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Screening of a phage library for peptides that bind to clotted plasma in the presence of liquid plasma yielded two cyclic decapeptides, CGLIIQKNEC (CLT1) and CNAGESSKNC (CLT2). When injected intravenously into mice bearing various types of tumors, fluorescein-conjugated CLT peptides accumulated in a fibrillar meshwork in the extracellular compartment of the tumors, but were not detectable in other tissues of the tumor-bearing mice. The tumor homing of both peptides was strongly reduced after coinjection with unlabeled CLT2, indicating that the two peptides recognize the same binding site. The CLT peptide fluorescence colocalized with staining for fibrin(ogen) present in the extravascular compartment of tumors, but not in other tissues. The CLT peptides did not home to tumors grown in fibrinogen-null mice or in mice that lack plasma fibronectin. The CLT peptides also accumulated at the sites of injury in arteries, skeletal muscle, and skin. We conclude that the CLT peptides recognize fibrin–fibronectin complexes formed by clotting of plasma proteins that have leaked into the extravascular space in tumors and other lesions. These peptides may be useful in targeting diagnostic and therapeutic materials into tumors and injured tissues.

Experimental data were obtained on the dissociation of short methane hydrate plugs in a simulated pipeline. The hydrate plugs were dissociated by the method of two-sided depressurization. Results indicated that plug dissociation occurred radially and not axially. This results in extreme safety concerns, listed herein. When the system was depressurized to atmospheric pressure, ice was formed from the dissociating hydrate plug, which aided in the dissociation process. A model describing hydrate dissociation assumes that heat is conducted radially into the plug from the surroundings. The model is in quantitative agreement with the data using no fitted parameters. A rapid pressure reduction to atmospheric pressure on both ends of the hydrate plug leads to the optimal dissociation rate.

Six examples are used to illustrate the potential for application-oriented landscape research in bridging human and natural sciences. The paper therefore examines: (i) uncertainty, (ii) data modelling, (iii) the role of scenarios, (iv) the use of process-oriented and participatory methods, (v) the development of an integrative framework. On the way from “data to decision” we start with data uncertainty in spatially explicit data. An assessment of critical loads in Southwest Germany in different spatial scales is examplified, and landscape research should make these data properties as clear and transparent as possible, e.g. with probability maps. In a next step, data modeling techniques like neural nets in a Geographical Information System (GIS) can improve the availability of maps and therefore spatial data—in our second case study we elaborated a synthetic soil map in the German region Hohenlohe out of various other data like geomorphology and elevation, as well as a reference soil map in an adjacent area. This shows how we can better exploit already existing data with new techniques. The third case study continues with genetic algorithms in order to predict the occurrence of species and habitats (here: heathlands) in the Hohenlohe area in Germany, and hence showing further techniques as well as methods in creating potentials and scenarios. How scenarios can be used to translate options from science to society in order to find a future as well as its implications for a landscape is shown in a next case study. Due to general complexity, we finally suggest to use indicators. On top of that, we developed an Information System to run scenarios for future land use in a municipality, and assess indicator values depending on the envisaged future. The Information System was then used in a participatory process, based in our case on a method from social science, in order to achieve high involvement and acceptance of people for decision making. The final step from data to decision is the development of an integrative framework, which we call Environmental Impact Assessment Multi-level Approach. We conclude that under such a framework it should be easier to bridge gaps between human and natural sciences for an application-oriented landscape research.

(2006). Visualising the Right Question. Journal of Victorian Culture: Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 338-348.

