bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of a combined lifestyle score on 10-year mortality in Korean men and women: a prospective cohort study
Authors: Yun Ji Eun , Won Soyoung , Kimm Heejin , Jee Sun Ha
Published: August 2012

Background

Most studies that have evaluated the association between combined lifestyle factors and mortality outcomes have been conducted in populations of Caucasian origin. The objective of this study was to examine the association between combined lifestyle scores and the risk of mortality in Korean men and women.

Methods

The study population included 59,941 Koreans, 30–84 years of age, who had visited the Severance Health Promotion Center between 1994 and 2003. Cox regression models were fitted to establish the association between combined lifestyle factors (current smoker, heavy daily alcohol use, overweight or obese weight, physical inactivity, and unhealthy diet) and mortality outcomes.

Results

During 10.3 years of follow-up, there were 2,398 cases of death from any cause. Individual and combined lifestyle factors were found to be associated with the risk of mortality. Compared to those having none or only one risk factor, in men with a combination of four lifestyle factors, the relative risk for cancer mortality was 2.04-fold, for non-cancer mortality 1.92-fold, and for all-cause mortality 2.00-fold. In women, the relative risk was 2.00-fold for cancer mortality, 2.17-fold for non-cancer mortality, and 2.09-fold for all-cause mortality. The population attributable risks for all-cause mortality for the four risk factors combined was 44.5% for men and 26.5% for women.

Conclusion

This study suggests that having a high (unhealthy) lifestyle score, in contrast to a low (healthy) score, can substantially increase the risk of death by any cause, cancer, and non-cancer in Korean men and women.
Characterization of microRNA expression profiles in normal and osteoarthritic human chondrocytes
Authors: Díaz-Prado Silvia , Cicione Claudia , Muiños-López Emma , Hermida-Gómez Tamara , Oreiro Natividad , Fernández-López Carlos , Blanco Francisco J
Published: August 2012

Background

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a multifactorial disease characterized by destruction of the articular cartilage due to environmental, mechanical and genetic components. The genetics of OA is complex and is not completely understood. Recent works have demonstrated the importance of microRNAs (miRNAs) in cartilage function. MiRNAs are a class of small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression and are involved in different cellular process: apoptosis, proliferation, development, glucose and lipid metabolism. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize the expression profile of miRNAs in normal and OA chondrocytes and to determine their role in the OA.

Methods

Chondrocytes were moved to aggregate culture and evaluated using histological and qPCR techniques. miRNAs were isolated and analyzed using the Agilent Human miRNA Microarray.

Results

Of the 723 miRNAs analyzed, 7 miRNAs showed a statistically significant differential expression. Amongst these 7 human miRNAs, 1 was up-regulated in OA chondrocytes (hsa-miR-483-5p) and 6 were up-regulated in normal chondrocytes (hsa-miR-149*, hsa-miR-582-3p, hsa-miR-1227, hsa-miR-634, hsa-miR-576-5p and hsa-miR-641). These profiling results were validated by the detection of some selected miRNAs by qPCR. In silico analyses predicted that key molecular pathways potentially altered by the miRNAs differentially expressed in normal and OA chondrocytes include TGF-beta, Wnt, Erb and mTOR signalling; all of them implicated in the development, maintenance and destruction of articular cartilage.

Conclusions

We have identified 7 miRNAs differentially expressed in OA and normal chondrocytes. Our potential miRNA target predictions and the signalling cascades altered by the differentially expressed miRNAs supports the potential involvement of the detected miRNAs in OA pathology. Due to the importance of miRNA in mediating the translation of target mRNA into protein, the identification of these miRNAs differentially expressed in normal and OA chondrocyte micropellets could have important diagnostic and therapeutic potential. Further studies are needed to know the function of these miRNAs, including the search of their target mRNA genes, which could lead to the development of novel therapeutic strategies for the OA treatment.
Peritumoral lymphangiogenesis induced by vascular endothelial growth factor C and D promotes lymph node metastasis in breast cancer patients
Authors: Zhao Ying-Chun , Ni Xiao-Jian , Li Yong , Dai Min , Yuan Zhong-Xu , Zhu Yong-Yun , Luo Chuan-Yu
Published: August 2012

Background

Mounting clinical and experimental data suggest that the migration of tumor cells into lymph nodes is greatly facilitated by lymphangiogenesis. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C and D have been identified as lymphangiogenic growth factors and play an important role in tumor lymphangiogenesis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the location of lymphangiogenesis driven by tumor-derived VEGF-C/D in breast cancer, and to determine the role of intratumoral and peritumoral lymphatic vessel density (LVD) in lymphangiogenesis in breast cancer.

Methods

The expression levels of VEGF-C/D were determined by immunohistochemistry, and intratumoral LVD and peritumoral LVD were assessed using immunohistochemistry and the D2-40 antibody in 73 patients with primary breast cancer. The associations of intratumoral LVD and peritumoral LVD with VEGF-C/D expression, clinicopathological features and prognosis were assessed.

