedback from users, and sensibility to value-of-information concepts. [source]


    Universal foliage-stem scaling across environments and species in dicot trees: plasticity, biomechanics and Corner's Rules

    ECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 3 2009
    Mark E. Olson
    Abstract Trees range from small-leaved, intricately branched species with slender stems to large-leaved, coarsely branched ones with thick stems. We suggest a mechanism for this pattern, known as Corner's Rules, based on universal scaling. We show similar crown area,stem diameter scaling between trunks and branches, environments, and species spanning a wide range of leaf size and stem biomechanics. If crown and stem maintain metabolically driven proportionality, but similar amounts of photosynthates are produced per unit crown area, then the greater leaf spacing in large-leaved species requires lower density stem tissue and, meeting mechanical needs, thicker stems. Congruent with this scenario, we show a negative relationship between leaf size and stem Young's modulus. Corner's Rules emerge from these mutual adjustments, which suggest that adaptive studies cannot consider any of these features independently. The constancy of scaling despite environmental challenges identifies this trait constellation as a crucial axis of plant diversification. [source]


    Dream Play and Discovering Cultural Psychology

    ETHOS, Issue 2 2001
    Associate Professor Jeannette Marie Mageo
    Dream play is a method of dream analysis I crafted to help fathom the cultural psychology of Samoan dreams. Drawing on Samoan aptitude for performance, this method combines elements of Gestalt role-playing and Jungian active imagination. What I discovered through the method was a Samoan "kea complex," a bipolar constellation of ideas and feelings that reveals pivotal aspects of postcolonial psychocultural dynamics in Samoa and probably in other locations as well. This dynamic revolves around notions of relationality, engagement, and self that hybridize indigenous Samoan psychological schemata with Western Christian models of care. [source]


    A radialization factor in normal cortical plate restores disorganized radial glia and disrupted migration in a model of cortical dysplasia

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 3 2003
    Thomas A. Hasling
    Abstract Treatment of pregnant ferrets on embryonic day 24 (E24) with the antimitotic methylazoxy methanol (MAM) leads to a specific constellation of effects in newborn kits, which include a very thin and poorly laminated neocortex, disruption of radial glial cell morphology with early differentiation into astrocytes, and abnormal positioning of Cajal,Retzius cells. We suggest that MAM treatment on E24 results in this model of cortical dysplasia by eliminating a population of cells that produce a factor capable of maintaining radial glia in their normal morphology. The abnormal radial glia, either alone or in combination with other abnormal features, are likely to prevent proper migration into the cortical plate. To test the possibility that normal cortex can provide the missing substance that influences radial glia, slices of E24 MAM-treated cortex were removed at postnatal day 0 (P0) and cultured adjacent to explants of P0 normal cortical plate. By labelling a small number of cells with injections of fluorescent dextrans into the cultured slices, we found that abnormal radial glia in MAM treated slices cocultured adjacent to normal cortical plate were restored toward normal, in comparison to E24 MAM treated slices cultured alone and in other control conditions. We also found that abnormally positioned Cajal,Retzius cells move into the marginal zone and that neurons are able to migrate into the cortical plate more effectively in the coculture condition. These data indicate that normal cortical plate of ferrets contains a factor causing radial glia to maintain their elongated morphology; the improved position of radial glia encourages repositioning of Cajal,Retzius cells and improved neuronal migration into the cortical plate. [source]


    A Metathesis Approach for the Preparation of Polyhydroxylated Compounds as Head Groups in Surfactant Synthesis

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 4 2006
    Kristina Neimert-Andersson
    Abstract Starting from methyl-,- D -glucopyranoside, an efficient protocol for the preparation of polyhydroxylated surfactant head-groups is demonstrated and applied in the synthesis of a typical surfactant. The key transformation is a metathesis reaction between two monosaccharide residues to afford an octahydroxydecen. The importance of a strategic protecting-group constellation for a successful metathesis reaction is also investigated. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2006) [source]


    The usefulness of self-reported psychopathy-like traits in the study of antisocial behaviour among non-referred adolescents