Background Longitudinal assessment of bone marrow lesions (BMLs) in knee osteoarthritis (KOA) by MRI is usually performed using semi-quantitative grading methods. Quantitative segmentation methods may be more sensitive to detect change over time. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the validity and sensitivity to detect changes of two quantitative MR segmentation methods for measuring BMLs in KOA, one computer assisted (CAS) and one manual (MS) method. Methods Twenty-two patients with KOA confined to the medial femoro-tibial compartment obtained MRI at baseline and follow-up (median 334 days in between). STIR, T1 and fat saturated T1 post-contrast sequences were obtained using a 1.5 T system. The 44 sagittal STIR sequences were assessed independently by two readers for quantification of BML. The signal intensities (SIs) of the normal bone marrow in the lateral femoral condyles and tibial plateaus were used as threshold values. The volume of bone marrow with SIs exceeding the threshold values (BML) was measured in the medial femoral condyle and tibial plateau and related to the total volume of the condyles/plateaus. The 95% limits of agreement at baseline were used to determine the sensitivity to change. Results The mean threshold values of CAS and MS were almost identical but the absolute and relative BML volumes differed being 1319 mm3/10% and 1828 mm3/15% in the femur and 941 mm3/7% and 2097 mm3/18% in the tibia using CAS and MS, respectively. The BML volumes obtained by CAS and MS were significantly correlated but the tissue changes measured were different. The volume of voxels exceeding the threshold values was measured by CAS whereas MS included intervening voxels with normal SI. The 95% limits of agreement were narrower by CAS than by MS; a significant change of relative BML by CAS was outside the limits of -2.0%-4.7% whereas the limits by MS were -6.9%-8.2%. The BML changed significantly in 13 knees using CAS and in 10 knees by MS. Conclusion CAS was a reliable method for measuring BML and more sensitive to detect changes over time than MS. The BML volumes measured by the two methods differed but were significantly correlated. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2474-15-447) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

standing of twentieth-century art during the century of its birth. Repudiating what we seem communally to think of as the legacy of Clement Greenberg and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, we are looking for other and more inclusive ways of writing the history of 'modern' art than they provided. Among the areas of attention that have benefited from such revisionist initiatives, British art has seen a series of strong scholarly attempts to recast the form of our understanding of modern art outside the inherited pattern. Beginning with Charles Harrison's English Art and Modernism (1981) and continuing most recently with Lisa Tickner's Modern Life and Modern Subjects (2000) and the collection The Geographies of Englishness (2002), early twentiethcentury British art has been recast as modern in ways that established explanations do not allow, while artists such as C. R. W. Nevinson, Paul Nash, or Walter Sickert have been the beneficiaries of growing scholarly literatures. In the United States, exhibitions such as the American Century: Art and Culture show at the Whitney Museum in 1999 have given new attention to the period 1900 to 1950 in American art and begun to give its variety and its non-modernist strands their proper due. There is a new attention to the Ashcan artists and to modern 'realist' traditions in the work of art historians such as

Effectiveness of home-based cardiac rehabilitation for special needs patients Background. The benefits of cardiac rehabilitation programmes have been well documented including reductions in mortality, improved physical performance, and improved quality of life. However, a large number of special needs patients often fail to access these programmes. Of particular concern are elderly patients with chronic illness and disability. Aims. To evaluate the effectiveness of a home-based cardiac rehabilitation programme in improving health outcomes and rehabilitation access for special-needs patients. Design. Using a one-group pre and post-test quasi-experimental design 40 elderly patients recently discharged from hospital following a cardiac event completed the Short Form Health Survey, the Angina Quiz, and the Exercise Assessment Questionnaire prior to undertaking home-based rehabilitation. The rehabilitation programme consisted of four community nursing contacts over a 9-week period primarily aimed at individual patient education and carer support. Analysis. Descriptive statistics provided analysis for demographic data. Repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were computed to examine changes in health-state and practices. Results. Significant positive changes were found for measures of quality of life, knowledge of angina, and exercise tolerance. Additionally, the higher levels of participation and completion by older women was encouraging. Development of carer competence through an improved knowledge base and nursing support was also evident. Limitations. While theoretically defensible positive outcomes were found these results need to he replicated in a larger study. Similarly, the limitations imposed by a single group pretest, post-test design suggest that claims of generalizablity need to be limited to the specific variables measured in this study. Conclusion. The study demonstrated medium term positive health outcomes. These positive findings suggest that home-based rehabilitation using larger samples of older patients with comorbidities, and using randomized comparative group designs, may he a fruitful area in future research.