Results

VEGF-C and D expression were significantly higher in breast cancer than benign disease (P < 0.01). VEGF-C (P < 0.001) and VEGF-D (P = 0.005) expression were significantly associated with peritumoral LVD, but not intratumoral LVD. Intratumoral LVD was associated with tumor size (P = 0.01). Peritumoral LVD was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis (LNM; P = 0.005), lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI; P = 0.017) and late tumor,node, metastasis (TNM) stage (P = 0.011). Moreover, peritumoral LVD was an independent risk factor for axillary lymph node metastasis, overall survival and disease-free survival in multivariate analysis.

Conclusions

This study suggests that tumor-derived VEGF-C/D induce peritumoral lymphangiogenesis, which may be one mechanism that leads to lymphatic invasion and metastatic spread. Peritumoral LVD has potential as an independent prognostic factor in breast cancer patients.
Malformations in a cohort of 284 women with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH)
Authors: Oppelt Patricia G , Lermann Johannes , Strick Reiner , Dittrich Ralf , Strissel Pamela , Rettig Ingo , Schulze Christine , Renner Stefan P , Beckmann Matthias W , Brucker Sara , Rall Katharina , Mueller Andreas
Published: August 2012

Background

The aim of this retrospective study was to describe the spectrum of genital and associated malformations in women with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome using evaluated diagnostic procedures and the Vagina Cervix Uterus Adnex – associated Malformation classification system (VCUAM).

Methods

290 women with MRKH syndrome were clinically evaluated with using clinical examinations, abdominal and perineal/rectal ultrasound, MRI, and laparoscopy.

Results

Classification of female genital malformation according to the Vagina Cervix Uterus Adnex – associated Malformation classification system was possible in 284 women (97.9%). Complete atresia of Vagina (V5b) and bilateral atresia of Cervix (C2b) were found in 284 patients (100%). Uterus: bilateral rudimentary or a plastic uterine horns were found in 239 women (84.2%). Adnexa: normal Adnexa were found in 248 women (87.3%). Malformations: associated malformations were found in 126 of 282 evaluable women (44.7%), 84 women (29.6%) had malformations of the renal system. Of 284 women with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome 212 women (74.7%) could be classified as V5bC2bU4bA0. The most frequent classification was V5bC2bU4bA0M0 (46.8%) diagnosed in 133 of 284 women.

Conclusions

Complete atresia of vagina and cervix were found in all patients, variable malformations were found with uterus and adnexa. A variety of associated malformations were present, predominantly of the renal system. It is therefore recommended that all patients with genital malformations should be evaluated for renal abnormalities.
Aerobic capacity and disease activity in children, adolescents and young adults with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)
Authors: van Pelt Philomine A , Takken Tim , van Brussel Marco , de Witte Mirjam , Kruize Aike A , Wulffraat Nico M
Published: August 2012

Background

As patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) progress into adulthood, long-term outcome is determined by disease activity, physical and psychosocial development. Decreased aerobic capacity may play a critical role in health-related outcomes in JIA, since it has been linked with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in late adulthood. The objectives of the current study are to examine the aerobic capacity and its relation to parameters of disease activity in children, adolescents and young adults with JIA.

Methods

Sixty-three patients with JIA (aged 10–27 years) were cross sectional studied regarding their aerobic capacity and correlations were made to demographic, disease-related variables, and medication utilization. in a cross-sectional study group of 63 patients of all subtypes. Patients were divided in three age groups, 10–13 years; 14–17 years and 18–27 years.

Results

Reduced aerobic capacity is found in clinical remission as well as active disease in all subtypes and all age groups. Aerobic capacity is more impaired in active disease shown by DAS 28, JADAS 27, ESR and serum thrombocyte counts. Lower haemoglobin has a negative impact. Long-term used medication including methotrexate and corticosteroids didn’t influence outcome. There is no association with current sports participation.

Conclusion

Reduced aerobic capacity is present in adolescents and young adults with JIA, both in active disease and in patients with remission. Measures of aerobic capacity may serve as important outcome measure in JIA.
Adaptive resource allocation for cognitive radio networks with multiple primary networks
Authors: Wang Ye , Zhang Qinyu , Zhang Yalin , Chen Peipei
Published: August 2012

In this article, adaptive resource allocation (ARA) is investigated for multiple primary networks based-cognitive radio networks under a more practical system model, where the bandwidth of each secondary user is assumed to be limited and the maximum allowable interference for each primary network is different. We first formulate the ARA as a constrained optimization problem with the objective function of maximizing the proportional fairness-based ergodic sum capacity. The multiple constraints optimization problem is NP-hard and therefore, we propose a scheme to decompose the optimization problem into two unconstrained optimization problems by designing alternative objective functions and penalty functions. Then, a suboptimal heuristic solution framework based on particle swarm optimization is proposed to solve the unconstrained optimization problems. Computation simulations are carried out and the results show that the proposed scheme outperforms traditional ARA schemes.
Alkaline phosphatase activity after cardiothoracic surgery in infants and correlation with post-operative support and inflammation: a prospective cohort study
Authors: Davidson Jesse , Tong Suhong , Hauck Amanda , Lawson D Scott , Jaggers James , Kaufman Jon , da Cruz Eduardo
Published: August 2012

Introduction

Limited evidence suggests that serum alkaline phosphatase activity may decrease after cardiac surgery in adults and children. The importance of this finding is not known. Recent studies, however, have identified a potential role for alkaline phosphatase as modulator of inflammation in multiple settings, including during adult cardiopulmonary bypass. We sought to describe the change in alkaline phosphatase activity after cardiothoracic surgery in infants and to assess for a correlation with intensity and duration of post-operative support, markers of inflammation, and short-term clinical outcomes.