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 5 2002
    Henrik Andershed
    The present study addresses the question of whether it is possible to use a self-report measure of psychopathic traits on non-referred youth samples to identify a subgroup of problematic youths who are particularly problematic and different from other problem youths. A large sample of eighth-grade, non-referred adolescents, and their parents were assessed. Results showed that the adolescents exhibiting a low-socialized psychopathy-like personality constellation had a more frequent, violent, and versatile conduct-problem profile than other low-socialized and well socialized adolescents. The psychopathy-like adolescents also differed from other poorly socialized adolescents in ways that suggested that their etiological background was different from adolescents with non-psychopathy-like conduct problems. We conclude that self-report measures can indeed be useful for research purposes in subtyping youths with conduct problems. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Trait emotional intelligence: psychometric investigation with reference to established trait taxonomies

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 6 2001
    K V Petrides
    This paper sets out the theoretical foundation of emotional intelligence (EI) as a constellation of traits and self-perceived abilities. The discriminant validity of trait EI is explored in two studies. In study 1 (N,=,227), the psychometric properties of the BarOn Emotional Quotient inventory were scrutinized through confirmatory factor analysis and the measure was found to be unifactorial. When the EQ-i was examined concurrently with the Eysenck Personality Profiler, a clear trait EI factor emerged in Eysenckian factor space. In study 2 (N,=,166), a modified version of the EQ-i was examined concurrently with the NEO PI-R and a truncated trait EI factor was isolated within the Five-Factor Model. Results are discussed with explicit reference to established personality models and it is concluded that trait EI can be conceptualized as a distinct composite construct at the primary level of hierarchical trait structures. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    The Making and Unmaking of Body Problems in Seventeen Magazine, 1992,2003

    FAMILY & CONSUMER SCIENCES RESEARCH JOURNAL, Issue 4 2005
    Leslie Winfield Ballentine
    This interpretive study explored body-related content Seventeen magazine, a fashion and beauty magazine for adolescent girls, from 1992 to 2003 (inclusive). The authors' work was guided by symbolic convergence theory, which illuminates how rhetorical visions within media can contribute to audience perceptions of reality. Analyses revealed two main rhetorical visions within Seventeen: (1) the making of body problems and (2) the unmaking of body problems. Content related to Rhetorical Vision 1 simultaneously constructed a narrow constellation of body characteristics as ideal and problematized bodies that deviated from this ideal. Content related to Rhetorical Vision 2 provided three different mechanisms for "dealing with" body problems: (a) controlling the body through bodywork regimens, (b) controlling the body through consumption, and (c) staging resistance against dominant cultural discourses about the body (e.g., the thin ideal). Findings suggest that rhetorical visions presented within Seventeen may send mixed messages to adolescents about their bodies. [source]


    Managing Diversity? ,Community Cohesion' and Its Limits in Neoliberal Urban Policy

    GEOGRAPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 2 2008
    Julie MacLeavy
    The concept of ,community cohesion' has played a defining role in the institution of a new policy agenda for regenerating urban areas in many liberal welfare states. Its particular interpretation supports the installation of urban programmes that are based not on the improvement of the built environment, but rather investment in the social and cultural composition of cities. In particular, the economic and civic participation of individuals living within deprived urban areas is positioned as a key means of redressing situations of inequality and disadvantage. This article reviews the concept of ,community cohesion', its use in urban policy in the UK, and the recent literature on this subject. Through an indicative discussion of the New Deal for Communities programme, it explores the potential implications of ,community cohesion' for disadvantaged policy subjects and considers especially its provisions for ethnic minority groups: a constellation of community in which individuals are understood to experience a ,double disadvantage' as a result of their disproportionate concentration in deprived urban areas, and their subjection to the consequences of racial discrimination (as well as language and cultural barriers). [source]