Despite Science's triumphs, Vitalism - a philosophy rejected by Science - remains alive and well, and this paper explores three reasons why this might be. The first is that the old certainties of Modern times are losing their hold on our imagination; the second that Biomedicine has not met important expectations; the third that Science may have reached a point where it can bridge the traditional chasm between vitalism and mechanism. I would even argue that Science is preparing the basis for a new Vitalism. Copyright © 2002 Whurr Publishers Ltd.

Analysis of a newly discovered specimen of the Late Triassic prolacertiform reptileLangobardisaurus, along with further analyses of the postcranial skeletons of previously described specimens, suggests that a bipedal configuration without a parasagittal gait was possible during rapid locomotion, as previously suggested for the related genus,Macrocnemus, and also while standing and walking. Morphological evidence and size-related criteria are consistent with a facultative digitigrade configuration while standing erect. The elongation of the neck, a hallmark of the prolacertiforms, may have assisted these efforts, as inChlamydosaurus, an extant facultatively bipedal lizard with a convergent morphology. This hypothesis should yield new insights into the mode of life ofLangobardisaurus and other prolacertiform sister taxa.

e17551 Background: Chemoradiotherapy (CRT) with 3 cycles (#) of high-dose cisplatin (HDC) (100mg/m2 weeks 1,4 & 7) and 70Gy over 7 weeks is associated with improved overall survival (OS) compared with radiotherapy (RT) alone in locally advanced OPC. Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) related tumours have superior outcomes and de-escalating treatment is a contemporary issue. Our study objectives were to determine if 2# HDC were non-inferior to 3#, how this was influenced by prognostic factors including stage, smoking history and p16 status, and to explore toxicity attributed to HDC. Methods: A single centre, retrospective analysis was undertaken for OPC patients who received CRT with HDC between Oct 2009 -Dec 2012. Those with distant metastatic disease or receiving induction chemotherapy were excluded. Data extracted included HPV and smoking status, tumour stage by 7thEd AJCC TNM and ICON-S classification, # HDC completed, toxicity and OS. Log-rank test was used for OS analysis. Results: 63, 96 and 4 patients received 3, 2 and 1 # HDC respectively. Median RT dose was 70Gy (range 66-70). 110 (67.5%) were p16 +, 28 (17.2%) were p16 negative and 25 (15.3%) unknown. 52 had omission of #3 HDC predominantly due to neutropenia (33%), nephrotoxicity (23%) and ototoxicity (12%). 19 had delays in #2 HDC resulting in omission of #3 due to completion of RT. There was no difference in OS between 3 #(mean OS (yrs)+/- SEM: 6.05+/- 0.22) or 2# HDC (5.70+/- 0.21) in all comers (p = 0.255). For RTOG0129 low risk p16+ patients, there was no significant difference (p = 0.896) between 3# (6.33+/- 0.24; n = 24) and 2# (6.18+/- 0.25; n = 44) HDC. Similar results were evident for ICON-S stage I for 3# (6.36+/-0.19; n = 25) vs 2# (6.30+/- 0.19; n = 42) HDC (p = 0.932). For RTOG 0129 intermediate risk p16 + OPC there was a significant difference (p = 0.017) in OS favouring 3# (6.29+/-0.22; n = 20) versus 2# (4.81+/-0.67; n = 10) HDC. For p16 negative patients there was no difference (p = 0.265) in OS between 3# (4.06+/-0.94; n = 9) and 2# (5.17+/-0.48; n = 22) HDC. Conclusions: This data suggests that cisplatin de-escalation does not confer inferior OS in low risk HPV related OPC. Significant toxicities with HDC influenced the ability to complete prescribed treatment.

