bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dystrophin deficiency exacerbates skeletal muscle pathology in dysferlin-null mice
Authors: Han Renzhi , Rader Erik P , Levy Jennifer R , Bansal Dimple , Campbell Kevin P
Published: December 2011

Background

Mutations in the genes coding for either dystrophin or dysferlin cause distinct forms of muscular dystrophy. Dystrophin links the cytoskeleton to the sarcolemma through direct interaction with β-dystroglycan. This link extends to the extracellular matrix by β-dystroglycan's interaction with α-dystroglycan, which binds extracellular matrix proteins, including laminin α2, agrin and perlecan, that possess laminin globular domains. The absence of dystrophin disrupts this link, leading to compromised muscle sarcolemmal integrity. Dysferlin, on the other hand, plays an important role in the Ca2+-dependent membrane repair of damaged sarcolemma in skeletal muscle. Because dysferlin and dystrophin play different roles in maintaining muscle cell integrity, we hypothesized that disrupting sarcolemmal integrity with dystrophin deficiency would exacerbate the pathology in dysferlin-null mice and allow further characterization of the role of dysferlin in skeletal muscle.

Methods

To test our hypothesis, we generated dystrophin/dysferlin double-knockout (DKO) mice by breeding mdx mice with dysferlin-null mice and analyzed the effects of a combined deficiency of dysferlin and dystrophin on muscle pathology and sarcolemmal integrity.

Results

The DKO mice exhibited more severe muscle pathology than either mdx mice or dysferlin-null mice, and, importantly, the onset of the muscle pathology occurred much earlier than it did in dysferlin-deficient mice. The DKO mice showed muscle pathology of various skeletal muscles, including the mandible muscles, as well as a greater number of regenerating muscle fibers, higher serum creatine kinase levels and elevated Evans blue dye uptake into skeletal muscles. Lengthening contractions caused similar force deficits, regardless of dysferlin expression. However, the rate of force recovery within 45 minutes following lengthening contractions was hampered in DKO muscles compared to mdx muscles or dysferlin-null muscles, suggesting that dysferlin is required for the initial recovery from lengthening contraction-induced muscle injury of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex-compromised muscles.

Conclusions

The results of our study suggest that dysferlin-mediated membrane repair helps to limit the dystrophic changes in dystrophin-deficient skeletal muscle. Dystrophin deficiency unmasks the function of dysferlin in membrane repair during lengthening contractions. Dystrophin/dysferlin-deficient mice provide a very useful model with which to evaluate the effectiveness of therapies designed to treat dysferlin deficiency.
Severe metabolic or mixed acidemia on intensive care unit admission: incidence, prognosis and administration of buffer therapy. a prospective, multiple-center study
Authors: Jung Boris , Rimmele Thomas , Le Goff Charlotte , Chanques Gérald , Corne Philippe , Jonquet Olivier , Muller Laurent , Lefrant Jean-Yves , Guervilly Christophe , Papazian Laurent , Allaouchiche Bernard , Jaber Samir ,   The AzuRea Group
Published: December 2011

Introduction

In this study, we sought describe the incidence and outcomes of severe metabolic or mixed acidemia in critically ill patients as well as the use of sodium bicarbonate therapy to treat these illnesses.

Methods

We conducted a prospective, observational, multiple-center study. Consecutive patients who presented with severe acidemia, defined herein as plasma pH below 7.20, were screened. The incidence, sodium bicarbonate prescription and outcomes of either metabolic or mixed severe acidemia were analyzed.

Results

Among 2, 550 critically ill patients, 200 (8%) presented with severe acidemia, and 155 (6% of the total admissions) met the inclusion criteria. Almost all patients needed mechanical ventilation and vasopressors during their ICU stay, and 20% of them required renal replacement therapy within the first 24 hours of their ICU stay. Severe metabolic or mixed acidemia was associated with a mortality rate of 57% in the ICU. Delay of acidemia recovery as opposed to initial pH value was associated with increased mortality in the ICU. The type of acidemia did not influence the decision to administer sodium bicarbonate.

Conclusions

The incidence of severe metabolic or mixed acidemia in critically ill patients was 6% in the present study, and it was associated with a 57% mortality rate in the ICU. In contradistinction with the initial acid-base parameters, the rapidity of acidemia recovery was an independent risk factor for mortality. Sodium bicarbonate prescription was very heterogeneous between ICUs. Further studies assessing specific treatments may be of interest in this population.
Presence of tobramycin in blood and urine during selective decontamination of the digestive tract in critically ill patients, a prospective cohort study
Authors: Oudemans-van Straaten Heleen M , Endeman Henrik , Bosman Robert J , Attema-de Jonge Milly E , van Ogtrop Marc L , Zandstra Durk F , Franssen Eric JF
Published: December 2011

Introduction

Tobramycin is one of the components used for selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD), applied to prevent colonization and subsequent infections in critically ill patients. Tobramycin is administered in the oropharynx and gastrointestinal tract and is normally not absorbed. However, critical illness may convey gut barrier failure. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence and amount of tobramycin leakage from the gut into the blood, to quantify tobramycin excretion in urine, and to determine the association of tobramycin leakage with markers of circulation, kidney function and other organ failure.

