bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Efeitos da técnica expansiva e incentivador respiratório na força da musculatura respiratória em idosos institucionalizados
Authors: Oliveira Mariel de , Santos Celda Luiza Sousa , Oliveira Cíntia Félix de , Ribas Danieli Isabel Romanovitch
Published: April 2013

INTRODUÇÃO: O envelhecimento é um processo fisiológico que traz consigo várias alterações nos sistemas corporais, inclusive a diminuição de força da musculatura respiratória. OBJETIVO: Avaliar PImáx (pressão inspiratória máxima), PEmáx (pressão expiratória máxima) e pico de fluxo expiratório de idosos institucionalizados antes e após a aplicação de técnicas manuais expansivas e incentivador respiratório orientado a fluxo (Respiron®) e comparar os resultados obtidos. MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: Estudo longitudinal, caso controle realizado em uma instituição da cidade de Curitiba (PR), com 16 indivíduos (70 a 80 anos) do sexo masculino. Os sujeitos foram selecionados e submetidos à avaliação da força da musculatura respiratória por meio do manovacuômetro da marca Indumed® e fluxo expiratório através do peak flow da marca Mini Wright®. Após a avaliação, a amostra foi dividida aleatoriamente em grupos: grupo 1 (G1, n = 7) - idosos submetidos ao uso incentivador inspiratório (Respiron®) e técnicas expansivas (exercícios diafragmáticos e compressão/descompressão); grupo 2 (G2, n = 7) - técnicas manuais expansivas; grupo 3 (G3, n = 7), incentivador inspiratório; grupo 4 (G4, n = 7) - grupo controle. RESULTADOS: Ocorreu melhora para todas as variáveis pré e pós-tratamento para os grupos experimentais, porém o destaque é dado para o grupo II. CONCLUSÃO: Este estudo apresentou resultados satisfatórios com a aplicação de técnicas de expansão pulmonar e Respiron® na força da musculatura respiratória e pico de fluxo expiratório de idosos institucionalizados.
Aplicação de exercício isotônico durante a hemodiálise melhora a eficiência dialítica
Authors: Freire Ana Paula Coelho Figueira , Rios Cibele Silva , Moura Raquel Souza , Burneiko Regina Coeli Vasques de Miranda , Padulla Susimary Aparecida Trevizan , Lopes Francis da Silva
Published: April 2013

INTRODUÇÃO: A doença renal crônica (DRC) é decorrente de uma lesão renal e perda progressiva e irreversível da função dos rins. A hemodiálise substitui parcialmente essa função, com o objetivo de corrigir as alterações metabólicas na DRC. Para acompanhar a adequação da diálise, é determinado o Kt/V - índice de depuração da ureia por sessão de hemodiálise. O exercício físico de moderada intensidade tem se mostrado de fundamental importância para melhorar os efeitos adversos ao tratamento dialítico. OBJETIVOS: Avaliar o Kt/V em indivíduos com DRC submetidos ao exercício físico isotônico de baixa intensidade durante a hemodiálise. MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: Analisados dados de 15 voluntários de ambos os sexos, submetidos à hemodiálise três vezes por semana. Após duas horas do início da diálise, foi aplicado um protocolo de exercícios isotônicos de baixa intensidade de membros superiores e inferiores com duração de 30 minutos, por um período de três meses. Os valores do Kt/V foram comparados no período de três meses anteriores sem exercício e após três meses de exercício. RESULTADOS: A média dos valores do Kt/V nos três meses sem exercício foi de 1,13 ± 0,11 e após aplicação do programa de exercícios foi de 1,29 ± 0,12 (p < 0,05). CONCLUSÃO: O programa de exercício físico isotônico de baixa intensidade em pacientes com DRC, aplicados durante a sessão de diálise mostrou a melhora da eficiência dialítica.
Estimativas de parâmetros genéticos para características de crescimento em ovinos da raça Somalis Brasileira
Authors: Magalhães Ana Fabrícia Braga , Lobo Raimundo Nonato Braga , Facó Olivardo
Published: April 2013

Objetivou-se estimar parâmetros genéticos para características de crescimento em ovinos da raça Somalis Brasileira. Os dados utilizados neste estudo foram provenientes do rebanho da Embrapa Caprinos e Ovinos, localizado na cidade de Sobral - CE. Os dados continham registros de 1.120 animais no arquivo de pedigree. As características analisadas foram: peso ao nascer (PN), peso ao desmame (PD), ganho de peso do nascimento ao desmame (GND) e peso adulto (PA). As estimativas dos componentes de (co)variâncias e os parâmetros genéticos foram obtidos pelo método da Máxima Verossimilhança Restrita não Derivativa (DFREML), utilizando o programa MTDFREML. Nas análises unicaracterística, as herdabilidades foram de magnitude baixa a moderada. As magnitudes das herdabilidades maternas foram todas superiores às herdabilidades diretas. As herdabilidades das análises multicaracterísticas entre PN, PD e GND superaram as análises unicaracterísticas. As correlações genéticas apresentaram grande variação quanto aos seus valores.
Considerações sobre a concepção do primeiro forno brasileiro para avaliação de lajes e vigas, carregadas, em situação de incêndio
Authors: Moreno Junior Armando Lopes , Molina Julio Cesar , Calil Junior Carlito
Published: April 2013