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) share many morphologic and immunophenotypic features. In addition to histomorphologic examination, it is customary to use the absence of CD23 to differentiate MCL from CLL/SLL, based primarily on reported comparisons of immunohistochemical staining of tissue sections. These findings are widely extrapolated to flow cytometric analysis, although available data are contradictory and not sufficiently detailed. We compared expression of CD23 by flow cytometry in 22 cases of MCL and 25 cases of CLL/SLL. Lymphoma cells in 12 of 22 MCLs were negative for CD23, and 10 showed dim expression. In contrast, none of 25 CLL/SLLs were negative for CD23, 4 were dimly positive, and 21 were moderately or brightly positive. Thus, a significant proportion of MCL exhibited overlap of CD23 expression in the low-intensity range with CLL/SLL. Clinically, there was no correlation between the intensity of CD23 expression and clinical stage at diagnosis or survival. These findings emphasize that by flow cytometry, MCL can be differentiated reliably from CLL/SLL using CD23 if negative expression is observed. However, with dimly positive expression, interpretation should be cautious.

Background. Anti-CD3 immunotoxin (IT), a T-cell-depleting agent, prolongs survival of renal allografts in a rhesus monkey model without the need for long-term immunosuppression. In this study we sought to further prolong allograft survival by giving short-term conventional immunosuppression simultaneous with IT administration. Methods. MHC class II mismatched, juvenile rhesus monkeys were paired as donor and recipient for renal transplantation. Recipients received two to three daily doses of IT starting on the day of transplantation. Additional immunosuppression was given for no more than 60 days. Graft function was monitored by serum creatinine and renal biopsies. Flow cytometry was used to monitor T-cell recovery. Results. Graft survival time (GST) in animals receiving IT was prolonged compared with controls with 50% of IT-treated monkeys surviving >100 days. Animals treated with IT plus mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and steroids had significantly enhanced GST (mean GST, 305 days) compared with those treated with IT alone (mean GST, 94 days). In contrast, addition of cyclosporine or 40-O-[2-Hydroxyethyl]rapamycin did not significantly increase graft survival time. A comparison among animals from all treatment groups with short ( 100 days) GST demonstrated that those with the shorter GST had a higher blood T-cell count 2 weeks after transplantation. Full recovery of CD4 + T cells required longer than 6 months. Conclusions. A combination with MMF and steroids given for 4 days after renal allograft transplantation significantly increases GST in IT-treated monkeys. We hypothesize that MMF and steroids suppress the initial T-cell activation mediated by IT.

BACKGROUND: Several conventional forms of immunosuppression have been shown to antagonize the efficacy of anti-CD154 monoclonal antibody- (mAb) based costimulatory molecule blockade immunotherapy. Our objective was to determine if allograft recipients treated with a conventional immunosuppressive regimen could be sequentially converted to anti-CD154 mAb monotherapy without compromising graft survival. METHODS: Outbred juvenile rhesus monkeys underwent renal allotransplantation from MHC-disparate donors. After a 60-day course of triple therapy immunosuppression with steroids, cyclosporine, and mycophenolate mofetil, monkeys were treated with: (1) cessation of all immunosuppression (control); (2) seven monthly doses of 20 mg/kg hu5C8 (maintenance), or; (3) 20 mg/kg hu5C8 on posttransplant days 60, 61, 64, 71, 79, and 88 followed by five monthly doses (induction+maintenance). Graft rejection was defined by elevation in serum creatinine>1.5 mg/dl combined with histologic evidence of rejection. RESULTS: Graft survival for the three groups were as follows: group 1 (control): 70, 75, >279 days; group 2 (maintenance): 83, 349, >293 days, and; group 3 (induction+maintenance): 355, >377, >314 days. Acute rejection developing in two of four monkeys after treatment with conventional immunosuppression was successfully reversed with intensive hu5C8 monotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Renal allograft recipients can be successfully converted to CD154 blockade monotherapy after 60 days of conventional immunosuppression. An induction phase of anti-CD154 mAb appears to be necessary for optimal conversion. Therefore, although concurrent administration of conventional immunosuppressive agents including steroids and calcineurin inhibitors has been shown to inhibit the efficacy of CD154 blockade, sequential conversion from these agents to CD154 blockade appears to be effective.