Methods

This was a prospective observational cohort study. The setting was the 20-bed closed format-mixed ICU of a teaching hospital. The study population was critically ill patients with an expected stay of more than two days, receiving SDD with tobramycin, polymyxin-E and amphotericin-B four times daily in the oropharynx and stomach. Tobramycin concentration was measured in serum (sensitive high performance liquid chromatography - mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (HLPC-MS/MS) assay) and 24-hour urine (conventional immunoassay), in 34 patients, 24 hours after ICU admission, and in 71 patients, once daily for 7 days. Tobramycin leakage was defined as tobramycin detected in serum at least once (> 0.05 mg/L). Ototoxicity was not monitored.

Results

Of the 100 patients with available blood samples, 83 had tobramycin leakage. Median highest serum concentration for each patient was 0.12 mg/L; 99% of the patients had at least one positive urinary sample (> 0.5 mg/L), 49% had a urinary concentration ≥ 1 mg/L. The highest tobramycin serum concentration was significantly associated with vasopressor support, renal and hepatic dysfunction, and C-reactive protein. At binary logistic regression analysis, high dopamine dose and low urinary output on Day 1 were the significant predictors of tobramycin leakage. Nephrotoxicity could not be shown.

Conclusions

The majority of acute critically ill patients treated with enteral tobramycin as a component of SDD had traces of tobramycin in the blood, especially those with severe shock, inflammation and subsequent acute kidney injury, suggesting loss of gut barrier and decreased renal removal. Unexpectedly, urinary tobramycin was above the therapeutic trough level in half of the patients. Nephrotoxicity could not be demonstrated.
Integrating Theory and Practice to Increase Scientific Workforce Diversity: A Framework for Career Development in Graduate Research Training
Authors: Byars-Winston Angela , Gutierrez Belinda , Topp Sharon , Carnes Molly
Published: December 2011

Few, if any, educational interventions intended to increase underrepresented minority (URM) graduate students in biological and behavioral sciences are informed by theory and research on career persistence. Training and Education to Advance Minority Scholars in Science (TEAM-Science) is a program funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at the University of Wisconsin–Madison with the twin goals of increasing the number of URM students entering and completing a PhD in BBS and increasing the number of these students who pursue academic careers. A framework for career development in graduate research training is proposed using social cognitive career theory. Based on this framework, TEAM-Science has five core components: 1) mentor training for the research advisor, 2) eight consensus-derived fundamental competencies required for a successful academic career, 3) career coaching by a senior faculty member, 4) an individualized career development plan that aligns students’ activities with the eight fundamental competencies, and 5) a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats personal career analysis. This paper describes the theoretical framework used to guide development of these components, the research and evaluation plan, and early experience implementing the program. We discuss the potential of this framework to increase desired career outcomes for URM graduate trainees in mentored research programs and, thereby, strengthen the effectiveness of such interventions on participants’ career behaviors.
One of Them: Homosexuality and Anarchism in Wilde and Zola
Authors: Counter Andrew J.
Published: December 2011

This article considers the figures of the anarchist and the homosexual in Oscar Wilde's play Vera, or the Nihilists (1880) and Émile Zola's novel Paris (1898) and argues that the two are ideologically associated and structurally analogous. In Zola's novel and French and English responses to the Wilde trials, the article identifies a peculiarly fin-de-siècle form of homophobia that denigrates an abstract notion of male homosexuality while denying the authenticity of homosexual tastes as they are professed by real individuals. Both this understanding of homosexuality and the politics of Paris are complicated by the structural and lexical associations the novel sets up between the homosexual and the anarchist, the latter of whom Zola treats sympathetically, if critically. The article goes on to consider how both Vera and Paris situate anarchism and, implicitly or explicitly, homosexuality in opposition to the idea of the family, which represents for Zola the only conceivable foundation of human happiness and social progress, and for Wilde's Nihilists an oppressive structure to be resisted or destroyed. Wilde's play is shown to offer an exploration of the tension between family and politics, sexual or otherwise, and of the possibilities and risks involved in “coming out” as anything other than normal; it thus provides a critique of the heteronormativity and familialism of Zola's ideological project.
Realism, Form, Politics: Reading Connections in Caribbean Migration Narratives
Authors: Rizzuto Nicole
Published: December 2011

This essay argues that the Caribbean migration narratives of Jean Rhys and George Lamming employ formal tactics associated with modernism to question values subtending literary realism and provide alternative models for thinking about relations between the novel form and community. The systematic orchestration of two key devices in Rhys's Voyage in the Dark and Lamming's The Emigrants challenges modes of perception, temporality, and history shaping the realist discourses each novel directly or indirectly invokes. Voyage in the Dark responds to Zola's naturalist novel Nana through the use of parataxis; The Emigrants responds to the generic conventions of postwar British neo-realism through parataxis as well as paralipses. These experimental strategies interrupt the plotting of migration as Bildung. The resistance to character development and narrative closure enacted in Voyage in the Dark and The Emigrants through parataxis and paralipses leaves the colonial migrants in the grip of an unresolved past. Yet these same devices also operate on a wider textual register to shift readers' focalization from realism's gaze, which disjoins observing subject from observed object, suturing readers and colonial migrants into what Jean-Luc Nancy calls a communité desouvré, a precarious collectivity that is never completely enclosed or stabilized, always safeguarding a discrepancy among members. By doing so, these novels work to transform what Lamming calls “ways of seeing.”
The Plantation as Archive: Images of “the South” In the Postcolonial World
Authors: López Alfred J.
Published: December 2011