Esse trabalho apresenta parâmetros que norteiam a concepção de equipamento de laboratório destinado a avaliar lajes e vigas em escala natural, com carga, e em situação de incêndio. Parâmetros de interesse, como dimensões internas, taxas de elevação da temperatura com o tempo, infraestrutura para instalação do equipamento, entre outros, são avaliados à luz de normatização nacional e internacional em vigor. Ao final, espera-se que esse relato de exercício de concepção e construção do primeiro forno horizontal brasileiro estimule a construção de futuros equipamentos desse tipo, auxiliando pesquisadores nacionais e internacionais da área a iniciar semelhante, e árdua, empreitada.
Organic matter removal from oil-water emulsions by electrocoagulation - 1: thermodynamic analysis
Authors: Rangel Rodolfo Maia , Carvalho Roberto José de , Torem Maurício Leonardo
Published: April 2013

A thermodynamic analysis of the organic matter (chemical oxygen demand - COD) removal from synthetic oil-water emulsions by the electrocoagulation process was performed with the objective of determining the most stable ionic species under diverse pH and aluminum concentration conditions and identifying possible removal mechanisms. The analysis suggests that the predominant species during the reactive stage are the amorphous aluminum hydroxide (for the mononuclear speciation of aluminum) and the positively charged trimeric species, Al3(OH)45+ (for the polynuclear speciation of aluminum). The emulsion destabilization probably occurs by charge neutralization, carried out jointly by the polynuclear species and by positively charged aluminum hydroxide. This sorption mechanism is likely to be the primary coagulation mechanism during the reactive stage. The formation of aluminum hydroxide and/or oxide during the stabilization stage may also take place, which indicates the gradual change of the dominant removal mechanism to sweep flocculation.
Endovascular management of massive pulmonary embolism with clot fragmentation and suction
Authors: Belczak Sergio Quilici , Sincos Igor Rafael , Aun Ricardo , Lederman Alex , Mioto Neto Boulanger , Saliture Fernando , Lobato Manoel
Published: April 2013

Massive pulmonary embolism with right ventricular dysfunction may be treated with thrombolysis, embolectomy, or percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy. This study describes our experience with two patients that had massive pulmonary embolism and were treated with percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy and reports on the mid-term results of this procedure. A 28-year-old man and a 70-year-old woman were diagnosed with deep venous thrombosis and massive pulmonary embolism. They first had lower limb edema followed by sudden onset of dyspnea. Their physical examination revealed edema, tachypnea, chest discomfort and jugular turgescence. Both needed to receive oxygen using a nasal cannula. Doppler ultrasound, echocardiography, and computed tomography angiography were used to establish the diagnoses. Patients underwent percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy using the Aspirex® system (Straub Medical), and their clinical condition and imaging study findings improved substantially. At mid-term follow-up, patient conditions were improving satisfactorily.
Tratamento endovascular de fístula aortocaval pós-traumática tardia: relato de caso
Authors: Cavalcante Leonardo Pessoa , Bernardes Marcos Velludo , Rocha Ricardo Dias da , Parisati Marcos Henrique , Alfaia Juliana Lopes , Souza José Emerson dos Santos , Lacerda Patrícia de Souza , Pereira Raquel Magalhães
Published: April 2013

As fístulas aortocavais são entidades raras e de etiologia variada. Uma minoria é consequente a eventos pós-traumáticos. As manifestações clínicas, nesses casos, podem ser agudas ou tardias. As tardias manifestam-se dias, semanas ou anos após o trauma, principalmente como quadro de insuficiência cardíaca congestiva. O tratamento de tais fístulas pode ser realizado através do reparo direto por cirurgia aberta ou através da abordagem endovascular. Relatamos o caso de um paciente do sexo masculino, de 53 anos que apresentou, 27 anos após um ferimento por arma branca abdominal, sinais importantes de insuficiência cardíaca congestiva, manifestada como palpitações e dispneia, fibrilação atrial paroxística, além de pressão arterial divergente e sopro em epigástrio. A angiotomografia confirmou o diagnóstico de fístula aortocaval e procedeu-se ao tratamento endovascular para o selamento da fístula. O paciente, segundo acompanhamento após três meses, apresentou evolução satisfatória, com melhora significante do quadro e controle adequado da insuficiência cardíaca congestiva.
Small time scale plankton structure variations at the entrance of a tropical eutrophic bay (Guanabara Bay, Brazil)
Authors: Guenther Mariana , Lima Isabel , Mugrabe Glenda , Tenenbaum Denise Rivera , Gonzalez-Rodriguez Eliane , Valentin Jean Louis
Published: April 2013

The dynamics of the plankton compartments at the entrance of Guanabara Bay (SE Brazil) were assessed during a short-term temporal survey to estimate their trophic correlations. Size-fractioned phytoplankton (picoplankton: < 2µm, nanoplankton: 2-20µm and microplankton: > 20µm) biomass and photosynthetic efficiency, composition and abundance of the auto-and heterotrophic nano-and microplankton, and mesozooplankton were evaluated at a fixed station for 3 consecutive days at 3-h intervals, in the surface and bottom (20m) layers. The variability of almost all plankton compartments in the surface layer was directly dependent on temperature, indicating the great influence of the circulation at the entrance of the bay on plankton structure. In the surface layer, the mesozooplankton seems to be sustained by both autotrophic nano-and picoplankton, this last being channeled through the microzooplankton. Near the bottom, both auto-and heterotrophic microplankton are probably supporting the mesozooplankton biomass. Our findings thus suggest that the entrance of Guanabara bay presents a multivorous food web, i.e., a combination of both grazing and microbial trophic pathways.
Brazilian sandy beach macrofauna production: a review
Authors: Petracco Marcelo , Cardoso Ricardo Silva , Corbisier Thais Navajas , Turra Alexander
Published: April 2013

