bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Vitamin D Levels in Children Born to Vitamin D-Deficient Mothers
Authors: Bergström Ingrid , Blanck Agneta , Sävendahl Lars
Published: June 2013

Aim: To determine whether a standard daily dose of 400 IU vitamin D is sufficient to normalize vitamin D levels in infants born to vitamin D-deficient mothers. Methods: The children were recruited from a study cohort of 68 immigrant and 51 non-immigrant pregnant women living in Stockholm. The women were monitored at 12 weeks of pregnancy, at delivery and together with their children, 6-18 months after birth. During pregnancy, most immigrant women (78%) had 25(OH)D3 levels <25 nmol/l. We here report the outcome of 25 infants born to these mothers. All infants received a daily supplementation dose of 400 IU vitamin D from 2 weeks of age. Results: At birth, most children in the immigrant group were vitamin D-deficient (23.3 nmol/l (12-54); mean and range) while at 6-18 months of age vitamin D levels were essentially normalized (82.8 nmol/l (38-142)) although 4 children still had subnormal levels consistent with vitamin D insufficiency. Conclusion: A daily recommended supplementation dose of 400 IU vitamin D is sufficient in most children of vitamin D-deficient immigrant women living in Sweden.
Dysregulation of Diurnal Salivary Cortisol Production Is Associated with Spontaneous Preterm Delivery: A Pilot Study
Authors: Patacchioli Francesca Romana , Perrone Giuseppina , Merlino Lucia , Simeoni Simona , Bevilacqua Elisa , Capri Oriana , Galoppi Paola , Brunelli Roberto
Published: June 2013

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the diurnal fluctuation of salivary cortisol and its overall diurnal secretion are associated with the length of gestation in patients who were admitted to the hospital with an assigned diagnosis of possible preterm labor (PL) at a gestational age of 28-33 weeks. Methods: In 22 patients, maternal saliva samples were collected for a cortisol assay 4 times per day (8 AM, 12 AM, 4 PM and 8 PM) on day 4 and day 6 after antenatal corticosteroid prophylaxis to prevent neonatal respiratory distress syndrome. Results: Eight patients who ultimately delivered before term (32.6 ± 1.7 gestation weeks) showed an inverted fluctuation of salivary cortisol on both days 4 and 6, morning cortisol levels being significantly lower than evening levels. In contrast, in 14 patients who delivered at term (39.5 ± 0.6 gestation weeks), the physiological diurnal fluctuation of salivary cortisol was maintained. In addition, a distinctive feature of women delivering before term was a significantly hampered salivary cortisol diurnal production measured on day 6. Conclusions: Corticoadrenal activity is dysregulated and anticipates very preterm delivery in women with an assigned diagnosis of possible PL.
The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone
Authors: Duff Nancy J.
Published: June 2013

Theology Today’s Book Forum presents essays that focus attention on one book, followed by a response from the author. These forums originate from panel discussions at the American Academy of Religion and may retain some of the style of an oral presentation, such as the use of first person and references to the author by first name. The essays that follow are based on a panel discussion that occurred at the 2012 meeting of the AAR in Chicago in response to James Cone’s book, The Cross and the Lynching Tree sponsored by the working group, “Explorations in Theology and Apocalyptic.” Panelists were Christopher Morse, Nathan R. Kerr, and J. Kameron Carter.
Mini-invasive diagnosis and synchronous treatment of solitary pulmonary nodule
Authors: Lin Yidan , Liu Lunxu , Pu Qiang
Published: June 2013

Aim:

to develop a simplified method to make a rapid, cost-effective, and precise diagnosis of solitary pulmonary nodules, and to perform synchronous treatment of solitary pulmonary nodules.

Methods:

the solitary pulmonary nodule was located by digital palpation, and tissue was acquired with a core biopsy gun. In the presence of primary lung cancer, the intervention proceeded to lobectomy. In the case of a benign assessment, the whole nodule was wedged out and sent for a frozen-section double check: if the benign assessment was confirmed, the patient was excluded from further surgery; if the assessment was revised to malignant, the intervention proceeded to lobectomy as well as lymphadenectomy.

Results:

76 patients were enrolled. The mean nodule diameter was 1.8 ± 0.6 cm, the mean distance between the visceral pleural and the nodule was 2.4 ± 1.4 cm, and the mean number of punctures was 2.5. The mean time for the phase of intraoperative core biopsy was 10 ± 2 min, and the related blood loss was approximately 5 mL. Fifty-six malignant nodules and 20 benign nodules were confirmed. Both the sensitivity and accuracy were 100%.

Conclusion:

our results indicate that the simplified mini-invasive diagnosis and treatment is an accurate, safe, rapid, and cost-saving method, which may translate into fundamentally reducing the medical cost and time for lung cancer patients.
Analysis of the sternum for sternal closure with bioabsorbable sternal pins
Authors: Kawamura Masashi , Masai Takafumi , Matsue Hajime , Yoshikawa Yasushi , Sawa Yoshiki
Published: June 2013

Purpose:

Poly-L-lactide sternal pins have been reported to be beneficial for sternal closure. However, we sometimes experience a small sternum, and the size characteristics of the sternum have not been fully investigated. We analyzed size features of the sternum to determine the optimal size of sternal pin for sternal closure.