Methods

Sub-analysis of a prospective observational study on the kinetics of procalcitonin in 70 infants (≤90 days old) undergoing cardiothoracic surgery. Subjects were grouped based on the use of cardiopulmonary bypass and delayed sternal closure. Alkaline phosphatase, procalcitonin, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were obtained pre-operation and on post-operative day 1. Mean change in alkaline phosphatase activity was determined in each surgical group. Generalized linear modeling and logistic regression were employed to assess for associations between post-operative alkaline phosphatase activity and post-operative support, inflammation, and short term outcomes. Primary endpoints were vasoactive-inotropic score at 24 hours and length of intubation. Secondary endpoints included procalcitonin/CRP levels on post-operative day 1, length of hospital stay, and cardiac arrest or death.

Results

Mean decrease in alkaline phosphatase was 30 U/L (p = 0.01) in the non-bypass group, 114 U/L (p<0.0001) in the bypass group, and 94 U/L (p<0.0001) in the delayed sternal closure group. On multivariate analysis, each 10 U/L decrease in alkaline phosphatase activity on post-operative day 1 was independently associated with an increase in vasoactive-inotropic score by 0.7 (p<0.0001), intubation time by 6% (p<0.05), hospital stay by 5% (p<0.05), and procalcitonin by 14% (P<0.01), with a trend towards increased odds of cardiac arrest or death (OR 1.3; p = 0.06). Post-operative alkaline phosphatase activity was not associated with CRP (p = 0.7).

Conclusions

Alkaline phosphatase activity decreases after cardiothoracic surgery in infants. Low post-operative alkaline phosphatase activity is independently associated with increased procalcitonin, increased vasoactive/inotropic support, prolonged intubation time, and prolonged hospital stay. Alkaline phosphatase may serve as a biomarker and potential modulator of post-operative support and inflammation following cardiothoracic surgery in infants.
Partial promoter substitutions generating transcriptional sentinels of diverse signaling pathways in embryonic stem cells and mice
Authors: Serup Palle , Gustavsen Carsten , Klein Tino , Potter Leah A. , Lin Robert , Mullapudi Nandita , Wandzioch Ewa , Hines Angela , Davis Ashley , Bruun Christine , Engberg Nina , Petersen Dorthe R. , Peterslund Janny M. L. , MacDonald Raymond J. , Grapin-Botton Anne , Magnuson Mark A. , Zaret Kenneth S.
Published: August 2012

Extracellular signals in development, physiology, homeostasis, and disease often act by regulating transcription. Herein we describe a general method and specific resources for determining where and when such signaling occurs in live animals and for being able to systematically compare the timing and extent of different signals in different cellular contexts. We used recombinase-mediated cassette exchange (RMCE) to test the effect of successively deleting conserved genomic regions of the ubiquitously active Rosa26 promoter and substituting the deleted regions for regulatory sequences that respond to diverse extracellular signals. We thereby created an allelic series of embryonic stem cells and mice, each containing a signal-responsive sentinel with different fluorescent reporters that respond with sensitivity and specificity to retinoic acids, BMPs, activin A, Wnts, or Notch, and that can be adapted to any pathway that acts via DNA elements.
Characterising the tumour morphological response to therapeutic intervention
Authors: Savage Anne , Katz Elad , Eberst Alistair , Falconer Ruth E. , Houston Alasdair , Harrison David J. , Bown James
Published: August 2012

In cancer, morphological assessment of histological tissue samples is a fundamental part of both diagnosis and prognosis. Image analysis offers opportunities to support that assessment through quantitative metrics of morphology. The majority of morphometric analysis is carried out on two-dimensional tissue section data and so only represents a small fraction of any tumour. We present a novel application of three-dimensional (3D) morphometrics for 3D imaging data obtained from tumours grown in a culture model. Minkowski functionals, a set of measures that characterise geometry and topology in n-dimensional space are used to quantify tumour topology in the absence of and in response to therapeutic intervention. These measures are used to stratify morphological response of tumours to therapeutic intervention. Breast tumours are characterised by ER status, HER2 status and tumour grade. Previously, we have shown that ER status is associated with tumour volume in response to tamoxifen treatment ex vivo. Here, HER2 status is found to predict the changes in morphology other than volume as a result of tamoxifen treatment ex vivo. Finally, we show the extent to which Minkowski functionals may be used to predict tumour grade. Minkowski functionals are generalisable to any 3D data set, including in vivo and cellular systems. This quantitative topological analysis can provide a valuable link among biomarkers, drug intervention and tumour morphology that is complementary to existing, non-morphological measures of tumour response to intervention and may ultimately inform patient treatment.
A yeast model for amyloid-β aggregation exemplifies the role of membrane trafficking and PICALM in cytotoxicity
Authors: D'Angelo Fabien , Vignaud Hélène , Di Martino Julie , Salin Bénédicte , Devin Anne , Cullin Christophe , Marchal Christelle
Published: August 2012