This article argues that a contest between the image and verbal knowledge is central to the work of Burne-Jones and that this contest thematizes cultural tensions around the capacity of the visual arts to deal adequately with the new conditions of contemporary experience. Contrary to most established readings, I argue that Burne-Jones's painting possessed for contemporaries the possibility of critical potential in its resistance to the instrumental values of late nineteenth-century modernity and that this potential was expressed most powerfully through their visual character. But if Burne-Jones's dream was critical in this way, it was also insecure. Opposing the visual to the word as forms of effective knowledge about reality, Burne-Jones's paintings of the 1870s nonetheless turn out to be dependent on the word and to enact a dialectic between word and image as a central part of their constitution.

There is discriminatory bias against general practice within UK medical schools.1,2 The public purse pays to train doctors to provide an effective and comprehensive NHS. Medical school deans receive substantial …

The pseudomolecule approach to the structure of globular proteins in which a small number of water molecules are incorporated into the “molecule” is tested again by comparing the ribbon of hydrogen bonds in two proteins, ribonuclease F1 and T1. These two molecules are 59% homologous and have the same backbone conformation both globally and locally. The two ribbons of hydrogen bonds that cover the whole of the backbone are conserved with an accuracy of some 95% providing that allowance is made for the intrusion into one of the pair of such extra factors as the presence of adducts or metal ions, the insertions and the absence of a few water molecules from one of the x-ray data sets. Without these corrections, the conservation of the ribbon is some 85%. There are 35 conserved hydrogen-bonding residues, nearly all of which show many unions to the backbone or interactions with the active site. There are 36 point mutations that involve one or two hydrogen-bonding side chains and nearly all of these have either none or one hydrogen bond to the backbone. These are minor contributors to the ribbon of hydrogen bonds. Of the 71 residues involved in these two categories, all but six fit into the pseudomolecular picture of the structure of globular proteins. The remaining 30 residues almost all contain conserved hydrocarbon side chains that may have a second order effect on the structure through their space filling effects. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biopolymers 59: 402–410, 2001

A new hypothesis for the evolution of the pterosaur wing is presented. It is based on the observation that many aspects of pterosaur non-wing anatomy were present in their non-volant, prolacertifor...

Background. In our previously described primate renal allograft model, T cell ablation leads to long-term graft survival.The role of endothelial cell alteration in chronic rejection was examined in our model. Methods. Renal transplants were performed in rhesus monkeys using a T cell- depleting immunotoxin, FN18-CRM9. Sections from 10 rejected kidneys (5 acute and 7 chronic rejection) were examined after immunohistochemical staining for expression of endothelium-related proteins [von Willebrand factor (vWF), CD62P, and CD31], fibrinogen, and a macrophage marker (CD68). Glomerular staining for each antigen was graded on a semiquantitative scale. Results. Intense staining for vWF was consistently observed in glomerular endothelium, subendothelium, and mesangium in all kidneys removed due to chronic rejection. vWF staining was weak in kidneys showing acute rejection. The difference in glomerular staining was statistically significant. Staining for vWF in extraglomerular vessels was nearly identical in kidneys showing acute and chronic rejection. Expression of CD62P was increased in extraglomerular vessels in allografts with chronic rejection, but the glomeruli showed little or no staining. There was no significant difference in the glomerular staining for CD62P or CD31 in organs showing acute and chronic rejection. Fibrinogen staining of glomerular mesangium was seen in kidneys with chronic rejection. Macrophages (CD68+) infiltrating glomeruli were more numerous in kidneys showing chronic rejection. Conclusion. Increased glomerular deposition of vWF in renal allografts showing chronic rejection, without increased staining for CD62P or CD31, suggests increased constitutive secretion of vWF from endothelial cells as a component of the mechanism of chronic rejection in our model.