Methods:

Chest computed tomography scans were preoperatively obtained in 144 patients undergoing major cardiovascular surgery. We reviewed all scans at the level of the sternum, and measured the width of the bone marrow of the sternum on each computed tomography slice.

Results:

The mean values of bone marrow width of the sternal manubrium and body of male patients were significantly higher than those of females (manubrium: 38.6 ± 3.9 mm in males, 34.5 ± 3.3 mm in females, p < 0.0001; body: 23.4 ± 3.7 mm in males, 20.8 ± 2.8 mm in females, p < 0.0001). There was no correlation between the bone marrow width of the sternal body and body surface area in either males or females (males: r = 0.08, p = 0.45, females: r = 0.08, p = 0.58).

Conclusion:

To select the appropriate size of sternal pin, preoperative measurement of the bone marrow width of the sternum is recommended because it cannot be predicted from body size.
‘One Does Not Live on Bread Alone’: Theological Education as Prophetism
Authors: Theocharous Myrto
Published: June 2013

This paper explores theological education through the lens of the prophetic model and focuses on three aspects of the prophetic activity: (a) alerting the church to contemporary ‘fertility cults’, e.g. the subtle subjection of one’s faith to economic concerns, (b) exposing the church’s ‘doctrinal’ description of a reality which rather conceals and obstructs the understanding of the church’s actual life, and (c) appropriating the text in each context while remaining open to the challenge of other contextual readings.
The role of oxidative stress in high glucose-induced apoptosis in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes
Authors: Zhou Xiang , Lu Xiang
Published: June 2013

Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that apoptosis plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of diabetic cardiomyopathy. However, the exact molecular mechanisms by which hyperglycaemia induces cardiomyocyte apoptosis are not fully understood. The present study was designed to investigate the role of oxidative stress in high glucose-induced apoptosis in cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. The MTT assay was used to detect the viability of cardiomyocytes exposed to different concentrations of glucose. Oxidative stress was evaluated by measuring intracellular reactive oxygen species with 2′,7′-dichloroﬂuoresce diacetate staining and by detecting malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase in the supernatant of culture media. Cardiomyocyte apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry and confocal laser scanning microscopy with Annexin V/PI staining. Our results showed that high glucose can induce oxidative stress and promote apoptosis in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes and the antioxidant can protect against high glucose-induced apoptosis, which suggests that oxidative stress is involved in high glucose-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Furthermore, caspase-3 was found to be activated in the process of high glucose-induced oxidative stress, which subsequently contributes to increased apoptosis in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that oxidative stress is involved in high glucose-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis via activation of caspase-3.
Invasive fungal infections in transplant recipients
Authors: Vazquez Jose A. , Miceli Marisa H. , Alangaden George
Published: June 2013

Invasive fungal infections are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in hematopoietic stem cell transplant and solid organ transplant recipients. Evolving transplant modalities and techniques, complex and extensive immunosuppressant strategies, and the increased use of broad spectrum antifungal prophylaxis has greatly impacted the epidemiology and temporal pattern of invasive fungal infections in the transplant population. The goal of this article is to provide an up-to-date review of the most commonly encountered invasive fungal infections seen in transplant recipients, including epidemiology, risk factors, clinical features, diagnostic dilemmas, management and their overall influence on outcomes.
Prevalence and risk factors of Helicobacter pylori infection in Korea: Nationwide multicenter study over 13 years
Authors: Lim Seon Hee , Kwon Jin-Won , Kim Nayoung , Kim Gwang Ha , Kang Jung Mook , Park Min Jung , Yim Jeong Yoon , Kim Heung Up , Baik Gwang Ho , Seo Geom Seog , Shin Jeong Eun , Joo Young-Eun , Kim Joo Sung , Jung Hyun Chae
Published: June 2013

Background

The aim of this study was to evaluate the time trend of seropositivity of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) over the period of 13 years in an asymptomatic Korean population, and investigate associated risk factors.

Methods

This cross-sectional nationwide multicentre study surveyed anti-H. pylori IgG antibodies in 19,272 health check-up subjects (aged [greater than and equal to]16 years) in 2011. Risk factors for H. pylori infection were investigated using logistic regression. Seropositivity in asymptomatic subjects without H. pylori eradication was compared between the years 1998 and 2005. Birth cohort effects were also evaluated.

Results

After exclusion of subjects with a history of H. pylori eradication therapy (n = 3,712, 19.3%) and gastric symptoms (n = 4,764, 24.7%), the seroprevalence of H. pylori infection was 54.4% in 10,796 subjects. This was significantly lower than the seroprevalence of 59.6% in 2005 and that of 66.9% in 1998, and this decrease of seropositivity of H. pylori became widespread across all ages and in most areas of the country. This decreasing trend could be explained by cohort analysis. All younger birth cohorts had a lower seroprevalence of H. pylori than older birth cohorts at the same age. Decreased seroprevalence within the same birth cohorts also accounted for this phenomenon. Clinical risk factors of H. pylori infection were higher cholesterol level ([greater than and equal to] 240 mg/dl) (OR = 1.33; 95% CI = 1.14-1.54), male gender, older age, low income, and residence in a rural area.