Alzheimer's disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease, associated with aggregation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides. The exact mechanism of neuronal cell dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease is poorly understood and numerous models have been used to decipher the mechanisms leading to cellular death. Yeast cells might be a good model to understand the intracellular toxicity triggered by Aβ peptides. Indeed, yeast has been used as a model to examine protein functions or cellular pathways that mediate the secretion, aggregation and subsequent toxicity of proteins associated with human neurodegenerative disorders. In the present study, we use the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model system to study the effects of intracellular Aβ in fusion with green fluorescent protein. We sent this fusion protein into the secretory pathway and showed that intracellular traffic pathways are necessary for the generation of toxic species. Yeast PICALM orthologs are involved in cellular toxicity, indicating conservation of the mechanisms of toxicity from mammals to yeast. Finally, our model demonstrates the capacity for intracellular Aβ to cross intracellular membranes and target mitochondrial organelles.
Evaluating Uncertain Evidence With Sir Thomas Bayes: A Note For Teachers
Authors: Salop Steven C
Published: August 2012

Consider the following problem: On the night of March 1, 1986, in Lorain, Ohio, John Doe was struck by a speeding taxi as he crossed the street. The taxi was driving the wrong way down a one-way street and did not stop. An eyewitness thought that the taxi was blue. Doe has sued the Blue Cab Company for his medical expenses in a tort claim. Lorain has only two taxi companies, Blue Cab and Green Cab. Green Cab is the dominant firm with 85 percent of the taxis registered in the town. According to uncontroverted evidence, the eyewitness was 80 percent reliable in identifying the color of taxis; that is, he was able to identify the correct color of taxis 80 percent of the time, under conditions approximating those of the night of the accident. The case is being heard by a judge. Suppose the legal standard is “preponderance of the evidence.” What would you decide? How much weight to place on imperfect evidence is a problem of statistical inference. The correct statistical methodology of combining such evidence is called Bayes Theorem, after Sir Thomas Bayes, who devised the method.
Should the American Economic Association Have Toasted Simon Newcomb at its 100th Birthday Party?
Authors: Barber William J
Published: August 2012

Should the American Economic Association have toasted Simon Newcomb at its 100th birthday party? Some might be inclined to dismiss the question posed above as preposterous. He was never a member of the American Economic Association. Indeed, the moving spirit behind the founding of the association in 1885 -- Richard T. Ely -- insisted then that a central objective of the organization should be to fight the influence of “the Sumner, Newcomb crowd.” As it happened, both the timing and the early shape of the American Economic Association owed something to the tensions between Simon Newcomb and Richard T. Ely over the correct approach to economic inquiry. So perhaps Simon Newcomb should be entitled to some overdue recognition for his role as an unwitting catalyst in the formation of the American Economic Association.
Short of Euphoria
Authors: Musgrave Richard A
Published: August 2012

The Tax Reform Act of 1986 is the most sweeping reform since the early 1940s when the pressures of war finance forced the transformation of the income tax into a mass tax, and made it the core of the federal tax system. Since then many adjustments have been made, but the basic structure of the tax has remained unchanged. Behind this nominal stability, however, a slow erosion of the tax base appears to have been at work. The widening of loopholes and emergence of high-income shelters gained momentum in recent years and undermined the public's faith in the income tax. The compounding of the investment tax credit and accelerated depreciation diluted and distorted the base of the corporation tax. The current reform reverses these trends, a major accomplishment that all reformers will welcome. But the reform is far from complete. Its base broadening goes only part of the way, and though substantial gains have been made, they have not come without a price. The pattern of rate reduction, involving a drastic flattening of bracket rates, signals retreat from the progressive taxation that was an essential feature of the income tax tradition. Further, focus on reform has diverted attention from meeting urgent revenue needs.
Horizontal Merger Policy: Problems and Changes
Authors: Schmalensee Richard
Published: August 2012

Most knowledgeable economists seem now to agree that the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and the courts were excessively hostile to horizontal mergers in the 1960s. There also seems to be widespread agreement that the 1984 Merger Guidelines provide a useful general framework for evaluating the economic effects of proposed mergers. However, there is less agreement on the merits of the specific standards set forth in the Guidelines or of those employed in practice, which tend to be more permissive. There is even less agreement on the desirability of proposed changes in the underlying law, Section 7 of the Clayton Act. In what follows I argue that, while it might be desirable to make small changes in the core language of Section 7, the Reagan administration's proposals for major changes should not be adopted. In particular, it would not be desirable to require courts to consider the efficiency effects of proposed mergers, nor should they be given a long list of other factors that must be considered in merger cases. I also argue that some changes in the current merger Guidelines and in enforcement policy would be desirable, but I do not think radical reform is called for here either.
The Arbitrage Principle in Financial Economics
Authors: Varian Hal R
Published: August 2012

