954 resultados para structurally consistent


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In this article we introduce the term “energy polarization” to explain the politics of energy market reform in the Russian Duma. Our model tests the impact of regional energy production, party cohesion and ideology, and electoral mandate on the energy policy decisions of the Duma deputies (oil, gas, and electricity bills and resolution proposals) between 1994 and 2003. We find a strong divide between Single-Member District (SMD) and Proportional Representation (PR) deputies High statistical significance of gas production is demonstrated throughout the three Duma terms and shows Gazprom's key position in the post-Soviet Russian economy. Oil production is variably significant in the two first Dumas, when the main legislative debates on oil privatization occur. There is no constant left–right continuum, which is consistent with the deputies' proclaimed party ideology. The pro- and anti-reform poles observed in our Poole-based single dimensional scale are not necessarily connected with liberal and state-oriented regulatory policies, respectively. Party switching is a solid indicator of Russia's polarized legislative dynamics when it comes to energy sector reform.

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Introduction. Ideally after selective thoracic fusion for Lenke Class IC (i.e. major thoracic / secondary lumbar) curves, the lumbar spine will spontaneously accommodate to the corrected position of the thoracic curve, thereby achieving a balanced spine, avoiding the need for fusion of lumbar spinal segments1. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the behaviour of the lumbar curve in Lenke IC class adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) following video-assisted thoracoscopic spinal fusion and instrumentation (VATS) of the major thoracic curve. Methods. A retrospective review of 22 consecutive patients with AIS who underwent VATS by a single surgeon was conducted. The results were compared to published literature examining the behaviour of the secondary lumbar curve where other surgical approaches were employed. Results. Twenty-two patients (all female) with AIS underwent VATS. All major thoracic curves were right convex. The average age at surgery was 14 years (range 10 to 22 years). On average 6.7 levels (6 to 8) were instrumented. The mean follow-up was 25.1 months (6 to 36). The pre-operative major thoracic Cobb angle mean was 53.8° (40° to 75°). The pre-operative secondary lumbar Cobb angle mean was 43.9° (34° to 55°). On bending radiographs, the secondary curve corrected to 11.3° (0° to 35°). The rib hump mean measurement was 15.0° (7° to 21°). At latest follow-up the major thoracic Cobb angle measured on average 27.2° (20° to 41°) (p<0.001 – univariate ANOVA) and the mean secondary lumbar curve was 27.3° (15° to 42°) (p<0.001). This represented an uninstrumented secondary curve correction factor of 37.8%. The mean rib hump measured was 6.5° (2° to 15°) (p<0.001). The results above were comparable to published series when open surgery was performed. Discussion. VATS is an effective method of correcting major thoracic curves with secondary lumbar curves. The behaviour of the secondary lumbar curve is consistent with published series when open surgery, both anterior and posterior, is performed.

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Background It remains unclear over whether it is possible to develop an epidemic forecasting model for transmission of dengue fever in Queensland, Australia. Objectives To examine the potential impact of El Niño/Southern Oscillation on the transmission of dengue fever in Queensland, Australia and explore the possibility of developing a forecast model of dengue fever. Methods Data on the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), an indicator of El Niño/Southern Oscillation activity, were obtained from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Numbers of dengue fever cases notified and the numbers of postcode areas with dengue fever cases between January 1993 and December 2005 were obtained from the Queensland Health and relevant population data were obtained from the Australia Bureau of Statistics. A multivariate Seasonal Auto-regressive Integrated Moving Average model was developed and validated by dividing the data file into two datasets: the data from January 1993 to December 2003 were used to construct a model and those from January 2004 to December 2005 were used to validate it. Results A decrease in the average SOI (ie, warmer conditions) during the preceding 3–12 months was significantly associated with an increase in the monthly numbers of postcode areas with dengue fever cases (β=−0.038; p = 0.019). Predicted values from the Seasonal Auto-regressive Integrated Moving Average model were consistent with the observed values in the validation dataset (root-mean-square percentage error: 1.93%). Conclusions Climate variability is directly and/or indirectly associated with dengue transmission and the development of an SOI-based epidemic forecasting system is possible for dengue fever in Queensland, Australia.