Conclusions

A decreasing trend of H. pylori seroprevalence due to a birth cohort effect requires further studies on its related human host factors as well as socio-economic and hygienic factors. In addition, the relationship between H. pylori infection and high cholesterol level needs more investigation regarding underlying pathogenesis.
Atypical hand-foot-mouth disease in children: a hospital-based prospective cohort study
Authors: Huang Wen-Chan , Huang Li-Min , Lu Chun-Yi , Cheng Ai-Ling , Chang Luan-Yin
Published: June 2013

Background

In 2010, we observed children with atypical presentations of hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD), such as rashes on earlobes and faces, or bullae on trunks and bilateral limbs. Hyperpigmentation later developed as the bullous lesions crusted. Thus, we intended to study the etiology of the illness and the phylogeny of the pathogens.

Method

Patients were prospectively enrolled in a tertiary medical center in Taipei, Taiwan. The definition of atypical HFMD includes symptoms of acute viral infection with either of the following presentations: (1) maculopapular rashes presenting on the trunks, buttocks or facial areas, or (2) large vesicles or bullae on any sites of the body. Patients were classified into two groups according to vesicle sizes by two pediatricians at different points in time. The large vesicle group was defined as having vesciculobullous lesions ≥ 1 cm in diameter; the small rashes group had maculopapular rashes < 1cm in diameter. Two throat swabs were collected from each patient for virus isolation and reverse transcription polymerase chain reactions.

Results

We enrolled 101 patients between March and December 2010. The mean age of the participants was 3.3 ± 3.0 years (median age: 2.5 years, range: 21 days-13.5 years). The ratio of males to females was 1.8 to 1. All samples were enterovirus-positive, including coxsackievirus A6 (80%), coxsackievirus A16 (6%), enterovirus 71 (1%), coxsackievirus A5 (1%) and 12 non-typable enterovirus (12%). Bullous fluid aspirated from 2 patients also grew coxsackievirus A6. Among the patients infected with coxsackievirus A6, 54% (45/81) had bullae, compared to 25% (5/20) of those having non-coxsackievirus A6 infections (P=0.02). Fourteen cases had myoclonic jerks and one boy was diagnosed with febrile convulsions. None had complications or sequelae. Phylogenetic analysis showed the strains in Taiwan in 2010 shared more commonality with strains from Finland in 2009 (GenBank: FJ870502-FJ870508), and were close to those circulating in Japan in 2011 (GenBank: AB649286-AB649291).

Conclusions

Coxsackievirus A6 infections may cause atypical manifestations of HFMD, including vesicles or papules on faces or bullae on trunks. These features could provide valuable information to distinguish this versatile enterovirus infection from other virus-induced vesiculobullous diseases.
Statistical aspects of omics data analysis using the random compound covariate
Authors: Su Pei-Fang , Chen Xi , Chen Heidi , Shyr Yu
Published: June 2013

Background

Dealing with high dimensional markers, such as gene expression data obtained using microarray chip technology or genomics studies, is a key challenge because the numbers of features greatly exceeds the number of biological samples. After selecting biologically relevant genes, how to summarize the expression of selected genes and then further build predicted model is an important issue in medical applications. One intuitive method of addressing this challenge assigns different weights to different features, subsequently combining this information into a single score, named the compound covariate. Investigators commonly employ this score to assess whether an association exists between the compound covariate and clinical outcomes adjusted for baseline covariates. However, we found that some clinical papers concerned with such analysis report bias p-values based on flawed compound covariate in their training data set.

Results

We correct this flaw in the analysis and we also propose treating the compound score as a random covariate, to achieve more appropriate results and significantly improve study power for survival outcomes. With this proposed method, we thoroughly assess the performance of two commonly used estimated gene weights through simulation studies. When the sample size is 100, and censoring rates are 50%, 30%, and 10%, power is increased by 10.6%, 3.5%, and 0.4%, respectively, by treating the compound score as a random covariate rather than a fixed covariate. Finally, we assess our proposed method using two publicly available microarray data sets.

Conclusion

In this article, we correct this flaw in the analysis and the propose method, treating the compound score as a random covariate, can achieve more appropriate results and improve study power for survival outcomes.
A strategy to study pathway cross-talks of cells under repetitive exposure to stimuli
Authors: Fu Yan , Jiang Xiaoshan , Zhang Hang , Xing Jianhua
Published: June 2013

Background

Cells are subject to fluctuating and multiple stimuli in their natural environment. The signaling pathways often crosstalk to each other and give rise to complex nonlinear dynamics. Specifically repetitive exposure of a cell to a same stimulus sometime leads to augmented cellular responses. Examples are amplified proinflammatory responses of innate immune cells pretreated with a sub-threshold then a high dose of endotoxin or cytokine stimulation. This phenomenon, called priming effect in the literature, has important pathological and clinical significances.