The importance of arbitrage conditions in financial economics has been recognized since Modigliani and Miller's classic work on the financial structure of the firm. They showed that if a firm could change its market value by purely financial operations such as adjusting its debtequity ratio, then individual shareholders and bondholders could engage in analogous portfolio transactions that would yield pure arbitrage profits. If the market was efficient enough to eliminate arbitrage profits for the individual shareholders, then it would eliminate arbitrage profits for the firm as well. Subsequently, financial economists have used arbitrage arguments to examine a variety of other issues involving asset pricing. One of the major advances in financial economics in the past two decades has been to clarify and formalize the exact meaning of “no arbitrage” and to apply this idea systematically to uncover hidden relationships in asset prices. Many important results of financial economics are based squarely on the hypothesis of no arbitrage, and it serves as one of the most basic unifying principles of the study of financial markets. In this essay we will examine some of these results.
Loss of faith in brain death: Catholic controversy over the determination of death by neurological criteria
Authors: Jones David Albert
Published: August 2012

The diagnosis of death by neurological criteria (colloquially known as ‘brain death’) is accepted in some form in law and medical practice throughout the world, and has been endorsed in principle by the Catholic Church. However, the rationale for this acceptance has been challenged by the accumulation of evidence of integrated vital activity in bodies diagnosed dead by neurological criteria. This paper sets out 10 different Catholic responses to the current crisis of confidence and assesses them in relation to a Catholic understanding of philosophical anthropology. Having considered each of these responses, none is found to provide good grounds for the moral certainty about death needed for current transplant practice to be ethically acceptable. Unless adequate grounds for the use of neurological criteria can be restored, current transplantation practice will have become what Pope John Paul II called a ‘furtive, but no less serious and real, form of euthanasia’.
Brain death: justifications and critiques
Authors: Truog Robert D , Miller Franklin G
Published: August 2012

Controversies about the diagnosis and meaning of brain death have existed as long as the concept itself. Here we review the historical development of brain death, and then evaluate the various attempts to justify the claim that patients who are diagnosed as brain dead can be considered dead for all legal and social purposes, and especially with regard to procuring their vital organs for transplantation. While we agree with most commentators that death should be defined as the loss of integration of the functioning of the organism as a whole, we conclude that patients diagnosed as brain dead have not, in fact, lost this integrated functioning. We close with reflections on the implications of this conclusion generally and particularly with regard to organ transplantation, and briefly make reference to alternative approaches to justifying the procurement of transplantable organs that do not depend upon a flawed approach to the diagnosis of death.
Pseudo-precipitate labour: myth or reality
Authors: Ananda K , Sane Mandar Ramchandra , Shreedhar N C
Published: August 2012

Spontaneous deliveries into toilet bowls always carry a special forensic significance. Forensic pathologist has to differentiate between a genuine precipitate labour and concealed birth or a neonaticide. Circumstances are challenging when a nullipara claims misapprehended precipitate labour. We report a similar case where a primigravidous unmarried girl delivered in a lavatory pan misjudging labour pains as that of bowel evacuation. Detailed obstetric history, postnatal maternal behaviour and visit to scene of incidence resolved the unnecessary charges of neonaticide on the embarrassed mother.
Matrix metalloproteinases in vascular physiology and disease
Authors: Siefert Suzanne A , Sarkar Rajabrata
Published: August 2012

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of zinc-dependent endopeptidases that primarily degrade components of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Remodeling of the ECM by MMPs is important in both physiological and pathological processes, including organ generation/regeneration, angiogenesis, wound healing, inflammation and tumor growth. In the vasculature, MMPs play a role in beneficial processes such as angiogenesis, collateral artery formation and thrombus resolution. However, MMP expression is also implicated in the pathogenesis of vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, aortic aneurysms, plaque rupture and neointimal hyperplasia after balloon angioplasty. Here, we review the structure, functions and roles of MMPs in both neovascularization and vascular pathology and discuss the potential of, and challenges that face, adapting MMPs as therapeutic targets in vascular disease.
Primary aortoenteric fistula following disseminated bacillus Calmette-Guérin infection: a case report
Authors: Pittman M , Sakai L , Craig R , Joehl R , Milner R
Published: August 2012

The aim of this paper is to illustrate a rare case of primary aortoenteric fistula in the presence of disseminated infection and review the critical decision-making process. A clinical case was reviewed for its initial presentation, planning of treatment strategy and outcome. A secondary literature search for discussion on current accepted recommendations for primary aortoenteric fistula was then completed. Aortoenteric fistulas are rare pathologies with highly morbid potential. Their diagnosis requires a high index of suspicion and prompt intervention is critical to patient survival. In conclusion, aortoenteric fistula most commonly arises from large atherosclerotic aneurysms but can be caused by systemic infection. In the case of the latter, extra-anatomic repair appears to be the treatment of choice.
Blood loss and complications following carotid endarterectomy in patients treated with clopidogrel
Authors: Chechik Ofir , Goldstein Yariv , Behrbalk Eyal , Kaufman Ehud , Rabinovich Yefim
Published: August 2012