The central proposition of this essay is that a reading of the plantation as an archive, rather than as a single unified, stable signifier, offers possibilities for understanding the plantation image's continued efficacy as a signifier for today's postcolonial, postglobal South. The essay begins with Benitez-Rojo's description of the indeterminable center or “origen” (“origin”) of the island archipelago to call attention to this proposition: namely, that there is no single “plantation” or plantation image that we can privilege above all others. Like Benitez-Rojo's repeating island, the plantation is known by its recurrent image — the white pillars projecting power and grace and explicitly linking the plantation with classical empires, the front porch with its rocking chairs that balance or undercut, with their implicit invitation and warmth, the imposing phallic pillars. Such plantation images reach their apogee in 1930s films such as Gone with the Wind (1939), Mississippi (1935), and Showboat (1936), all of which portray a Mythic South that is less a specific geographic location than an ideal — or an idyll — less an actual object than a procession of images that proliferate into the future even as they revise the past. The visual archive of the plantation, then, as unvarying and stable as it may appear (Tara, say, or the Lyceum), is really a composite consisting of all the photographs and portraits of plantations produced and circulated for the past two centuries or so. The “original” can be no more than a fleeting glimpse and a hypothetical construction. Far from being an island, the plantation thus emerges as a veritable archipelago or even meta-archipelago in Benitez-Rojo's sense: a polyglot entity overflowing its own boundaries and exceeding all attempts to anchor it to a given center, and at the very least not bound by its own time and space. By way of illustration, this article offers a limited genealogy of the plantation: Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha, García Márquez's Macondo, and Coppola's Appocalypse Now Redux (2001).
Bringing Out “Roland Barthes” From Chu T'ien-Wen's Notes of a Desolate Man (Huangren Shouji)
Authors: Chang Chih-Wei
Published: December 2011

This essay attempts to “bring out” Roland Barthes as an unnamable textual figure in the Taiwanese writer Chu T'ien-wen's Huangren shouji (Notes of a Desolate Man). Chu's “gay novel” is notorious for its narrator's seemingly inexhaustible references to a legion of writers, film directors, thinkers, and artists from across the globe. Among these encyclopedic references are allusions to Barthes's writings, most notably A Lover's Discourse: Fragments and The Pleasure of the Text. However, when the narrator of Chu's novel quotes from The Pleasure of the Text, he apparently forgets who he is quoting. In fact, the name “Roland Barthes” is elided throughout the novel. As a result, Barthes seems to become an unnamable figure in the novel, occupying the textual non-place usually reserved for homosexuality itself. To bring out “Roland Barthes,” this essay explores the intertextual space between Chu and Barthes. It uses Barthes's theorization of “text” and “intertextuality” to demonstrate that the seemingly endless — and controversial — quotations and references in Chu's novel are connected to its concern with promiscuous homosexuality. It thus serves as an alternative reading to Ng Kim Chew's influential essay on Chu, which “heterosexualizes” Chu's novel through an author-centered biographical approach. Barthes's textual theory, by contrast, dismisses the relevance of the author's intention and problematizes the use of the author's biography in reading a text. This essay follows his encouragement to play with the signifiers of a text (including the author's “biographemes”) so as to generate meanings unforeseen by the author. Ultimately, the unforeseen textual echoes between Chu's novel and Barthes's text almost (but not quite) produce the perverse and impossible enunciation “I am Roland Barthes.”
Existentially Surplus
Authors: Hong Grace Kyungwon
Published: December 2011

Through readings of Cherríe Moraga's book of poetry and prose The Last Generation and memoir Waiting in the Wings, this essay argues that Moraga's refusal to ascribe to any notion of ideological or political purity—whether normative or queer—regarding reproductive sexuality indexes the dual nature of racialized, gendered, and sexualized power in the contemporary moment. That is, Moraga's complex identifications as butch and mother, queer and nationalist confounds any categorical definition of radical politics or recalcitrance to power. In the wake of the new social movements of the 1960s and 1970s, a new mode of power emerged that constitutes surplus as both surplus labor—produced out of the conditions of exploitation—and surplus existence—produced out of conditions of devaluation. In this new capitalist configuration, Moraga's very inconsistency can be read as a condition of “crisis.”
Rescue of Aspergillus nidulans severely debilitating null mutations in ESCRT-0, I, II and III genes by inactivation of a salt-tolerance pathway allows examination of ESCRT gene roles in pH signalling
Authors: Calcagno-Pizarelli Ana M. , Hervás-Aguilar América , Galindo Antonio , Abenza Juan F. , Peñalva Miguel A. , Arst Herbert N.
Published: December 2011

