bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Aldosterone Induces Vascular Insulin Resistance by Increasing Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Receptor and Hybrid Receptor
Authors: Sherajee Shamshad J. , Fujita Yoshiko , Rafiq Kazi , Nakano Daisuke , Mori Hirohito , Masaki Tsutomu , Hara Taiga , Kohno Masakazu , Nishiyama Akira , Hitomi Hirofumi
Published: December 2011

Objective—

We previously showed that aldosterone induces insulin resistance in rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Because insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF1R) affects insulin signaling, we hypothesized that aldosterone induces vascular insulin resistance and remodeling via upregulation of IGF1R and its hybrid insulin/insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor.

Methods and Results—

Hybrid receptor expression was measured by immunoprecipitation. Hypertrophy of VSMCs was evaluated by
3
H-labeled leucine incorporation. Aldosterone (10 nmol/L) significantly increased protein and mRNA expression of IGF1R and hybrid receptor in VSMCs but did not affect insulin receptor expression. Mineralocorticoid receptor blockade with eplerenone inhibited aldosterone-induced increases in IGF1R and hybrid receptor. Aldosterone augmented insulin (100 nmol/L)-induced extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 phosphorylation. Insulin-induced leucine incorporation and α-smooth muscle actin expression were also augmented by aldosterone in VSMCs. These aldosterone-induced changes were significantly attenuated by eplerenone or picropodophyllin, an IGF1R inhibitor. Chronic infusion of aldosterone (0.75 μg/hour) increased blood pressure and aggravated glucose metabolism in rats. Expression of hybrid receptor, azan-positive area, and oxidative stress in aorta was increased in aldosterone-infused rats. Spironolactone and tempol prevented these aldosterone-induced changes.

Conclusion—

Aldosterone induces vascular remodeling through IGF1R- and hybrid receptor–dependent vascular insulin resistance. Mineralocorticoid receptor blockade may attenuate angiopathy in hypertensive patients with hyperinsulinemia.
Syndecan-1 Displays a Protective Role in Aortic Aneurysm Formation by Modulating T Cell–Mediated Responses
Authors: Xiao Jiantao , Angsana Julianty , Wen Jing , Smith Sumona V. , Park Pyong Woo , Ford Mandy L. , Haller Carolyn A. , Chaikof Elliot L.
Published: December 2011

Objective—

Chronic inflammation drives progressive and pathological remodeling inherent to formation of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Syndecan-1 (Sdc-1) is a cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycan that displays the capacity to modulate inflammatory processes within the vascular wall. In the current investigation, the role of Sdc-1 in AAA formation was examined using 2 models of experimental aneurysm induction, angiotensin II infusion and elastase perfusion.

Methods and Results—

Sdc-1 deficiency exacerbated AAA formation in both experimental models and was associated with increased degradation of elastin, greater protease activity, and enhanced inflammatory cell recruitment into the aortic wall. Bone marrow transplantation studies indicated that deficiency of Sdc-1 in marrow-derived cells significantly contributed to AAA severity. Immunostaining revealed augmented Sdc-1 expression in a subset of AAA localized macrophages. We specifically characterized a higher percentage of CD4
+
T cells in Sdc-1-deficient AAA, and antibody depletion studies established the active role of T cells in aneurysmal dilatation. Finally, we confirmed the ability of Sdc-1 macrophage to modulate the inflammatory chemokine environment.

Conclusion—

These investigations identify cross-talk between Sdc-1-expressing macrophages and AAA-localized CD4
+
T cells, with Sdc-1 providing an important counterbalance to T-cell–driven inflammation in the vascular wall.
Warm-Core Formation in Tropical Storm Humberto (2001)
Authors: Dolling Klaus , Barnes Gary M.
Published: December 2011

At 0600 UTC 22 September 2001, Humberto was a tropical depression with a minimum central pressure of 1010 hPa. Twelve hours later, when the first global positioning system dropwindsondes (GPS sondes) were jettisoned, Humberto’s minimum central pressure was 1000 hPa and it had attained tropical storm strength. Thirty GPS sondes, radar from the WP-3D, and in situ aircraft measurements are utilized to observe thermodynamic structures in Humberto and their relationship to stratiform and convective elements during the early stage of the formation of an eye.

The analysis of Tropical Storm Humberto offers a new view of the pre-wind-induced surface heat exchange (pre-WISHE) stage of tropical cyclone evolution. Humberto contained a mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) similar to observations of other developing tropical systems. The MCV advects the exhaust from deep convection in the form of an anvil cyclonically over the low-level circulation center. On the trailing edge of the anvil an area of mesoscale descent induces dry adiabatic warming in the lower troposphere. The nascent warm core at low levels causes the initial drop in pressure at the surface and acts to cap the boundary layer (BL). As BL air flows into the nascent eye, the energy content increases until the energy is released from under the cap on the down shear side of the warm core in the form of vigorous cumulonimbi, which become the nascent eyewall. This series of events show one possible path in which a mesoscale convective system may evolve into a warm-cored structure and intensify into a hurricane.
Comparison of Changes in the Lipid Profile of Postmenopausal Women With Early Stage Breast Cancer Treated With Exemestane or Letrozole
Authors: Bell Lauren Nicole , Nguyen Anne Thi Phuong , Li Lang , Desta Zeruesenay , Henry N. Lynn , Hayes Daniel F. , Wolff Antonio C. , Stearns Vered , Storniolo Anna Maria , Flockhart David A.
Published: December 2011