This study assessed the effect of uninterrupted antiplatelet therapy on perioperative blood loss and complications in patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy. The files of 107 consecutive patients (mean age 69.5 ± 9 years; range 47–88; 78 men) who underwent carotid endarterectomy were reviewed. Twenty-six patients had been treated with clopidogrel (16 of whom were on combined clopidogrel and aspirin treatment) and compared with non-clopidogrel patients. Antiplatelet treatment was continued until the day of surgery without interruption. Perioperative blood loss and complications were studied. The mean hemoglobin decrease was 1.64 ± 1.2 mg/dL and was not significantly affected by clopidogrel. Surgical time was significantly longer among patients treated with clopidogrel (205 ± 52 minutes on combined treatment and 201 ± 68 minutes on clopidogrel alone versus 165 ± 33 minutes, P < 0.0001). Postoperative complications were similar for all groups and included five strokes, five neck hematomas, one nerve injury and one wound infection. In conclusion, patients treated with clopidogrel before carotid endarterectomy can be expected to have prolonged surgical time. Large cohorts are required to determine whether these patients have more complications.
Axillo-axillary bypass with polytetrafluoroethylene graft for coronary subclavian steal syndrome
Authors: Song Li Po , Zhang Jian
Published: August 2012

The purpose of this study is to report the results of axillo-axillary bypass (AAB) for coronary subclavian steal syndrome due to proximal subclavian artery occlusion. From 2003 to 2010, AAB using a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) graft was performed in 11 patients with coronary subclavian steal syndrome. There was no perioperative mortality, stroke or cardiac complications. Over a mean follow-up of 36 months (range: 6–81 months), all bypass grafts have remained patent. No patient developed recurrent symptoms of myocardial ischemia. One patient died from hemorrhagic stroke at 31 months. Our results showed that AAB using a PTFE graft provides an effective and durable treatment option for coronary subclavian steal syndrome when attempted endovascular therapy of the occluded proximal subclavian artery is unsuccessful.
Two-finger homodigital web advancement flap
Authors: Foong DPS , McGrouther DA
Published: August 2012

Fingertip amputation is a common hand injury and various techniques for reconstruction have been described. Important considerations to take into account when planning reconstruction are maintaining length and preserving function. This paper describes a technique for reconstructing the amputated fingertips of two adjacent digits.
Catalyst-transfer condensation polymerization for precision synthesis of π-conjugated polymers
Authors: Yokozawa Tsutomu , Nanashima Yutaka , Kohno Haruhiko , Suzuki Ryosuke , Nojima Masataka , Ohta Yoshihiro
Published: August 2012

Catalyst-transfer condensation polymerization, in which the catalyst activates the polymer end-group, followed by reaction with the monomer and transfer of the catalyst to the elongated polymer end-group, has made it feasible to control the molecular weight, polydispersity, and end-groups of π-conjugated polymers. In this paper, our recent progress of Kumada–Tamao Ni catalyst-transfer coupling polymerization and Suzuki–Miyaura Pd catalyst-transfer coupling polymerization is described. In the former polymerization method, the polymerization of Grignard pyridine monomers was investigated for the synthesis of well-defined n-type π-conjugated polymers.Para-type pyridine monomer, 3-alkoxy-2-bromo-5-chloromagnesiopyridine, afforded poly(pyridine-2,5-diyl) with low solubility in the reaction solvent, whereasmeta-type pyridine monomer, 2-alkoxy-5-bromo-3-chloromagnesio-pyridine, yielded soluble poly(pyridine-3,5-diyl) with controlled molecular weight and low polydispersity. In Suzuki–Miyaura catalyst-transfer coupling polymerization,t-Bu3PPd(Ph)Br was an effective catalyst, and well-defined poly(p-phenylene) and poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) were obtained by concomitant use of CsF/18-crown-6 as a base in tetrahydrofuran (THF) and a small amount of water.
“God Reigning through You, Reigns with You”: The Charenton Controversy and the Development of Royal Authority in Early Bourbon France
Authors: Sager Jason
Published: August 2012

During the years of 1617–20, a little-known polemical debate raged between the Protestant ministers, led by Pierre du Moulin, in the town of Charenton, just outside of Paris, and the Jesuit Jean Arnoux, confessor to Louis XIII. Marked by the crisis of Henry IV’s assassination in 1610 and the revolt of the princes against the regency government of Marie de’ Medici, the first decades of the seventeenth century witnessed an intense debate over the nature of royal authority. The author argues that the Charenton Controversy, influenced by the ideological clashes that occurred during the Estates-General, demonstrates that the ambiguous notions of royal authority were beginning to take concrete form.
Why Paradox?: The Contradictions of My Life as a Scholar
Authors: Bynum Caroline Walker
Published: August 2012

Distinguished historian Caroline Walker Bynum discusses influences on her work in medieval European history as teacher and scholar and draws conclusions about methods of writing history.
Medicine, Communication, and Authority in Samson Occom's Herbal
Authors: Wisecup Kelly
Published: August 2012