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Over the past decade, the promotion of 'integrated child and family services' has emerged as a strong and consistent theme within Australian early childhood policy. Fuelling this trend is the belief that integrated service provision is more responsive to holistic family needs, offering better support to parents and thereby promoting better outcomes for young children. Adding further strength is the prevention and early intervention literature, and suggested social and economic benefits of 'effective' early years services and supports. States and territories are introducing new integrated child and family service models and Reflections is continuing to profile these. In this edition, we look at directions and new service models in Queensland, in particular, the new Early Years Centre service model.

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The concept of "fair basing" is widely acknowledged as a difficult area of patent law. This article maps the development of fair basing law to demonstrate how some of the difficulties have arisen. Part I of the article traces the development of the branches of patent law that were swept under the nomenclature of "fair basing" by British legislation in 1949. It looks at the early courts' approach to patent construction, examines the early origin of fair basing and what it was intended to achiever. Part II of the article considers the modern interpretation of fair basing, which provides a striking contrast to its historical context. Without any consistent judicial approach to construction the doctrine has developed inappropriately, giving rise to both over-strict and over-generous approaches.

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Existing literature has failed to find robust relationships between individual differences and the ability to fake psychological tests, possibly due to limitations in how successful faking is operationalised. In order to fake, individuals must alter their original profile to create a particular impression. Currently, successful faking is operationalised through statistical definitions, informant ratings, known groups comparisons, the use of archival and baseline data, and breaches of validity indexes. However, there are many methodological limitations to these approaches. This research proposed a three component model of successful faking to address this, where an original response is manipulated into a strategic response, which must match a criteria target. Further, by operationalising successful faking in this manner, this research takes into account the fact that individuals may have been successful in reaching their implicitly created profile, but that this may not have matched the criteria they were instructed to fake.Participants (N=48, 22 students and 26 non-students) completed the BDI-II honestly. Participants then faked the BDI-II as if they had no, mild, moderate and severe depression, as well as completing a checklist revealing which symptoms they thought indicated each level of depression. Findings were consistent with a three component model of successful faking, where individuals effectively changed their profile to what they believed was required, however this profile differed from the criteria defined by the psychometric norms of the test.One of the foremost issues for research in this area is the inconsistent manner in which successful faking is operationalised. This research allowed successful faking to be operationalised in an objective, quantifiable manner. Using this model as a template may allow researchers better understanding of the processes involved in faking, including the role of strategies and abilities in determining the outcome of test dissimulation.

