bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Some subordination and superordination results of generalized Srivastava-Attiya operator
Authors: Aouf Mohamed Kamal , Mostafa Adela Osman , Shahin Awatif Mohamed , Madian Samar Mohamed
Published: June 2012

In this article, we obtain some subordination and superordination-preserving results of the generalized Srivastava-Attyia operator. Sandwich-type result is also obtained.

Mathematics Subject Classification 2000: 30C45.
LNA probes substantially improve the detection of bacterial endosymbionts in whole mount of insects by fluorescent in-situhybridization
Authors: Priya Natarajan Gayatri , Pandey Neeti , Rajagopal Raman
Published: June 2012

Background

Detection of unculturable bacteria and their localization in the host, by fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH), is a powerful technique in the study of host-bacteria interaction. FISH probes are designed to target the 16 s rRNA region of the bacteria to be detected. LNA probes have recently been used in FISH studies and proven to be more efficient. To date no report has employed LNA probes for FISH detection of bacterial endosymbiont in the whole mount tissues. Further, though speculated, bacteriocytes have not been reported from males of Bemisia tabaci.

Results

In this study, we compared the efficiency in detecting bacteria by fluorescent DNA oligonucleotides versus modified probes containing Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) substitution in their structure. We used the insect Bemisia tabaci as the experimental material since it carried simultaneous infection by two bacteria: one a primary endosymbiont, Portiera (and present in more numbers) while the other a secondary endosymbiont Arsenophonus (and present in less numbers). Thus a variation in the abundance of bacteria was expected. While detecting both the bacteria, we found a significant increase in the signal whenever LNA probes were used. However, the difference was more pronounced in detecting the secondary endosymbiont, wherein DNA probes gave weak signals when compared to LNA probes. Also, signal to noise ratio for LNA probes was higher than DNA probes. We found that LNA considerably improved sensitivity of FISH, as compared to the commonly used DNA oligonucleotide probe.

Conclusion

By employing LNA probes we could detect endosymbiotic bacteria in males, which have never been reported previously. We were able to detect bacteriocytes containing Portiera and Arsenophonus in the males of B. tabaci. Thus, employing LNA probes at optimized conditions will help to significantly improve detection of bacteria at the lowest concentration and may give a comprehensible depiction about their specific distribution within samples.
Correlation between spatial (3D) structure of pea and bean thylakoid membranes and arrangement of chlorophyll-protein complexes
Authors: Rumak Izabela , Mazur Radosław , Gieczewska Katarzyna , Kozioł-Lipińska Joanna , Kierdaszuk Borys , Michalski Wojtek P , Shiell Brian J , Venema Jan Henk , Vredenberg Wim J , Mostowska Agnieszka , Garstka Maciej
Published: June 2012

Background

The thylakoid system in plant chloroplasts is organized into two distinct domains: grana arranged in stacks of appressed membranes and non-appressed membranes consisting of stroma thylakoids and margins of granal stacks. It is argued that the reason for the development of appressed membranes in plants is that their photosynthetic apparatus need to cope with and survive ever-changing environmental conditions. It is not known however, why different plant species have different arrangements of grana within their chloroplasts. It is important to elucidate whether a different arrangement and distribution of appressed and non-appressed thylakoids in chloroplasts are linked with different qualitative and/or quantitative organization of chlorophyll-protein (CP) complexes in the thylakoid membranes and whether this arrangement influences the photosynthetic efficiency.

Results

Our results from TEM and in situ CLSM strongly indicate the existence of different arrangements of pea and bean thylakoid membranes. In pea, larger appressed thylakoids are regularly arranged within chloroplasts as uniformly distributed red fluorescent bodies, while irregular appressed thylakoid membranes within bean chloroplasts correspond to smaller and less distinguished fluorescent areas in CLSM images. 3D models of pea chloroplasts show a distinct spatial separation of stacked thylakoids from stromal spaces whereas spatial division of stroma and thylakoid areas in bean chloroplasts are more complex. Structural differences influenced the PSII photochemistry, however without significant changes in photosynthetic efficiency. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of chlorophyll-protein complexes as well as spectroscopic investigations indicated a similar proportion between PSI and PSII core complexes in pea and bean thylakoids, but higher abundance of LHCII antenna in pea ones. Furthermore, distinct differences in size and arrangements of LHCII-PSII and LHCI-PSI supercomplexes between species are suggested.

Conclusions

Based on proteomic and spectroscopic investigations we postulate that the differences in the chloroplast structure between the analyzed species are a consequence of quantitative proportions between the individual CP complexes and its arrangement inside membranes. Such a structure of membranes induced the formation of large stacked domains in pea, or smaller heterogeneous regions in bean thylakoids. Presented 3D models of chloroplasts showed that stacked areas are noticeably irregular with variable thickness, merging with each other and not always parallel to each other.
Blood pressure and particulate air pollution in schoolchildren of Lahore, Pakistan
Authors: Sughis Muhammad , Nawrot Tim S , Ihsan-ul-Haque Syed , Amjad Asad , Nemery Benoit
Published: June 2012

Background

Air pollution is a growing health problem for urban populations in emerging economies. The present study examines the (cross-sectional) relation between blood pressure and particulate air pollution in schoolchildren of Lahore (Pakistan).