Effects of aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy on the plasma lipid profile are not clear. Here the authors describe changes in fasting lipids (total cholesterol, high‐density lipoprotein [HDL], low‐density lipoprotein [LDL], and triglycerides) before and after 3 months of exemestane or letrozole treatment. HDL was reduced in the entire cohort (P < .001) and in the exemestane group (P < .001) but unchanged in the letrozole group (P = .169). LDL was increased in the entire cohort (P = .005) and in the letrozole group (P = .002) but unchanged in the exemestane group (P = .361). This effect was at least partially attributable to washout of tamoxifen as only patients with prior use of tamoxifen experienced a significant increase in LDL. Baseline HDL was an independent predictor of the change in HDL (r2 = −0.128, P < .001), and prior tamoxifen use was associated with greater increases in LDL (r2 = 0.057, P < .001). Use of lipid‐altering medications did not protect against the exemestane‐induced drop in HDL or the increase in LDL observed in women with prior use of tamoxifen taking letrozole. In conclusion, AI treatment and/or washout of tamoxifen induced detrimental changes in the lipid profile of postmenopausal women with breast cancer.
Selective decreased grey matter volume of the pain-matrix network in cluster headache
Authors: Absinta Martina , Rocca Maria A , Colombo Bruno , Falini Andrea , Comi Giancarlo , Filippi Massimo
Published: December 2011

Aim: We assessed the pattern of regional white matter and grey matter abnormalities in patients with cluster headache (CH), using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) and voxel-based morphometry (VBM).

Methods: Using a 3.0 Tesla scanner, dual-echo, diffusion tensor and 3D T1-weighted scan were acquired from 15 patients with episodic CH and 19 healthy controls. TBSS analysis was performed using the FMRIB's Diffusion Toolbox. VBM was performed on the 3D T1-weighted images using SPM8.

Results: No diffusivity and volumetry abnormalities of brain white matter were detected in CH patients. Compared with controls, CH patients showed decreased grey matter volume in the right thalamus, head of the right caudate nucleus, right precentral gyrus, right posterior cingulate cortex, bilateral middle frontal gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus, left inferior parietal lobule and left insula (p < 0.001). They also had increased grey matter volume of the right cuneus. The results did not change after hemisphere mirroring in the five patients with left lateralized attacks. The decreased left middle frontal gyrus volume was significantly correlated with disease duration (r = −0.79, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: CH patients experience tissue abnormalities of grey matter regions that are part of the antinociceptive system, which is shared with other chronic pain conditions.
Quantitative Analysis of Muscle and Tendon Retraction in Chronic Rotator Cuff Tears
Authors: Meyer Dominik C. , Farshad Mazda , Amacker Nadja A. , Gerber Christian , Wieser Karl
Published: December 2011

Background: Musculotendinous retraction is a limiting factor for repair of long-standing rotator cuff tears. However, it is currently unknown to what extent the muscle and tendon contribute to the degree of total retraction. Further understanding of this may possibly influence the strategy of musculotendinous reconstruction.

Purpose: To analyze the contribution of muscle and tendon to the process of myotendinous retraction.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging of 130 shoulders with intact (n = 20) or completely torn supraspinatus tendons was analyzed. Fatty infiltration of the supraspinatus muscle was graded according to Goutallier stages. The degree of retraction of the tendon stump and of the musculotendinous junction was assessed.

Results: There were 30 shoulders without evidence of supraspinatus fatty infiltration, 25 with stage 1, 23 with stage 2, 25 with stage 3, and 15 with stage 4 changes. The corresponding tear sizes (distance of tendon end from greater tuberosity) were 4, 21, 27, 37, and 41 mm; the distance of the myotendinous junction from the greater tuberosity was 22, 33, 39, 48, and 48 mm; and the length of the tendons (distance of tendon end to myotendinous junction) was 19, 13, 12, 11, and 8 mm, respectively. In Goutallier stage 3 and above, and in case of a positive tangent sign, the musculotendinous junction was, in 90% of the cases, retracted to or beyond the glenoid.

