bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Association between irritable bowel syndrome and restless legs syndrome in the general population
Authors: YUN CHANG‐HO , LEE SEUNG K. , KIM HYUN , PARK HEE‐KWON , LEE SEUNG H. , KIM SE J. , SHIN CHOL
Published: April 2012

This study aimed to explore the association between restless legs syndrome and irritable bowel syndrome in an epidemiological cohort. We included 3365 adults, of whom 1602 were female (age 52.5 ± 7.5 years), who had participated in the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (2005–2006). The diagnosis of restless legs syndrome was based on the criteria proposed by the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group, and irritable bowel syndrome was defined according to the Rome II criteria. The prevalence of each condition was determined and their association was tested by logistic regression analysis. Age, sex, haemoglobin concentration, renal insufficiency, use of medications and depressive mood were all adjusted for. The prevalence of restless legs syndrome and irritable bowel syndrome was 4.5 and 11.1%, respectively. Irritable bowel syndrome was more prevalent in the group with restless legs syndrome (24.0 versus 10.5%, P < 0.001). Subjects with restless legs syndrome were older (54.2 ± 8.4 versus 52.4 ± 7.4, P = 0.006) and more depressive (26.7 versus 12.5%, P < 0.001), and were predominantly female (57.3 versus 47.2%, P = 0.015), had more frequent insomnia symptoms (44.0 versus 28.2%, P < 0.001), had lower haemoglobin concentration (13.7 ± 1.5 versus 14.1 ± 1.6 g dL−1P = 0.004) and higher highly sensitive C‐reactive protein (1.8 ± 5.1 versus 1.4 ± 2.9 mg dL−1, P = 0.08). The adjusted odds ratio of restless legs syndrome in relation to irritable bowel syndrome was 2.59 (1.74–3.85, P < 0.001). Irritable bowel syndrome appeared to be associated with restless legs syndrome independently from other major risk factors for restless legs syndrome. Searching for the mechanisms underlying this association is indicated.
Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials in term newborn infants with severe hyperbilirubinemia
Authors: Ozkiraz Servet , Gokmen Zeynel , Ecevit Ayse , Erbek Seyra , Erbek Selim Sermet , Ozel Deniz , Tarcan Aylin
Published: April 2012

Background:  The aim of this study was to determine the effects of severe hyperbilirubinemia on vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP).

Methods:  A prospective study was designed. Seventeen term infants who suffered from severe hyperbilirubinemia in the first 5 postnatal days of age were included in the study group. The control group consisted of 17 healthy term infants. Audiological evaluation was performed, including tympanometry and transient evoked otoacoustic emissions, and VEMP tests.

Results:  All newborns passed audiological evaluation. Biphasic waveforms of VEMP were obtained in all of the 34 infants who had been tested. Both latencies of p13 and n23 were significantly delayed in the severe hyperbilirubinemia group (P < 0.05).

Conclusion:  This pilot is the first study to show that severe hyperbilirubinemia causes delay in VEMP latencies. We suggest that severe hyperbilirubinemia might affect the vestibular nuclei or the integrity of the inferior vestibular nerve and vestibulospinal tract. Further studies need to explain the relation between hyperbilirubinemia and the vestibular system.
Tricadmium Digermanium Tetraarsenide: A New Crystalline Phase Made with a Double‐Containment Ampoule Method
Authors: Riley Brian J. , Johnson Bradley R. , Crum Jarrod V. , Thompson Michael R.
Published: April 2012

A new crystalline phase in the Cd‐Ge‐As family of materials has been recently discovered. This phase was made with a unique double‐containment ampoule method that provided a specific cooling rate along with a thermal compression mechanism. The composition of this crystalline phase was determined to be Cd3Ge2As4 with energy dispersive spectroscopy. The detailed methods used to fabricate these crystals are presented. The crystal structure is still under investigation, although preliminary results are given.
Community (re)organization in an experimentally fragmented forest landscape: insights from occupancy–scale patterns of common plant species
Authors: Morgan John W. , Farmilo Brad J.
Published: April 2012

Question

How does experimental habitat fragmentation of a temperate Australian eucalypt forest affect local population patterns of common plant species 22 yr after landscape transformation to a pine plantation?

Location

Wog Wog Habitat Fragmentation Experiment, southeast Australia.

Methods

We use occupancy–scale relationships to examine the patterns of community organization of common understorey plant species in fragmented forests (small: 0.25 ha; large: 3.062 ha) relative to an intact native forest.

Results

Occupancy–scale patterns for intact forest and large‐sized remnants were isotropic; slope (z) values ranged across all values, from aggregated to scattered. In the smallest remnants, however, mean and median z values, as well as their interquartile range, were significantly lower than expected. The convergence in occupancy–scale relationships in small remnants hints that many of the commonest plant species have become even more common (i.e. aggregated).