The state of the art of the studies on the production of Brazilian sandy beach macrofauna was analyzed on the basis of the data available in the literature. For this purpose, the representativeness of the production dataset was examined by latitudinal distribution, degree of exposure and morphodynamic state of beaches, taxonomic groups, and methods employed. A descriptive analysis was, further, made to investigate the trends in production of the more representative taxonomic groups and species of sandy beach macrofauna. A total of 69 macrofauna annual production estimates were obtained for 38 populations from 25 studies carried out between 22º56'S and 32º20'S. Production estimates were restricted to populations on beaches located on the southern and southeastern Brazilian coast. Most of the populations in the dataset inhabit exposed dissipative sandy beaches and are mainly represented by mollusks and crustaceans, with a smaller number of polychaetes. The trends in production among taxonomic groups follow a similar pattern to that observed on beaches throughout the world, with high values for bivalves and decapods. The high turnover rate (P/B ratio) of the latter was due to the presence of several populations of the mole crab Emerita brasiliensis, which can attain high values of productivity, in the dataset. Most of the studies focus on the comparison of production and, especially, of P/B ratio according to life history traits in populations of the same species/taxonomic group. Despite the importance of life history-production studies, other approaches, such as the effect of man-induce disturbances on the macrofauna, should be undertaken in these threatened environments.
Chlorococcales planctônicas do Rio São João, Parque Nacional do Iguaçu, Paraná, Brasil
Authors: Bortolini Jascieli Carla , Meurer Thamis , Godinho Luciana Rufino , Bueno Norma Catarina
Published: April 2013

O trabalho objetivou o levantamento taxonômico das espécies algais pertencentes à ordem Chlorococcales (Chlorophyceae) do Rio São João, Parque Nacional do Iguaçu, Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná, Brasil. As amostras foram coletadas no período de junho de 2008 a maio de 2009 em três estações de amostragem ao longo do leito do rio. O material fitoplanctônico obtido com rede de plâncton com abertura de malha de 25 µm foi imediatamente fixado em solução de Transeau. A análise qualitativa das amostras possibilitou a identificação de 28 táxons distribuídos nas famílias: Hydrodictyaceae, Oocystaceae e Scenedesmaceae. O gênero mais representativo foi Desmodesmus An, Friedl & Hegewald com dez táxons do total. Chlorococcum Meneghini, nom. cons., Coelastrum Nägeli in Kützing e Sorastrum Kützing foram os gêneros que menos contribuíram para a biodiversidade, com apenas um táxon cada.
Estudos taxonômicos em Heteropterys subsect: Stenophyllarion (Malpighiaceae) no Brasil
Authors: Sebastiani Renata , Mamede Maria Candida Henrique
Published: April 2013

Heteropterys é o segundo maior gênero de Malpighiaceae, apresentando como sinapomorfia o fruto esquizocárpico separando-se na maturidade em samários com ala dorsal única e espessada na margem inferior. No último tratamento taxonômico do gênero, as espécies foram agrupadas em dois subgêneros, quatro seções e seis subseções, além de vários taxa infra-específicos. Heteropterys subsect. Stenophyllarion reune espécies com flores pequenas dispostas em corimbos ou panículas com raque, pedúnculos e pedicelos delgados, androceu zigomorfo e estiletes arqueados. As espécies brasileiras pertencentes a esta subseção são: H. crenulata Mart. ex Griseb., H. fluminensis (Griseb.) W.R. Anderson, H. intermedia (A. Juss.) Griseb., H. leschenaultiana A. Juss., H. microcarpa Skottsb., H. pauciflora (A. Juss.) A. Juss., H. wiedeana A Juss. e H. brunnea Sebastiani & Mamede, uma espécie nova relacionada a H. fluminensis. Neste trabalho, são apresentados chave analítica, descrições, ilustrações, e comentários sobre a morfologia, ecologia e distribuição geográfica das espécies. Como resultados são propostos 15 sinônimos novos, o restabelecimento de H. microcarpa e H. wiedeana e designados 11 lectótipos e um neótipo.
Redescoberta de Centroglossa macroceras Barb. Rodr. e Thysanoglossa jordanensis Porto & Brade (Orchidaceae), duas micro-orquídeas consideradas presumivelmente extintas no Estado de São Paulo, Brasil
Authors: Miranda Marcelo Rodrigues , Menini Neto Luiz
Published: April 2013

A redescoberta de Centroglossa macroceras e Thysanoglossa jordanensis no Estado de São Paulo é relatada. As duas espécies foram citadas na lista de espécies da flora ameaçadas de extinção no Estado de São Paulo na categoria Presumivelmente Extinta, em virtude da inexistência de registros no estado nos últimos 50 anos. Ambas foram reencontradas no município de São José dos Campos, distrito de São Francisco Xavier, na Serra da Mantiqueira. Após esta redescoberta, estas espécies devem ser enquadradas na categoria de Criticamente em Perigo, em virtude da ocorrência restrita e do número reduzido de indivíduos observados. Centroglossa macroceras é também lectotipificada.
O gênero Polygala L. (Polygalaceae) na região Sul do Brasil
Authors: Lüdtke Raquel , Souza-Chies Tatiana Teixeira de , Miotto Silvia Teresinha Sfoggia
Published: April 2013