Methods

We recruited a sample of 8–12 year-old children (mean age 9.9 years; 45% girls) from two schools in Lahore situated in areas with low (n = 79) and high (n = 100) air pollution, respectively. During the study period (January-April 2009) particulate pollution [PM10and PM2.5i.e.particles with aerodynamic diameters below 10 μm or 2.5 μm, respectively] was measured at the school sites with a laser operated device (Metone Aerocet 531). Blood pressure was measured, after 5 minutes of sitting rest, using an automated device (average of 5 consecutive measurements). Spot urine samples were also collected and concentrations of Na and K were measured.

Results

Mean daily values of PM2.5were 28.5 μg/m3(SD: 10.3) and 183 μg/m3(SD: 30.2), in the low and high pollution areas, respectively. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure were significantly higher in children living in the high pollution area (115.9/70.9 mm Hg) than in the low pollution area (108.3/66.4 mm Hg), independently of age, gender, height, weight, socio-economic status, passive smoking and the urinary concentrations of Na, K, and creatinine.

Conclusions

In 8–12 year-old children, exposure to (traffic-related) air pollution was associated with higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure. These findings, if they persist, might have clinical relevance at older age.
Joint source/channel iterative arithmetic decoding with JPEG 2000 image transmission application
Authors: Zaibi Sonia , Zribi Amin , Pyndiah Ramesh , Aloui Nadia
Published: June 2012

Motivated by recent results in Joint Source/Channel coding and decoding, we consider the decoding problem of Arithmetic Codes (AC). In fact, in this article we provide different approaches which allow one to unify the arithmetic decoding and error correction tasks. A novel length-constrained arithmetic decoding algorithm based on Maximum A Posteriori sequence estimation is proposed. The latter is based on soft-input decoding using a priori knowledge of the source-symbol sequence and the compressed bit-stream lengths. Performance in the case of transmission over an Additive White Gaussian Noise channel is evaluated in terms of Packet Error Rate. Simulation results show that the proposed decoding algorithm leads to significant performance gain while exhibiting very low complexity. The proposed soft input arithmetic decoder can also generate additional information regarding the reliability of the compressed bit-stream components. We consider the serial concatenation of the AC with a Recursive Systematic Convolutional Code, and perform iterative decoding. We show that, compared to tandem and to trellis-based Soft-Input Soft-Output decoding schemes, the proposed decoder exhibits the best performance/complexity tradeoff. Finally, the practical relevance of the presented iterative decoding system is validated under an image transmission scheme based on the JPEG 2000 standard and excellent results in terms of decoded image quality are obtained.
Default in plasma and intestinal IgA responses during acute infection by simian immunodeficiency virus
Authors: Chaoul Nada , Burelout Chantal , Peruchon Sandrine , van Buu Beatrice Nguyen , Laurent Pascale , Proust Alexis , Raphael Martine , Garraud Olivier , Le Grand Roger , Prevot Sophie , Richard Yolande
Published: June 2012

Background

Conflicting results regarding changes in mucosal IgA production or in the proportions of IgA plasma cells in the small and large intestines during HIV-infection have been previously reported. Except in individuals repeatedly exposed to HIV-1 but yet remaining uninfected, HIV-specific IgAs are frequently absent in mucosal secretions from HIV-infected patients. However, little is known about the organization and functionality of mucosal B-cell follicles in acute HIV/SIV infection during which a T-dependent IgA response should have been initiated. In the present study, we evaluated changes in B-cell and T-cell subsets as well as the extent of apoptosis and class-specific plasma cells in Peyer’s Patches, isolated lymphoid follicles, and lamina propria. Plasma levels of IgA, BAFF and APRIL were also determined.

Results

Plasma IgA level was reduced by 46% by 28 days post infection (dpi), and no IgA plasma cells were found within germinal centers of Peyer’s Patches and isolated lymphoid follicles. This lack of a T-dependent IgA response occurs although germinal centers remained functional with no sign of follicular damage, while a prolonged survival of follicular CD4+ T-cells and normal generation of IgG plasma cells is observed. Whereas the average plasma BAFF level was increased by 4.5-fold and total plasma cells were 1.7 to 1.9-fold more numerous in the lamina propria, the relative proportion of IgA plasma cells in this effector site was reduced by 19% (duodemun) to 35% (ileum) at 28 dpi.

Conclusion

Our data provide evidence that SIV is unable to initiate a T-dependent IgA response during the acute phase of infection and favors the production of IgG (ileum) or IgM (duodenum) plasma cells at the expense of IgA plasma cells. Therefore, an early and generalized default in IgA production takes place during the acute of phase of HIV/SIV infection, which might impair not only the virus-specific antibody response but also IgA responses to other pathogens and vaccines as well. Understanding the mechanisms that impair IgA production during acute HIV/SIV infection is crucial to improve virus-specific response in mucosa and control microbial translocation.
Isolated extrahepatic bile duct rupture: a rare consequence of blunt abdominal trauma. Case report and review of the literature
Authors: Balzarotti Ruben , Cimbanassi Stefania , Chiara Osvaldo , Zabbialini Gianpietro , Smadja Claude
Published: June 2012