Despite the recent profusion of interest in Samson Occom, scholars have focused primarily on his religious writings and autobiography and, by extension, his relationship with the Congregational minister Eleazar Wheelock. By contrast, this article examines Occom's medical writing, particularly "Herbs & Roots," a manuscript herbal written in the 1750s, in the context both of Occom's Christian education and of Native American medical knowledge. "Herbs & Roots" represents connections among plants, bodies, maladies, and medical practitioners; it makes visible medical networks that endowed plants with healing power. Moreover, Occom used the herbal's pages to keep accounts and to draft letters; these extratextual elements illustrate how Occom began to establish his relationship to Native, Christian, and colonial worlds. Finally, the herbal offers an opportunity to consider Occom in an epistemological tradition of Mohegan medical practitioners and to reexamine the form of the list in relation to eighteenth-century natural history and to oral and written communication practices.
Tending the Army: Women and the British General Hospital in North America, 1754-1763
Authors: Fatherly Sarah
Published: August 2012

This essay argues that the British Army's North American general hospital and an increasingly large and diverse group of army women became not only connected but dependent on one another during the Seven Years' War. This relationship derived from the army's reorganization of its medical services in a way that intentionally predicated the hospital's operation and success on army women working for it, particularly as nurses. Both the medical staff and women attached to regular and provincial regiments realized benefits from this linkage; the hospital was able to cope with increasingly large numbers of patients, and women found that serving as nurses provided them with reliable access to regimental provisioning and security. Yet hospital personnel also increasingly had to regulate army women on behalf of the regiments, while women working for the hospital faced heightened dangers of illness, military attack, enemy capture, and death.
"Under Their Captivity & Dispersion": The Story of Boston's First Jewish Business Venture
Authors: Hoberman Michael
Published: August 2012

Fascination with Jews and Jewish history was a mainstay of early New England theology. As the centralizing influence of church orthodoxy waned during the early decades of the eighteenth century, however, the Judaic interests of Bostonians took on an economic rather than a religious cast. In the entrepreneurial and often reckless spirit of the times, in which magnificent opulence and indebtedness appeared to be two sides of the same coin, the activities of Jewish merchants, both within the city's confines and throughout the broader Atlantic, reified Bostonians' multiplying economic misgivings. The activities of Jewish merchants took on a new symbolic importance that matched seventeenth-century New Englanders' fascination with "the rabbins of old." Newspapers carried tidings of Jewish mercantile activity in England, on the Continent, and in the Americas, and these stories often emphasized the enterprising spirit that resulted in Jewish prosperity. Meanwhile, the arrival in Boston, beginning in 1716, of a loosely affiliated group of Sephardic traders represented the formation of that city's first Jewish business community. Though its tenure and overall influence were relatively short-lived, the development of a mercurial Sephardic mercantilism in Massachusetts, coinciding as it did with the chaos and volatility of market conditions in Boston, suggests a new and telling parallel between Jews and New Englanders.
"Mr. Madison's War" or the Dynamic of Early American Nationalism?
Authors: Trautsch Jasper M.
Published: August 2012

This article explores who was ultimately responsible for the War of 1812. By applying the three-phase model of the emergence of nationalism (from an elite to a mass phenomenon) to the political situation in the United States from 1809 to 1812, it seeks to reconcile the historiographical debate between those who consider President Madison the driving force behind the movement toward war and those who argue that the war movement was anchored in the legislature. Though Madison and Jefferson had since 1803 taken an uncompromising stance toward the former mother country in order to promote an Anglophobic American nationalism, thereby escalating Anglo-American tensions, they wished to avoid outright war, as they feared that the requirements of war could overwhelm the young and fragile American republic. By 1811, however, public opinion, incited by the Republicans' persistent anti-British foreign policies, clamored for armed confrontation. A majority of Americans consequently elected Republicans to Congress who were willing to vote for a declaration of war. Yet Congress was reticent to declare war until Madison officially recommended this step, believing that a war waged without the administration's support would not succeed. Against his personal inclination, Madison opted to seek war to remain in control of American nationalism and to ensure, as a wartime president, that the waging of war would not undermine America's republican form of government. American nationalism had become a mass movement, assuming a dynamic of its own that became increasingly difficult to control. The onset of the War of 1812 was thus partly due to the pressure exerted by a rising populist nationalism that brought the so called war hawks into Congress, and partly due to the Madison administration's bid to remain in control of the political process.
"While Pen, Ink & Paper Can Be Had": Reading and Writing in a Time of Revolution
Authors: Kelley Mary
Published: August 2012