Results

In a previous study, we enumerated possible mechanisms for priming using a three-node network model. The analysis uncovered three mechanisms. Based on the results, in this work we developed a straightforward procedure to identify molecular candidates contributing to the priming effect and the corresponding mechanisms. The procedure involves time course measurements, e.g., gene expression levels, or protein activities under low, high, and low + high dose of stimulant, then computational analysis of the dynamics patterns, and identification of functional roles in the context of the regulatory network. We applied the procedure to a set of published microarray data on interferon-γ-mediated priming effect of human macrophages. The analysis identified a number of network motifs possibly contributing to Interferon-γ priming. A further detailed mathematical model analysis further reveals how combination of different mechanisms leads to the priming effect.

Conclusions

One may perform systematic screening using the proposed procedure combining with high throughput measurements, at both transcriptome and proteome levels. It is applicable to various priming phenomena.
Tolerance to alternative cyclooxygenase‐2 inhibitors in nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drug hypersensitive patients
Authors: Malskat Wendy SJ , Knulst André C , Bruijnzeel‐Koomen Carla AFM , Röckmann Heike
Published: June 2013

Background

Non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) frequently cause adverse drug reactions. Many studies have shown that drugs which selectively inhibit the cyclooxygenase‐2 enzyme (COX‐2) are safe alternatives in the majority of patients. However, hypersensitivity reactions to COX‐2 inhibitors have been published. Hardly any data are available regarding the safety of alternatives in case of COX‐2 inhibitor hypersensitivity. We aimed to investigate the tolerance to COX‐2 inhibitors in patients with non‐selective NSAID hypersensitivity. Furthermore, in COX‐2 hypersensitive patients tolerance of a second COX‐2 inhibitor was investigated.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed 91 patients with proven non‐selective NSAID hypersensitivity that underwent oral challenges with a COX‐2 inhibitor. Patients with intolerance to the first challenged COX‐2 inhibitor received a second challenge with a different COX‐2 inhibitor.

Results

19 out of 91 (21%) patients had a positive reaction to the first oral challenge with a COX‐2 inhibitor. 14 of them underwent a second challenge with a different COX‐2 inhibitor and 12 (86%) did not react.

Conclusions

A relatively high percentage (21%) of the non‐selective NSAID hypersensitive patients did not tolerate a COX‐2 inhibitor and oral challenge is advised prior to prescription of a COX‐2 inhibitor. For the majority of patients reacting to a COX‐2 inhibitor an alternative can be found.
Mechanical ventilation worsens abdominal edema and inflammation in porcine endotoxemia
Authors: Lattuada Marco , Bergquist Maria , Maripuu Enn , Hedenstierna Göran
Published: June 2013

Introduction

We hypothesized that mechanical ventilation per se increases abdominal edema and inflammation in sepsis and tested this in experimental endotoxemia.

Methods

Thirty anesthetized piglets were allocated to one of five groups: healthy control pigs breathing spontaneously with continuous positive pressure of 5 cm H2O or mechanically ventilated with positive end-expiratory pressure of 5 cm H2O, and endotoxemic piglets during mechanical ventilation for 2.5 hours and then continued on mechanical ventilation with positive end-expiratory pressure of either 5 or 15 cm H2O or switched to spontaneous breathing with continuous positive pressure of 5 cm H2O for another 2.5 hours. Abdominal edema formation was estimated by isotope technique, and inflammatory markers were measured in liver, intestine, lung, and plasma.

Results

Healthy controls: 5 hours of spontaneous breathing did not increase abdominal fluid, whereas mechanical ventilation did (Normalized Index increased from 1.0 to 1.6; 1 to 3.3 (median and range, P < 0.05)). Endotoxemic animals: Normalized Index increased almost sixfold after 5 hours of mechanical ventilation (5.9; 4.9 to 6.9; P < 0.05) with twofold increase from 2.5 to 5 hours whether positive end-expiratory pressure was 5 or 15, but only by 40% with spontaneous breathing (P < 0.05 versus positive end-expiratory pressure of 5 or 15 cm H2O). Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin (IL)-6 in intestine and liver were 2 to 3 times higher with mechanical ventilation than during spontaneous breathing (P < 0.05) but similar in plasma and lung. Abdominal edema formation and TNF-α in intestine correlated inversely with abdominal perfusion pressure.

Conclusions

Mechanical ventilation with positive end-expiratory pressure increases abdominal edema and inflammation in intestine and liver in experimental endotoxemia by increasing systemic capillary leakage and impeding abdominal lymph drainage.
Organic maturity, elastic properties, and textural characteristics of self resourcing reservoirs
Authors: Zargari Saeed , Prasad Manika , Mba Kenechukwu C. , Mattson Earl D.
Published: June 2013