The activation of blood cells, including T cells, triggers intracellular signals that control the expression of critical molecules, including cytokines and cytokine receptors. We show that T-cell receptor (TCR) ligation increases the cellular level of the protein linker for activation of T cells (LAT), a molecule critical for T-cell development and function. T-cell activation increased LAT messenger RNA, as determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and by Northern blotting. The TCR-induced increase in LAT expression involved the activation of the serine/threonine kinases PKC and MEK, because inhibitors of these kinases blocked the increase in LAT. Accordingly, the PKC activator phorbol myristate acetate up-regulated LAT expression. Strikingly, the calcineurin inhibitors cyclosporin A (CsA) and FK506 strongly potentiated TCR-induced LAT expression, suggesting that the activation of calcineurin following TCR ligation negatively regulates LAT expression. Accordingly, Ca(++ )ionophores, which can activate calcineurin by increasing intracellular Ca(++), blocked the TCR-induced increase in cellular LAT. CsA and FK506 blocked the Ca(++ )ionophores' inhibitory effect on LAT expression. Notably, CsA and FK506 preferentially up-regulated TCR-induced LAT expression; under the same conditions, these compounds did not increase the expression of 14 other molecules that previously had been implicated in T-cell activation. These data show that TCR-induced LAT expression involves the activation of the PKC-Erk pathway and is negatively regulated by the activation of calcineurin. Furthermore, the potentiation of TCR-induced LAT expression by CsA and FK506 suggests that the action of these agents involves up-regulating the cellular level of critical signaling molecules. These findings may have important therapeutic implications. (Blood. 2000;95:2733-2741)

Problems which the development attempts to address. This study’s overall objectives were to determine whether: • The aims of collaboration between General Practitioner (GPs) and a homeopath can be made explicit and service delivery optimised by using computer-based data collection in a multi-disciplinary primary care team that includes a homeopathic practitioner. • Outcomes of the homeopathic service can be evaluated in a practical way, which allows quality assurance through rapid audit cycles. Method: The primary care team (PCT) explored the problems of developing a rational and quality assured complementary therapy service in a series of meetings in an NHS practice where complementary therapists are members of the PCT. This led to the defining of data-collection structures and processes needed. The researchers designed and supervised their implementation and evaluation through a series of action research cycles. A database was designed which allowed the clinicians to track interventions and outcomes using the Measure Your Own Medical Outcome Profile (MYMOP). Critical incidents were brought to fortnightly clinical meetings and methods were continually adapted as problems arose and new options emerged at six-weekly audit meetings. Results: GPs tended to refer patients who do not fit easily into biomedical disease categories. Patients referred tend to self-rate themselves as experiencing notably poor wellbeing. MYMOP has to be used skillfully with homeopathic patients, especially where psychological distress is identified as one of their main complaints. Conclusions: It is possible to introduce rigour and reflectiveness when providing a homeopathic service in general practice by assessing the needs of patient and practitioners, agreeing intake guidelines, developing referral processes, implementing audit cycles. Clear lines of communication can be established and a patient-centred outcome measure can be introduced into the treatment cycle.

In 1903 Charles Ricketts gave this account of Titian's Bacchanal in his book on The Prado and its Masterpieces (figure 1): On the hill-top we see the grapes crushed beneath the weight of a Polyphemus-like figure: from the grapes issues the rivulet of wine which is the central motive of the work. By this sit two fair Venetians: the fairer one leans towards her companion, and from their hands, a pipe has slipped. Crouched at her feet, with his hands clasping her very ankles, is the brown ardent figure of a man who turns towards the other revellers, who are all absorbed — one in the wine he holds in a crystal flask against the sky; whilst others, wrapped in the mazes of a dance, move at once passionate and listless .... Beyond, the vines flash white among the trees at the horizon, and the season and the hour ripen. The love of beauty emanates from the very motive and substance of this work, as the perfume emanates from the flesh of a peach or the cells in a bunch of violets.1