The Aspergillus pal pathway hijacks ESCRT proteins into ambient pH signalling complexes. We show that components of ESCRT-0, ESCRT-I, ESCRT-II and ESCRT-III are nearly essential for growth, precluding assessment of null mutants for pH signalling or trafficking. This severely debilitating effect is rescued by loss-of-function mutations in two cation tolerance genes, one of which, sltA, encodes a transcription factor whose inactivation promotes hypervacuolation. Exploiting a conditional expression sltA allele, we demonstrate that deletion of vps27 (ESCRT-0), vps23 (ESCRT-I), vps36 (ESCRT-II), or vps20 or vps32 (both ESCRT-III) leads to numerous small vacuoles, a phenotype also suppressed by SltA downregulation. This situation contrasts with normal vacuoles and vacuole-associated class E compartments seen in Saccharomyces cerevisiae ESCRT null mutants. Exploiting the suppressor phenotype of sltA− mutations, we establish that Vps23, Vps36, Vps20 and Vps32 are essential for pH signalling. Phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate-recognising protein Vps27 (ESCRT-0) is not, consistent with normal pH signalling in rabB null mutants unable to recruit Vps34 kinase to early endosomes. In contrast to the lack of pH signalling in the absence of Vps20 or Vps32, detectable signalling occurs in the absence of ESCRT-III subunit Vps24. Our data support a model in which certain ESCRT proteins are recruited to the plasma membrane to mediate pH signalling.
Intercellular protein movement in syncytialDrosophilafollicle cells
Authors: Airoldi Stephanie J. , McLean Peter F. , Shimada Yuko , Cooley Lynn
Published: December 2011

Ring canals connecting Drosophila germline, follicle and imaginal disc cells provide direct contact of cytoplasm between cells. To date, little is known about the formation, structure, or function of the somatic ring canals present in follicle and imaginal disc cells. Here, we show by confocal and electron microscopy that Pavarotti kinesin-like protein and Visgun are stable components of somatic ring canals. Using live-cell confocal microscopy, we show that somatic ring canals form from the stabilization of mitotic cleavage furrows. In contrast to germline cells, syncytial follicle cells do not divide synchronously, are not maximally branched and their ring canals do not increase in size during egg chamber development. We show for the first time that somatic ring canals permit exchange of cytoplasmic proteins between follicle cells. These results provide insight into the composition and function of ring canals in somatic cells, implying a broader functional significance for syncytial organization of cells outside the germline.
Dynamic association–dissociation and harboring of endogenous mRNAs in stress granules
Authors: Zhang Junwei , Okabe Kohki , Tani Tokio , Funatsu Takashi
Published: December 2011

In response to environmental stress, cytoplasmic mRNAs aggregate to form stress granules (SGs). SGs have mainly been studied indirectly using protein markers, but the real-time behavior of endogenous mRNAs in SGs remains uncertain. Here, we visualized endogenous cytoplasmic poly(A)+ mRNAs in living mammalian cells using a linear antisense 2′-O-methyl RNA probe. In arsenite-stressed cells, endogenous mRNAs aggregated in granules that colocalized with SGs marked by TIA-1–GFP. Moreover, analysis of mRNA dynamics using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching showed that approximately one-third of the endogenous mRNAs in SGs was immobile, another one-third was diffusive, and the remaining one-third was in equilibrium between binding to and dissociating from SGs, with a time constant of approximately 300 seconds. These dynamic characteristics of mRNAs were independent of the duration of stress and microtubule integrity. Similar characteristics were also observed from fos mRNA labeled with an antisense 2′-O-methyl RNA probe. Our results revealed the behavior of endogenous mRNAs, and indicated that SGs act as dynamic harbors of untranslated poly(A)+ mRNAs.
Contrast-induced nephropathy: controlled study by differential GFR measurement in hospitalized patients
Authors: Erselcan Taner , Egilmez Hulusi , Hasbek Zekiye , Tandogan Izzet
Published: December 2011

Background

Without appropriate control measures, contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) incidence has been claimed to be overestimated.

Purpose

To evaluate the relationship and the difference between differential serum creatinine (DsCr), which is currently surrogating as a marker of CIN, and measured differential GFR values as a control measure (DGFR) in hospitalized patients.

Material and Methods

GFR was measured two times by Tc-99m DTPA, before and 48 h after contrast media (CM), along with sCr and BUN in 35 inpatients (22 men, 13 women, mean age ± SD = 61 ± 14) with no known chronic kidney disease.

Results

Relationship was moderate between GFR and sCr (R = 0.50, P < 0.01) in the study population. Pre-CM vs. post-CM values of GFR, sCr and BUN were not statistically different as (mean ± SD); 78 ± 36 vs. 73 ± 35 mL/min/1.73m2, 0.95 ± 0.26 vs. 0.94 ± 0.26 mg/dl and 21 ± 16 vs. 19 ± 13 mg/dl, respectively, in the study group. According to basal GFR values, 14 patients (40%) seemed carrying risk of CIN (GFR < 60 mL/min/1.73m2) in whom only two had sCr >1.5 mg/dl. Twenty-five patients (71%) had discordant results in relation to DsCr and DGFR and two of them had CIN according to classical definition of DsCr, although having basal sCr <1.1 mg/dl. Yet, both had low, but stable GFR values. None of patient from the study group underwent hemodialysis.