Organic-rich rocks have long been recognized as source rocks for clastic reservoirs, but more recently they have gained importance as reservoirs. However, the processes of kerogen maturation and hydrocarbon transport and storage are still poorly understood. Some empirical relations have been developed to relate the increase in elastic modulus with increasing maturity. A systematic study of the cause for this increase in elastic modulus is still lacking, and information about seismic and mechanical properties of kerogen and its alteration products is scarce. Consequently, any rock models must rely on anecdotal or extrapolated data about various types of kerogen. Our experiments address this paucity of data by grain-scale modulus measurements coupled with careful field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) microstructural assessments on organic rich Bakken formation shale samples with a range of maturities. Carefully acquired and detailed FESEM images help to understand the microstructural controls on the reduced (nanoindentation) Young’s modulus of minerals, clay particles, and kerogen matter with maturity in naturally matured shales. Using hydrous pyrolysis, we further investigate the cause for change in modulus with maturity and the mobility of the pyrolized organic matter. In naturally matured shale samples, we find a direct relationship between the reduced Young’s modulus and the total organic content or hydrogen index. Significant lowering of Young’s modulus is observed after hydrous pyrolysis due to bitumen generation. We measured modulus of the extruded bitumen to be less than 2 GPa. The presence of bitumen comingled with the organic matter also reduces its modulus, in excess of 30%. These results are critical to help understand how organic-rich sediments evolve with burial and maturation. The modulus measurements can be used for modeling modulus variations during maturation.
Fracture compliance estimation using borehole tube waves
Authors: Bakku Sudhish Kumar , Fehler Michael , Burns Daniel
Published: June 2013

We tested two models, one for tube-wave generation and the other for tube-wave attenuation at a fracture intersecting a borehole that can be used to estimate fracture compliance, fracture aperture, and lateral extent. In the tube-wave generation model, we consider tube-wave excitation in the borehole when a P-wave is incident on the fracture. The amplitude ratio of the pressure due to the tube wave to that of the incident P-wave is a function of fracture compliance, aperture, and length. Similarly, the attenuation of a tube wave in the borehole as it crosses a fracture intersecting the borehole is also a function of fracture properties. Numerically solving the dispersion relation in the fracture, we study tube-wave generation and the attenuation coefficient as a function of frequency. We observed that measuring amplitude ratios or attenuation near a transition frequency can help constrain the fracture properties. The transition frequency corresponds to the regime in which the viscous skin depth in the fracture is comparable to its aperture. Measurements in the high-frequency limit can place a lower bound on fracture compliance and lateral extent. We evaluated the applicability of the tube-wave generation model to a previously published VSP data set and found that compliance values of the order [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] are likely in the field. These observations support scaling of fracture compliance with fracture size.
Secondary analysis in reflection: some experiences of re-use from an oral history perspective
Authors: Bornat Joanna
Published: June 2013

Reflection on recent developments in the re-use of archived interview data was initiated by drawing on the experience of working on two very different projects: ‘Overseas-trained doctors and the development of geriatric medicine’ and ‘The oldest generation’, one of the Timescapes projects. These two projects, run in parallel but independent of one another, were very different in focus, but both explored the practice of re-use. This article draws out insights acquired and lessons learned. However, by taking a longer reflective view, an engagement with secondary analysis emerges much earlier. The article draws on examples from the author’s own research history, describing how re-engagement with an earlier re-user of her data reveals continuing academic controversies.
From cigarreras to indignados: Spectacles of scale in the CSA La Tabacalera of Lavapiés, Madrid
Authors: Feinberg Matthew I.
Published: June 2013

In Lavapiés, Madrid, the Centro Social Autogestionado La Tabacalera (The Tobacco Factory Self-Managed Social Centre) recalls the prevalence of the cigarrera in the popular theatre of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries while continuing the neighbourhood’s contemporary tradition as one of the epicentres in Madrid for grass-roots activist politics. While these connections activate cultural circuits of meaning that simultaneously evoke local and national imaginaries, they have made La Tabacalera a site where the intersection of the scales of the local, the urban and even the national has been a key component of the convergence of culture and space that urban theorist Henri Lefebvre would call lived space. Through a close reading of a series of cultural events held at La Tabacalera in 2010 and an analysis of the discourses of scale found in the ‘Dossier de Renovación del Convenio’ (‘Renewal Agreement Dossier’) from 2011, the present article will demonstrate how cultural production at the scale of the urban has been employed as a means of resisting spatial and cultural commodification at a range of other scales.
Editorial: Madrid and urban cultural studies
Authors: Fraser Benjamin
Published: June 2013

This Editorial opens the special issue of the International Journal of Iberian Studies titled ‘Reading Madrid: Perspectives from Urban Cultural Studies’ by suggesting mobility as a trope that is just as relevant to close textual readings and to a wider understanding of Madrid’s cultural production as it is to questions of disciplinary and interdisciplinary research, more broadly considered. Appropriately, given the objective at hand, the impetus for this move is sparked by a textual analysis – of Madrid’s presentation throughout the opening sequence from director Pedro Lazaga’s 1965 film La ciudad no es para mí.
The garden at night: Revisiting Madrid’s public landscapes in Valle-Inclán’s Luces de Bohemia and Baroja’s Noches del Buen Retiro
Authors: Frost Daniel
Published: June 2013