A família Polygalaceae está representada por cinco gêneros no Sul do Brasil: Acanthocladus, Bredemeyera, Monnina, Polygala e Securidaca. O gênero Polygala é o mais abundante da família Polygalaceae, com aproximadamente 725 espécies mundialmente distribuídas nos mais diversos ambientes. Na flora brasileira são conhecidos 140 táxons de Polygala. Foram reconhecidas 39 espécies de Polygala para a região Sul do Brasil, pertencentes aos subgêneros Hebeclada, Ligustrina e Polygala, sendo o último o que concentra o maior número de espécies, 31. São fornecidas descrições dos táxons, ilustrações, chaves de identificação, dados sobre hábitat, distribuição geográfica e observações ecológicas.
A família Xyridaceae no município de Mucugê, BA, Brasil
Authors: Silva Gisele de Oliveira , Wanderley Maria das Graças Lapa
Published: April 2013

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo estudar as Xyridaceae do município de Mucugê, como parte do Projeto Flora da Bahia. Mucugê localiza-se no centro do Estado da Bahia, no limite norte da Cadeia do Espinhaço, abrigando parte do Parque Nacional da Chapada Diamantina e o Parque Municipal de Mucugê. O tipo vegetacional predominante em Mucugê é o campo rupestre, um dos maiores centros de diversidade da flora brasileira. O trabalho foi baseado em coleções de herbário e novas coletas. Contém descrições, ilustrações, chaves de identificação e dados de localização geográfica dos táxons, bem como comentários taxonômicos. Foram reconhecidas 19 espécies para o município de Mucugê, pertencentes ao gênero Xyris, sendo cinco táxons endêmicos da Chapada Diamantina.
Ericaceae do Parque Nacional do Itatiaia, RJ, Brasil
Authors: Mezabarba Viviane , Vianna Filho Marcelo Dias Machado , Borges Rafael Augusto Xavier , Mansano Vidal de Freitas
Published: April 2013

O presente trabalho compreende o levantamento florístico da família Ericaceae no Parque Nacional do Itatiaia, localizado nos Estados do Rio de Janeiro e Minas Gerais, Sudeste do Brasil. Após a realização de coletas e observações de campo, levantamento bibliográfico e consulta a herbários, foram registradas 14 espécies subordinadas a três gêneros: Agarista (4), Gaultheria (5) e Gaylussacia (5). São apresentados chave de identificação, descrições morfológicas, ilustrações e comentários sobre a distribuição geográfica das espécies.
Cianoliquens dos gêneros Coccocarpia, Collema e Leptogium do Parque Estadual da Cantareira, SP, Brasil, depositados no herbário SP
Authors: Benatti Michel Navarro , Kitaura Marcos Junji , Dias Iane Paula Rego Cunha , Marcelli Marcelo Pinto
Published: April 2013

O levantamento de espécimes de liquens foliosos do Parque Estadual da Cantareira e arredores depositados no herbário SP inclui 14 espécimes de cianoliquens, pertencentes à sete espécies dos gêneros Coccocarpia, Collema e Leptogium. Este é o primeiro registro dessas espécies para a área, sendo apresentadas uma chave de identificação, descrições, comentários e ilustrações. Collema fuscovirens é citado pela primeira vez para a América do Sul, Leptogium coralloideum pela primeira vez para o Estado de São Paulo e o lectótipo de L. austroamericanum é designado.
Limestone filler/cement ratio effect on the flow behaviour of a SCC cement paste
Authors: Rubio-Hernández Francisco José , Morales-Alcalde Juan Manuel , Gómez-Merino Ana Isabel
Published: April 2013

The effect of cement substitution by limestone filler on the steady and transitory rheological behaviours of a fresh self-compacting cement paste has been studied. An absolute rheometer has been used to measure rheological parameters. Whereas a small proportion of limestone filler (< 3% w/w) favours the self-compacting behaviour, higher concentrations of this additive modify the system to convert it into a conventional paste. The thixotropy study has been made just after contact of the cement with water during the first 10 min. The cement hydration masks the reversible effects when the tests last more than this time limit. An exponential growth fits the evolution with time of the structure built at rest. The microstructure build-up rate parameter does not show dependence with the limestone filler concentration. The microstructure break-down rate parameter slightly increases with the limestone filler concentration.
Associations Between Attitudes Toward Violence and Intimate Partner Violence in South Africa and Tanzania
Authors: Wubs Annegreet Gera , Aarø Leif Edvard , Mathews Catherine , Onya Hans E. , Mbwambo Jessie
Published: April 2013

Attitude change approaches are common in the prevention of intimate partner violence (IPV) among adolescents. This study examined associations between perpetration or victimization and attitudes toward IPV with data from a longitudinal randomized controlled trial (RCT) of an HIV prevention intervention among school students in three sites in South Africa and Tanzania. Data analyses were confined to students from the control group only, and to those with experience with romantic relationships. Boys and those more involved with violence reported more violence-supportive attitudes. For Cape Town (and to some extent Mankweng), the results of prospective prediction are consistent with the notion of a bidirectional attitudes–behavior interrelationship. For Dar es Salaam attitudes predicted behavior prospectively; however, prediction in the opposite direction was not confirmed. These results indicate that attitude change strategies may be useful complementary to structural approaches also in global South settings, although their effectiveness may vary.
Public Responses to Intimate Partner Violence: Comparing Preferences of Chinese and American College Students
Authors: Wu Yuning , Button Deeanna M. , Smolter Nicole , Poteyeva Margarita
Published: April 2013

Based on data collected from college students in Beijing and Hong Kong (China) and in Newark and Detroit (United States), this study assesses and explains citizen preferences of 2 major formalized responses to intimate partner violence (IPV)—law enforcement and social services intervention—in a cross-cultural context. Results show that Chinese respondents have lower support for law enforcement responses. Regional variation is only observed within China with students from Hong Kong supporting both law enforcement and social services responses more than their Beijing counterparts. Results also show that social attitudinal variables—including male dominance ideology, perceptions of IPV causation, support for the criminalization of IPV, and tolerance of IPV—influence public preferences of responses to IPV more than do demographic and experiential variables.
Body Image Among Victims of Sexual and Physical Abuse
Authors: Kremer Inbar , Orbach Israel , Rosenbloom Tova
Published: April 2013