Conclusion

Significant discordance was observed between differential serum creatinine and measured differential GFR in hospitalized patients, suggesting that CIN incidence calculations only based on hospital registry may carry risk of error.
Dynamic splinting for paediatric contracture reduction of the upper limb
Authors: Menzes Melissa , Willis F Buck
Published: December 2011

Background

This report is based on a case of ‘shaken baby syndrome,’ and clinical manifestations of this injury often include hypertonicity, spasticity and joint contracture. Shaken baby syndrome affects over 1 million children and resembles symptoms of traumatic brain injury.

Methods

The patient was a five-year-old boy who had suffered a traumatic brain injury with right spastic hemiplegia. Over the course of treatment, multiple modalities were used to manage his tone, spasticity and to reduce wrist and elbow contractures, which included Botox® (Allergan Co., Irvine, CA, USA), manual therapy and dynamic splinting as home therapy. The main outcome measured was change in maximal range of motion(s) (ROMs) in the elbow and wrist.

Results

After dynamic splinting was initiated, the child's passive ROM increased by 65° in wrist extension and 45° in elbow extension. Ulnar deviation progressed by 15–30°.

Conclusion

Dynamic splinting contributed over 900 hours of end-range, home therapy for wrist extension and 700 hours in end-range home therapy for elbow extension. It is hypothesized that this prolonged duration of passive stretching at the end-range is responsible for the substantial gains in ROM.
Estimation of in Place Hydrocarbon Volume in Multilayered Reservoirs Using Deterministic and Probabilistic Approaches
Authors: Masoudi Pedram , Zahedi A. , Ali Moradzadeh , Farshid Alirezaei , SeyedMohammad Zamanzadeh
Published: December 2011

This paper presents the results of the calculation techniques used for estimation of hydrocarbon initially in place for a multilayered gas reservoir located in the Persian Gulf via two methodologies. The porosity, water saturation, and net pay raw datasets for six wells enclosed within the studied area are thoroughly examined and fed to the deterministic and probabilistic calculation algorithms and the results are compared. In order to include the probable effects of the uncertainties associated with reservoir characterization, two distinct methodologies are developed and incorporated in both types of the calculation processes. In the first methodology, total hydrocarbon volume is calculated in one stage, while in another, hydrocarbon volume estimation have been carried out separately in each producing layer; then, summing them to estimate total hydrocarbon volume. The prominent conclusion of this research indicates that the second developed method in both deterministic and probabilistic conditions presents more reliable results for hydrocarbon volume estimation.
Outcrop Characterization of an Early Miocene Slope Fan System, Chelif Basin, Algeria
Authors: Zhang Yuanfu , Jiang Zaixing
Published: December 2011

The study on outcrop characterization is very useful for geologists and oil finders. There is a complex slope fan system of early Miocene in Chelif Basin. We divided the superimposed basin into two main development stages: an expanding rifting stage (early Miocene) and depression-extrusion transition stage.

Comparison of the outcrops with typical subsurface data sets (logs, core, and seismic reflection data) provided criteria for a detailed study of the stratigraphic and lithologic features of the slope fan system. Based on these research methods, a sedimentary model was built. The slope fan system was an integrated series comprising two parts, the lower (S1) and the upper (S2), from the sequence stratigraphy study. S1 was progradational but had both rolling transport and gravity transport attributes. Similar to the Bouma sequence, S1 can be divided into four parts, A, B, C and D, from bottom to top. S2 was retrogradational but comprised four internal-progradational cycles. Some layers comprise planar-laminated and climbing-ripple–laminated sandstone with many fossils. The upper part of S2 was a thick marl bed and an obvious flooding surface.

Each part had different lithofacies and sedimentary interpretations. Some formations could be good reservoirs based on both self-attributes and outer properties. Considerable evidence suggested that the slope fan have great hydrocarbon potential.
A Consideration on Acoustic Properties on Concert-Hall Stages
Authors: Ueno Kanako , Tachibana Hideki
Published: December 2011

This paper discusses acoustic properties that musicians experience on a concert hall stage; the discussion is based on the authors' experience gained from conducting experimental studies using a three-dimensional sound field simulation technique. First, the experimental findings on the relationship between the acoustic requirements of musicians and acoustic conditions such as early reflection and reverberation are reviewed. Second, the validity and problems of stage acoustic indices STearly, STlate, and EEL are addressed. In addition, unsolved issues with regard to musicians' requirements during their performance are considered and problems requiring future study are pointed out.
Tissue Engineering in Regenerative Dental Therapy
Authors: Jhaveri-Desai Hiral , Khetarpal Shaleen
Published: December 2011

Tissue engineering is amongst the latest exciting technologies having impacted the field of dentistry. Initially considered as a futuristic approach, tissue engineering is now being successfully applied in regenerative surgery. This article reviews the important determinants of tissue engineering and how they contribute to the improvement of wound healing and surgical outcomes in the oral region. Furthermore, we shall address the clinical applications of engineering involving oral and maxillofacial surgical and periodontal procedures along with other concepts that are still in experimental phase of development. This knowledge will aid the surgical and engineering researchers to comprehend the collaboration between these fields leading to extounding dental applications and to ever‐continuing man‐made miracles in the field of human science.
Evaluation of Medication Administration Process: Tools and Techniques
Authors: Snyder Rita , Huynh Nathan , Cai Bo , Tavakoli Abbas S.
Published: December 2011

