Mechanism responsible for the formation of focal swellings on injured neuronal processes using a novel in vitro model of axonal injury

A novel in vitro model of axonal injury using PC12 cells was designed to introduce traumatic alterations on neuronal processes and to identify mechanisms responsible for the formation of focal swellings by observation with phase-contrast and transmission electron microscopes. The injury on the processes was developed by one-dimensional, horizontal oscillation. Phase-contrast microscopic observation on the injured processes showed their terminal increase in diameter. Long term observation of cellular responses to the mechanical insult disclosed that the terminal swelling coincided with the detachment of growth cones from the culture plate. The finding suggests that the detachment of the growth cone would destroy a cytoskeletal network, which determines and maintains the cell shapes, and then cause the spherical deformation of the processes. Ultramicroscopically, the processes with terminal swellings regenerated the growth cones by the cytoskeletal reconstruction.     

Concentrations of toluene in the body killed by an injury to the head shortly after ingesting thinner

An autopsy was conducted on a male showing leather-like skin damage, revealing the cause of death to be an injury to the head. Thinner was found scattered around the scene of death, and stomach and intestine contents smelled strongly of solvent. Toxicological analysis was conducted to determine whether or not the solvent was of a lethal level. Using gas chromatography, peaks of toluene, xylene, and ethylbenzene were detected in the blood and gastric contents. No toluene was detected in the urine, and therefore it was concluded that the decedent died of a severe head injury shortly after solvent ingestion. In the literature, toluene concentrations in blood and lung samples were determined as both fatal and non-fatal but clear differences in the fatality of toluene in solid organ samples, namely, the brain, liver and kidneys were shown. The brain is especially useful in postmortem analysis. In this case, the concentration of toluene in the brain was 20.0 microl/g, which was considered as a non-lethal level.     

The "Best Place" Debate: A Comparison of Graduate Education Programs for Nonprofit Managers

This article presents a critical examination of the curricular elements of nonprofit management degree programs in colleges of business, public administration, and social work. What are the major curricular elements in each type of program? How do the curricular elements of these programs compare with generic management degree programs? What are the central challenges facing managers of nonprofit organizations, and how are these challenges addressed in each program? Based on the curricular review, is one setting more favorable for students of nonprofit management? What are the views of stakeholders regarding the “best place” to educate managers? Data collected from focus groups and surveys of stakeholders in each of these academic settings are presented. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for the future of nonprofit management education in the United States.     

Reviews

From Mad Max to Sane Elaine

Elaine Showalter, Hystories: Hysterical Epidemics and Modern Media, New York: Columbia University Press, 1997, £16.39; Picador, 1998, £6.99

But Words Can Never Hurt Me

Judith Butler, Excitable Speech: A Politics of the Performative, New York and London: Routledge, 1997, £40.

Women in Theatre: Practitioners’ Voices

Lizbeth Goodman, Feminist Stages: Interviews with ‘Women in Contemporary British Theatre, Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1996, £18. Joanne Tompkins and Julie Holledge (eds), Performing Women/Performing Feminisms: Interviews with International Women Playwrights, Australasian Drama Studies Association Academic Publications 2, University of Queensland, 1997. Elaine Aston (ed.), Feminist Theatre Voices, Loughborough Theatre Texts, University of Loughborough, 1997, £7.99.

Heidi Stephenson and Natasha Langridge, (eds), Rage and Reason: Women Playwrights on Playwriting, London: Methuen, 1997, £9.99.

Life and Death in the Next World

Christine Brook‐Rose, Next, Manchester: Carcanet, 1998, £9.95 pbk.     

Experiences of Racism,Racial/Ethnic Attitudes,Motivated Fairness and Mental Health Outcomes Among Primary and Secondary School Students

While studies investigating the health effects of racial discrimination for children and youth have examined a range of effect modifiers, to date, relationships between experiences of racial discrimination, student attitudes, and health outcomes remain unexplored. This study uniquely demonstrates the moderating effects of vicarious racism and motivated fairness on the association between direct experiences of racism and mental health outcomes, specifically depressive symptoms and loneliness, among primary and secondary school students. Across seven schools, 263 students (54.4 % female), ranging from 8 to 17 years old (M = 11.2, SD = 2.2) reported attitudes about other racial/ethnic groups and experiences of racism. Students from minority ethnic groups (determined by country of birth) reported higher levels of loneliness and more racist experiences relative to the majority group students. Students from the majority racial/ethnic group reported higher levels of loneliness and depressive symptoms if they had more friends from different racial/ethnic groups, whereas the number of friends from different groups had no effect on minority students’ loneliness or depressive symptoms. Direct experiences of racism were robustly related to higher loneliness and depressive symptoms in multivariate regression models. However, the association with depressive symptoms was reduced to marginal significance when students reported low motivated fairness. Elaborating on the negative health effects of racism in primary and secondary school students provides an impetus for future research and the development of appropriate interventions.     

Challenges Confronting Contemporary Public Budgeting: Retrospectives/Prospectives from Allen Schick

For nearly half a century, Allen Schick's works have explored and analyzed central issues in the role of budgets in modern government. In 2009, the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development published Evolutions in Budgetary Practice: Allen Schick and the OECD Senior Budget Officials, a selection of his work, together with new chapters. The book traces developments in budget practices and reforms since the 1980s, relating them to changes in the role of government, and discusses challenges to contemporary budgeting and how they might be met. This collection provides an invaluable insight into Schick's thinking about public budgeting: a perspective on the past, a practical resource for the present, and a guide to the future.     

The applicability of holography in forensic identification: a fusion of the traditional optical technique and digital technique

In this study, the applicability of holography in the 3-dimensional recording of forensic objects such as skulls and mandibulae, and the accuracy of the reconstructed 3-D images, were examined. The virtual holographic image, which records the 3-dimensional data of the original object, is visually observed on the other side of the holographic plate, and reproduces the 3-dimensional shape of the object well. Another type of holographic image, the real image, is focused on a frosted glass screen, and cross-sectional images of the object can be observed. When measuring the distances between anatomical reference points using an image-processing software, the average deviations in the holographic images as compared to the actual objects were less than 0.1 mm. Therefore, holography could be useful as a 3-dimensional recording method of forensic objects. Two superimposition systems using holographic images were examined. In the 2D-3D system, the transparent virtual holographic image of an object is directly superimposed onto the digitized photograph of the same object on the LCD monitor. On the other hand, in the video system, the holographic image captured by the CCD camera is superimposed onto the digitized photographic image using a personal computer. We found that the discrepancy between the outlines of the superimposed holographic and photographic dental images using the video system was smaller than that using the 2D-3D system. Holography seemed to perform comparably to the computer graphic system; however, a fusion with the digital technique would expand the utility of holography in superimposition.