A 16-year-old girl suffered blunt abdominal trauma. Clinically, a severe motor impairment with paraesthesia of the legs was found. Posterior osteosynthesis in T10-L1 with laminectomy in T10-T12 and posterolateral arthrodesis in T11-T12 was performed because of a dorsal traumatic vertebral fracture. On hospital day 7, because of an acute abdomen, surgical laparoscopic exploration showed sterile bloody fluid without any evident hemorrhagic injury. On hospital day 11, the patient was reoperated on by the laparoscopic approach for increasing abdominal pain and fever: a peritoneal biliary fluid was aspirated. After conversion to open surgery, cholecystectomy was performed. Intraoperative cholangiography was considered as normal. On arrival at our institution 13 days after injury, the patient was operated on for a biliary peritonitis. Intraoperatively, a trans-cystic cholangiography showed a biliary leakage of the common bile duct; a T-tube was placed into the common bile duct; a subhepatic drainage was placed too. On postoperative day 30, a T-tube cholangiography showed a normal biliary tree, without any leakage, and the T-tube was subsequently removed. The patient had a complete recovery.
Prevalence and factors associated with irritable bowel syndrome among medical students of Karachi, Pakistan: A cross-sectional study
Authors: Naeem Syed Saad , Siddiqui Efaza Umar , Kazi Abdul Nafey , Memon Akhtar Amin , Khan Sumaiya Tauseeq , Ahmed Bilal
Published: June 2012

Background

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and its association with stress, has not been studied among university students in Pakistan. We investigated the prevalence and the pattern of anxiety related IBS symptoms among medical students of Karachi.

Findings

An observational case–control study was carried out at three medical colleges of Karachi, Pakistan. Random sampling was done on 360 medical students. Data was collected using validated tools “Rome III Criteria” and “Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire”. Participants with IBS were diagnosed on the criteria having experienced abdominal discomfort at least 2–3 days/month associated with high level of anxiety. The apparent prevalence of IBS was found to be 28.3%, with a predominance of 87 (85.29%) females (85.29%) over males (14.71%). The psychological symptoms of anxiety were encountered in 57 (55.8%) participants with IBS, among which males were 15.7% and females 84.2% respectively.

Conclusion

Students who more frequently suffer with mental stress and anxiety are more associated with IBS.
Effects of indole on drug resistance and virulence of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium revealed by genome-wide analyses
Authors: Nikaido Eiji , Giraud Etienne , Baucheron Sylvie , Yamasaki Suguru , Wiedemann Agnès , Okamoto Kousuke , Takagi Tatsuya , Yamaguchi Akihito , Cloeckaert Axel , Nishino Kunihiko
Published: June 2012

Background

Many Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria produce large quantities of indole as an intercellular signal in microbial communities. Indole demonstrated to affect gene expression in Escherichia coli as an intra-species signaling molecule. In contrast to E. coli, Salmonella does not produce indole because it does not harbor tnaA, which encodes the enzyme responsible for tryptophan metabolism. Our previous study demonstrated that E. coli-conditioned medium and indole induce expression of the AcrAB multidrug efflux pump in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium for inter-species communication; however, the global effect of indole on genes in Salmonella remains unknown.

Results

To understand the complete picture of genes regulated by indole, we performed DNA microarray analysis of genes in the S. enterica serovar Typhimurium strain ATCC 14028s affected by indole. Predicted Salmonella phenotypes affected by indole based on the microarray data were also examined in this study. Indole induced expression of genes related to efflux-mediated multidrug resistance, including ramA and acrAB, and repressed those related to host cell invasion encoded in the Salmonella pathogenicity island 1, and flagella production. Reduction of invasive activity and motility of Salmonella by indole was also observed phenotypically.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that indole is an important signaling molecule for inter-species communication to control drug resistance and virulence of S. enterica.
ERAP1 genetic variations associated with HLA-B27 interaction and disease severity of syndesmophytes formation in Taiwanese ankylosing spondylitis
Authors: Wang Chin-Man , Ho Huei-Huang , Chang Su-Wei , Wu Yeong-Jian Jan , Lin Jing-Chi , Chang Pi-Yueh , Wu Jianming , Chen Ji-Yih
Published: June 2012

Introduction

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a familial, heritable disease specified by syndesmophyte formation leading to an ankylosed spine. Endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 1 (ERAP1) genetic variations have been widely proved to be associated with AS in several ethnic populations. The aim of this study was to investigate whether ERAP1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are associated with AS susceptibility and disease severity in Taiwanese.

Methods

Four ERAP1 SNPs (rs27037, rs27980, rs27044 and rs30187) were genotyped in 797 Taiwanese AS patients and 1,150 healthy controls. Distributions of genotype and alleles were compared between AS patients and healthy controls, and among AS patients stratified by clinical parameters.

Results

The SNP rs27037T allele appeared to be a risk factor for AS susceptibility (P = 5.5 × 10-5, OR 1.30, 95% CI: 1.15 to 1.48; GT+TT vs. GG P = 9.3 × 10-5, OR 1.49, 95% CI: 1.22 to 1.82). In addition, the coding SNP (cSNP) rs27044G allele (P = 1.5 × 10-4, OR 1.28, 95% CI: 1.13 to 1.46; CG+GG vs. CC, P = 1.7 × 10-3, OR 1.44, 95% CI: 1.15 to 1.81) and the cSNP rs30187T allele (P = 1.7 × 10-3, OR 1.23, 95% CI: 1.08 to 1.40; CT+TT vs. CC P = 6.1 × 10-3, OR 1.38, 95% CI: 1.10 to 1.74) were predisposing factors for AS. Notably, the rs27044G allele carriers (CG+GG vs. CC, P = 0.015, OR 1.59, 95% CI: 1.33 to 2.30) and rs30187T allele carriers (CT+TT vs. CC, P = 0.011, OR 1.63, 95% CI: 1.12 to 2.38) were susceptible to syndesmophyte formation in AS patients. Furthermore, two cSNPs (rs27044 and rs30187) strongly associated with HLA-B27 positivity in AS patients. Finally, the ERAP1 SNP haplotype TCG (rs27037T/rs27980C/rs27044G) is a major risk factor for AS (adjusted P <0.00001, OR 1.38, 95% CI: 1.12 to 1.58) in Taiwanese.