Health care safety improvement focuses on redesign of high‐risk health care processes such as the medication administration process (MAP) to enhance safety and reduce errors. A key limitation of MAP redesign efforts is the lack of validated tools by which to accurately record process observations. This paper discusses a pilot study conducted to develop and evaluate a handheld device application for recording observations of oral MAP functions and tasks. The aim of the study was to leverage existing technology to develop an observation recording device comparable to handwritten recordings commonly used to document workflow observations in health care settings. Device recordings were statistically compared to handwritten recordings of the same MAP functions and tasks. Findings provided preliminary evidence that handheld device recordings were consistent with handwritten recordings for documenting task duration but not task sequence. Interruptions were not examined due to insufficient data and additional research is needed.
Organizational Learning as Credit Assignment: A Model and Two Experiments
Authors: Fang Christina
Published: December 2011

We outline a theoretical model of organizational learning curves to account for the empirical regularities observed in the literature. The learning mechanism in our model is the gradual recognition of important stepping stones to achieving the goal. As organizations gain experience, they discover the appropriate actions to take at each stage and reduce the number of the steps it takes to reach the final outcome. Using both simulation and human subject experiments, we show that this model accounts for existing empirical regularities related to the learning curves, variations in learning rates, and organizational adaptation to new environments.
Absolute and Relative Kinetic Changes of High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin T in Acute Coronary Syndrome and in Patients with Increased Troponin in the Absence of Acute Coronary Syndrome
Authors: Mueller Matthias , Biener Moritz , Vafaie Mehrshad , Doerr Susanne , Keller Till , Blankenberg Stefan , Katus Hugo A , Giannitsis Evangelos
Published: December 2011

BACKGROUND

We evaluated kinetic changes of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and patients with hs-cTnT increases not due to ACS to rule in or rule out non–ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

METHODS

hs-cTnT was measured serially in consecutive patients presenting to the emergency department. Patients with ACS who had at least 2 hs-cTnT measurements within 6 h and non-ACS patients with hs-cTnT concentrations above the 99th percentile value (14 ng/L) were enrolled to compare absolute and relative kinetic changes of hs-cTnT.

RESULTS

For discrimination of non-STEMI (n = 165) in the entire study population (n = 784), the absolute δ change with the ROC-optimized value of 9.2 ng/L yielded an area under the curve of 0.898 and was superior to all relative δ changes (P < 0.0001). The positive predictive value for the absolute δ change was 48.7%, whereas the negative predictive value was 96.5%. In a specific ACS population with exclusion of STEMI (n = 342), the absolute δ change with the ROC-optimized value of 6.9 ng/L yielded a positive predictive value of 82.8% and a negative predictive value of 93.0%. In comparison to the ≥20% relative δ change, the ROC-optimized absolute δ change demonstrated a significantly added value for the entire study population and for the ACS cohort (net reclassification index 0.331 and 0.499, P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

Absolute δ changes appear superior to relative δ changes in discriminating non-STEMI. A rise or fall of at least 9.2 ng/L in the entire study population and 6.9 ng/L in selected ACS patients seems adequate to rule-out non-STEMI. However, δ-values are useful to rule-in non-STEMI only in a specific ACS population.
Hybrides Steuerungs- und Regelungskonzept für das hochautomatisierte Fahren auf Autobahnen
Authors: Ardelt Michael , Waldmann Peter
Published: December 2011

Es wird eine neuartige hybride Systemarchitektur für kontinuierliche Steuerungs- und Regelungssysteme mit diskreten Entscheidungsfindungsprozessen vorgestellt. Die Funktionsweise wird beispielhaft für das hochautomatisierte Fahren auf Autobahnen und den Nothalteassistenten dargestellt. Da für einen zukünftigen Einsatz derartiger Systeme deren Robustheit entscheidend ist, wurde diese bei der Entwicklung des Ansatzes in den Mittelpunkt gestellt.
Mehrgrößenregelung mit Entkopplung von Banddicke und Bandplanheit in 20-Rollen-Kaltwalzwerken
Authors: Polzer Jan , Jelali Mohieddine
Published: December 2011

Die Produktion von Edelstahlfeinblech erfolgt meist an 20-Rollenwalzenwerken. Diese stellen komplexe und totzeitbehaftete Mehrgrößensysteme dar, bei denen Banddicke und Bandplanheit als wichtigste Qualitätsmerkmale in optimaler Weise geregelt werden müssen. Dabei ist die gegenseitige Kopplung zwischen den beiden Qualitätsgrößen, insbesondere bei festen und dünnen Bändern, zu berücksichtigen. Dieser Beitrag stellt eine integrierte Dicken- und Planheitsregelung basiert auf einem umfassenden Reglerentwurf vor, der die Querkopplungen zwischen beiden Regelgrößen berücksichtigt und kompensiert. Es handelt sich um eine Mehrgrößenregelung mit Entkopplung, wobei die Reglerparameter mit Hilfe der Online-Linearisierung eines physikalisch basierten Gerüstmodells adaptiert werden. Der Einsatz der Regelung an einem industriellen Sendzimir-Gerüst zeigt, dass alle Stellglieder mit maximaler Geschwindigkeit von der Regelung betätigt werden dürfen, ohne dass (wie bisher) negative Auswirkungen auf die jeweils andere Qualitätsgröße auftreten.
Zur regelungsorientierten Ableitung von Takagi-Sugeno-Modellen
Authors: Kroll Andreas
Published: December 2011