This study tries to understand the differences in body experience between victims of sexual abuse and physical abuse. Ninety-eight women completed questionnaires that measured personal information, body-image aberration, body sensitivity and control, and body investment. Findings indicated that victims of sexual abuse demonstrate less body maintenance and protection in addition to greater injury to body sensitivity and control than victims of physical abuse. Moreover, comparing victims of sexual abuse to physical abuse, findings revealed that only victims of sexual abuse report body-image aberrations. Thus, sexual and physical abuse should be addressed discretely because each has differential effects on bodily attitudes of victims.
Gender Differences in Victimization Risk: Exploring the Role of Deviant Lifestyles
Authors: Zaykowski Heather , Gunter Whitney D.
Published: April 2013

Although research over the past few decades has illustrated that gender is a significant predictor of victimization, there has been less attention toward explaining these differences. Furthermore, there has been little attention given to how offending and other deviant behaviors contribute to victimization risk for males and females. This is surprising considering that offending, particularly violent behavior, is highly correlated with victimization risk and that males are more likely to offend than females. This study applied cross-sectional and time-ordered models predicting violent victimization and repeat victimization to examine how deviant lifestyles affected victimization risk for males and females. The results suggest that violent behavior increases risk for males and females in the cross-sectional models but not in the time-ordered model. These findings suggest that future research and policies should address longitudinal changes and gender-specific analyses.
Effect of Additives on Ozone‐Based Decomposition of Reactive Black 5 and Direct Red 28 Dyes
Authors: Pérez A. , Poznyak T. , Chairez I.
Published: April 2013

In this research, ozonation of Reactive Black 5 (RB5) and Direct Red 28 (DR28) under the presence of Na2SO4 and Na2CO3 used as textile additives was investigated. The effect of these salts on discoloration, degradation dynamics, and the composition of the final compounds were studied. Different systems were evaluated; such as RB5‐Na2SO4 (100 g/L), RB5‐Na2CO3 (30 g/L), RB5‐Na2SO4/Na2CO3 (100 g/L/30 g/L), and DR28‐Na2SO4 (10 g/L, 40 g/L, and 80 g/L) with dye concentrations of 50, 150, and 250 mg/L without pH adjustment. Discoloration of RB5 and DR28 with and without additives was determined by visible and UV (UV‐Vis) spectroscopy. Decomposition of the dyes and the dynamics of intermediates and final byproducts were followed by high performance liquid chromatography. The presence of additives accelerated discoloration and decomposition for both dyes (more than 50%). The accumulation of oxalic and formic acids was observed. Possible mechanism schemes of ozonation for both dyes are proposed.
Removal of Perchlorate in Water by Calcined MgAl‐CO3 Layered Double Hydroxides
Authors: Yiqiong Yang , Naiyun Gao , Yang Deng , Guoping Yu
Published: April 2013

Perchlorate is widely known as an inorganic endocrine disruptor. In this study, MgAl‐CO3 layered double hydroxides with different Mg/Al molar ratios were prepared using a coprecipitation method and followed by a calcination process at a temperature range of 300 to 700°C. Results showed that the best synthesis conditions were a calcination temperature of 550°C and Mg/Al molar ratio of 3. Further, the adsorbent and its adsorption product were characterized by x‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform‐infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric‐differential thermal analysis. The layered double hydroxides structures in the adsorbent were lost during calcination at 550°C but were reconstructed subsequent to adsorption of perchlorate, indicating that the “memory effect” appeared to play an important role in perchlorate adsorption. The perchlorate adsorption pattern was best described by the pseudo‐second‐order kinetics model, while the Freundlich isotherms appropriately explained perchlorate adsorption data.
Expansion of the Homeostasis Model Assessment of β-Cell Function and Insulin Resistance to Enable Clinical Trial Outcome Modeling Through the Interactive Adjustment of Physiology and Treatment Effects: iHOMA2
Authors: Hill Nathan R. , Levy Jonathan C. , Matthews David R.
Published: April 2013

OBJECTIVE

To describe and make available an interactive, 24-variable homeostasis model assessment (iHOMA2) that extends the HOMA2 model, enabling the modeling of physiology and treatment effects, to present equations of the HOMA2 and iHOMA2 models, and to exemplify iHOMA2 in two widely differing scenarios: changes in insulin sensitivity with thiazolidinediones and changes in renal threshold with sodium glucose transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibition.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

iHOMA2 enables a user of the available software to examine and modify the mathematical functions describing the organs and tissues involved in the glucose and hormonal compartments. We exemplify this with SGLT2 inhibition modeling (by changing the renal threshold parameters) using published data of renal effect, showing that the modeled effect is concordant with the effects on fasting glucose from independent data.

RESULTS

iHOMA2 modeling of thiazolidinediones effect suggested that changes in insulin sensitivity in the fasting state are predominantly hepatic. SGLT2 inhibition modeled by iHOMA2 resulted in a decrease in mean glucose of 1.1 mmol/L. Observed data showed a decrease in glucose of 0.9 mmol/L. There was no significant difference between the model and the independent data. Manipulation of iHOMA2's renal excretion threshold variable suggested that a decrease of 17% was required to obtain a 0.9 mmol/L decrease in mean glucose.