Conclusions

This study provides the first evidence of ERAP1 SNPs involving syndesmophyte formation. The interactions between ERAP1 SNPs and HLA-B27 play critical roles in pMHC I pathway processing contributing to the pathogenesis of AS in multiple populations.
An exact renormalization formula for Gaussian exponential sums and applications
Authors: Fedotov Alexander , Klopp Frédéric
Published: June 2012

In the present paper, we derive a renormalization formula ``{\`a} la Hardy-Littlewood'' for
Gaussian exponential sums with an exact formula for the remainder term. We use this formula
to describe the typical growth of Gaussian exponential sums.
Valuations on Sobolev spaces
Authors: Ludwig Monika
Published: June 2012

All affinely covariant convex-body-valued valuations on the Sobolev space
$W^{1,1}({\Bbb{R}}^n)$ are completely classified. It is shown that there
is a unique such valuation for Blaschke addition. This valuation turns out
to be the operator which associates with each function $f\in
W^{1,1}({\Bbb{R}}^n)$ the unit ball of its optimal Sobolev norm.
Existence and classification of characteristic points at blow-up for a semilinear wave equation in one space dimension
Authors: Merle Frank , Zaag Hatem
Published: June 2012

We consider the semilinear wave equation with power nonlinearity in one space dimension. We first show
the existence of a blow-up solution with a characteristic point. Then, we consider an arbitrary blow-up
solution $u(x,t)$, the graph $x\mapsto T(x)$ of its blow-up points and $\scr{S}\subset \Bbb{R}$ the set of all
characteristic points and show that $\scr{S}$ has an empty interior. Finally, given $x_0\in \scr{S}$,
we show that in selfsimilar variables, the solution decomposes into a decoupled sum of (at least two)
solitons, with alternate signs and that $T(x)$ forms a corner of angle $\pi\over 2$ at $x_0$.
From Peter and the Wolf to Peter + the Wolf : Translating/Adapting the Fairy Tale in Greece
Authors: Kanatsouli Meni
Published: June 2012

This essay presents three adaptations of Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev that were written in Greek for children. It investigates the ways that the same story changes and develops at various given times from 1977 to 2006. Its main focus of interest is the alterations and adjustments the text undergoes so that it may better suit Greek cultural norms and Greek children’s literature.
“Manly-Hearted Women”: Gender Variants in Louise Erdrich’s Birchbark House Books
Authors: Latham Don
Published: June 2012

Louise Erdrich’s Birchbark House books feature strong female characters, two of whom are gender variants. Their parallel stories provide rich views of the varieties of gender expression in Native societies, yet also suggest that, even in an accepting and nurturing community, gender variants may still be misunderstood and marginalized.
Consuming Books: Synergies of Materiality and Narrative in Picturebooks
Authors: Do Rozario Rebecca-Anne C.
Published: June 2012

This article explores the synergy of narrative and materiality possible in picture books. Authors like Emily Gravett and Lauren Child create reader-protagonists who, through their interactions with books as physical objects, perform the narrative. Such interactions underscore the values of the material book, particularly as digital publishing expands.
The Key Is in the Mouth: Food and Orality in Coraline
Authors: Keeling Kara K. , Pollard Scott
Published: June 2012

Coraline scholarship has focused on Lacanian readings of Coraline’s psychological development. This article shifts to the oral-sadistic and then, working with British foodways, explores how Coraline uses food to negotiate adult authority in the novel’s parallel worlds so that she can settle securely into the present moment of her childhood.
“Sex matters”: L. M. Montgomery, Friendship, and Sexuality
Authors: Robinson Laura M.
Published: June 2012

In L.M. Montgomery’s journals, the figure of Isabel, a spinster schoolteacher who stalked the writer, works to establish Montgomery’s own love for women as normal in an era in which pathologizes women’s same-sex friendships. Moreover, Montgomery’s “heterosexualizing” of herself maintains the centrality and legitimacy of her own long-standing female attachments.
Disability, Scientific Authority, and Women’s Political Participation at the Turn of the Twentieth-Century United States
Authors: Pitts Yvonne
Published: June 2012

In the late nineteenth century, Americans opposed to universal suffrage launched a new line of attack, asserting that women lacked the rationality required for enfranchisement because of innate biological disabilities. After the Civil War, debates about women’s mental and physical capacity shifted from those rooted in divine ordinance and Enlightenment rationality to those grounded in science and evolutionary theory. New research conclusions combined with an existing system of legal dependency to form a powerful new discourse of exclusion which still echoes today. As the twentieth century turned, practitioners of the newly prestigious scientific disciplines provided rationales for anti-suffragists to label these sex-based differences as physical and mental disabilities. Women’s rights advocates rejected these characterizations, but rarely refuted the assumption that disability justified exclusion. This article approaches these debates with disability as the center of inquiry to explore the intertwined nature of legal and biological power.
Not Only for the Welfare of the Nation but for the World and Humanity: The Interwar Suffrage Movement in Japan
Authors: Shibahara Taeko
Published: June 2012