Conclusions

The ecological assembly processes that influence common species in small‐sized remnants differ from those in larger remnants and intact forest. Fragmentation effects on assembly processes are greater at smaller patch sizes because these habitats are likely altered by changed environmental filters more so than large patches. Such shifts may have implications for habitat structure, ecosystem function and food web interactions in small remnant forests.
Capillary Electrodynamic Stability of Self-Gravitational Fluid Cylinder With Varying Electric Field
Authors: Hasan Alfaisal A.
Published: April 2012

The instability of a self-gravitating fluid cylinder surrounded by a self-gravitating tenuous medium pervaded by transverse varying electric field is discussed under the combined effect of the capillary, self-gravitating, and electric forces. This has been done for all axisymmetric and nonaxisymmetric modes of perturbation. The problem is formulated and solved with excluding the singular solutions, and the stability criterion is derived. Several published works are obtained as limiting cases from the present general case and investigated, and moreover the results are interpreted physically. The model is stable due to the stabilizing effect of the transverse electric field in all modes of perturbation. The destabilizing effect of the capillary and self-gravitating forces is found in small domain in the axisymmetric perturbation. However, the stabilizing effects of the capillary and self-gravitating forces in large axisymmetric domains and in all nonaxisymmetric domains modify and improve the instability of the present model.
Experimental validation of deterministic Acuros XB algorithm for IMRT and VMAT dose calculations with the Radiological Physics Center's head and neck phantom
Authors: Han Tao , Mourtada Firas , Kisling Kelly , Mikell Justin , Followill David , Howell Rebecca
Published: April 2012

Purpose:

The purpose of this study was to verify the dosimetric performance of Acuros XB (AXB), a grid‐based Boltzmann solver, in intensity‐modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric‐modulated arc therapy (VMAT).

Methods:

The Radiological Physics Center (RPC) head and neck (H&N) phantom was used for all calculations and measurements in this study. Clinically equivalent IMRT and VMAT plans were created on the RPC H&N phantom in the Eclipse treatment planning system (version 10.0) by using RPC dose prescription specifications. The dose distributions were calculated with two different algorithms, AXB 11.0.03 and anisotropic analytical algorithm (AAA) 10.0.24. Two dose report modes of AXB were recorded: dose‐to‐medium in medium (Dm,m) and dose‐to‐water in medium (Dw,m). Each treatment plan was delivered to the RPC phantom three times for reproducibility by using a Varian Clinac iX linear accelerator. Absolute point dose and planar dose were measured with thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) and GafChromic® EBT2 film, respectively. Profile comparison and 2D gamma analysis were used to quantify the agreement between the film measurements and the calculated dose distributions from both AXB and AAA. The computation times for AAA and AXB were also evaluated.

Results:

Good agreement was observed between measured doses and those calculated with AAA or AXB. Both AAA and AXB calculated doses within 5% of TLD measurements in both the IMRT and VMAT plans. Results of AXB_Dm,m (0.1% to 3.6%) were slightly better than AAA (0.2% to 4.6%) or AXB_Dw,m (0.3% to 5.1%). The gamma analysis for both AAA and AXB met the RPC 7%/4 mm criteria (over 90% passed), whereas AXB_Dm,m met 5%/3 mm criteria in most cases. AAA was 2 to 3 times faster than AXB for IMRT, whereas AXB was 4–6 times faster than AAA for VMAT.

Conclusions:

AXB was found to be satisfactorily accurate when compared to measurements in the RPC H&N phantom. Compared with AAA, AXB results were equal to or better than those obtained with film measurements for IMRT and VMAT plans. The AXB_Dm,m reporting mode was found to be closer to TLD and film measurements than was the AXB_Dw,m mode. AXB calculation time was found to be significantly shorter (× 4) than AAA for VMAT.
EGFR mutations detection on liquid-based cytology: is microscopy still necessary?
Authors: Malapelle Umberto , de Rosa Nicla , Bellevicine Claudio , Rocco Danilo , Vitiello Fabiana , Piantedosi Franco Vito , Illiano Alfonso , Nappi Oscar , Troncone Giancarlo
Published: April 2012

Currently, there is a trend towards an increasing use of liquid-based cytology (LBC) to diagnose non–small cell lung cancer. In this study, to detect epidermal growth factor receptor mutations, different molecular techniques were applied to LBC samples with and without laser capture microdissection (LCM). In 58 LBCs, DNA was extracted twice. One sample was obtained directly from CytoLyt solution, whereas the other DNA sample was derived after slide preparation and LCM of Papanicolaou-stained cells. The rate of mutant cases obtained by direct sequencing was discordant between CytoLyt-derived (10.3%) and LCM-derived (17.2%) DNA. However, the same mutant rate (17.2%) was achieved on the matched samples by high-resolution melting analysis, fragment and TaqMan assays. Thus, LCM and direct sequencing may be replaced by more sensitive non-sequencing methods directly performed on CytoLyt-derived DNA, an easier and faster approach to improve epidermal growth factor receptor testing standardisation on LBCs.
Characterization of chromosome-specific genomic DNA from hexaploid oat
Authors: Luo Xiaomei , Wight Charlene P. , Zhou Yonghong , Tinker Nicholas A.
Published: April 2012

We have sequenced, assembled, and characterized a set of complexity-reduced genomic clones derived from a chromosome 18D-specific library from hexaploid oat ( Avena sativa L.). Sequences from 314 clones were assembled into 99 contigs of identical or nearly identical sequence. The Censor tool was used to identify similarity to known and characterized repeat sequences in RepBase. Eight repeat classes were scattered throughout 50 contigs, with most repeats belonging to seven transposon and retrotransposon classes. After accounting for known repeats, additional matches to orthologous genes from other species were identified in 24 regions of 22 contigs, and an additional 47 regions matched genomic sequences from oat and other related species. These results provide information about the types and density of transposable elements in the oat genome, as well as the potential for identifying unique or chromosome-specific sequence elements in oat. Overall, these results predict a low success rate in identifying chromosome-specific coding regions in oat through chromosome isolation and genome complexity reduction.
An intact RNA interference pathway is required for expression of the mutant wing phenotype ofvg21-3, aP-element-induced allele of thevestigialgene inDrosophila
Authors: Hodgetts Ross B. , O’Keefe Sandra L. , Anderson Kyle J.
Published: April 2012