Conclusion: Musculotendinous retraction in chronic rotator cuff tears results mainly from shortening of the muscle fibers but in advanced stages results also from shortening of the tendon tissue itself. The present data demonstrate, for the first time, that the residual tendon stump in a tendon tear does not have the length of the original tendon and is further shortened over time. Therefore, direct anatomic tendon reinsertion will result in lengthening of the supraspinatus muscle greater than what it would have been before the tear.
Access to Information and Freedom of Information Requests
Authors: Walby Kevin , Larsen Mike
Published: December 2011

Access to information (ATI) and freedom of information (FOI) mechanisms are now relevant features of governments in many liberal democracies today. Citizens, organizations, and permanent residents in several countries across the globe can request unpublished information from federal, provincial, state, county, and municipal government agencies. However, most qualitative researchers appear to be unfamiliar with ATI/FOI or write it off as an approach used by journalists rather than as a way to systematically produce qualitative and longitudinal data about government practices. In this article, the authors discuss the use of ATI/FOI requests as a means of data production. The authors show how the use of ATI/FOI requests intersects with issues such as reflexivity, the Hawthorne effect, interviewing, and discourse analysis. The study objective is to foster a multidisciplinary discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of ATI/FOI requests as a data production tool.
The Journal Project
Authors: Davidson Judith
Published: December 2011

The Journal Project is a qualitative research study of self at the crossroads—a female, middle-aged academic, posttenure, postmenopausal—at sea in her profession and not entirely able to inhabit her own skin. My solution to this dilemma was to study an 18-month period of my personal journals written from June 2006 to March 2008, the period after I received tenure from my university. I used standard qualitative research methods of document analysis to study the 303 entries. The materials were organized and analyzed within NVivo, a qualitative data analysis software. Throughout the process of standard social science analysis, I was also employing arts-based approaches (fiber arts in particular) to deepen and extend my understanding of the findings. The outcome of this work was an exhibit of the fiber works at a qualitative research conference in which I was able to blend the findings derived from a social science analysis within an arts-based presentation. In this piece, I describe the genesis of the Journal Project and document my love affair with fiber arts. The heart of the piece is a description of the exhibit, with attention to the ways that the making of art AND the description of that making extend the possibilities of interpretation for qualitative researchers. I conclude with a discussion of the implications of this experiment with arts-based research for my own practice as a qualitative researcher and, by extension, for others.
Bordering on immoral: Piracy, education, and the ethics of cross-border cooperation in the Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore Growth Triangle
Authors: Long Nicholas
Published: December 2011

The constructed and contingent nature of state borders raises a host of ethical questions regarding their legitimacy and the moral standing of the consequences they engender. This ‘ethical dimension’ is frequently central to how people living in border regions regard both the border and those living on either side of it. Studying border practices as ethical action offers important insights into borderland subjectivities and the factors underpinning the success or failure of cross-border cooperation. This argument is advanced with reference to the Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore Growth Triangle, a transnational arrangement which has been argued to herald the inception of the ‘borderless world’. Although in reality the region remains highly ‘bordered’, notions of ‘borderlessness’ endure as a normative ethical good for inhabitants of Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago. Their ethical stance subverts satisfying collaborations with Singaporeans in the fields of education and maritime security, and ironically works to propagate a sense of national cultural difference.
If ethnography is more than participant-observation, then relations are more than connections: The case for nonlocal ethnography in a world of apparatuses
Authors: Feldman Gregory
Published: December 2011

Efforts to theorize globalization remain limited by an ethnographic data set obtained primarily through direct sensory experience. This article argues that such empiricism persists because the difference between connections and relations as methodological constructs remains blurred. Their conflation precludes a fuller view of how apparatuses organize global processes. Apparatuses decompose direct social connections and replace them with shifting constellations of indirect social relations. Unlike connections, relations are mediated by abstract third agents and have an arbitrary relationship in/to space and time. This weakens participant-observation’s ability to capture an apparatus’s operations. As a remedy, the article suggests ‘nonlocal’ ethnography, which examines how disconnected actors utilize an apparatus’s mediating agents – e.g. statistical calculations, probabilities estimates, high-scale moral narratives, and interpretative paradigms – to channel the global circulation of migrants. The argument for the apparatus’s theoretical value and nonlocal ethnography’s methodological value is illustrated through an illegal migration journey from Senegal to Italy.
Managing Indeterminacy: Culture, Irishness and the Advertising Industry
Authors: O’Boyle Neil
Published: December 2011

Drawing on interviews with advertising practitioners working in Ireland, this article investigates how Irishness is discursively constructed by these workers and focuses particularly on their tendency to shift between a view of Irishness as fluid and uncertain and a view of it as fixed and essential. Rather than consider these positions contradictory, I regard practitioners’ wavering constructions of Irishness as provisional truths born of advertising’s need for predictable or fixed solutions. I further suggest that subtending this decentring and recentring of Irishness is an ‘old’ idea of culture, namely the idea that culture is the complete way of life of a particular people. Importantly, this idea also depicts culture as objective, knowable and actionable, which is crucial to advertising’s professionalization project. The article concludes by examining a recent book on branding, written by the ‘grandfather’ of Irish advertising, John Fanning, as an industry account of (and response to) cultural change in Ireland.
The Social Logic of Late Capitalism: Guilt Fetishism and the Culture of Crisis Industry
Authors: Cremin Colin
Published: December 2011