Die Erstellung und Bewertung von Modellen orientiert sich i. d. R. am Prädiktionsfehler oder an der Approximationsgüte — unabhängig vom Einsatzzweck eines Modells. Dies liegt an den üblichen Methoden sowie daran, dass Modellbildung und Reglerentwurf häufig von unterschiedlichen Spezialisten durchgeführt werden. Da selten ein exaktes Modell erstellt werden kann, sollten die Freiheitsgrade bei der Modellbildung genutzt werden, um ein für die geplante Anwendung optimiertes Modell zu erhalten. Beim modellbasierten Reglerentwurf ist die Prädiktionsgüte eines Modells kein primäres Kriterium; vielmehr sollte das Modell gut für den Reglerentwurf geeignet sein. Diese Einsicht führte im Bereich der linearen Systemidentifikation zu neuen Methoden. In diesem Beitrag wird eine Methodik zur Ableitung regelungsorientierter Takagi-Sugeno-Fuzzy-Modelle aus physikalischen Modellen vorgestellt und am Benchmark-Beispiel des inversen Pendels demonstriert.
Control Design for Generalized Platoon Problems
Authors: Maschuw Jan P. , Diab Hilal , Abel Dirk , Kowalewski Stefan
Published: December 2011

This paper presents a generalized description of linear transport processes that allows for a derivation of common dynamic properties and a control layout for a wide set of applications. Based on the introduction of the system description of platoons and a proposition of suitable performance criteria a control layout is formulated which reduces the synchronization of a common motion of sub-systems to a stabilization problem of the platoon and optimizes the corresponding performance measures. Furthermore, the influence of communication topology and switching information access among platoon members is investigated. The proposed approach is applied to a vehicle platoon with one leading and three following vehicles and is analyzed through both simulations and physical experiments with model scale vehicles. The results show that the approach is also applicable to physical plants that can only be approximated by a linear platoon model.
Randphänomene in der mittelalterlichen Kultur
Authors: Stolz Michael
Published: December 2011

This article explores phenomena of marginality in different areas of medieval culture. The introduction explains medieval concepts of the “margin”. In the first part, the author analyzes the tension between the “centre” and the “margin” as found in medieval conceptions of the world such as labyrinths and the mappae mundi. Secondly, he examines the interdependency of social and textual marginalization as it occurs in the 14th century Hausbuch of Michael de Leone. The third part of the article is dedicated to the Munich manuscript of Wolframs von Eschenbach Titurel, a text situated on the margins of the famous Parzival-novel both in terms of its physical location and also its poetic thought. The survey of these examples shows that margins often refer to the centre of cultural constellations despite their allegedly subsidiary role.
Von der Marginalisierung zur Kriminalisierung – Die Ausgrenzung mobiler Bevölkerungselemente in der spätmittelalterlichen Eidgenossenschaft
Authors: Landolt Oliver
Published: December 2011

In the course of the late Middle Ages, vagrant people (and in particular those who were poor and needy) increasingly came to be regarded as a burden by the resident communities of the area of modern Switzerland, a phenomenon with parallels elsewhere in Europe. This is especially apparent in the harsher penal actions applied to them; most cases for communal high justice concerned foreign delinquents. Alongside the gradual development of Switzerland from complex confederate network to structured state, the Tagsatzung, the diet and therefore central institution of towns and cantons, played an important role in the development of defence mechanisms against the vagrant poor. Even though the Tagsatzung as an institution was relatively weak, it was the place where political decision makers met and exchanged ideas, not least about poverty and welfare. Joint federal decisions relating to the defence against the vagrant poor can be found from 1470 onwards. This is also where the principle of welfare according to place of provenience was first propagated. However, constant reissues of the defence mechanisms against the foreign poor suggest that the decisions of the diet were not very effective.
Marginalization and the Jews in Late Medieval Germany
Authors: Bell Dean Phillip
Published: December 2011

Marginalization has emerged as a powerful and central theme in the history of Germany in the later Middle Ages. In many ways, Jews appear to have been the quintessential marginalized people – the victims of restrictive legislation, theological demonization, expulsions, violent attacks, and pogroms. Recent scholarship suggests that the position of the Jews in late medieval and early modern Germany may be more complex, and at times more constructive, than once thought. This article, therefore, suggests that the notion of marginalization can be usefully applied not only to the issue of Jewish and Christian relations but also to the internal dynamics of the late medieval German Jewish community itself. Considering who was marginalized, for what reasons, and in what ways can tell us a great deal about the needs and concerns of late medieval Jews and Jewish communities.
Am Rande, am Boden, verstummt – Zur Marginalisierung von Unglauben und „heidnischer“ Philosophie in der mittelalterlichen Kunst
Authors: Tammen Silke
Published: December 2011