We have determined that two P elements, P[21-3] and P[21r36], residing in the 5′-UTR of the vestigial wing gene, encode functional repressors in eye tissue. However, neither element fits a previous categorization of repressor-making elements as Type I or II. Both elements encode polypeptides that are shorter than the canonical elements they most closely resemble. DNA sequencing reveals that P[21r36] encodes an intact THAP domain that is missing in the P[21] element, which does not encode a functional repressor. Recovery of P[21-3] at sites other than vestigial (where it causes the wing mutant, vg21-3) reveals that the element can make repressor in wing tissue of sufficient activity to repress the mutant phenotype of vg21-3. Why the P[21-3] element fails to produce repressor when located at vestigial may be explained by our observation that three different mutants in the RNA interference pathway cause a partial reversion of vg21-3. We speculate that the vg and P-initiated transcripts that arise at the vg locus in the vg21-3mutant trigger an RNA interference response that results in the mutual degradation of both transcripts.
JET-GAUGE GROUPS AS BASIC SYMMETRIES OF NON-LINEAR SIGMA AND YANG–MILLS MODELS AND QUANTIZATION
Authors: ALDAYA VICTOR , CALIXTO MANUEL , GUERRERO JULIO , LOPEZ-RUIZ FRANCISCO F.
Published: April 2012

The quantum description of non-linear systems finds a deep obstruction in the Canonical Quantization framework and Non-Linear Sigma Models constitute the best representatives. In this paper, we face the quantization of such systems on the grounds of a Group Approach to Quantization, and extend the algorithm to the specific case of massive Non-Abelian gauge theories. The basic geometric structures behind are the so-called "jet-gauge groups".
Nonlinear Pulse Shaping in Fibres for Pulse Generation and Optical Processing
Authors: Boscolo Sonia , Finot Christophe
Published: April 2012

The development of new all-optical technologies for data processing and signal manipulation is a field of growing importance with a strong potential for numerous applications in diverse areas of modern science. Nonlinear phenomena occurring in optical fibres have many attractive features and great, but not yet fully explored, potential in signal processing. Here, we review recent progress on the use of fibre nonlinearities for the generation and shaping of optical pulses and on the applications of advanced pulse shapes in all-optical signal processing. Amongst other topics, we will discuss ultrahigh repetition rate pulse sources, the generation of parabolic shaped pulses in active and passive fibres, the generation of pulses with triangular temporal profiles, and coherent supercontinuum sources. The signal processing applications will span optical regeneration, linear distortion compensation, optical decision at the receiver in optical communication systems, spectral and temporal signal doubling, and frequency conversion.
Logic Macroprogramming for Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Choochaisri Supasate , Pornprasitsakul Nuttanart , Intanagonwiwat Chalermek
Published: April 2012

It is notoriously difficult and tedious to program wireless sensor networks (WSNs). To simplify WSN programming, we propose Sense2P, a logic macroprogramming system for abstracting, programming, and using WSNs as globally deductive databases. Unlike macroprograms in previous works, our logic macroprograms can be described declaratively and imperatively. In Sense2P, logic macroprogrammers can easily express a recursive program or query that is unsupported in existing database abstractions for WSNs. We have evaluated Sense2P analytically and experimentally. Our evaluation result indicates that Sense2P successfully realizes the logic macroprogramming concept while consuming minimal energy as well as maintaining completeness and soundness of the answers.
Epididymal Leiomyosarcoma: One Case Report
Authors: Tazi Mohammed Fadl , Bouchikhi Ahmed Amine , Ahallal Youness , Mellas Soufiane , Elammari Jalaleddine , Khallouk Abdelhak , Elfassi Mohammed Jamal , Farih Moulay Hassan
Published: April 2012

Epididymal leiomyosarcoma is very uncommon. Only 16 cases have been reported in the literature. There has never been a reported case of a patient with an African origin with this tumor. We report the medical history of a 70-year-old man who presented an enormous mass located in his epididymis. A tricut biopsy was performed which allowed histological confirmation of epididymal leiomyosarcoma after which the patient underwent excision of the mass. The patient died after the first round of chemotherapy.
The Effect of Neonatal Leptin Antagonism in Male Rat Offspring Is Dependent upon the Interaction between Prior Maternal Nutritional Status and Post-Weaning Diet
Authors: Beltrand J. , Sloboda D. M. , Connor K. L. , Truong M. , Vickers M. H.
Published: April 2012