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Campylobacter jejuni followed by Campylobacter coli contribute substantially to the economic and public health burden attributed to food-borne infections in Australia. Genotypic characterisation of isolates has provided new insights into the epidemiology and pathogenesis of C. jejuni and C. coli. However, currently available methods are not conducive to large scale epidemiological investigations that are necessary to elucidate the global epidemiology of these common food-borne pathogens. This research aims to develop high resolution C. jejuni and C. coli genotyping schemes that are convenient for high throughput applications. Real-time PCR and High Resolution Melt (HRM) analysis are fundamental to the genotyping schemes developed in this study and enable rapid, cost effective, interrogation of a range of different polymorphic sites within the Campylobacter genome. While the sources and routes of transmission of campylobacters are unclear, handling and consumption of poultry meat is frequently associated with human campylobacteriosis in Australia. Therefore, chicken derived C. jejuni and C. coli isolates were used to develop and verify the methods described in this study. The first aim of this study describes the application of MLST-SNP (Multi Locus Sequence Typing Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) + binary typing to 87 chicken C. jejuni isolates using real-time PCR analysis. These typing schemes were developed previously by our research group using isolates from campylobacteriosis patients. This present study showed that SNP + binary typing alone or in combination are effective at detecting epidemiological linkage between chicken derived Campylobacter isolates and enable data comparisons with other MLST based investigations. SNP + binary types obtained from chicken isolates in this study were compared with a previously SNP + binary and MLST typed set of human isolates. Common genotypes between the two collections of isolates were identified and ST-524 represented a clone that could be worth monitoring in the chicken meat industry. In contrast, ST-48, mainly associated with bovine hosts, was abundant in the human isolates. This genotype was, however, absent in the chicken isolates, indicating the role of non-poultry sources in causing human Campylobacter infections. This demonstrates the potential application of SNP + binary typing for epidemiological investigations and source tracing. While MLST SNPs and binary genes comprise the more stable backbone of the Campylobacter genome and are indicative of long term epidemiological linkage of the isolates, the development of a High Resolution Melt (HRM) based curve analysis method to interrogate the hypervariable Campylobacter flagellin encoding gene (flaA) is described in Aim 2 of this study. The flaA gene product appears to be an important pathogenicity determinant of campylobacters and is therefore a popular target for genotyping, especially for short term epidemiological studies such as outbreak investigations. HRM curve analysis based flaA interrogation is a single-step closed-tube method that provides portable data that can be easily shared and accessed. Critical to the development of flaA HRM was the use of flaA specific primers that did not amplify the flaB gene. HRM curve analysis flaA interrogation was successful at discriminating the 47 sequence variants identified within the 87 C. jejuni and 15 C. coli isolates and correlated to the epidemiological background of the isolates. In the combinatorial format, the resolving power of flaA was additive to that of SNP + binary typing and CRISPR (Clustered regularly spaced short Palindromic repeats) HRM and fits the PHRANA (Progressive hierarchical resolving assays using nucleic acids) approach for genotyping. The use of statistical methods to analyse the HRM data enhanced sophistication of the method. Therefore, flaA HRM is a rapid and cost effective alternative to gel- or sequence-based flaA typing schemes. Aim 3 of this study describes the development of a novel bioinformatics driven method to interrogate Campylobacter MLST gene fragments using HRM, and is called ‘SNP Nucleated Minim MLST’ or ‘Minim typing’. The method involves HRM interrogation of MLST fragments that encompass highly informative “Nucleating SNPS” to ensure high resolution. Selection of fragments potentially suited to HRM analysis was conducted in silico using i) “Minimum SNPs” and ii) the new ’HRMtype’ software packages. Species specific sets of six “Nucleating SNPs” and six HRM fragments were identified for both C. jejuni and C. coli to ensure high typeability and resolution relevant to the MLST database. ‘Minim typing’ was tested empirically by typing 15 C. jejuni and five C. coli isolates. The association of clonal complexes (CC) to each isolate by ‘Minim typing’ and SNP + binary typing were used to compare the two MLST interrogation schemes. The CCs linked with each C. jejuni isolate were consistent for both methods. Thus, ‘Minim typing’ is an efficient and cost effective method to interrogate MLST genes. However, it is not expected to be independent, or meet the resolution of, sequence based MLST gene interrogation. ‘Minim typing’ in combination with flaA HRM is envisaged to comprise a highly resolving combinatorial typing scheme developed around the HRM platform and is amenable to automation and multiplexing. The genotyping techniques described in this thesis involve the combinatorial interrogation of differentially evolving genetic markers on the unified real-time PCR and HRM platform. They provide high resolution and are simple, cost effective and ideally suited to rapid and high throughput genotyping for these common food-borne pathogens.

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Purpose - The paper examines the benefits of further diversifying a global portfolio of financial assets with New Zealand farm real estate (FRE). ---------- Design/methodology/approach - We compare efficient sets generated with and without farm real estate using portfolio theory. ---------- Findings - The results show that given the predominantly negative correlation between FRE and financial assets, the risk-return tradeoffs of portfolios of financial assets can be improved significantly. The diversification benefits measured in terms of risk reduction, return enhancement, and improvement in the Sharpe performance ratios are robust under a number of FRE risk-return scenarios as well as under high and low inflationary periods. Using 5- and 10-year rolling periods we also find that FRE is a consistent part of risk efficient portfolios. Consistent with the results reported in Lee and Stevenson (2006) for UK real estate the risk reduction benefits of diversifying with FRE are larger than the risk enhancement benefits. ---------- Practical implication - The results suggest that FRE takes on a consistent role of risk-reducer rather than a return-enhancer in a globally diversified portfolio. FRE appears to deserve more serious consideration by investment practitioners that it has been accorded in the past. Originality/value – The study examines the role of direct real estate in a globally diversified portfolio of financial assets.