If nineteenth-century notions of order and decorum reached something of an apotheosis in realist representations of Madrid’s gardens, works such as Valle-Inclán’s Luces de Bohemia (1924) and Pío Baroja’s Las noches del Buen Retiro (1934) present gardens as an image of twentieth-century urban society’s excesses and limits. Valle-Inclán’s nocturnal garden with prostitutes and shattered glass suggests the bleakness of protagonist Max Estrella’s social orbit, while Pío Baroja’s vision of Madrid’s Jardines del Buen Retiro pleasure garden conceals hostility and alienation under the guise of nostalgia and social refinement. Both gardens symbolize the ‘degeneration’ of what Jo Labanyi has described as the object of the modernizing state: to define the private self through the assumption of publicly defined roles.
Juggling aesthetics and surveillance in paradise: Ecuadorians in Madrid’s Retiro Park
Authors: Masterson-Algar Araceli
Published: June 2013

The literature on parks and recreation has traditionally employed definitions of parks as products, rather than processes tied to economic, political and social dynamics that comfortably exceed park boundaries. As a cultural process, mental and physical, local and global, Madrid’s emblematic park of El Retiro is at the intersection of personal choices/desires and constructions of race, class, gender and nation, always articulated through dynamics of power. This article examines the significance of Ecuadorian immigrant gatherings in El Retiro between 2000 and 2003, focusing on the entwinement between the municipality’s decisions over the park’s form and use, and larger patterns of injustice occurring at a variety of scales, as the city (re-)positions itself vis-à-vis current methods of capital accumulation. An analysis of El Retiro’s recently constructed Bosque del Recuerdo, a memorial to the victims of the bomb attacks in Madrid’s trains on 11 March 2004, reveals the ties between the expulsion of Ecuadorians from El Retiro and the pseudo-sacralization of Ecuadorian casualties following the bombings. Through an in-depth analysis of the space for this ‘memorial’, as form and content, this article unearths the mutual constituencies of El Retiro as lived and imagined, local and global, and central in the histories of Madrid’s Ecuadorian residents.
The Diagnosis of Periprosthetic Infection
Authors: del Arco Alfonso , Bertrand María Luisa
Published: June 2013

Periprosthetic infection (PJI) is the most serious joint replacement complication, occurring in 0.8-1.9% of knee arthroplasties and 0.3-1.7% of hip arthroplasties. A definition of PJI was proposed in the November 2011 issue of the journal Clinical Orthopedics and Related Research. The presence of a fistula or of local inflammatory signs is indicative of PJI, but in many cases local pain is the only symptom. In the absence of underlying inflammatory conditions, C-reactive protein measurement is the most useful preoperative blood test for detecting infection associated with a prosthetic joint. The most useful preoperative diagnostic test is the aspiration of synovial joint fluid to obtain a total and differential cell count and culture. Intraoperative frozen sections of periprosthetic tissues produce excellent accuracy in predicting a diagnosis of PJI but only moderate accuracy in ruling out the diagnosis. In this process, obtaining a quality sample is the first step, and determines the quality of microbiological results. Specimens for culture should be obtained prior to the initiation of antibiotic treatment. Sonication of a removed implant may increase the culture yield. Plain radiography has low sensitivity and low specificity for detecting infection associated with a prosthetic joint. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging may be useful in the evaluation of complex cases, but metal inserts interfere with these tests, and abnormalities may be non-specific. Labelled-leucocyte imaging (e.g., leucocytes labelled with indium-111) combined with bone marrow imaging with the use of technetium-99m–labelled sulphur colloid is considered the imaging test of choice when imaging is necessary.
Revision in Cemented and Cementless Infected Hip Arthroplasty
Authors: Cherubino Paolo , Puricelli Marco , D’Angelo Fabio
Published: June 2013

Infection is a frequent cause of failure after joint replacement surgery. The infection rate after total hip arthroplasty (THA) has been reduced to 1-2% in the last years. However, it still represents a challenging problem for the orthopedic surgeon.

Difficulty of therapeutic approach, and poor functional outcomes together with length of treatment and overall cost are the main burden of this issue. Even the diagnosis of an infected hip could be challenging although it is the first step of an accurate treatment. At the end, many cases require removing the implants. Afterwards, the treatment strategy varies according to authors with three different procedures: no re-implantation, immediate placement of new implants or a two-stage surgery re-implantation.

Based on the most recently systematic review there is no suggestion that one- or two-stage revision methods have different re-infection outcomes.

The two-stage implant-exchange protocol remains the gold standard. It is considered as the most efficacious clinical approach for the treatment of periprosthetic infection, especially in patients with sinus tracts, swelling, extended abscess formation in depth and infection of Methicillin ResistantStaphylococcus Aureus(MRSA), and other multidrug-resistant bacteria as reported in recent consensus documents.
Economical Analysis on Prophylaxis, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Periprosthetic Infections
Authors: Fernandez-Fairen Mariano , Torres Ana , Menzie Ann , Hernandez-Vaquero Daniel , Fernandez-Carreira José Manuel , Murcia-Mazon Antonio , Guerado Enrique , Merzthal Luis
Published: June 2013

The economic burden of periprosthetic infections is enormous, but the number of economic studies dealing with this issue is very scarce. This review tries to know the economic literature existing, assess the value of current data, and recognize the less costly and more effective procedures for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of periprosthetic infections.

Forty five studies meeting the inclusion criteria and adhering to the quality criteria used were carefully analyzed to extract the economic data of relevance in evaluating the magnitude of problem and the more cost-effective solutions. However, because the heterogeneity and the low-quality of most of these studies meta-analytical technique has not been possible. Instead, the studies have been reviewed descriptively.