Culture is often described as a suture for the material real of capitalism, but often that reality is itself signified in such a way as to supply a hegemonic power with its own justification. Using the term social logic, this paper explores the way ideology increasingly emphasizes social-material rather than cultural-representational issues, particularly around concerns about the economy and ecology. The argument is developed in three parts using Marxist and psychoanalytic concepts. First, it is argued that mainstream sociology remains indebted to a description of a world found in postmodern theory. In this theory, social antagonisms are undifferentiated. This creates a frame for signifying multiple problems of capitalism, without necessarily making any connection to an underlying dialectic. Second, using the term ‘culture of crisis industry’, examples are provided from the cultural sphere of how such problems or traumas are fetishized for mass consumption. Third, using the term ‘guilt fetishism’, a relationship is theorized between anxiety on the one side and mass consumer markets for goods with ecological and ethical signifiers on the other.
Effect of physical activity intervention based on a pedometer on physical activity level and anthropometric measures after childbirth: a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Maturi Masumeh S , Afshary Pourandokht , Abedi Parvin
Published: December 2011

Background

Pregnancy and childbirth are associated with weight gain in women, and retention of weight gained during pregnancy can lead to obesity in later life. Diet and physical activity are factors that can influence the loss of retained pregnancy weight after birth. Exercise guidelines exist for pregnancy, but recommendations for exercise after childbirth are virtually nonexistent. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of physical activity intervention based on pedometer on physical activity level and anthropometric measures of women after childbirth.

Methods

We conducted a randomized controlled trial in which 66 women who had given birth 6 weeks to 6 months prior were randomly assigned to receive either a 12 week tailored program encouraging increased walking using a pedometer (intervention group, n = 32) or routine postpartum care (control group, n = 34). During the 12-week study period, each woman in the intervention group wore a pedometer and recorded her daily step count. The women were advised to increase their steps by 500 per week until they achieved the first target of 5000 steps per day and then continued to increase it to minimum of 10,000 steps per day by the end of 12th week. Assessed outcomes included anthropometric measures, physical activity level, and energy expenditure per week. Data were analyzed using the paired t-test, independent t-test, Mann-Whitney, chi-square, Wilcoxon, covariance analysis, and the general linear model repeated measures procedure as appropriate.

Results

After 12 weeks, women in the intervention group had significantly increased their physical activity and energy expenditure per week (4394 vs. 1651 calorie, p < 0.001). Significant differences between-group in weight (P = 0.001), Body Mass Index (P = 0.001), waist circumference (P = 0.001), hip circumference (P = 0.032) and waist-hip ratio (P = 0.02) were presented after the intervention. The intervention group significantly increased their mean daily step count over the study period (from 3249 before, to 9960 after the intervention, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

A physical activity intervention based on pedometer is an effective means to increase physical activity; reducing retention of weight gained during pregnancy and can improve anthropometric measures in postpartum women.

Trial registration

ISRCTN: IRCT201105026362N1
Association between second-generation antipsychotics and newly diagnosed treated diabetes mellitus: does the effect differ by dose?
Authors: Ulcickas Yood Marianne , DeLorenze Gerald N , Quesenberry Charles P , Oliveria Susan A , Tsai Ai-Lin , Kim Edward , Cziraky Mark J , McQuade Robert D , Newcomer John W , L'Italien Gilbert J
Published: December 2011

Background

The benefits of some second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) must be weighed against the increased risk for diabetes mellitus. This study examines whether the association between SGAs and diabetes differs by dose.

Methods

Patients were ≥18 years of age from three US healthcare systems and exposed to an SGA for ≥45 days between November 1, 2002 and March 31, 2005. Patients had no evidence of diabetes before index date and no previous antipsychotic prescription filled within 3 months before index date.

49,946 patients were exposed to SGAs during the study period. Person-time exposed to antipsychotic dose (categorized by tertiles for each drug) was calculated. Newly treated diabetes was identified using pharmacy data to determine patients exposed to anti-diabetic therapies. Adjusted hazard ratios for diabetes across dose tertiles of SGA were calculated using the lowest dose tertile as reference.

Results

Olanzapine exhibited a dose-dependent relationship for risk for diabetes, with elevated and progressive risk across intermediate (diabetes rate per 100 person-years = 1.9; adjusted Hazard Ratio (HR), 1.7, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.0-3.1) and top tertile doses (diabetes rate per 100 person-years = 2.7; adjusted HR, 2.5, 95% CI, 1.4-4.5). Quetiapine and risperidone exhibited elevated risk at top dose tertile with no evidence of increased risk at intermediate dose tertile. Unlike olanzapine, quetiapine, and risperidone, neither aripiprazole nor ziprasidone were associated with risk of diabetes at any dose tertile.

Conclusions

In this large multi-site epidemiologic study, within each drug-specific stratum, the risk of diabetes for persons exposed to olanzapine, risperidone, and quetiapine was dose-dependent and elevated at therapeutic doses. In contrast, in aripiprazole-specific and ziprasidone-specific stratum, these newer agents were not associated with an increased risk of diabetes and dose-dependent relationships were not apparent. Although, these estimates should be interpreted with caution as they are imprecise due to small numbers.
FOXE1 polyalanine tract length screening by MLPA in idiopathic premature ovarian failure
Authors: Qin Chun-rong , Yao Ji-long , Zhu Wen-jie , Wu Wei-qing , Xie Jian-sheng
Published: December 2011

Background

FOXE1 is one of the candidate genes for genetic predisposition to premature ovarian failure (POF) and it contains an alanine tract. Our purpose is to assess the influence of length of the alanine tract of FOXE1 on genetic susceptibility to POF.