    ,Beyond Left and Right': The New Partisan Politics of Welfare

    GOVERNANCE, Issue 2 2000
    Fiona Ross
    The ,new politics of the welfare state,' the term coined by Pierson (1996) to differentiate between the popular politics of welfare expansion and the unpopular politics of retrenchment, emphasizes a number of factors that distinguish countries' capacities to pursue contentious measures and avoid electoral blame. Policy structures, vested interests, and institutions play a prominent role in accounting for cross-national differences in leaders' abilities to diffuse responsibility for divisive initiatives. One important omission from the ,new politics' literature, however, is a discussion of partisan politics. ,Old' conceptualizations of the political right and left are implicitly taken as constants despite radical changes in the governing agenda of many leftist parties over the last decade. Responding to this oversight, Castles (1998) has recently probed the role of parties with respect to aggregate government expenditures, only to concludethat parties do not matter under ,conditions of constraint.' This article contends that parties are relevant to the ,new politics' and that, under specified institutional conditions, their impact is counterintuitive. In some notable cases the left has had more effect inbruising the welfare state than the right. One explanation for these cross-cutting tendencies is that parties not only provide a principal source of political agency, they also serve as strategies, thereby conditioning opportunities for political leadership. By extension, they need to be situatedwithin the ,new politics' constellation of blame-avoidance instruments. [source]


    Triple negative tumours: a critical review

    HISTOPATHOLOGY, Issue 1 2008
    J S Reis-Filho
    Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease that encompasses several distinct entities with remarkably different biological characteristics and clinical behaviour. Currently, breast cancer patients are managed according to algorithms based on a constellation of clinical and histopathological parameters in conjunction with assessment of hormone receptor (oestrogen and progesterone receptor) status and HER2 overexpression/gene amplification. Although effective tailored therapies have been developed for patients with hormone receptor-positive or HER2+ disease, chemotherapy is the only modality of systemic therapy for patients with breast cancers lacking the expression of these markers (triple-negative cancers). Recent microarray expression profiling analyses have demonstrated that breast cancers can be systematically characterized into biologically and clinically meaningful groups. These studies have led to the re-discovery of basal-like breast cancers, which preferentially show a triple-negative phenotype. Both triple-negative and basal-like cancers preferentially affect young and African-American women, are of high histological grade and have more aggressive clinical behaviour. Furthermore, a significant overlap between the biological and clinical characteristics of sporadic triple-negative and basal-like cancers and breast carcinomas arising in BRCA1 mutation carriers has been repeatedly demonstrated. In this review, we critically address the characteristics of basal-like and triple-negative cancers, their similarities and differences, their response to chemotherapy as well as strategies for the development of novel therapeutic targets for these aggressive types of breast cancer. In addition, the possible mechanisms are discussed leading to BRCA1 pathway dysfunction in sporadic triple-negative and basal-like cancers and animal models for these tumour types. [source]


    Does Participation Affect Deception Success?

    HUMAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH, Issue 4 2001
    A Test of the Interactivity Principle
    Communication episodes may range from highly interactive to noninteractive. The principle of interactivity refers to the constellation of structural and experiential features associated with interactivity that systematically affect communication processes and outcomes. One such feature is degree of participation. In deceptive interchanges, senders may engage in dialogic (high participation, two-way) or monologic (low participation, one-way) communication. According to the principle of interactivity, dialogue should advantage deceivers relative to monologue due to increased mutuality between sender and receiver and greater opportunities for deceivers to improve their performance over time. An experiment in which friends or strangers alternated between deceiving and telling the truth to a partner under dialogue or monologue conditions tested this principle. All hypotheses received some support. Relative to monologue, dialogue created more mutuality among strangers. Dialogue also enabled deceivers to better manage their informational content, speech fluency, nonverbal demeanor, and image, resulting in less accurate deception detection by partners. These results support the interactivity principle and interpersonal deception theory, from which the principle emanated. [source]