CONCLUSIONS

iHOMA2 is an extended mathematical model for the assessment of insulin resistance and β-cell function. The model can be used to evaluate therapeutic agents and predict effects on fasting glucose and insulin and on β-cell function and insulin sensitivity.
Clinical Profile of Long-Term Survivors and Nonsurvivors With Type 2 Diabetes
Authors: Mohan Viswanathan , Shanthi Rani Coimbatore Subramanian , Amutha Anandakumar , Dhulipala Sravan , Anjana Ranjit Mohan , Parathasarathy Balasubramanian , Unnikrishnan Ranjit
Published: April 2013

OBJECTIVE

To compare clinical profile of long-term survivors and nonsurvivors with type 2 diabetes (T2DM).

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

After conducting a retrospective survey of >200,000 case records, we identified T2DM survivors (>40 years of duration) and age at diagnosis and sex-matched T2DM nonsurvivors. Prevalence of complications and causes of death were analyzed. Retinopathy was diagnosed by retinal photography. Microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria, peripheral vascular disease based on ankle-brachial index <0.9, coronary artery disease based on history of myocardial infarction or coronary revascularization, and neuropathy based on vibration perception threshold >20 V were compared in both groups.

RESULTS

The mean duration of diabetes of survivors (n = 238) was 43.7 ± 3.9 years, and that of the nonsurvivors (n = 307), at time of death, was 22.4 ± 11.0 years (P < 0.001). Nonsurvivors had significantly higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures, plasma glucose, HbA1c, serum cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides and lower HDL cholesterol compared with long-term survivors (P < 0.001 for all parameters except systolic blood pressure, which was P = 0.027). Myocardial infarction (46.4%) and renal failure (16.6%) were the most common causes of death. Prevalence of most complications was higher among survivors because of longer duration and older age, as follows, for survivors versus nonsurvivors: retinopathy, 76 vs. 62%; microalbuminuria, 39.1 vs. 27.3%; macroalbuminuria, 8.4 vs. 23.7%; neuropathy, 86.5 vs. 63.5%; peripheral vascular disease, 23.1 vs. 11.4%; and coronary artery disease, 44.5 vs. 40.7%.

CONCLUSIONS

Long-term survivors with T2DM had better glycemic and blood pressure control and more favorable lipid profiles.
Effects of Intraduodenal Glutamine on Incretin Hormone and Insulin Release, the Glycemic Response to an Intraduodenal Glucose Infusion, and Antropyloroduodenal Motility in Health and Type 2 Diabetes
Authors: Chang Jessica , Wu Tongzhi , Greenfield Jerry R. , Samocha-Bonet Dorit , Horowitz Michael , Rayner Christopher K.
Published: April 2013

OBJECTIVE

Glutamine reduces postprandial glycemia when given before oral glucose. We evaluated whether this is mediated by stimulation of insulin and/or slowing of gastric emptying.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Ten healthy subjects were studied during intraduodenal (ID) infusion of glutamine (7.5 or 15 g) or saline over 30 min, followed by glucose (75 g over 100 min), while recording antropyloroduodenal pressures. Ten patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) were also studied with 15 g glutamine or saline.

RESULTS

ID glutamine stimulated glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1; healthy: P < 0.05; T2DM: P < 0.05), glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP; P = 0.098; P < 0.05), glucagon (P < 0.01; P < 0.001), insulin (P = 0.05; P < 0.01), and phasic pyloric pressures (P < 0.05; P < 0.05), but did not lower blood glucose (P = 0.077; P = 0.5).

CONCLUSIONS

Glutamine does not lower glycemia after ID glucose, despite stimulating GLP-1, GIP, and insulin, probably due to increased glucagon. Its capacity for pyloric stimulation suggests that delayed gastric emptying is a major mechanism for lowering glycemia when glutamine is given before oral glucose.
N-Terminal Probrain Natriuretic Peptide Is a Stronger Predictor of Cardiovascular Mortality Than C-Reactive Protein and Albumin Excretion Rate in Elderly Patients With Type 2 Diabetes
Authors: Bruno Graziella , Landi Andrea , Barutta Federica , Ghezzo Giuseppe , Baldin Claudio , Spadafora Laura , Schimmenti Andrea , Prinzis Tania , Cavallo Perin Paolo , Gruden Gabriella
Published: April 2013

OBJECTIVE

To study whether N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is a short-term independent predictor of both all-cause and cardiovascular (CV) mortality in type 2 diabetic patients and to establish whether albuminuria and C-reactive protein (CRP) affect this relationship.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

The prospective study included 1,825 type 2 diabetic patients from the population-based cohort of the Casale Monferrato study. CV risk factors, preexisting CVD, and NT-proBNP levels were evaluated at baseline. All-cause and CV mortality were assessed 5.5 years after baseline examination. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to estimate mortality hazard ratios (HRs).

RESULTS

During the follow-up period, 390 people died (175 for CVD) out of 9,101 person-years of observations. A significantly increased mortality risk by quartiles of NT-proBNP was observed (test for trend, P < 0.001). NT-proBN P values >91 pg/mL conferred HRs of 2.05 (95% CI 1.47–2.86) for all-cause and 4.47 (2.38–8.39) for CV mortality, independently of CV risk factors, including CRP and albumin excretion rate (AER). The association was also significant for modest rises in NT-proBNP levels and in patients without microalbuminuria and CVD at baseline (upper quartiles HRs 3.82 [95% CI 1.24–13.75]) and 3.14 [1.00–9.94]). Albuminuria and NT-proBNP had an additive effect on mortality, though the association was stronger for NT-proBNP.