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TCP is a dominant protocol for consistent communication over the internet. It provides flow, congestion and error control mechanisms while using wired reliable networks. Its congestion control mechanism is not suitable for wireless links where data corruption and its lost rate are higher. The physical links are transparent from TCP that takes packet losses due to congestion only and initiates congestion handling mechanisms by reducing transmission speed. This results in wasting already limited available bandwidth on the wireless links. Therefore, there is no use to carry out research on increasing bandwidth of the wireless links until the available bandwidth is not optimally utilized. This paper proposed a hybrid scheme called TCP Detection and Recovery (TCP-DR) to distinguish congestion, corruption and mobility related losses and then instructs the data sending host to take appropriate action. Therefore, the link utilization is optimal while losses are either due to high bit error rate or mobility.

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While IS function has gained widespread attention for over two decades, there is little consensus among information systems (IS) researchers and practitioners on how best to evaluate IS function's support performance. This paper reports on preliminary findings of a larger research effort proceeds from a central interest in the importance of evaluating IS function's support in organisations. This study is the first that attempts to re-conceptualise and conceive evaluate IS function's support as a multi- dimensional formative construct. We argue that a holistic measure for evaluating evaluate IS function's support should consist of dimensions that together assess the variety of the support functions and the quality of the support services provided to end-users. Thus, the proposed model consists of two halves, "Variety" and "Quality" within which resides seven dimensions. The Variety half includes five dimensions: Training; Documentation; Data- related Support, Software-related Support; and Hardware-related Support. The Quality half includes two dimensions: IS Support Staff and Support Services Performance. The proposed model is derived using a directed content analysis of 83 studies; from top IS outlets, employing the characteristics of the analytic theory and consistent with formative construct development procedures.

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PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to further evaluate the validity and clinical meaningfulness of appetite sensations to predict overall energy intake as well as body weight loss. METHODS: Men (n=176) and women (n=139) involved in six weight loss studies were selected to participate in this study. Visual analogue scales were used to measure appetite sensations before and after a fixed test meal. Fasting appetite sensations, 1 h post-prandial area under the curve (AUC) and the satiety quotient (SQ) were used as predictors of energy intake and body weight loss. Two separate measures of energy intake were used: a buffet style ad libitum test lunch and a three-day self-report dietary record. RESULTS: One-hour post-prandial AUC for all appetite sensations represented the strongest predictors of ad libitum test lunch energy intake (p0.001). These associations were more consistent and pronounced for women than men. Only SQ for fullness was associated with ad libitum test lunch energy intake in women. Similar but weaker relationships were found between appetite sensations and the 3-day self-reported energy intake. Weight loss was associated with changes in appetite sensations (p0.01) and the best predictors of body weight loss were fasting desire to eat; hunger; and PFC (p0.01). CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that appetite sensations are relatively useful predictors of spontaneous energy intake, free-living total energy intake and body weight loss. They also confirm that SQ for fullness predicts energy intake, at least in women.

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AIM: To draw on empirical evidence to illustrate the core role of nurse practitioners in Australia and New Zealand. BACKGROUND: Enacted legislation provides for mutual recognition of qualifications, including nursing, between New Zealand and Australia. As the nurse practitioner role is relatively new in both countries, there is no consistency in role expectation and hence mutual recognition has not yet been applied to nurse practitioners. A study jointly commissioned by both countries' Regulatory Boards developed information on the core role of the nurse practitioner, to develop shared competency and educational standards. Reporting on this study's process and outcomes provides insights that are relevant both locally and internationally. METHOD: This interpretive study used multiple data sources, including published and grey literature, policy documents, nurse practitioner program curricula and interviews with 15 nurse practitioners from the two countries. Data were analysed according to the appropriate standard for each data type and included both deductive and inductive methods. The data were aggregated thematically according to patterns within and across the interview and material data. FINDINGS: The core role of the nurse practitioner was identified as having three components: dynamic practice, professional efficacy and clinical leadership. Nurse practitioner practice is dynamic and involves the application of high level clinical knowledge and skills in a wide range of contexts. The nurse practitioner demonstrates professional efficacy, enhanced by an extended range of autonomy that includes legislated privileges. The nurse practitioner is a clinical leader with a readiness and an obligation to advocate for their client base and their profession at the systems level of health care. CONCLUSION: A clearly articulated and research informed description of the core role of the nurse practitioner provides the basis for development of educational and practice competency standards. These research findings provide new perspectives to inform the international debate about this extended level of nursing practice. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The findings from this research have the potential to achieve a standardised approach and internationally consistent nomenclature for the nurse practitioner role.