Methods

The group studied consisted of 110 Chinese patients with idiopathic POF and 110 women from normal controls. The polyalanine tract and flanking sequence of FOXE1 was screened using the Multiple Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA) technique and directly sequenced.

Results

Three variants of FOXE1-polyalanine length, containing 12, 14, or 16 alanine residues, and 5 different genotypes were identified. There were significantly lower frequencies of the 14/14 genotypes in cases with POF (X2 = 119.73, P = 0.001), as compared with the controls. The incidence of 16/16 genotypes of FOXE1-polyalanine was significantly higher in patients with POF (X2 = 3.403, P = 0.001) in comparison to the controls. The FOXE1 14 alanine allele was significantly less common in the POF patient group (186/220) than the controls (216/220) (X2 = 25.923, P = 0.0001). The FOXE1 16 alanine allele was significantly more common in the POF patient group (28/220) than the controls (4/220) (X2 = 19.412, P = 0.0001).

Conclusion

This finding provides evidence that polyalanine repeat expansions in FOXE1 may be responsible for the genetic aetiology of POF in Chinese women.
Endogenous interleukin-10 constrains Th17 cells in patients with inflammatory bowel disease
Authors: Wilke Cailin M , Wang Lin , Wei Shuang , Kryczek Ilona , Huang Emina , Kao John , Lin Yanwei , Fang Jingyuan , Zou Weiping
Published: December 2011

Background

Th17 cells play a role in inflammation. Interleukin (IL)-10 is a potent anti-inflammatory cytokine. However, it is poorly understood whether and how endogenous IL-10 impacts the development of Th17 cells in human pathologies.

Materials and methods

We examined the relationship between IL-10 and Th17 cells in patients with Crohn's disease and in IL-10-deficient (IL-10-/-) mice. Th17 cells and dendritic cells (DCs) were defined by flow cytometry and evaluated by functional studies.

Results

We detected elevated levels of IL-17 and Th17 cells in the intestinal mucosa of patients with Crohn's disease. Intestinal DCs from Crohn's patients produced more IL-1β than controls and were superior to blood DCs in Th17 induction through an IL-1-dependent mechanism. Furthermore, IL-17 levels were negatively associated with those of IL-10 and were positively associated those of IL-1β in intestinal mucosa. These data point toward anin vivocellular and molecular link among endogenous IL-10, IL-1, and Th17 cells in patients with Crohn's disease. We further investigated this relationship in IL-10-/-mice. We observed a systemic increase in Th17 cells in IL-10-/-mice when compared to wild-type mice. Similar to the intestinal DCs in patients with Crohn's disease, murine IL-10-/-DCs produced more IL-1β than their wild-type counterparts and promoted Th17 cell development in an IL-1-dependent manner. Finally,in vivoblockade of IL-1 receptor signaling reduced Th17 cell accumulation and inflammation in a mouse model of chemically-induced colitis.

Conclusions

Endogenous IL-10 constrains Th17 cell development through the control of IL-1 production by DCs, and reaffirms the crucial anti-inflammatory role of IL-10 in patients with chronic inflammation.
The Finite-Time Ruin Probability with Dependent Insurance and Financial Risks
Authors: Chen Yiqing
Published: December 2011

Consider a discrete-time insurance risk model. Within period i, the net insurance loss is denoted by a real-valued random variable Xi. The insurer makes both risk-free and risky investments, leading to an overall stochastic discount factor Yi from time i to time i − 1. Assume that (Xi, Yi), i ∈ N, form a sequence of independent and identically distributed random pairs following a common bivariate Farlie-Gumbel-Morgenstern distribution with marginal distribution functions F and G. When F is subexponential and G fulfills some constraints in order for the product convolution of F and G to be subexponential too, we derive a general asymptotic formula for the finite-time ruin probability. Then, for special cases in which F belongs to the Fréchet or Weibull maximum domain of attraction, we improve this general formula to be transparent.
Occupational Hazards of Hospital Personnel: Assessment of a Safe Alternative to Formaldehyde
Authors: Berton Fabio , Novi Cinzia Di
Published: December 2011

Occupational Hazards of Hospital Personnel: Assessment of a Safe Alternative to Formaldehyde: Fabio BERTON, et al. Department of Public Policies and Public Choice, University of Eastern Piedmont, Italy—

Objectives

Formaldehyde —a chemical widely used to preserve organic tissues in hospitals —is known to be carcinogenic in the long term and to cause breathing‐related symptoms in the short term. We have taken advantage of an experiment to quantify this second effect among hospital workers in terms of probability of showing respiratory symptoms with respect to a benchmark in which tissues are preserved using a procedure with arguably no impact, i.e., under‐vacuum sealing.

Methods

This paper exploits an experimental situation with controls for potential confounding effects to estimate a logistic regression of the probability that formalin (a solution of formaldehyde and water) causes respiratory symptoms.

Results

The probability for formalin users was found to be eight to ten times higher than for personnel testing under‐vacuum sealing.