This paper deals with visual constructions of Christian, clerical and monastic identities via images of triumph over representatives of pagan or heretical beliefs. The main interest lies in the tension and symbiosis between a central dominating figure and a marginalized figure, powerless but still visible, embodying anxieties about inner Christian conflicts and changes of belief and knowledge.
Marginale Zauberspruchüberlieferung im frühen Mittelalter
Authors: Haeseli Christa M.
Published: December 2011

Old High German spells are among the earliest texts in the German vernacular. At first, they were passed on as marginal entries in theological manuscripts. Based on two representative examples, the Merseburger Cod. 136, and the Trierer Hs 40/1018 8°, the relationships between the spells, other marginalia, and the main text shall be explored with regard to their content and function. The question arises whether and to what extent the formal positioning on the margins of the manuscripts equates to a marginalisation in terms of content. This is of particular interest in view of the fact that the relationship between incantations and the Christian canon had always been a precarious one. In contrast to earlier research, which tended towards strict demarcation of the magical-pagan spells from the Christian main texts, this paper will explore the idea that the marginalia might function as a kind of performative frame. Thus, in the sense of Derrida’s understanding of the parergon, the spells are at the same time set apart from the (canonical) main text, yet also resemble it. This would implicate that, despite the genuine relationship between main text and marginalia, the relationship remained one of tension.
Theban Priestly and Governmental Offices and Titles in the Libyan Period
Authors: Broekman Gerard
Published: December 2011

On the basis of biographical and genealogical information, mainly from Theban statues and funeral equipments, the author investigates the extent to which the most influential and/or frequently attested offices accumulate in the hands of certain individuals or families in Thebes during the Libyan Period. It appears that beside combinations of offices that in some way structurally belong together there are instances in which different offices that also occur separately accumulate in the hands of certain functionaries or specific families, notably the families of the Third and Fourth Prophets of Amun, some of whom occupy those offices for several generations.
Developmental Origins of Adult Disease: Part 1: Cardiovascular Disease
Authors: Chan Patricia Y. L. , Morris Jonathan M. , Gallery Eileen D. M.
Published: December 2011

There is now considerable evidence from numerous epidemiologic, animal, and clinical studies demonstrating the association of early life conditions and increased risk of subsequent adult disease such as cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic disease. This first of three articles reviews the developmental origins of cardiovascular disease and the proposed underlying mechanisms.
Developmental Origins of Adult Disease: Part 2: Renal Disease
Authors: Chan Patricia Y. L. , Morris Jonathan M. , Gallery Eileen D. M.
Published: December 2011

An increasing body of evidence suggests the influence of early life events on the severity of expression and progression of renal disease in later life. This second of three articles discusses the animal and human data supporting the developmental origins of renal disease and some of the underlying proposed mechanisms.
Developmental Origins of Adult Disease: Part 3: Metabolic Disease
Authors: Chan Patricia Y. L. , Morris Jonathan M. , Gallery Eileen D. M.
Published: December 2011

This third of three articles reviews the developmental origins of metabolic disease and the proposed underlying mechanisms.
Accessibility of special clinical laboratory tests in Hungary
Authors: Kappelmayer János , Antal Csaba , Bereczky Zsuzsanna
Published: December 2011

The Hungarian Society of Laboratory Medicine launches a Laboratory Assay Finder after more than a year of preparatory work. The purpose is that all laboratory and clinical specialists can have access to a nationwide availabilty of special clinical laboratory testings. This is achieved by an SQL database that can be managed from an “admin” surface. The selection of various colour coded diagnostic area exemplify individual filters in the database. The requested test can easily be found either by listing the assays or the diagnoses and special search can be executed via PHP. During preliminary discussions the following basic considerations were accepted: the Assay Finder does not contain basic laboratory tests (e.g. bilirubin or prothrombin time) and within the specified fields there may also be tests that are not listed. The reason behind is that several tests are only worth doing in panels or blocks like studying CD markers in leukemias or carrying out an immunofixation after protein electrophoresis. Also tests like antithrombin III activity or FSH and LH were not separately uploaded only as parts of the complete thrombophilia or infertility panels. By providing a login and password we would like to make this webpage accessible to all colleagues. Orv. Hetil., 2011, 152, 2056–2062.
Cervical cancer screening in Hungary – epidemiological, historical and methodological aspects
Authors: Langmár Zoltán , Németh Miklós , Kornya László
Published: December 2011

The issue of cervical cancer has been raised again recently, as opposed to other states of the European Union our country shows a high incidence and mortality rate of cervical carcinoma. Although in the 21st century not a single woman should die of cervical cancer, cervical cancer claims the lives of approximately 500 women in Hungary annually until this day. The most typical point of development is where the columnar epithelium of the cervical canal and the squamous epithelium of the uterine cervix meet, the so called transformation zone (squamocolumnar junction). The disease is a several year long process of squamous epithelium metaplasia. This is what provides the opportunity for screening, as by recognizing the lesion in a precancerous state, treatment is possible prior to the development of a tumor. Authors review some epidemiological, historical and methodological issues related to cervical cancer screening. Orv. Hetil., 2011, 152, 2063–2066.