Epidemiological and experimental studies report associations between overweight mothers and increased obesity risk in offspring. It is unclear whether neonatal leptin regulation mediates this association between overweight mothers and offspring obesity. We investigated the effect of neonatal treatment with a leptin antagonist (LA) on growth and metabolism in offspring of mothers fed either a control or a high fat diet. Wistar rats were fed either a control (CON) or a high fat diet (MHF) during pregnancy and lactation. Male CON and MHF neonates received either saline (S) or a rat-specific pegylated LA on days 3, 5, and 7. Offspring were weaned onto either a control or a high fat (hf) diet. At day 100, body composition, blood glucose,β-hydroxybutyrate and plasma leptin and insulin were determined. In CON and MHF offspring, LA increased neonatal bodyweights compared to saline-treated offspring and was more pronounced in MHF offspring. In the post-weaning period, neonatal LA treatment decreased hf diet-induced weight gain but only in CON offspring. LA treatment induced changes in body length, fat mass, body temperature, and bone composition. Neonatal LA treatment can therefore exert effects on growth and metabolism in adulthood but is dependent upon interactions between maternal and post-weaning nutrition.
Skin Perfusion Pressure Is a Prognostic Factor in Hemodialysis Patients
Authors: Hatakeyama Shingo , Saito Masaaki , Ishigaki Kumiko , Yamamoto Hayato , Okamoto Akiko , Ishibashi Yusuke , Murasawa Hiromi , Imanishi Kengo , Tokui Noriko , Okamoto Teppei , Suzuki Yuichiro , Sugiyama Naoki , Imai Atsushi , Kudo Shigemasa , Yoneyama Takahiro , Hashimoto Yasuhiro , Koie Takuya , Kaminura Noritaka , Saitoh Hisao , Funyu Tomihisa , Ohyama Chikara
Published: April 2012

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is common in hemodialysis patients and predicts a poor prognosis. We conducted a prospective cohort study to identify risk factors for PAD including skin perfusion pressure (SPP) in hemodialysis patients. The cohort included 373 hemodialysis patients among 548 patients who received hemodialysis at Oyokyo Kidney Research Institute, Hirosaki, Japan from August 2008 to December 2010. The endpoints were lower limb survival (peripheral angioplasty or amputation events) and overall survival of 2 years. Our results showed that <70 mmHg SPP was a poor prognosis for the lower limb survival and overall survival. We also identified age, history of cardiovascular disease, presence of diabetes mellitus, smoking history, and SPP < 70 mmHg as independent risk factors for lower limb survival and overall survival. Then, we constructed risk criteria using the significantly independent risk factors. We can clearly stratify lower limb survival and overall survival of the hemodialysis patients into 3 groups. Although the observation period is short, we conclude that SPP value has the potential to be a risk factor that predicts both lower limb survival and the prognosis of hemodialysis patients.
Surface Plasmon States in Inhomogeneous Media at Critical and Subcritical Metal Concentrations
Authors: Seal Katyayani , Genov Dentcho A.
Published: April 2012

Semicontinuous metal-dielectric films are composed of a wide range of metal clusters of various geometries—sizes as well as structures. This ensures that at any given wavelength of incident radiation, clusters exist in the film that will respond resonantly, akin to resonating nanoantennas, resulting in the broad optical response (absorption) that is a characteristic of semicontinuous films. The physics of the surface plasmon states that are supported by such systems is complex and can involve both localized and propagating plasmons. This chapter describes near-field experimental and numerical studies of the surface plasmon states in semicontinuous films at critical and subcritical metal concentrations and evaluates the local field intensity statistics to discuss the interplay between various eigenmodes.
Natural Product Nitric Oxide Chemistry: New Activity of Old Medicines
Authors: Jiang Hong , Torregrossa Ashley C. , Parthasarathy Deepa K. , Bryan Nathan S.
Published: April 2012

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as a therapy and preventative care measure for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) may prove to be beneficial when used in conjunction with or in place of conventional medicine. However, the lack of understanding of a mechanism of action of many CAMs limits their use and acceptance in western medicine. We have recently recognized and characterized specific nitric oxide (NO) activity of select alternative and herbal medicines that may account for many of their reported health benefits. The ability of certain CAM to restore NO homeostasis both through enhancing endothelial production of NO and by providing a system for reducing nitrate and nitrite to NO as a compensatory pathway for repleting NO bioavailability may prove to be a safe and cost-effective strategy for combating CVD. We will review the current state of science behind NO activity of herbal medicines and their effects on CVD.
Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease: Current and Future Concepts of Diagnosis and Management
Authors: Taher Fadi , Essig David , Lebl Darren R. , Hughes Alexander P. , Sama Andrew A. , Cammisa Frank P. , Girardi Federico P.
Published: April 2012

Low back pain as a result of degenerative disc disease imparts a large socioeconomic impact on the health care system. Traditional concepts for treatment of lumbar disc degeneration have aimed at symptomatic relief by limiting motion in the lumbar spine, but novel treatment strategies involving stem cells, growth factors, and gene therapy have the theoretical potential to prevent, slow, or even reverse disc degeneration. Understanding the pathophysiological basis of disc degeneration is essential for the development of treatment strategies that target the underlying mechanisms of disc degeneration rather than the downstream symptom of pain. Such strategies ideally aim to induce disc regeneration or to replace the degenerated disc. However, at present, treatment options for degenerative disc disease remain suboptimal, and development and outcomes of novel treatment options currently have to be considered unpredictable.
Cell Polarity, Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, and Cell-Fate Decision Gene Expression in Ductal Carcinoma In Situ
Authors: Coradini Danila , Boracchi Patrizia , Ambrogi Federico , Biganzoli Elia , Oriana Saro
Published: April 2012