Conclusions

The substitution of formaldehyde with under‐vacuum sealing would markedly improve the health of personnel.
Characteristic Analysis of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell Apoptosis in Coke Oven Workers
Authors: Zhang Hong Mei , Nie Ji Sheng , Li Xin , Niu Qiao
Published: December 2011

Characteristic Analysis of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell Apoptosis in Coke Oven Workers: Hong Mei ZHANG, et al. Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Shanxi Medical University, China—

Objectives

The aim of the present study was to determine the peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) apoptosis in coke oven workers so that we can take effective measures to protect coke oven workers.

Methods

The subjects, 129 coke oven workers and 37 warehouse workers (controls), were investigated using a questionnaire to collect information about their age, working years, smoking and drinking habits, vocational history and other general information. The coke oven workers were divided into the oven‐bottom group (34), oven‐side group (48) and oven‐top group (47) according to their working sites and environmental monitoring data. The concentration of benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and the subjects' urinary 1hydroxypyrene (1‐OH‐Py) levels were determined by HPLC. Additionally, the PBMCs were separated from blood samples, and the early and late apoptosis rates were determined by flow cytometry.

Results

The airborne B[a]P concentrations were 19.5 ± 13.2, 185.9 ± 38.6 and 1,623.5 ± 435.8 ng/m3at the bottom, side and top of the oven, respectively, and were higher than in the controls' workplaces 10.2 ± 7.6 ng/m3. Urinary 1‐OH‐Py, indicating the B[a]P's internal exposure level, was significantly higher in the exposed groups than in the controls (p<0.05). Compared with the controls, the coke oven workers' PBMC apoptosis rates were significantly increased and increased in association with the B[a]P level. PBMC apoptosis increased in association with the 1‐OH‐Py level and coking operation years and decreased in association with years of alcohol consumption.

Conclusions

PBMC apoptosis in the coke oven workers was associated with the 1‐OH‐Py level, coke operation years and years of alcohol consumption and may be induced by B[a]P.
Post-Pandoran Depression or Na'vi Sympathy
Authors: Holtmeier Matthew Alan
Published: December 2011

Purporting to send an environmentally and spiritually healthy message, Avatar seems like an ideal candidate to positively impact audience members' positions towards the environment on a large scale. Indeed, director James Cameron said that “Avatar asks us all to be warriors for the Earth.” Since Avatar was released in theaters, however, there have been two overwhelming trends in response to the film: either, a seemingly immediate change in the spectators' worldview and relationship with the environment; or, the creation of an unachievable desire for the hyper-real techno-spiritual world of Pandora. These responses – environmentally proactive Na'vi sympathy and a debilitating post-Pandoran depression – offer examples of two, very different, relationships with the world. At the base of these relationships is the film's ability to provoke emotional response in audiences, which engenders positive or negative relationships with the environment.
'A ella no le gusta que le digan María y a mí que me traten de tú'. A window into Latin American diversity
Authors: Márquez Reiter Rosina
Published: December 2011

In this paper I explore sociolinguistic and pragmatic aspects of institutional discourse in a Spanish-speaking modern, mediated and regulated site of talk, namely a telephone conversation gathered at a call centre which had recently been set up in a South American financial hub. I focus on instances of interactional misfires in a service call between a Montevidean institutional agent and a Bogotano client by examining how they unfold, the possible reasons behind them and the implications for (mediated) communication in a globalized world.
Discourse analysis and related fields in Mexico, with some notes on Latin-America: A sketch (1999-2009)
Authors: Carbó Teresa
Published: December 2011

This article presents a panorama of the practices of discourse analysis evidenced in publications in Mexico during the past decade (1999-2009). It is only an outline, an informal sketch of bibliographic instantiations of discourse analysis. The term ‘discourse analysis’ is employed here in a broad sense, as an ensemble of topics of semiotic interest as well as ways of observing them (from points of view that are anthropological and social, or political, or other). The methodologies used and topics addressed in the publications here reviewed are varied: from a core including verbal discourse analyses, with themes of gender or ethnicity, to analyses of sociolinguistic situations with regard to questions of discrimination, racism, citizen rights and more. This bibliographic review is framed by a reflection (just briefly touched on) about the character of the articles in this special issue when read from Latin America: a process of apprehension whose body, space and time do not coincide with those of the authors and editors. The review is also sustained and infused by an interest in issues of power and power asymmetry, both as experience and as research topic. In that light, some observations are made about the manifest dominance of English in a global empire, the commercial value of some social and linguistic groups and the threatened condition of others.
Riscos e controvérsias na construção social do conceito de alimento saudável: o caso da soja
Authors: Azevedo Elaine de
Published: December 2011

Riscos e controvérsias na construção social do conceito de alimento saudável são discutidos, tendo a soja como objeto de estudo. Estudos dos impactos da soja sobre a saúde e da sojicultura sobre o meio socioambiental foram revisados para analisar as controvérsias científicas da pesquisa na área de soja e saúde humana, bem como seu contexto político e as repercussões socioambientais da sojicultura. Com base na Sociologia do Conhecimento Científico e na Sociologia Ambiental, argumenta-se que a fronteira entre o alimento saudável e o de risco é tênue e vulnerável a diferentes influências construídas reflexivamente. Destaca-se a importância de ampliar o conceito de alimento saudável para o de alimentação saudável, considerando sua dimensão cultural e socioambiental.
System for studies of control strategies applied in the refrigerated chambers
Authors: Tizzei Alexandre , Meneghetti Carlos R. , Cappelli Nelson L. , Umezu Claudio K.
Published: December 2011