    The Leonardo effect: why entrepreneurs become their own fathers

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOANALYTIC STUDIES, Issue 2 2005
    Carlo Strenger
    Abstract In depth investigation of male entrepreneurs shows a consistent finding: a large proportion of male entrepreneurs tend to experience their fathers as weak, inefficient, abusive, or absent. "Fatherlessness," as we call this constellation, is, of course, not of itself either a necessary or sufficient condition for entrepreneurship, and even less for successful entrepreneurship. The present paper tries to identify the psychodynamic constellation that allows some entrepreneurs to psychologically deal with the experience of fatherlessness and to transform it into an asset. We do so using Freud's hypothesis that Leonardo da Vinci's extreme independence of mind was one of the predisposing factors to his extreme inquisitiveness and creativity. This model needs to be combined with the insight that fatherlessness isper seharmful. Through detailed case studies it is shown how only those who truly come to terms with fatherlessness can become successful entrepreneurs, whereas those who remain fixated to the rage and disappointment generated by fatherlessness are bound to become what we call self- destroyers out of unconscious guilt or grandiose dreamers. The paper concludes with some practical advice on how to identify the various types. Copyright © 2005 Whurr Publishers Ltd. [source]


    Refeeding syndrome in cancer patients

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PRACTICE, Issue 3 2008
    M. A. Marinella
    Summary Background:, Refeeding syndrome (RFS) is a common, yet underappreciated, constellation of electrolyte derangements that typically occurs in acutely ill, malnourished hospitalised patients who are administered glucose solutions or other forms of intravenous or enteral nutrition. Discussion:, The hallmark of RFS is hypophosphataemia, but hypokalaemia and hypomagnesaemia are also common. Patients with various types of malignancies are at-risk for RFS, but very little exists in the oncologic literature about this disorder. Conclusions:, As RFS can have many adverse metabolic, cardiovascular, haematologic and neurologic complications, practicing oncologist needs to be aware of the pathophysiology, risk factors and clinical manifestations to promptly recognise this important, and potentially fatal, metabolic disorder. [source]


    Angle differential-QAM scheme for resolving phase ambiguity in continuous transmission system

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, Issue 6 2008
    Jeng-Kuang Hwang
    Abstract An angle differential quadrature amplitude modulation (ADQAM) scheme is proposed to solve phase ambiguity problem in non-data-aided continuous transmission system with square QAM constellation. Starting from the 16-ADQAM case, we derive differential encoding and decoding schemes in terms of two differential angles and use a solar system analogy for explanation. The 16-ADQAM system incurs only about 0.5-dB performance degradation compared with the coherent 16-QAM system under AWGN channel. Generalization of flat fading channel and higher-level ADQAM is straightforward. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Priority-based adaptive routing in NGEO satellite networks

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, Issue 3 2007
    Ömer Korçak
    Abstract In a non-geostationary satellite constellation with inter satellite links (ISLs), there could be many shortest paths between two satellites in terms of hop count. An efficient routing algorithm should effectively use these paths in order to distribute traffic to ISLs in a balanced way and to improve the performance of the system. This paper presents and evaluates a novel priority-based adaptive shortest path routing (PAR) scheme in order to achieve this goal. PAR sets the path towards the destination in a distributed manner, using a priority mechanism depending on the past utilization and buffering information of the ISLs. Moreover, to avoid unnecessary splitting of a flow and to achieve better utilization of ISLs, enhanced PAR (ePAR) scheme is proposed. This paper evaluates performance of the proposed techniques by employing an extensive set of simulations. Furthermore, since there are a number of ePAR parameters that should be adjusted depending on the network and traffic characteristics, a detailed analysis of ePAR scheme is provided to form a framework for setting the parameters. This paper also includes a method for adaptation of the proposed algorithms to minimum-delay path routing. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Bandwidth-efficient turbo coding over Rayleigh fading channels