"'While Pen, Ink & Paper Can Be Had'" considers reading and writing from a variety of angles: as a cultural practice, as a form of self-representation, and as a material act. It is based on letters exchanged by members of two eighteenth-century discursive communities; the correspondence itself was situated within and given its character by a particular historical context, in this instance a British America in the midst of revolution. Those engaging in "converse of the pen," a metaphor invoked by the novelist Samuel Richardson, depended on a body of shared knowledge and presumed the ability both to recognize and to place in context allusions and passages taken from other texts. A son and a daughter of families who counted themselves members of Boston's merchant elite, William Tudor and Delia Jarvis forged a courtship in and through a remarkably rich trans-Atlantic literary culture. Tudor's correspondence with John Adams, which dealt with the invention of a nation, militarily and politically, was grounded in a second discursive community, which centered on eighteenth-century interpretations of classical republicanism. We have presumed that these interpretive communities operated on different discursive and cognitive terrains. The letters Tudor exchanged with Jarvis and Adams suggests that a shared language of sensibility cut across these categorical distinctions.
Bible, King, and Common Law: Genealogical Literacies and Family History Practices in British America
Authors: Wulf Karin
Published: August 2012

For centuries, genealogical fads with historically distinctive qualities have appeared in disparate societies around the globe; from totalitarian to authoritarian to merely traditional societies, genealogy has served the interest of states that promote the significance of ancestry. We are unused to thinking about genealogy in America and an implicated American state in this context. But in British America an ideological coalition of religion, government, and law—constituent parts of the early modern state—was heavily invested in the authority of lineage and promoted both genealogical literacy and genealogical production. Protestantism, Anglo-American political cultural tradition, and the law all encouraged an understanding of the deep significance of lineal ancestry; each asked for the creation and maintenance of family history. This essay, then, both reveals the extent of intimate expressions of family connection in British America and queries the logic of their production. It centers the state in stories of the family and puts family stories at the center of state interests from the colonial period and into the foundational era of the United States.
Ecosystems under Sail: Specimen Transport in the Eighteenth-Century French and British Atlantics
Authors: Parsons Christopher M. , Murphy Kathleen S.
Published: August 2012

The ocean was frequently as hostile an environment for plants and animals as it was for humankind in the eighteenth century. Existing methods of preserving the plants, fish, birds, and land animals that provided the raw materials for European science increasingly proved insufficient for the often long voyages that brought them from colonial and indigenous collectors; specimens arrived dead when they were needed alive, rotten and damaged when they were needed whole, and they frequently suffered as they encountered negligent and uninterested sailors, and rats and other shipboard pests that showed too much interest. This paper examines strategies of specimen transport adopted by French and British naturalists in the Atlantic world during the first half of the eighteenth century, arguing for the importance of maritime spaces that have often been overlooked in histories of the expanding reach of European science. Atlantic networks of specimen transport were simultaneously distinctly national and endlessly entangled. Efforts to discipline maritime social environments diverged along distinctly national lines, influenced by larger patterns of scientific sociability in both Britain and France. At the same time, however, naturalists drew on a cadre of common practices when they packed and preserved specimens for transport. The study of specimen transport demonstrates the geographic expanse of the centripetal and centrifugal tendencies at work more generally in eighteenth-century science; these forces simultaneously strengthened national scientific cultures and supported a cosmopolitan network of naturalists who communicated specimens and the methods for making them throughout Europe and the wider world.
The Pirate’s Breasts: Criminal Women and the Meanings of the Body
Authors: O’Driscoll Sally
Published: August 2012

This essay discusses the cultural meanings of the popular story of the female pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, who were captured along with Captain John Rackam and put on trial in Jamaica in 1720. Their story was told in Captain Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates. The first illustrations of the two women showed them fully dressed; but very quickly the image changed to one that showed them baring their breasts – this is the one that endured through multiple later editions. The article argues that the bared breast is a culturally important signifier that becomes important in the eighteenth century as a symbol: its representation marks women either as appropriately domestic and maternal, or alternatively as criminal, non-respectable, and as available for the viewing pleasure of the audience.
Cultural Studies and Pirate Studies: Straight on ’til Morning
Authors: Rosenthal Laura J.
Published: August 2012

Hans Turley’s study of pirate mythology contributed significantly to both the fields of eighteenth-century studies and queer theory. This essay considers Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash as a revealing example in the ongoing debate over cultural studies, an approach that has recently been under attack from more than one direction. Traditionalists continue to object to the impulse in cultural studies to study texts considered “non-literary,” to seek out expressions from writers in underrepresented groups, to abandon a valued tradition, and inappropriately to raise distracting social issues when discussing aesthetic objects. This essays suggests that returning to Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash can help demonstrate the continuing value of the admittedly loose set of practices that sail under the flag of cultural studies. Such works remind us that cultural studies has been productive rather than destructive, and that in spite of its many points of vulnerability, it continues to hold potential for future work in the field.
Introduction: Hans Turley, Queer Studies, and the Open-Hatched Eighteenth Century
Authors: King Kathryn R.
Published: August 2012

The essays written in memory of Hans Turley extend his intellectual legacy by considering themes partly inspired by his ground-breaking Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash: Piracy, Sexuality, and Masculine Identity (New York, 1999), including transformations in the sex/gender system, the emergence of heteronormativity, the dynamics of same-sex desire, and queer friendship and sociability. Taken together the essays suggest that many pockets of queerness amidst and within eighteenth-century British heteronormative structures beckon for further investigation.