CONCLUSIONS

NT-proBNP is a strong independent predictor of short-term CV mortality risk in elderly people with type 2 diabetes, including those without preexisting CVD. This association is evident even in people with slightly increased values, is not modified by CRP, and is additive to that provided by AER.
Numerical approach to the Caputo derivative of the unknown function
Authors: Zeng Fanhai , Li Changpin
Published: April 2013

If a function can be explicitly expressed, then one can easily compute its Caputo derivative by the known methods. If a function cannot be explicitly expressed but it satisfies a differential equation, how to seek Caputo derivative of such a function has not yet been investigated. In this paper, we propose a numerical algorithm for computing the Caputo derivative of a function defined by a classical (integer-order) differential equation. By the properties of Caputo derivative derived in this paper, we can change the original typical differential system into an equivalent Caputo-type differential system. Numerical examples are given to support the derived numerical method.
Comparative Study of Morphological and Histological Changes between Differently Structured Expanded Polytetrafluoroethylene Implants in an Animal Model
Authors: Kim Ji Heui , Lee Jung Min , Ju Hyung Woo , Lee Jun Ho , Jun Ah Young , Park Chan Hum
Published: April 2013

Background

Expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (e-PTFE) is a popular graft material used in augmentation rhinoplasty. New e-PTFE has thicker fibrils and is more compact than first developed e-PTFE. This study aimed to compare morphological and histological changes between differently structured e-PTFE implants in a rat model.

Methods

Two types of e-PTFE were implanted in the cranial region of 30 adult male rats. En bloc specimens containing the implants and surrounding soft tissues were sampled 1, 3, and 6 months after implantation. We measured the three-dimensional size of the implants over time and evaluated histological changes using light and electron microscopy.

Results

Grossly, no implants were extruded, and there was no evidence of wound infection. All first developed e-PTFE samples were fixed to surrounding tissues after 1 month, whereas new e-PTFE samples tended to migrate and were easily separated from surrounding tissues until 3 months after implantation. The first developed e-PTFE height diminution rate was 14.7% of the initial value after 6 months; however, new e-PTFE size was not changed. Diameter and height diminution rates for first developed e-PTFE were significantly greater than those for new e-PTFE after 6 months. Histologically, connective tissue in growth was observed in first developed e-PTFE after 1 month, and the internodal space decreased over time; however, connective tissue did not infiltrate into new e-PTFE until 6 months and the internodal space was not significantly changed.

Conclusion

First developed e-PTFE should be carefully trimmed in augmentation because of its potential to decrease in size over time, whereas new e-PTFE is more likely to show migration and instability.
The Theatre of Somerset Maugham
Authors: Cordell Richard
Published: April 2013

No living dramatist is so easy to see whole as Somerset Maugham, for he completed his "theatre" twenty-five years ago and since 1933 has steadfastly refused to return to playwriting. We can see his dramatic work with useful perspective, like that of Galsworthy and Barrie. A few new plays in recent years have vaguely carried his name tag in large print, for an obvious reason, such as Theatre and Jane, but he did not write these plays. In fine print one reads that they derive from Maugham's fiction, as Rain did in 1922. Unlike Henry Arthur Jones, Arthur Wing Pinero, Sir James Barrie, and even Bernard Shaw, Somerset Maugham knew when the time came to stop writing plays, and he stopped. In the Preface to the sixth and final volume of the published plays (1934) he writes: "I am conscious that I am no longer in touch with the public that patronizes the theatre ... It is high time . . . to retire. I do so with relief." He saw that tastes were changing, that the demand for a "good story" was growing less insistent, that the notwell- made play pleased a generation impatient with literary contrivance, that what he considered good workmanship was yielding to what he considered sprawl, that his crispness, "sticking to the point," directness of attack were becoming unfashionable.
The Courtship Dance in The Importance of Being Earnest
Authors: Reinert Otto
Published: April 2013

The beautiful farce of confusion that constitutes the plot of The Importance of Being Earnest reaches its climax in a series of confrontations in the second half of Act II and the first scene of Act III. The denouement with its climax of revelations is still to come, but dramaturgically speaking the play's high point-or high plateau, for the situation is sustained-is the sequence of comic exploitations of the fact that both Jack and Algernon are engaged, to different girls, under the name of a fictitious Ernest Worthing. I shall argue here that the sequence derives added excellence from being made up of a set of symmetrical physical movements executed by the two young couples. It becomes a kind of dance, slow and elaborate, a visual image of the artifice of sophisticated courtship and a major device in the play's esthetic distancing.
Tragic Elements In A Duerrenmatt Comedy
Authors: Heilman Robert
Published: April 2013

FRIEDRICH DUERRENMATT'S The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi (1952) has links with both earlier and later plays. It is the first of the early three in which appear Jacobean elements such as the revenge motif; in which, in the worlds depicted, power is used madly or is held by the mad; but in which, also, the melodramatic intensity can approach the border of tragedy. The revenge motif appears, of course, in An Angel Comes to Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar is related to Mr. Mississippi, just as Akki, the bearer of restorative values, is to Count Übelohe of The Marriage. Finally, The Marriage belongs with the earlier group in that Duerrenmatt calls it, without qualification, a "Comedy" (p. 20).
Sean O'Casey Studies Through 1964
Authors: Carpenter Charles
Published: April 2013