While historians have thoroughly examined the interwar feminist movement in Japan, they have not yet fully linked it with that of western women. This article fills that gap by recovering the history of transnational contacts and exchange of ideas between western and Japanese feminists. Although Japanese feminists gained confidence in participating in the international feminist movement by 1930, international political developments struck a hard blow against the feminist movement. Following the Manchurian Incident in 1931, the Japanese government increasingly promoted misogynistic and belligerent policies both domestically and internationally. Nevertheless, it encouraged women to participate in its civil measures. In response, Japanese feminists were determined to at least participate in national politics by taking advantage of the government’s plans. At the same time, they tried to maintain some international connections through international women’s channels. Interwar feminism in Japan manifested an intricate balance between transnational feminism and nationalism.
Solidarity or Suspicion: Gender, Enfranchisement, and Popular Culture in Liberation France
Authors: Colvin Kelly Ricciardi
Published: June 2012

Women were enfranchised in France in 1944, a generation after most western countries and in the context of great tumult at the end of WWII. Given this, it is fair to wonder if this represented possible gender equality. The article asks whether enfranchisement was “liberating” for French women. In response, it takes a wide look at the culture of postwar France—specifically emphasizing women’s magazines. A deep reading of these magazines reveals a message of anti-solidarity, that women could not trust each other. This theme echoes those of other publications, in which commentators feared the influence women would have if they banded together. An examination of culture and gender ultimately reveals that Charles de Gaulle’s granting of the vote was not intended to revolutionize women’s roles in France. Rather he and other politicians desired to bring France in line with the other Great Powers in the West and justify France’s presence as an important nation.
Battling “Big Sister” Government: Hoosier Women and the Politics of International Women’s Year
Authors: Kempker Erin M.
Published: June 2012

The national celebration of International Women’s Year (IWY) in 1977 amounted to a showdown between the two grassroots, political behemoths of the late twentieth century, the conservative and the second wave feminist movements. At the state level, IWY events provided the perfect platform for Hoosier women to protest the political direction of their country, specifically gender sameness and the growth of distant governments, which worked in tandem to create a homogenized, global community of which they wanted no part. This article uncovers the voices of grassroots Hoosier women and details their protest of IWY as part of an attempt by the United Nations to institute one-world government.
The Book I Couldn’t Write: Alice Paul and the Challenge of Feminist Biography
Authors: Ware Susan
Published: June 2012

One hallmark of recent feminist biography has been its focus on the interplay between the personal and the political in constructing the narratives of individual women’s lives. The case of Alice Paul suggests that not all subjects are amenable to such an approach. Paul so defined her life by devotion to the cause of feminism, first woman suffrage and then decades of advocacy for the Equal Rights Amendment, that she had no personal life to speak of. When the personal is so completely subsumed to the political, it poses a huge hurdle for the feminist biographer.
Harry A. Wolfson's Utilization of the Hypothetico-Deductive Method of Text Study
Authors: Haberman Jacob
Published: June 2012

Harry Austryn Wolfson (1887-1974) was one of the greatest twentieth-century Jewish scholars. Throughout his productive life, Wolfson utilized what he termed the Hypothetico-Deductive Method of Text Study in his analysis of various philosophical texts. This article suggests that there was a flaw in the Method, namely that it assumed as axiomatic that there can never be genuine contradictions in a philosophic work, only "apparent" contradictions which must be explained away. Nevertheless, the Method was highly successful in the study of Crescas because he was a rabbi and shared the viewpoint of Rabbinic Judaism. The significance of the flaw in the Method became obvious, however, when Wolfson utilized the Method in his studies of thinkers who were unaware of, or did not accept, the disputed assumptions of Rabbinic Judaism. A principal effect of Wolfson's flawed Method was that it ignored the contradiction between Spinoza's absolute determinism and his (Spinoza's) doctrine of salvation.
"I know who you are, but who I am—you do not know . . .": Reading Yiddish Writers in a Polish Literary Context
Authors: Adamczyk-Garbowska Monika
Published: June 2012

The article discusses Polish-Yiddish literary contacts by illustrating them with selected examples from four novels and one poem. It presents parallel readings of Ziemia obiecana ( The Promised Land , 1899) by Władysław Stanisław Reymont and Di brider Ashkenazi ( The Brothers Ashkenazi , 1936) by Israel Joshua Singer, Isaac Bashevis Singer's The King of the Fields (Yiddish original Der kenig fun di felder , 1988) and Józef Ignacy Kraszewski's Stara baśń ( Old Fairy Tale , 1876) as well as Avrum Sutzkever's poem "Tsu Poyln" ("To Poland," 1946), read in the context of Polish poetry of the Romantic period. Yiddish writers who were born in Poland and spent some part of their lives there were familiar with Polish literature, sometimes drew inspiration from Polish authors, and referred to their works in various ways, oftentimes polemical. The aim of this comparative article is to indicate the rich and still unexplored potential this field of research may offer.
Syncretism and Surrogacy in Modern Times: Two Models of Assimilation
Authors: Levenson Alan T.
Published: June 2012

Levenson argues that syncretism (blending) and surrogacy (replacing) constitute two distinct, prevalent, radical, yet largely overlooked forms of assimilation in the modern era. As examples of syncretism, he offers Jewish-Christianity and Jewish-Buddhism; as examples of surrogacy, secular Zionism and psychoanalysis. He distinguishes these two modes of assimilation both from older forms of inward acculturation which wittingly or unwittingly incorporated outside influences into an agreed-upon Jewish culture, and from more moderate forms of modern assimilation, such as the formation of Jewish subcultures or the transformation of Jewish identities into functional replacements for a religiously oriented civilization. Recognizing that older concepts of essentialism have been discredited by the academy, the author explores the nature of syncretism and surrogacy as an encouragement to greater reflection on the radical implications of these changes for modern Jewry.
The Jewish Nation—A Few Remarks on Literature
Authors: Molisak Alina
Published: June 2012