The process of cold storage chambers contributes largely to the quality and longevity of stored products. In recent years, it has been intensified the study of control strategies in order to decrease the temperature change inside the storage chamber and to reduce the electric power consumption. This study has developed a system for data acquisition and process control, in LabVIEW language, to be applied in the cooling system of a refrigerating chamber of 30m³. The use of instrumentation and the application developed fostered the development of scientific experiments, which aimed to study the dynamic behavior of the refrigeration system, compare the performance of control strategies and the heat engine, even due to the controlled temperature, or to the electricity consumption. This system tested the strategies for on-off control, PID and fuzzy. Regarding power consumption, the fuzzy controller showed the best result, saving 10% when compared with other tested strategies.
Gênero, "o Corpo" e "Imitação Prestigiosa" na Cultura Brasileira
Authors: Goldenberg Mirian
Published: December 2011

Neste texto discute-se o papel do corpo como uma importante forma de capital (físico, simbólico e social) na cultura brasileira. Busca-se mostrar os traços distintivos de uma cultura em que o corpo é um elemento crucial na construção de uma identidade nacional, a partir das ideias de Gilberto Freyre, Marcel Mauss e Pierre Bourdieu. "O corpo" é um capital no universo pesquisado, um corpo distintivo que sintetiza três conceitos: 1) o corpo como uma insígnia (ou emblema) do esforço de cada um para controlar, aprisionar e domesticar o corpo a fim de conseguir a "boa forma", 2) o corpo como um ícone da moda (ou grife), que simboliza a superioridade daqueles que o possuem, e 3) o corpo como um prêmio (medalha), merecidamente conquistado por aqueles que foram capazes de alcançar uma forma física mais "civilizada", através de muito trabalho e sacrifício. Pode-se dizer que no Brasil "o corpo" é um capital, talvez um dos mais desejados pela classe média urbana e outros estratos sociais, que percebem "o corpo" como um veículo para a ascensão social, e também uma importante forma de capital no mercado de trabalho, no mercado de casamento e, também, no mercado erótico.
Predição de frações digestíveis e valor energético de subprodutos agrícolas e agroindustriais para bovinos
Authors: Azevêdo José Augusto Gomes , Valadares Filho Sebastião de Campos , Detmann Edenio , Pina Douglas dos Santos , Pereira Luiz Gustavo Ribeiro , Oliveira Karla Alves Magalhães de , Fernandes Henrique Jorge , Souza Natália Krish de Paiva
Published: December 2011

Objetivou-se avaliar equações adotadas pelo NRC e Detmann para estimar o conteúdo energético de subprodutos agrícolas e agroindustriais. Foram avaliados subprodutos de abacaxi, cacau, dendê, feijão, girassol, goiaba, mandioca casca, mandioca haste, mandioca rama, mamão, manga, maracujá, nabo e farelo de glúten de milho. Todos os animais receberam silagem de milho e mistura ureia/sulfato de amônio (9:1) para que as rações com os dois níveis de cada subproduto se mantivessem isonitrogenadas. Entre os modelos de predição da proteína bruta digestível (PBad), o modelo Detmann 2 apresentou diferença pelo teste de hipótese para nulidade conjunta (THNC), enquanto as estimativas pelos modelos NRC e Detmann 1 foram similares às obtidas pelas observações in vivo. Para extrato etéreo digestível (EEad), carboidratos não-fibrosos digestíveis (CNFad) e fibra em detergente neutro digestível (FDNd), as estimativas obtidas pelo modelo proposto pelo NRC diferiram, pelo teste de significância da hipótese de nulidade conjuntas, das observações in vivo e o melhor ajustamento foi obtido pelo modelo sugerido por Detmann, tendo como consequência, o valor. No entanto, entre todas as frações digestíveis, a FDNd foi a que apresentou maior dispersão dos pontos em relação à linha de equalidade. Os modelos NRC e Detmann podem ser considerados eficientes em predizer nutrientes digestíveis totais (NDT) e energia digestivel (ED), pois as estimativas não diferem dos valores observados, contudo apresentam também grande dispersão dos pontos em relação à linha de equalidade. Recomenda-se usar os modelos propostos por Detmann para predizer as frações digestíveis da PB, EE e dos CNF em subprodutos agrícolas e agroindustriais.
Formulation of an Emulsified Thermal Acid Blend for SAGD Applications in Eastern Alberta
Authors: Lalchan C. , Wiggins C. , Moriyama C.
Published: December 2011