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, Issue 7 2002
    Stéphane Y. Le Goff
    Abstract Introduced in 1993, turbo codes can achieve high coding gains close to the Shannon limit. In order to design power and bandwidth-efficient coding schemes, several approaches have been introduced to combine high coding rate turbo codes with multilevel modulations. The coding systems thus obtained have been shown to display near-capacity performance over additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channels. For communications over fading channels requiring large coding gain and high bandwidth efficiency, it is also interesting to study bit error rate (BER) performance of turbo codes combined with high order rectangular QAM modulations. To this end, we investigate, in this paper, error performance of several bandwidth-efficient schemes designed using the bit-interleaved coded modulation approach that has proven potentially very attractive when powerful codes, such as turbo codes, are employed. The structure of these coding schemes, termed ,bit-interleaved turbo-coded modulations' (BITCMs), is presented in a detailed manner and their BER performance is investigated for spectral efficiencies ranging from 2 to 7 bit/s/Hz. Computer simulation results indicate that BITCMs can achieve near-capacity performance over Rayleigh fading channels, for all spectral efficiencies considered throughout the paper. It is also shown that the combination of turbo coding and rectangular QAM modulation with Gray mapping constitutes inherently a very powerful association, since coding and modulation functions are both optimized for operation in the same signal-to-noise ratio region. This means that no BER improvement is obtainable by employing any other signal constellation in place of the rectangular ones. Finally, the actual influence of the interleaving and mapping functions on error performance of BITCM schemes is discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Sweet's syndrome revisited: a review of disease concepts

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 10 2003
    Philip R. Cohen MD
    Sweet's syndrome, also referred to as acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis, is characterized by a constellation of symptoms and findings: fever, neutrophilia, erythematous and tender skin lesions that typically show an upper dermal infiltrate of mature neutrophils, and prompt improvement of both symptoms and lesions after the initiation of treatment with systemic corticosteroids. Hundreds of patients with this dermatosis have been reported. The manifestations of Sweet's syndrome in these individuals have not only confirmed those originally described by Dr Robert Douglas Sweet in 1964, but have also introduced new features that have expanded the clinical and pathologic concepts of this condition. The history, clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, associated diseases, pathology, and treatment options of Sweet's syndrome are reviewed. The evolving and new concepts of this dermatosis that are discussed include: (i) Sweet's syndrome occurring in the clinical setting of a disease-related malignancy, or medication, or both; (ii) detection of additional sites of extracutaneous Sweet's syndrome manifestations; (iii) discovery of additional Sweet's syndrome-associated diseases; (iv) variability of the composition and/or location of the cutaneous inflammatory infiltrate in Sweet's syndrome lesions; and (v) additional efficacious treatments for Sweet's syndrome. [source]


    Gender, kinship and caregiver burden: the case of community-dwelling memory impaired seniors

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 8 2003
    Neale R. Chumbler
    Abstract Background This study examined whether there were gender and kinship (spouse, child, more distant relative) differences in caregiver burden. It further examined the constellation of gender and kinship by examining whether adult daughter caregivers experienced greater burden compared to wives, husbands, sons, and other more distant relatives. Methods The sample consisted of 305 family caregivers of memory-impaired individuals who were age 70 years or older and resided in non-institutional settings in Arkansas. A cross-sectional design was employed using validated measures to assess both the memory-impaired elders' and family caregivers' self-reported physical and memory status. Results After controlling for the age and health status characteristics of the memory-impaired elder, sociodemographic and health status characteristics of the family caregiver, and the caregiver coping response (measured by the sense of coherence), multiple regression analyses found kinship, but not gender differences in caregiver burden. Adult children experienced more caregiver burden than more distant relatives. There were no significant differences in caregiver burden between adult children and spouses. Adult daughters had greater caregiver burden scores compared to more distant relatives, but had comparable scores to wives, sons, and husbands. Other significant correlates of burden included caregiver personal characteristics (age and ethnicity) and the sense of coherence. Conclusions The study discusses the practice implications of adult children and adult daughters' propensity to suffer burden when caring for their memory-impaired parents living in the community. It also discusses the relevance of caregiver personal characteristics and the sense of coherence as correlates of burden. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Borderline pathology in children and adolescents

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 3 2004
    Charles Meekings
    ABSTRACT:,,Mental health nurses have historically been pessimistic about and often unsym­pathetic towards clients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. By the time these clients reach adult mental health services their behaviours are often difficult to manage and they often suffer significant re-victimization by health services. Questions need to be raised about how best to avert the consolidation of the problems associated with the disorder. This paper explores the concept of ,borderline pathology' in children and adolescents and examines the best available evidence for utilizing an early identification and intervention model for children and adolescents who exhibit this constellation of symptoms. [source]