One of the influential figures among Polish-Jewish writers in the first half of the twentieth century was Jakub Appenszlak (1894–1950)—an editor, author, essayist, theatre critic, translator, and community worker. I would like to focus on three of his texts in different genres. What such different forms as verse, novel, and manifesto have in common is the issue of identity—the complicated relation between Polish identity and Jewishness. Appenszlak, though deeply involved in Zionism, claimed that Polish culture was naturally dear to Polish Jews since the Polish language was also the language of Jewish literature and daily life as well as a being a system of signs and symbols which constituted the imagined Polish-Jewish community, so close to Polish Jews' hearts. Those signs and symbols can also be the models for shaping the modern Jewish national awareness.
"Au revoir, les enfants" : The Jewish Child as a Microcosm of the Holocaust as Seen in World Cinema
Authors: Golan Yvonne Kozlovsky
Published: June 2012

The current article traces historical and cinematic trends of the representation of children during and after World War Two in Europe. Filmmakers considered the youngsters as faithful reflection of the war and its horrors, and used their stories for the cinematic expression of good vs. evil, to portray the battle for survival in a cruel and heartless world without any parental authority, and present the struggle to stay alive to bear witness. The children and adolescents did not always meet with a kind fate, but their stories will forever be the central narrative in the heritage of the Holocaust in world cinema: those who were torn from their parents' arms and witnessed their murder, children who were sexually exploited, starved to death, or died in the camps, others who were hidden by kindhearted Gentiles, or escaped and were saved, or fell into evil hands.
The Remembered One: Memory Activism and the Construction of Edith Stein's Jewishness in Post-Communist Wrocław
Authors: Holc Janine P.
Published: June 2012

Activists throughout Poland have been grappling with the problems of representing Poland's Jewish community since the collapse of communism in 1989. These "memory activists" choose particular objects of memory and particular pathways of memorialization. This article focuses on the remembrance of Edith Stein in the city of Wrocław. It argues that the memory activist approach of "cultural reconciliation" is, in the case of Stein, problematic in that it relies on a misreading of Stein's Jewishness. The article makes a case for an alternative "borderland" approach that acknowledges the persistent role of violence in the construction of identitites and cultures.
The Influence of Progressive Judaism in Poland—an Outline
Authors: Galas Michał
Published: June 2012

In the historiography of Judaism in the Polish lands the influence of Reform Judaism is often overlooked. The opinion is frequently cited that the Polish Jews were tied to tradition and did not accept ideas of religious reform coming from the West. This paper fills the gap in historiography by giving some examples of activities of progressive communities and their leaders. It focuses mainly on eminent rabbis and preachers such as Abraham Goldschmidt, Markus Jastrow, and Izaak Cylkow. Supporters of progressive Judaism in Poland did not have as strong a position as representatives of the Reform or Conservative Judaism in Germany or the United States. Religious reforms introduced by them were for a number of reasons moderate or limited. However, one cannot ignore this movement in the history of Judaism in Poland, since that trend was significant for the history of Jews in Poland and Polish-Jewish relations.
Wicked Aporetics: Liminal Loyalties in Homicide
Authors: Collard Christophe
Published: June 2012

This article develops the theme of Jewish aporia and its implications of impossible interpretative "closure" in an analysis of David Mamet's auteur -film Homicide (1991). Embedded within discussions of the artist's more recent prose pieces on Judaism, Five Cities of Refuge (with Lawrence Kushner) and The Wicked Son (2006), the central argument here seeks to demonstrate how the aporia of Judaism has proven a lasting influence on Mamet's thinking that is expressed both in his highly crafted dramas, as well in his markedly more militant essayistic works.
"I Will Remain Silence and Scream": Edmond Jabès and the Wound and Witness of Language
Authors: Ploeg Andrew J.
Published: June 2012

This essay argues that Edmond Jabès's The Book of Questions, Volume I radically questions the presumably inherent authority of the witness in distinct yet interconnected ways. Heavily influenced by Derridian deconstruction, his text challenges conventional assumptions involving the witness, particularly the implied extra-textuality of horrific events (such as the Holocaust) and of those who provide testimony to them. Jabès's unique rethinking of the witness is made even more legible through the productive parallel he draws between the Jew and the writer. This parallel, for the author, is a reflection of the inescapable status of both as witnesses to the originary wound of language. Further, Jabès complicates the authority of the witness through his insertion of a rabbinical commentary throughout his text, a framework that fundamentally blurs distinctions between testimony and its interpretation.
Militarism in the Wall Paintings of the Dura-Europos Synagogue: A New Perspective on Jewish Life on the Roman Frontier
Authors: Weisman Stefanie
Published: June 2012

The city of Dura-Europos, situated on the border of the Roman and Sassanian Empires, was home to a major Roman garrison in the third century C.E. Its synagogue was decorated with wall paintings, many of which contain imagery relating to warfare. Since the synagogue's rediscovery in the 1930s, scholars have largely ignored the potential impact of Dura's militaristic atmosphere on the iconography of the wall paintings. This article posits that the designers of the synagogue paintings incorporated many aspects of contemporary military life into their representations of biblical stories. It also supports the idea that Jews served in the Roman army, and that such Jews could have been living in Dura-Europos and worshipping at the synagogue.
"The bride is beautiful, but she is married to another man": Historical Fabrication and an Anti-Zionist Myth
Authors: Afsai Shai
Published: June 2012