Loss of epithelial cell identity and acquisition of mesenchymal features are early events in the neoplastic transformation of mammary cells. We investigated the pattern of expression of a selected panel of genes associated with cell polarity and apical junction complex or involved in TGF-β-mediated epithelial-mesenchymal transition and cell-fate decision in a series of DCIS and corresponding patient-matched normal tissue. Additionally, we compared DCIS gene profile with that of atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) from the same patient. Statistical analysis identified a “core” of genes differentially expressed in both precursors with respect to the corresponding normal tissue mainly associated with a terminally differentiated luminal estrogen-dependent phenotype, in agreement with the model according to which ER-positive invasive breast cancer derives from ER-positive progenitor cells, and with an autocrine production of estrogens through androgens conversion. Although preliminary, present findings provide transcriptomic confirmation that, at least for the panel of genes considered in present study, ADH and DCIS are part of a tumorigenic multistep process and strongly arise the necessity for the regulation, maybe using aromatase inhibitors, of the intratumoral and/or circulating concentration of biologically active androgens in DCIS patients to timely hamper abnormal estrogens production and block estrogen-induced cell proliferation.
Cancer Stem Cell Vaccination Confers Significant Antitumor Immunity
Authors: Ning Ning , Pan Qin , Zheng Fang , Teitz-Tennenbaum Seagal , Egenti Martin , Yet Ji , Li Mu , Ginestier Christophe , Wicha Max S. , Moyer Jeffrey S. , Prince Mark E.P. , Xu Yingxin , Zhang Xiao-Lian , Huang Shiang , Chang Alfred E. , Li Qiao
Published: April 2012

Most studies of cancer stem cells (CSC) involve the inoculation of cells from human tumors into immunosuppressed mice, preventing an assessment on the immunologic interactions and effects of CSCs. In this study, we examined the vaccination effects produced by CSC-enriched populations from histologically distinct murine tumors after their inoculation into different syngeneic immunocompetent hosts. Enriched CSCs were immunogenic and more effective as an antigen source than unselected tumor cells in inducing protective antitumor immunity. Immune sera from CSC-vaccinated hosts contained high levels of IgG which bound to CSCs, resulting in CSC lysis in the presence of complement. CTLs generated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells or splenocytes harvested from CSC-vaccinated hosts were capable of killing CSCs in vitro. Mechanistic investigations established that CSC-primed antibodies and T cells were capable of selective targeting CSCs and conferring antitumor immunity. Together, these proof-of-concept results provide a rationale for a new type of cancer immunotherapy based on the development of CSC vaccines that can specifically target CSCs. Cancer Res; 72(7); 1853–64. ©2012 AACR.
Mitral Valve Disease in
Circulation
and the
Circulation
Subspecialty Journals
Authors:   The Editors
Published: April 2012

The following articles are being highlighted as part of
Circulation's
Topic Review series. This series will summarize the most important manuscripts, as selected by the editors, published in
Circulation
and the
Circulation
subspecialty journals. The studies included in this article represent the articles related to mitral valve disease that were published in
Circulation
and the
Circulation
subspecialty journals in 2010 and 2011.
Divorce and breeding dispersal in the dunlin Calidris alpina: support for the better option hypothesis?
Authors: Blomqvist Donald , Flodin Lars-Åke
Published: April 2012

Social monogamy is a rare mating system among animals, occurring commonly only in birds. In long-lived birds, pair bonds may persist for several seasons in some species, while in others mate change occurs even when both partners are still alive. Here, we test predictions from the adaptive hypotheses for divorce, using long-term data (15 years) on mate change and reproductive success in a long-lived shorebird, the dunlinCalidris alpina. We found that about one quarter of the pairs divorced (23% of 126 breeding attempts). Among the divorcing females, six changed partner more than once (one female changed partner three times). Following divorce, females dispersed longer than males. Start of egg-laying (presumably reflecting arrival time to the breeding ground), previous breeding success, and male age or size did not seem to influence the occurrence of divorce. However, females that changed mate between consecutive breeding attempts achieved higher reproductive success. Moreover, this improvement appeared independent of breeding experience. Since we were unable to detect any effect of divorce on male reproductive success, our results suggest that divorce in the dunlin is best explained by the better option hypothesis.
Francis Bacon and the Classification of Natural History
Authors: Anstey Peter
Published: April 2012

This paper analyses the place of natural history within Bacon's divisions of the sciences in The Advancement of Learning (1605) and the later De dignitate et augmentis scientiarum (1623). It is shown that at various points in Bacon's divisions, natural history converges or overlaps with natural philosophy, and that, for Bacon, natural history and natural philosophy are not discrete disciplines. Furthermore, it is argued that Bacon's distinction between operative and speculative natural philosophy and the place of natural history within this distinction, are discontinuous with the later distinction between experimental and speculative philosophy that emerged in the methodology of the Fellows of the early Royal Society.
Francis Bacon's Natural History and Civil History: A Comparative Survey
Authors: Manzo Silvia
Published: April 2012

The aim of this paper is to offer a comparative survey of Bacon's theory and practice of natural history and of civil history, particularly centered on their relationship to natural philosophy and human philosophy. I will try to show that the obvious differences concerning their subject matter encompass a number of less obvious methodological and philosophical assumptions which reveal a significant practical and con ceptual convergence of the two fields. Causes or axioms are prescribed as the theoretical end-products of natural history, whereas precepts are envisaged as the speculative outcomes derived from perfect civil history. In spite of this difference, causes and precepts are thought to enable effective action in order to change the state of nature and of man, respectively. For that reason a number of common patterns are to be found in Bacon's theory and practice of natural and civil history.
The Davutoğlu Effect in Turkish Foreign Policy: What if the Bowstring is Broken?
Authors: Demirağ Yelda , Özpek Burak Bilgehan
Published: April 2012