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Post-concussion syndrome (PCS) is a controversial constellation of cognitive, emotional, and physical symptoms that some patients experience following a mild traumatic brain injury or concussion. PCS-like symptoms are commonly found in individuals with depression, pain, and stress, as well as healthy individuals. This study investigated the base rate of PCS symptoms in a healthy sample of 96 participants and examined the relationship between these symptoms, depression, and sample demographics. PCS symptoms were assessed using the British-Columbia Post-Concussion Symptom Inventory. Depression was measured using the Beck Depression Inventory II. Results demonstrated that: The base rate of PCS was very high; there was a strong positive relationship between depression and PCS; and demographic characteristics were not related to PCS in this sample. These findings are broadly consistent with literature suggesting a significant role for non-neurological factors in the expression of PCS symptomatology. This study adds to the growing body of literature that calls for caution in the clinical interpretation of results from PCS symptom inventories.

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Background: The quality of stormwater runoff from ports is significant as it can be an important source of pollution to the marine environment. This is also a significant issue for the Port of Brisbane as it is located in an area of high environmental values. Therefore, it is imperative to develop an in-depth understanding of stormwater runoff quality to ensure that appropriate strategies are in place for quality improvement. ---------------- The Port currently has a network of stormwater sample collection points where event based samples together with grab samples are tested for a range of water quality parameters. Whilst this information provides a ‘snapshot’ of the pollutants being washed from the catchment/s, it does not allow for a quantifiable assessment of total contaminant loads being discharged to the waters of Moreton Bay. It also does not represent pollutant build-up and wash-off from the different land uses across a broader range of rainfall events which might be expected. As such, it is difficult to relate stormwater quality to different pollutant sources within the Port environment. ----------------- Consequently, this would make the source tracking of pollutants to receiving waters extremely difficult and in turn the ability to implement appropriate mitigation measures. Also, without this detailed understanding, the efficacy of the various stormwater quality mitigation measures implemented cannot be determined with certainty. --------------- Current knowledge on port stormwater runoff quality Currently, little knowledge exists with regards to the pollutant generation capacity specific to port land uses as these do not necessarily compare well with conventional urban industrial or commercial land use due to the specific nature of port activities such as inter-modal operations and cargo management. Furthermore, traffic characteristics in a port area are different to a conventional urban area. Consequently, as data inputs based on an industrial and commercial land uses for modelling purposes is questionable. ------------------ A comprehensive review of published research failed to locate any investigations undertaken with regards to pollutant build-up and wash-off for port specific land uses. Furthermore, there is very limited information made available by various ports worldwide about the pollution generation potential of their facilities. Published work in this area has essentially focussed on the water quality or environmental values in the receiving waters such as the downstream bay or estuary. ----------------- The Project: The research project is an outcome of the collaborative Partnership between the Port of Brisbane Corporation (POBC) and Queensland University of Technology (QUT). A key feature of this Partnership is the undertaking of ‘cutting edge’ research to strengthen the environmental custodianship of the Port area. This project aims to develop a port specific stormwater quality model to allow informed decision making in relation to stormwater quality improvement in the context of the increased growth of the Port. --------------- Stage 1 of the research project focussed on the assessment of pollutant build-up and wash-off using rainfall simulation from the current Port of Brisbane facilities with the longer-term objective of contributing to the development of ecological risk mitigation strategies for future expansion scenarios. Investigation of complex processes such as pollutant wash-off using naturally occurring rainfall events has inherent difficulties. These can be overcome using simulated rainfall for the investigations. ----------------- The deliverables for Stage 1 included the following: * Pollutant build-up and wash-off profiles for six primary land uses within the Port of Brisbane to be used for water quality model development. * Recommendations with regards to future stormwater quality monitoring and pollution mitigation measures. The outcomes are expected to deliver the following benefits to the Port of Brisbane: * The availability of Port specific pollutant build-up and wash-off data will enable the implementation of customised stormwater pollution mitigation strategies. * The water quality data collected would form the baseline data for a Port specific water quality model for mitigation and predictive purposes. * To be at the cutting-edge in terms of water quality management and environmental best practice in the context of port infrastructure. ---------------- Conclusions: The important conclusions from the study are: * It confirmed that the Port environment is unique in terms of pollutant characteristics and is not comparable to typical urban land uses. * For most pollutant types, the Port land uses exhibited lower pollutant concentrations when compared to typical urban land uses. * The pollutant characteristics varied across the different land uses and were not consistent in terms of the land use. Hence, the implementation of stereotypical structural water quality improvement devices could be of limited value. * The <150m particle size range was predominant in suspended solids for pollutant build-up as well as wash-off. Therefore, if suspended solids are targeted as the surrogate parameter for water quality improvement, this specific particle size range needs to be removed. ------------------- Recommendations: Based on the study results the following preliminary recommendations are made: * Due to the appreciable variation in pollutant characteristics for different port land uses, any water quality monitoring stations should preferably be located such that source areas can be easily identified. * The study results having identified significant pollutants for the different land uses should enable the development of a more customised water quality monitoring and testing regime targeting the critical pollutants. * A ‘one size fits all’ approach may not be appropriate for the different port land uses due to the varying pollutant characteristics. As such, pollution mitigation will need to be specifically tailored to suit the specific land use. * Any structural measures implemented for pollution mitigation to be effective should have the capability to remove suspended solids of size <150m. * Based on the results presented and the particularly the fact that the Port land uses cannot be compared to conventional urban land uses in relation to pollutant generation, consideration should be given to the development of a port specific water quality model.