According to a frequently repeated story, during the early years of the Zionist movement a number of European Jews were sent to Palestine to investigate its suitability as a location for a Jewish state. They reported back, the story concludes, that "the bride is beautiful, but she is married to another man"—Palestine is an excellent land, but it belongs to others. While its details vary with the telling, the story's central point is often the same: already in the early years of the Zionist movement, Jews recognized that it would be unjust and immoral for them to try to claim Palestine; despite this awareness, the Zionists proceeded with their plans for Jewish statehood there; from the outset, therefore, the establishment of the state of Israel was an act of severe and willful injustice.
Voice of our blood
Authors: Olson Benjamin
Published: June 2012

Black metal defines itself to a large degree through transgression, alienation and provocation, and in western culture, few things are more transgressive, alienating and provocative than neo-Nazism. In this article on National Socialist black metal (NSBM), the author demonstrates how certain forms of metal can be controversial and counter-cultural within the wider metal scene itself. In discursive terms, NSBM may fit in well with the pagan, Satanic and nationalist concerns of black metal, but as the author argues, “the majority of black metalers are unwilling to cross the threshold of the radical-right.” This is not necessarily because of any principled objection to racism, more because of a discomfort with the literalism and narrowness that would focus black metal’s misanthropy onto any one sub-set of humanity. NSBM’s political connotations also threaten black metal’s cherished sense of independence and individualism. The author concludes that, even if black metal’s symbolism will continue to be appropriated by the extreme right, NSBM is likely to remain a marginal phenomenon.
Endocrine disturbances related to the use of lithium
Authors: Giusti Cecília F. , Amorim Soraya R. , Guerra Ricardo A. , Portes Evandro S.
Published: June 2012

Despite recent advances in pharmacological treatment of psychiatric disorders, lithium salts remain frequently used, as they are effective and inexpensive alternatives, especially in the treatment of bipolar disorders. Their use is commonly associated with various endocrine disorders, mainly in thyroid and parathyroid function, and in mineral metabolism. This article aims at reviewing these potential endocrinopathies related to the use of lithium to make health care professionals aware and familiar with these possible complications when they follow up patients using this drug, and to make them able to monitor, identify and institute early and appropriate treatment.
Avaliação do eixo hipotálamo-hipófise adrenal no diagnóstico e na remissão da doença de Cushing
Authors: Costenaro Fabíola , Rodrigues Ticiana C. , Rollin Guilherme A. F. , Czepielewski Mauro A.
Published: June 2012

A doença de Cushing (DC) permanece um desafio médico com muitas questões ainda não respondidas. O sucesso terapêutico dos pacientes com DC está ligado à correta investigação do diagnóstico síndrômico e etiológico, além da experiência e talento do neurocirurgião. A adenomectomia hipofisária transesfenoidal constitui-se no tratamento de escolha para a DC. A avaliação da remissão da doença no pós-operatório e da recorrência em longo prazo constitui um desafio ainda maior. Especial destaque deve ser dado para o cortisol sérico no pós-operatório como marcador de remissão. Adicionalmente, o uso de corticoide exógeno no pós-operatório apenas em vigência de insuficiência adrenal tem sido sugerido por alguns autores como requisito essencial para permitir a correta interpretação do cortisol sérico nesse cenário. Neste artigo, revisamos as formas de avaliação da atividade da DC e os marcadores de remissão e recidiva da DC após a realização da cirurgia transesfenoidal.
Parathyroid hormone: an early predictor of symptomatic hypocalcemia after total thyroidectomy
Authors: Vanderlei Felipe Augusto Brasileiro , Vieira Jose Gilberto Henriques , Hojaij Flavio Carneiro , Cervantes Onivaldo , Kunii Ilda Sizue , Ohe Monique Nakayama , Santos Rodrigo Oliveira , Abrahão Marcio
Published: June 2012

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate if the measurement of peri-operative parathyroid hormone (PTH) is able to identify patients with increased risk of developing symptoms of hypocalcemia. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Forty patients who underwent total thyroidectomy were studied prospectively. Ionized serum calcium and PTH were measured after induction of anesthesia, one hour (PTH1) and one day after surgery (PTH24). Patients were evaluated for symptoms of hypocalcemia and treated with calcium and vitamin D supplementation as necessary. RESULTS: Symptomatic hypocalcemia developed in 16 patients. Symptomatic patients had significant lower PTH1 and greater drops in PTH levels. The selection of 12.1 ng/L as PTH1 level cutoff level divided patients with and without symptoms with 93.7% sensitivity and 91.6% specificity. The selection of 73.5% as the cutoff value for PTH decrease resulted in 91.6% sensitivity and 87.5% specificity. CONCLUSION: PTH1 levels and the drop in PTH levels are reliable predictors of developing symptomatic hypocalcemia after total thyroidectomy.
Clinical and laboratory features of children and adolescents with congenital hypothyroidism due to dyshormonogenesis in southern Brazil
Authors: Ramos Juliana Cristina Romero Rojas , Lacerda Filho Luiz de , DeMartini Adriane de André Cardoso , Silveira Rodrigo Bruel da , Pereira Rosana Marques , Sandrini Neto Romolo , França Suzana Nesi
Published: June 2012