Ahmet Davutoğlu became the Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2009, the second term of Justice and Development Party (JDP) government, and he is regarded as the architect of the JDP's foreign policy since 2002. During his term, Turkey has pursued an active and multi-dimensional foreign policy. The model of Davutoğlu in explaining the Turkey's multi-dimensional foreign policy is the bow and arrow analogy. Accordingly, he argues that Turkey, with its ideational and geographical advantages, is an archer, and the more it draws the back of the bow through the East, the farther the arrow flies West. However, the gap between theory and reality undermines the consistency of Davutoğlu's foreign policy formulation.
THE MERIDIANA OF ULUGH BEG IN HAGIA SOPHIA, CONSTANTINOPLE
Authors: HANNAH ROBERT
Published: April 2012

title ABSTRACT /title There is a tradition that in 1437 the Mongol astronomer, Ulugh Beg, laid out a MERIDIANA in the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. This MERIDIANA would predate the famous, large-scale interior meridiane constructed from 1475 onwards primarily in Italy. It is the purpose of this paper to demonstrate that this claim for a MERIDIANA in Hagia Sophia cannot be sustained, but was generated by the astronomer Leonardo Ximenes in the eighteenth century on the basis of a misunderstanding of a statement by the seventeenth-century astronomer, John Greaves.
LA STRUTTURA DEL TEMPO FISICO *
Authors: BRUZZANITI GIUSEPPE
Published: April 2012

 SUMMARY
The foundamental problems related to the physical structure of space and time are today motivated by problems that arise from other scientific theories, for instance: relativistic theories, quantum electrodynamics, elementary particles.One of principal purposes of this historical-critical paper is to examine a typical problem related to the structure of time i.e. its continuity. This problem arises from all attempts to discretize space and time through the introduction of a new universal constant besides h and c.The three sections of this paper reflect the different problems considerated: in the first are ana.yzed same attempts, arisen in the quantum fields theory between 1940 and 1960, directed to the introduction of a universal constant with the dimension of a lenght. In the second, the historical dynamics of problems that conducted to the introduction of a universal constant with the dimension of a time is examinated. In the third, finally, the most important epistemological implications of this problems are considerated.
UN'ANALISI DELLA «BIZZARRIA» DI GALILEO
Authors: BARCARO UMBERTO
Published: April 2012

 SUMMARY
In a passage of the Second Day of the Dialogue Galielo attempts to prove that the falling motion of a heavy body, observed in a fixed refecence system not rotating with the Earth, is uniformly circular. The reasoning is clumsy and inexact, while the conclusion, which Galileo defines as a «Bizzarria», is simply absurd. If, in a strictly literal sense, the passage has little scientific value it is extremely valuable metaphorically since it provides a clear representation of the essential aspects of Galileo's scientific method. Studying the Bizzarria as a metaphor not only brings its true meaning to light but leads to specific results, for example the identification of «implicit hypotheses», these allow for a clearer understanding of certain aspects of Galileo's science, which are difficult to grasp by means of a strictly literal reading of the text. A metaphorical reading also leads on to the conceptual reference to other themes of Galileo's physics the underlying significance of these themes, as also that of the Bizzarria, can only be understood while bearing this reference in mind.
LA BIBLIOTECA DELLA FONDAZIONE SCIENZA E TECNICA
Authors: MISITI MASSIMO , GORI GUIDO
Published: April 2012

 SUMMARY
This paper gives information on the almost unknown library of the Fondazione Scienza e Tecnica of Florence.
THE GALILEAN JOVILABE
Authors: BEDINI SILVIO A.
Published: April 2012

title RIASSUNTO /title Il giovilabio uno strumento astronomico disegnato per la prima volta da Galileo come macchina calcolatrice delle posizioni dei quattro satelliti di Giove da lui scoperti. Galileo lo us per compilare effemeridi e ne intu i possibili usi per la determinazione della longitudine in mare attraverso l'osservazione dei satelliti di Giove. Versioni del giovilabio furono progettate da numerosi astronomi, ma non fu mai prodotto commercialmente. Oggetto di questo articolo un curioso esemplare dello strumento, di ottone dorato, realizzato diversi anni dopo la morte di Galileo e trovato nell'eredit del Cardinale Leopoldo de' Medici nel 1675. Basato sull'originale Giovilabio di Galileo, lo strumento sopravvive non solo come un reperto storico di un settecentesco gabinetto di curiosit , ma anche come reliquia della lunga e infruttuosa ricerca di Galileo per la determinazione della longitudine in mare.
GALILEOS CONSTANT
Authors: DRAKE STILLMAN
Published: April 2012

title RIASSUNTO /title Il rapporto costante che condusse Galileo dalla legge del pendolo alla legge dei corpi in caduta stato ottenuto attraverso le misurazioni, compiute con estrema precisione, dei tempi di un pendolo e dei tempi di caduta per distanza eguale alla sua lunghezza. Il rapporto ha significato universale per i due fenomeni fisici, in quanto i fattori dinamici si cancellano e lasciano /2 2, qui chiamato costante di Galileo . Le misurazioni e i ?CTRLerr type="1" mess="Doute Cars isoles avec recollage" ?calcoli effettuati da Galileo e che risultano dalle sue annotazioni sul movimento conservate a Firenze, sono elencati nel loro ordine cronologico. Cos organizzati, rivelano probabili iniziali riflessioni?CTRLerr type="1" mess="Cesure non typee" ? di Galileo sui pendoli e sulla resistenza dell'aria che egli non pubblic mai, ma che sono comunque utili per comprendere alcune afferma- i zioni nei successivi Discorsi. La scoperta galileiana della legge di caduta richiedeva il rapporto costante scoperto grazie alla misurazione dei tempi del pendolo: e questo molto lontano dall'analisi medievale dell'accelerazione uniforme basata sulla velocit media.
ISTITUZIONI E FONTI
Authors: TUCCI P. , MANDRINO, A. , TAGLIAFERRI, G.
Published: April 2012