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The 1AR has two binding sites which can be activated to cause cardiostimulation. The first, termed, 1HAR (high affinity site of 1AR) is activated by noradrenaline and adrenaline and is blocked by relatively low concentrations of β-blockers including carvedilol (Kaumann and Molenaar, 2008). The other, termed, 1LAR (low affinity site of 1AR) has lower affinity for noradrenaline and adrenaline and is activated by some β-blockers including CGP12177 and pindolol, at higher concentrations than those required to block the receptor (Kaumann and Molenaar, 2008). (-)-CGP12177 is a non-conventional partial agonist that causes modest and transient increases of contractile force in human atrial trabeculae (Kaumann and Molenaar, 2008). These effects are markedly increased and maintained by inhibition of phosphodiesterase PDE3. The stimulant effects of (-)-CGP12177 at human β1ARs was verified with recombinant receptors (Kaumann and Molenaar, 2008). However, in a recent report it was proposed that the positive inotropic effects of CGP12177 are mediated through 3ARs in human right atrium (Skeberdis et al 2008). This proposal was not consistent with the lack of blockade of (-)-CGP12177 inotropic effects or increases in L-type Ca2+ current (ICa-L ) by the β3AR blocker 1 μM LY748,337 (Christ et al, 2010). On the otherhand, (-)-CGP12177 increases in inotropic effects and ICa-L were blocked by (-)-bupranolol 1-10 μM (Christ et al, 2010). Chronic infusion of (-)-CGP 12177 (10 mg/Kg/24 hours) for four weeks in an aortic constriction mouse model of heart failure caused an increase in left ventricular wall thickness, fibrosis and inflammation-related left ventricular gene expression levels. Christ T et al (2010) Br J Pharmacol, In press Kaumann A and Molenaar P (2008) Pharmacol Ther 118, 303-336 Skeberdis VA et al (2008) J Clin Invest, 118, 3219-3227