Optimizing the antibiotic use in the prevention and treatment of periprosthetic infection, combined with systemic and behavioral changes in the operating room; detecting and treating the high-risk groups; a quick, simple, reliable, safe, and cost-effective diagnosis, and the rationale management of the instituted infection, specifically using the different procedures according to each particular case, could allow to improve outcomes and produce the highest quality of life for patients and the lowest economic impact. Nevertheless, the cost effectiveness of different interventions to prevent and to treat the periprosthetic infection remains unclear.
The Turkish stock market integration with oil prices: Cointegration analysis with unknown regime shifts
Authors: Halaç Umut , Dilvin Taşkın , Çağlar Çağlı
Published: June 2013

Oil prices are often considered as a vital economic factor due to the
dependence of the world economy on oil. The goal of this paper is to
contribute to the literature on the dynamic relationship between oil prices
and stock prices under the presence of possible structural breaks in an
emerging market, Turkey. The empirical evidence suggests that the oil prices
are important in explaining the stock market movements. Stock prices, oil
prices and nominal exchange rates are found as cointegrated after taking
structural breaks into account. Moreover, results of parameter stability test
are consistent with our findings indicating that relationship between series
is strong in the long-run. The results are important in the way that they
show the global factors are also dominant on the Turkish stock market.
Deli bal ile zehirlenen bir aile: Olgu sunumu
Authors: Yengil Erhan , Akhan Mehmet Masuk , Yengil Duygu , Öztürkoğlu Hüseyin Evren , Şilfeler İbrahim , Karakuş Ali
Published: June 2013

Deli bal zehirlenmesi, “Rhododendron ponticum” ve “Rhododendron luteum” çiçeklerinden beslenen arıların ürettiği, grayanotoksin içeren balın tüketilmesiyle oluşmaktadır. Dünyada Nepal, Kuzey Amerika, Brezilya ve Japonya’da, ülkemizde ise Doğu Karadeniz bölgesinde görülmektedir. Deli bal tüketimiyle oluşan zehirlenmelerde toksisite semptomları, az miktarda bal alımı ile bile gelişebilmektedir. Bu çalışmada, acil servise başvuran 35 yaşındaki anne ve 38 yaşındaki baba ile bunların 5 ve 10 yaşlarında iki kız çocuklarında görülen deli bal zehirlenmesi aile olgusu sunuldu. Anne ve babada baş dönmesi, bulantı-kusma, fenalaşma hissi ve karın ağrısı, çocuklarda ise hafif bulantı ve halsizlik şikâyetleri vardı. Her iki ebeveynde bradikardi ve hipotansiyon gözlenmesi üzerine bal yeme öyküsü araştırıldı ve sabah kahvaltıda bal yedikleri öğrenildi. Bu olgu sunumunda birçok hastalıkla karışabilen deli bal zehirlenmesinin teşhis ve tedavisinin gözden geçirilmesi amaçlanmıştır.
Differences on the prevalence of cervical HPV between Lithuania and Belarus
Authors: Gudleviciene Zivile , Kanopiene Daiva , Didziapetriene Janina , Smolyakova Raisa , Gutkovskaya Ekaterina , Zhukovec Alexander , Kostevich Galina
Published: June 2013

In some countries the cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates are much higher compared to the European average. The differences of HPV and its type prevalence between countries and regions influence cervical cancer incidence and mortality. Regarding the differences in cervical cancer incidence and mortality in Lithuania and Belarus, the aim of this study was to describe HPV infection level and HPVs type distribution among two study groups of patients with moderate or severe cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2-3) and cervical cancer. Our data shows that 74.2% [95% CI: 63.64÷84.76] of Lithuanian patients with cervical cancer and 85.6% [95% CI: 85.53÷92.85] of the study group with CIN2-3 were HPV positive, while in the study groups of Belarusian patients HPV infection was detected in 92.6% [95% CI, 74.25÷98.71] and 65.4% [95% CI, 44.36÷82.06] cases respectively. HPV 16 was the most prevalent type in Lithuanian as well as in Belarusian patients of the study groups. HPV 18 in Lithuanian patients of the study group with cervical cancer was identified in 10.2% [95% CI: 1.73÷18.67] and in the study group with CIN2-3 — in 2.6% [95% CI: 0.95÷6.15] of cases. HPV 18 was not detected in Belarusian patients of both groups.
New Therapeutic Options for Allergic Rhinitis: Back to the Future with Intranasal Corticosteroid Aerosols
Authors: Carr Warner W.
Published: June 2013

Background

Under current guidelines, intranasal corticosteroids (INSs) are considered the most effective first-line therapy to improve allergic rhinitis (AR) symptoms and burden of disease. In the late 1980s–1990s, chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)–propelled corticosteroid aerosol nasal sprays formed the standard of care for the treatment of AR. Because of environmental concerns, CFC aerosols were gradually phased out, and aqueous INS formulations of nasal sprays became the standard of care. Although many aqueous INS sprays are available, specific product-related factors can reduce patient adherence to an INS and subsequently reduce treatment efficacy. The purpose of this paper was to review the evolution of AR therapeutics and drug devices and how it may have an effect on patient adherence/compliance and patient satisfaction with current available therapies and show the unmet need to improve INS delivery systems.