A REASONABLY COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF BIOGRAPHICAL, critical, and other scholarly studies of Sean O'Casey has been' needed for a long time. Otto Brandstadter's (see below) is out of date and by no' means readily available for many scholars; besides, it neither covers the ground adequately nor distinguishes between the useful and the trivial, the "solid" and the ephemeral. It even refers to a few books which do not have O'Casey material at all. The following list is at once more exhaustive and more selective than Brandstadter's. I have omitted most reviews and all apparent trivia, and have checked as many bibliographical references as possible against the books and articles themselves. (Items not examined, and thus not verified, are marked "nv.") For practical reasons, I have not listed material published after the year of O'Casey's death.
Der Prozess And Le Proces:A Study In Dramatic Adaptation
Authors: Vallette Rebecca
Published: April 2013

THE COMPARATIVE STUDY OF KAFKA'S Der Prozess and its French theatrical version Le Proces must be carried out on two distinct levels: culture and genre. Not only did the German work have to be adapted for a French audience, but the content of the novel had to be fitted to the requirements of the stage. The resulting drama is all the more worthy of analysis in that it represents the combined efforts of a ranking novelist and an actor-director with an international reputation, of Andre Gide and Jean-Louis Barrault.
The Fall And After—Arthur Miller's Confession
Authors: Bigsby
Published: April 2013

After the Fall probes deeper than Miller has attempted before in an attempt to penetrate to the very nature of man. In All My Sons and Death of a Salesman he was concerned with a society which had inverted its values and placed the importance of success in economic and social spheres above the necessity to establish real contact between human beings. In After the Fall he sees a concern with success as being merely one aspect of man's egotism—an egotism which leads him on to cruelty and in the name of innocence and truth to a dissociation from fellow man which is itself a source of guilt. Its theme is an extension of Biff's statement in Death of a Salesman, "I'm just what I am that's all." This statement of amoral existence is expressed here in terms which tend to remind one of Steinbeck's naturalism, " ... is there no treason but only man, unblameable as trees or cats or clouds?" The "truth" which the play's protagonist, Quentin, discovers is the need to accept the inconsistency and violence of man and yet to renew love constantly in the face of this knowledge. He learns in the course of the play to accept the world he inhabits as a world seen after the Fall. Happiness, in so far as it is not the neutral happiness of non-involvement, derives, he discovers, purely from this knowledge. "Is the knowing all? To know, and even happily, that we meet unblessed; not in some garden of wax fruit and painted trees, that lie of Eden, but after, after the Fall, after many, many deaths. Is the knowing all?" (p. 127) In this knowledge, to Miller, is implicit the end of fear and the beginning of new life.
Strindberg's Gost Sonata:Parodied Fairy Tale On Original Sin
Authors: Mays Milton
Published: April 2013

DESPITE A GOOD DEAL OF INTEREST IN Strindberg's The Ghost Sonata, critics, as Evert Sprinchorn puts it, "seem reluctant to declare that the play possesses any great coherence." There has been, in fact, a marked willingness to take the dodge that "dreams needn't make sense": doubly specious, since plays are not dreams, however "dreamlike," and even dreams have, if not a logic, a psychologic. The many readers who find The Ghost Sonata one of the most exciting pieces in modern drama—however much avoided by pusillanimous directors—are surely correct. The play, that is to say, for all its admitted redundancies and even symbolic nonsequiturs, must have a thematic and symbolic coherence. The thesis here advanced—which by no means explains everything—is that The Ghost Sonata takes as its main structural mode the fairy tale, that it is in fact a parodied fairy tale of sorts, and that this form is the means of saying something about Original Sin.
A Selective Bibliography of Works Published in English in 1966
Authors: Haskell Jogn , Shedd Robert
Published: April 2013

A Selective Bibliography of Works Published in English in 1966
Maxwell Anderson: A Changing Attitude Toward Love
Authors: Avery Laurence
Published: April 2013

MAXWELL ANDERSON'S 1928 PLAY God of the L.ightning was the first of his two plays growing out of the Sacco-Vanzetti case. Its inspiration in an actual trial and especially its aim of directly protesting an actual injustice called for realistic treatment. The incidents of the plot are of the world of the twenties, taken, it seems, from the daily newspapers. And the feelings and language of the characters are those of believable human beings. A good example of this truth to human actuality comes in the second act trial scene. Macready, the play's central character, tried on trumped-up charges, is asked during cross-examination if he isn't in love with a certain girl. In defiance of the district attorney and the corrupt legal and social system behind him, Macready replies: "It won't make any difference whether I'm in love with a girl or not—not to them. And at that it's nobody's business but the girl's." In the context of the play there is nothing exceptional about this reply; it is realistic, showing a sensible appraisal of the situation Macready is in. But in a larger context, the totality of Anderson's work, the realism itself is worthy of remark, because on the subject of love Anderson was sometimes sentimental.
O'Neill's Use, Of Dante In The Fountain And The Hairy Ape
Authors: Bigsby
Published: April 2013

When Tiny A lice first appeared IN New York its reception was something less than ecstatic. The general impression was that Albee had moved over to join that school of the deliberately boring and repulsive then in process of being identified as Camp. At best it was thought to be a personal therapy paralleled perhaps by Tennessee Williams' Camino Real; at worst it was a confidence trick pulled on the world in general and the drama critics in particular.
The Crucible: A Structural View
Authors: Hill Philip
Published: April 2013

The Crucible IS TOO OFTEN SPOKEN OF AS ONE OF Arthur Miller's less successful plays. Its relative merits as compared with Death of a Salesman need not be argued here, but unquestionably the calumny that has been heaped upon it by well-meaning critics is little deserved- the play, however short it may fall of being the great American drama, is nevertheless a thoroughly successful, provocative, and stimulating theater piece. When competently performed, it can provide a deeply moving experience for the theater-goer.