 SUMMARY
The project for the Brera Observatory, Milan, Italy, was started, from 1764, by R. Boscovich who sketched out the duties of the astronomers in a ' Piano per la Specola di Brera ', which was an ambitious project for the carrying out a new theoretical and observational astronomy.The Archives of the Observatory, which go from about 1760 to about 1950, have been put in order and have been transferred to rooms suitable for the custody of the documents and the consultation of them.Three main parts constitute the Archives: a) Scientific Correspondence, b) Administrative Archives, c) Astronomers's Material Collections. There are, moreover, a cartographic section and a section of photographic plates and photographs. In this paper the history of the events which determined the present-day configuration is described. A description of the consistency of the Archives is included.
PER UN ARCHIVIO DELLA CORRISPONDENZA DEGLI SCIENZIATI ITALIANI
Authors: PROVERBIO EDOARDO
Published: April 2012

 RIASSUNTO
La corrispondenza che R. G. Boscovich intrattenne con scienziati, uomini di cultura, religiosi e uomini politici, costituisce uno strumento fra i più importanti per la conoscenza di uno dei più illustri pensatori del Settecento, e per lo studio del contributo che egli portò allo sviluppo delle scienze positive, dall'astronomia alla fisica, all'ottica ed alla filosofia naturale nel secolo dei lumi.Data la personalità dell'autore il carteggio di R. G. Boscovich è estremamente vasto e disseminato in numerosissime biblioteche e archivi.Il catalogo delle lettere rappresenta un primo tentativo di fornire agli studiosi gli elementi per il reperimento della corrispondenza del Boscovich, almeno di quella attualmente disponibile nelle più conosciute Biblioteche e Archivi di Stato.L'autore sarà grato a quanti volessero segnalare l'esistenza di eventuali errori del Catalogo, degli indici annessi, e delle lettere, ancora assai numerose, pubblicate e non pubblicate, non contenute nel presente Catalogo.
CONTINUIT E DISCONTINUIT DELLE GRANDEZZE FISICHE IN EGIDIO ROMANO
Authors: TRIFOGLI CECILIA
Published: April 2012

title SUMMARY /title This paper deals with Giles of Rome's (a late XIIIth century Aristotelian Commentator, Augustinian) position on the continuity of extension and motion. Giles maintains that extension and motion are continuous in so far as they can be considered simply as quantities, but are discontinuous when considered as physical objects or processes, since in the natural world they are joined with qualities. This paper aims at establishing that Giles' position reflects a widespread issue in XIIIth century natural philosophy according to which Aristotle's theory of continuity is a physic-mathematical rather than a strictly physical theory.
ATOMI, 'SPIRITUS', SUONI: LE SPECULATIONI DI MUSICA (1670) DEL 'GALILEIANO' PIETRO MENGOLI *
Authors: GOZZA PAOLO
Published: April 2012

title SUMMARY /title The publication of La Corrispondenza di Pietro Mengoli (Florence 1986), for the ' Archives of the Correspondence of Italian Scientists ' edited by the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, draws attention to a little-known mathematician and natural philosopher of the Galileian School, who was active in Bologna from 1625-1686. Mengoli was trained at the school of Bonaventura Cavalieri (1598-1647), and, after his teacher's death, became professor of mechanics (from 1649-50) and then mathematicis (from 1678 to 1685) in the Bolognese Studium. Today Mengoli's name is known mainly to Italian historians of mathematics interested in his Novae quadraturae arithmeticae (1650) and Geometria (1659). Only recently have his several works on ' mixed mathematics ', metaphysics, cosmology and Biblical chronology come to the attention of scholars. During his lifetime, however, the ' Bolognese Mathematician ' was widely known in Europe, especially in the years 1660-1680. His Speculationi di musica (1670) was eagerly awaited by members of the Royal Society, and was reviewed and partly translated in the Philosophical Transactions (1674). Oldenburg, in his review, pointed out for future historians of musical science the main points of interest of this uncommon musical treatise: 1) the peculiar theory of sound; 2) the refusal of the so-called ' coincidence-theory of consonance '; and, 3) the amazing physiology of hearing, which Mengoli based on his assumption of the existence of two drums in the human ear.
FARADAY'S PLIGHT AND THE ORIGINS OF THE MAGNETO-ELECTRIC SPARK
Authors: GEE BRIAN
Published: April 2012