Methods

Although aqueous INSs are effective and well tolerated, use in some patients may be compromised because of patient sensory perception and device preference. A historical review of the evolution of intranasal delivery of INSs was undertaken to provide further insight into improving treatment options for patients with AR.

Results

Although the various approved INSs appear to be equivalent in terms of reducing AR disease burden, the method in which an INS is delivered to a patient has significant bearing on the overall success of each specific drug product.

Conclusion

Hydrofluoroalkane-propelled INS drug products offer a back-to-the-future delivery approach that may be further tailored to the individual patient's needs. Past experiences and the development of new devices are paving the way toward further therapy choices, ultimately affording health care providers access to the most effective treatments for patients with AR.
Anthropocentrism and Egoism
Authors: Nolt John
Published: June 2013

Concern with ethical anthropocentrism has largely been confined to debates in animal and environmental ethics. Philosophers generally have shown little interest in it. Ethical egoism, by contrast, though usually rejected, has sparked wide philosophical interest. This is surprising, for the two are akin; anthropo-centrism is egoism writ large – the egoism of the human species. This paper explains the kinship by articulating this analogy, shows that the analogy provides for each argument for or against ethical egoism an analogous argument for or against ethical anthropocentrism, and demonstrates the analogy's fruit-fulness by using it to extrapolate from an existing argument against ethical egoism a novel argument against ethical anthropocentrism.
Green Rhetoric in Blackshirts: Italian Fascism and the Environment
Authors: Armiero Marco , Graf von Hardenberg Wilko
Published: June 2013

In comparison with the significant historiographical work on the German case, specifically on Nazi environmental policies and ideology, studies on such issues for other Fascist regimes are still rather rare. This article attempts partially to fill this gap, at least as regards the Italian case, offering a general overview of the Fascist regime and its environmental politics and narratives. Analysing how Fascists appropriated Italian landscapes through both discourses and concrete policies, this paper examines the construction of a Fascist nature as a rhetorical, symbolic and geographical space. In particular, this essay explores the combined process of appropriation and expropriation through the analysis of two diverse but intertwined issues: firstly, Fascist rural ideology as a narrative on the mutual constituency of nature and people and secondly, the creation of the first Italian national parks, their successes and failures as institutions of nature conservation and their role as symbols of the nature/society divide. While blending the ideas of race, landscape, history, modernity and ruralism, Fascists shaped both the national environment and general ideas about nature in a narrative which affected the very object of the narration - that is, nature itself.Â
Bioactive Phenylpropanoid Glycosides from Tabebuia avellanedae
Authors: Suo Maorong , Ohta Tomihisa , Takano Fumihide , Jin Shouwen
Published: June 2013

Three novel phenylpropanoid glycosides 2, 5, 6 were isolated from water extract of Tabebuia avellanedae, together with three known phenylpropanoid glycosides 1, 3, 4. All compounds were identified on the basis of spectroscopic analysis and chemical methods and, for known compounds, by comparison with published data. All isolated compounds showed strong antioxidant activity in the DPPH assay, and compound 5 give the highest antioxidant activity among all compounds, with an IC50 of 0.12 µM. All compounds exhibited moderate inhibitory effect on cytochrome CYP3A4 enzyme.
Sustaining Vaccine Confidence in the 21st Century
Authors: Hardt Karin , Schmidt-Ott Ruprecht , Glismann Steffen , Adegbola Richard , Meurice François
Published: June 2013

Vaccination provides many health and economic benefits to individuals and society, and public support for immunization programs is generally high. However, the benefits of vaccines are often not fully valued when public discussions on vaccine safety, quality or efficacy arise, and the spread of misinformation via the internet and other media has the potential to undermine immunization programs. Factors associated with improved public confidence in vaccines include evidence-based decision-making procedures and recommendations, controlled processes for licensing and monitoring vaccine safety and effectiveness and disease surveillance. Community engagement with appropriate communication approaches for each audience is a key factor in building trust in vaccines. Vaccine safety/quality issues should be handled rapidly and transparently by informing and involving those most affected and those concerned with public health in effective ways. Openness and transparency in the exchange of information between industry and other stakeholders is also important. To maximize the safety of vaccines, and thus sustain trust in vaccines, partnerships are needed between public health sector stakeholders. Vaccine confidence can be improved through collaborations that ensure high vaccine uptake rates and that inform the public and other stakeholders of the benefits of vaccines and how vaccine safety is constantly assessed, assured and communicated.
L'enceinte de la ville franque de Jaffa
Authors: Kedar Benjamin Z.
Published: June 2013

Cette note vise à présenter de nouvelles hypothèses relatives à l'enceinte médiévale franque de Jaffa, à partir des fouilles récentes, et d'une nouvelle interprétation des documents cartographiques du XIX siècle. Cet examen croisé permet de postuler que la ville franque débordait largement le tracé de l'enceinte ottomane, jusqu'à présent considérée comme construite sur le tracé de l'enceinte médiévale.