We report quantum mechanical computations and experimental evidence which suggest that the backbone conformation of globular proteins depends generally on the conservation of that part of the hydrogen bond network or ribbon which is joined, in general, directly to the backbone and is largely independent of the remainder of this whole network of hydrogen bonds. The familiar hydrogen bonds of the α helix and the β sheet form about one-half of this ribbon of hydrogen bonds. Both water molecules and hydrogen bonding side chain groups are involved in the formation of the ribbon.This view of the three-dimensional structure of globular proteins in terms of the `molecule' allows us to deal with the non-secondary structure as well as with the familiar secondary structure. It also suggests that the ribbon contains approximately the same number of hydrogen bonds within all three structures – the α helix, the β sheet and the coil – and that this is the reason for the ease of interconversion of these three structures.

Complementary therapies (CTs) are an ever more popular option for health care, with an estimated 4–5 million people visiting a complementary practitioner each year. Although you might think they would be difficult to access in the NHS, over the last few years ways have been found to make them more available in the public sector. Patients are beginning to expect a wider range of treatment choices and increasingly, doctors and nurses are suggesting they should try them.

Sickert’s painting between 1905 and 1910 imagines the character of city experience within modernity through an explicit and programmatic depiction of the sordid character of urban lives, above all those of working-class women. These lives and their surroundings stand for the incomprehensibility and alienness of modernity, and Sickert attempts to cope with this perception by subjecting his models to the gaze of a ‘dispassionate observer’, the painter whose material control of his subjects on the surface of the canvas mimes his desired comprehension of modernity. The article argues that this project is visibly unsustainable in the works themselves where the figure of the male artist as dispassionate and controlling observer is insidiously undermined and his powerlessness before the spectacle of women, the city, and modernity is confessed. Sickert is sceptical about the imposition of authority even as he is eager to impose it, and his works at this period distil a modernist irony out of this historical problematic.

This companion is a collection of newly-commissioned essays written by leading scholars in the field, providing a comprehensive introduction to British art history. A generously-illustrated collection of newly-commissioned essays which provides a comprehensive introduction to the history of British art Combines original research with a survey of existing scholarship and the state of the field Touches on the whole of the history of British art, from 800-2000, with increasing attention paid to the periods after 1500 Provides the first comprehensive introduction to British art of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries, one of the most lively and innovative areas of art-historical study Presents in depth the major preoccupations that have emerged from recent scholarship, including aesthetics, gender, British art’s relationship to Modernity, nationhood and nationality, and the institutions of the British art world.

Changes in blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal are closely related to changes in fetal oxygenation. In this study, we aimed to investigate the changes in human fetal oxygenation during maternal hyperoxia by using the non-invasive BOLD MRI technique.Eight healthy pregnant women in gestational week 28 to 34 were included. With the use of a facial oxygen mask, we induced maternal hyperoxia and measured changes in the BOLD MRI signal of selected fetal organs.In a number of fetal organs, the BOLD MRI signal increased significantly (P0.01) during maternal hyperoxia (mean change in % ± SEM): liver (14.3 ± 3.7%), spleen (15.2 ± 3.5%) and kidney (6.2 ± 1.8%) as well as the placenta (6.5 ± 1.6%). In the fetal brain, however, the BOLD MRI signal remained constant (0.3 ± 0.2%).During maternal hyperoxia, we demonstrated an increased oxygenation in a number of human fetal organs by using the non-invasive BOLD technique. The oxygenation of the fetal brain remained constant, thus a 'reversed' brain sparing mechanism could be considered in healthy fetuses subjected to hyperoxia.

The rubric complementary medicine covers a variety of approaches that may seem alike only in their being outside conventional care and training. We have asked experienced practitioners to present their own pieces of the jigsaw, realising that these clinical fragments, when seen together, create excitement but also confusion. Of course, this forum is not intended to be a comprehensive review of relevant complementary treatments, and often the individual approaches to clinical problems will appear totally unrelated, while their apparent effectiveness stretches the biomedical model and conventional research methodology beyond their capacity. With this in mind, we intend that forthcoming articles and reviews will expand on the therapies themselves, and discuss the evidence supporting them.