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the phenotype of patients with congenital hypothyroidism (CH) due to dyshormonogenesis, and to hypothesize on the degree of genetic defect. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Patients with dyshormonogenesis were subdivided into G1 (radioactive iodine uptake, RAIU > 15%; n = 62) and G2 (RAIU < 15%; n = 32). Thyroglobulin (TG) was measured in all patients; perchlorate discharge test (PDT) was performed in G1; and saliva-to-plasma radioiodine ratio (I- S/P) in G2. RESULTS: Levels of TSH, TT4, and FT4 before treatment and upon diagnosis confirmation were significantly different in both groups, but not between groups. In G1, 27 patients developed goiter; 17 had positive PDT (14%-71% discharge), 11 had TG < 2.5 ng/dL (one with high TSH), and one developed thyroid carcinoma. In G2, four patients developed goiter, and three had low I- S/P. CONCLUSION: These data suggest an iodide organification defect in 17 cases; an iodide transport defect (NIS defect) in three, probable TSH resistance in 10, and a TG synthesis defect in two cases.
Aborto provocado e violência doméstica entre mulheres atendidas em uma maternidade pública de Salvador-BA
Authors: Diniz Normélia Maria Freire , Gesteira Solange Maria dos Anjos , Lopes Regina Lúcia Mendonça , Mota Rosana Santos , Pérez Bárbara Angélica Gómez , Gomes Nadirlene Pereira
Published: June 2012

Estudo quantitativo, com o objetivo de estudar a violência doméstica em mulheres em situação de aborto provocado. Foram entrevistas 147 mulheres internadas por aborto provocado numa maternidade pública, na cidade de Salvador-BA. Os sujeitos foram, na maioria, mulheres jovens, negras, com baixa escolaridade, dependentes economicamente dos cônjuges, que vivenciam violência psicológica, física e sexual cometida pelos cônjuges. Quase metade das mulheres vivenciou violência doméstica durante a gravidez atual, sendo este o motivo do aborto para 67% delas. Conclui-se que existe uma associação entre a vivência de violência doméstica e o aborto provocado. Isso repercute na saúde mental das mulheres, que desenvolvem sintomas do transtorno de estresse pós-traumático. Necessita-se, portanto, de um olhar por parte dos profissionais de saúde de modo a identificar a violência doméstica enquanto agravo e associá-la ao aborto provocado, o que requer transformação no modelo de formação, incorporando a violência doméstica como objeto da saúde.
Barreiras e aspectos facilitadores da adesão à terapia antirretroviral em Belo Horizonte-MG
Authors: Santos Walquíria Jesusmara dos , Drumond Eliane Freitas , Gomes Adriana da Silva , Corrêa Cristal Marinho , Freitas Maria Imaculada de Fátima
Published: June 2012

O objetivo desse estudo foi conhecer dificuldades e aspectos que facilitam a adesão à terapia antirretroviral (TARV) por pessoas com HIV/AIDS. Estudo qualitativo, desenvolvido junto a 26 sujeitos em uso de TARV, acompanhados por serviço de referência em Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. A análise das entrevistas, no que se refere às dificuldades encontradas, resultou em categorias relativas ao cotidiano de vida, às representações sobre o HIV e à complexidade do tratamento. Quanto aos aspectos facilitadores, as categorias encontradas foram a ausência de efeitos colaterais, lembrança dos sintomas da doença, aumento da sobrevida e influência da rede social. Os resultados mostram a importância de acompanhamento efetivo dos profissionais dos serviços para construírem, junto com os sujeitos, estratégias que melhorem a adesão à TARV.
Atividade do mototaxista: riscos e fragilidades autorreferidos
Authors: Silva Mariéli Brum da , Oliveira Michele Braga de , Fontana Rosane Teresinha
Published: June 2012

Pesquisa descritiva, de abordagem qualitativa que teve como objetivo identificar riscos ocupacionais e fragilidades autorreferidas por mototaxistas. Os dados foram coletados, no primeiro semestre de 2010, mediante entrevistas junto a doze mototaxistas, convidados a participar, e que trabalham em dois pontos centrais de um município do interior do estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Os dados foram tratados por meio da análise temática, a partir da qual foram reveladas cinco categorias. De acordo com a percepção dos sujeitos, os acidentes e os assaltos representam os maiores riscos da profissão. Pode-se inferir que ações de educação em saúde e de prevenção de agravos podem ser estratégias governamentais e não governamentais que agregam valor à saúde e segurança destes trabalhadores.
Protocolo de cuidados de enfermagem no ambiente aeroespacial a pacientes traumatizados: cuidados antes do voo
Authors: Schweitzer Gabriela , Nascimento Eliane Regina Pereira do , Moreira André Ricardo , Bertoncello Kátia Cilene Godinho
Published: June 2012

Teve-se como objetivo apresentar um protocolo de cuidados de enfermagem na pré-remoção aeroespacial de pacientes adultos vítimas de trauma. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa, convergente assistencial, realizada na Divisão de Operações Aéreas, em São José-SC, entre abril a junho de 2010. Baseou-se nos princípios do Prehospital Trauma Life Support. Utilizou-se de entrevista individual e de encontros em grupo. Participaram os oito enfermeiros do serviço. O protocolo contempla os cuidados relativos à segurança no embarque; desembarque; avaliação da cena; avaliação primária; avaliação secundária e estabilização do paciente. O protocolo propiciará uma prática de cuidado mais segura aos pacientes aerorremovidos.