 RIASSUNTO
In un articolo molto approfondito, pubblicato in occasione del bicentenario della nascita di Leopoldo Nobili, G. Sbrighi ha esaminato le complesse problematiche sviluppatesi sulla scia della scoperta di Michael Faraday, dell'induzione elettromagnetica. In particolare, Sbrighi si è soffermato su una polemica nata dagli interessi di Nobili relativi all'elettromagnetismo. Integrando nuovi elementi, il presente articolo riesamina questi problemi con speciale riguardo all'impatto che ebbero in Gran Bretagna le notizie del lavoro di Nobili. Appare che la situazione di Faraday non era tanto caratterizzata dal timore che Nobili si impossessasse della sua gloria, quanto piuttosto dalla difesa della propria posizione in patria, nel momento in cui gli altri dubitavano del suo merito.
MOLTI AMICI IN VARIJ LUOGHI: STUDIO DELLA NATURA E RAPPORTI EPISTOLARI NEL SECOLO XVI
Authors: OLMI GIUSEPPE
Published: April 2012

title SUMMARY /title During the 16th century research in natural history developed also because of the strong spirit of collaboration animating various scholars. They continuously exchanged scientific informations, specimens and depictions of the three kingdoms of nature. Thus the great obstacle represented by geographic distance was at least partially overcome: whatever a scholar did not manage to see directly, could become known to him with the help of his collegues. Correspondence is with no doubt one of the main sources to help focus on and study these collaborations. In this paper a group of letters preserved in the Trew legacy of the University Library at Erlangen is examined. The major part of the letters were addressed to the German physician Joachim Camerarius, whereas the addressors were four of the most famous naturalists working in Italy during the second half of the 16th century: Francesco Calzolari, Ulisse Aldrovandi, Giuseppe Casabona (Joseph Goedenhuyze) and Ferrante Imperato. Apart from providing abundant information on the activities and on the particular interests of these scientists, these letters also give direct evidence of the intense scientific ties between Italy and Germany at that time.
NEWTON E I FENOMENI DELLA VITA
Authors: TRUCCO EMANUELA , TRUCCO EMANUELA , MAMIANI MAURIZIO
Published: April 2012

title SUMMARY /title There is plain evidence that the De motu et sensatione Animalium and De vita morte vegetabili, here edited, are two drafts of an intended appendix for the second edition (1713) of Newton's Principia. In these manuscripts, Newton is explaining by means of electrical attraction a large class of phenomena: the cohesion of the small particles of bodies, the sensation and movement of animals, the fermentation and the chemical qualities that distinguish inorganic from organic matter. Newton is attempting to overwhelm the Cartesian dualism between res cogitans and res extensa by proposing electric spirit as a medium that unifies mind and body. After a first attempt of considering electricity in its own action, Newton is compelled by analogy among electric attraction, light and heat towards more and more unverifiable hypotheses.
PER UN ARCHIVIO DELLA CORRISPONDENZA DEGLI SCIENZIATI ITALIANI
Authors: ZUCCOLI MARINA , BARBIERI FRANCESCO
Published: April 2012

 SUMMARY
Geminiano Rondelli (1652-1739), an important hydraulic engineer, was for many years professor of mathematics at University of Bologna. He held an important position at a time of crisis at the University of Bologna. The nine letters written by Rondelli to Luigi Ferdinando Marsili, here published, go back to the years 1701-1702, in which Marsili was considering the possibility of building an astronomical observatory and founding a research institute. This was to become the Istituto delle Scienze, of which Rondelli was the first librarian. Marsili, for the realization of this projects, looked for valuable collaborators and Rondelli suggested the name of two promising young mathematicians, Vittorio Stancari and Gabriele Manfredi, brother of the well-known Eustachio Manfredi.
STORIA DELLA TERRA E TEMPI GEOLOGICI IN UNO SCRITTO INEDITO DI GIOVANNI ARDUINO: LA «RISPOSTA ALLEGORICO-ROMANZESCA» A FERBER
Authors: VACCARI EZIO
Published: April 2012

 SUMMARY
The publication of Giovanni Arduino's Risposta allegorico-romanzesca to J. J. Ferber highlights an unpublished and crucial aspect of Arduino's geology. The concept of epoch, applied to the history of the changes undergone by the Earth's crust, is put forward well before Buffon's Epoques de la Nature. Moreover the reflections of Arduino open up a «third possibility» between the catastrophist and uniformitarian hypotheses. This goes beyond the rigid antithesis between «Neptunism» and «Plutonism», which constituded the conditioning element of the study of Earth Science in Europe around the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century.
IL CONGRESSO DEGLI SCIENZIATI ITALIANI A FIRENZE (1841)
Authors: CECCONI ALDO
Published: April 2012

 SUMMARY
In September 1841, the Congress of the «Cultori delle scienze naturali» took place in Florence. It was the third, after Pisa in 1839 and Turin in 1840. These conferences were promoted by Carlo Luciano Bonaparte, prince of Musignano. The documents of the Congress were stored in the archives of the Institute and Museum of the History of Science. This article provides an analytical inventory of this important source for the study of italian science of the nineteenth century.
PER UN ARCHIVIO DELLA CORRISPONDENZA DEGLI SCIENZIATI ITALIANI
Authors: BERNABEO RAFFAELE A. , PISTACCHIO BONIFACIO , LIPPI DONATELLA , ARIETI STEFANO
Published: April 2012

 SUMMARY
Correspondence of Francesco Rizzoli (1809-1880), which is kept in the omonimous orthopaedic Institute in Bologna, is formed by a considerable corpus of letters, which the scientist received during fortyfour years, from 1836 to his death: this collection is a very useful instrument to throw new light on many aspects of Rizzoli's life and work.Authors have organized the letters on the ground of their subject, dividing them in four groups, excluding wish-cards: they have examined letters which are pertinent to his relations with patients, letters with scientific subjects, letters with request of introduction, letters which can be related to different moments of his public and private life. In every group most significant ones have been chosen to offer a keen picture of his personality and his activity, which completes what is already known about his biography and work as a scientist.