Conventional emulsified acids composed of a strong mineral acid and an aromatic solvent, such as xylene, are commonly used to stimulate both water injection and production wells. When this system is properly applied, it is effective in dissolving organic and inorganic deposits, and in stripping off layered scales that may be deposited onto the inner surface of the tubing. Until recently, application of this system has been restricted to conventional reservoirs: however, with proper compatibility and corrosion testing, the emulsified acid system can be used to successfully stimulate thermal heavy oil reservoirs. Thermal heavy oil wells often exhibit significant calcite scaling on the long horizontal slotted liner, as well as an emulsion of low API oil dispersed in an aqueous mixture. Previous treatments using 1% HCl acid or 5% Acetic have addressed the issue with scaling. However, the issue with the heavy oil emulsion remained unresolved. By using a high temperature emulsified organic acid, both calcite scale and heavy organic deposits can be removed along the length of the slotted liner. 5% or 10% acetic acid emulsified in a 4:1 ratio with a modified wax and asphaltene solvent blend, in conjunction with a liquid organic acid corrosion inhibitor and an emulsifying surfactant, have proven to be an effective treatment in the remediation of scales and build up of organic deposits. Also, the blend is designed to maintain sufficient corrosion protection despite the high temperature environments that are characteristic of thermal heavy oil wells. This paper details the acid compatibility testing procedure, corrosion testing, and subsequent analysis that were required to formulate this specialized acid blend.
Underbalanced Drilling in Tight Gas Exploration Wells
Authors: El Morsy Ahmed , Morales Danilo , Al-Abri Badar
Published: December 2011

Underbalanced Drilling (UBD) technology has been widely used in the last decades all over the world. The main application for it was the depleted "well developed" reservoirs. Using UBD technology in the HPHT Exploration wells is considered to be a huge turn in UBD Applications. It is a continuous challenge to get it done safely with the high uncertainties of the available information about the formations and the reservoir in this area.

As the easy hydrocarbon resources are depleting and the industry has to search for oil and gas in deep environment, PDO has taken the route that not too many companies did in using the UBD technology to speed up the identification of the existence of the flowing gas in deep tight gas exploration wells.
Impregnated Bits Design and Optimization: An Iterative Method for Improving Drilling Performances. Case Study: Hassi Messaoud Cambrian Reservoir in Algeria
Authors: Benalouane Y. , Mokrani S. , Ziani S. , Zerari D. , Dhina O.
Published: December 2011

Horizontal wells are drilled in Hassi Messaoud oilfield with 6" drains of +/−800m into the Cambrian reservoir using both PDM and Turbine. The multi layered reservoir is +/-3400m deep, mainly quartzite, sandstone and silt. Looking at the rock strength, the confined compressive strength can reach 60 kpsi. Therefore enhancing ROP and durability, when drilling the very hard and very abrasive Cambrian reservoir in Hassi Messaoud, remains one of the major drilling challenges.

This paper describes the iterative approach by which SONATRACH and NOV Downhole Tools Algeria are developing and improving impregnated bits for the very hard and very abrasive formations; for both applications: PDM and Turbine as well. The main objectives are to:

Enhance ROP. Increase durability. Maintain inclination and reasonable dogleg severity. Be able to drill out float equipments and shoe. Fit for both PDM and Turbine application Suit both OBD and UBD application

As all new bit types, a complete field study was carried out, including logs and rock strength analysis, offset wells comparison in order to bring into the light the first version of the design. Four versions of the impregnated bit were tested, so far.

The first version drilled 120m. A second version was tested, with an improvement related to the anti-coring cutters, replacing them by a new generation more wear resistant. The subsequent improvement consisted in increasing blade volume, enabling one of the best ROP achieved in Hassi Messaoud 5.27 m/h. To improve durability, blade volume was increased more. The bit achieved 365 m in one run, with an average ROP of 3.49 m/h.

In the last version developed and tested, an increase in the grit mix was made. The bit drilled an interval of 399 m with an average ROP of 3.89 m/h.

Furthermore, several design considerations have been taken into consideration in order to improve impregnated bits in relation to different types of lithology drilled. The newest design has the same blade volume and the same grit mix as the last bit design recently used in Hassi Messaoud field. However the blades are thicker and the hydraulics / water ways are optimized.
Blowout Control Operations in One of the Iranian Wells
Authors: Makvandi Mehran , Shahbazi Khalil , Bahmani Heaidar
Published: December 2011

Well control is one of the crucial tasks in drilling oil or gas reservoirs. It affects the overall cost of completing a well and in some cases leads to fatalities and numerous damages to environment.

During drilling 12 1/4" hole size at depth of 615m, one of the Iranian wells in the West part of the country was blown out in 2010. The entire drilling rig got fire and due to extreme temperature, substructure and wellhead were buried by mast, rig floor, top drive and drawworks. The temperature at the wellhead was estimated to be almost 950oC and pressure around 900 psi. These added to the difficulty of the kill operation. Moreover, the seepage of gas in the area around the well made the operation for the personnel very difficult.

Two parallel approaches were employed to control the well. They consisted of well capping (top kill) and relief wells (bottom kill). With a close observation of the process and a precise program, the top kill technique worked out and the well was controlled after an unbelievable time period of 38 days. One of the main issues in this operation was the removal of large debris around the wellhead.

In this paper, the details of the steps taken during the 38 days including the engineering design of the both approaches, the preparation of the area, removal of the debris, employing stinger and smoke stack, and the utilization of relief well as a development well are presented.