bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Lanczos‐Subspace Method for Generalized Eigenproblems
Authors: LEUNG A. Y. T.
Published: August 2010

The Lanczos algorithm produces partial eigensolutions at the two extreme ends of the eigenspectrum. The inverse Lanczos algorithm with shift s̀ produces partial eigensolutions nearest to the shift. It generates iteratively one Lanczos vector at a time and the elements of a tridiagonal matrix whose eigenvalues approximate the required eigenvalues. The Lanczos vectors are orthogonal and span the same subspace of the required eigenvectors theoretically. Orthogonality of the Lanczos vectors is lost during iteration owing to the attraction of the round‐off errors by some initially found Lanczos vectors, and reorthogonalization is required. Full reorthogonalization by the Gram‐Schmidt process is expensive and unstable. An economical and stable method of reorthogonalization by subspace iteration is introduced. The Lanczos vectors without reorthogonalization are taken as initial trial vectors in the subspace method to produce the required eigensolutions. The operation counts of the combined method compare favorably with the Lanczos method with full reorthogonalization for the same accuracy of solutions. Application of the Sturm sequence check is recommended to make sure that no solutions are missed in the required spectrum.
Solving Nonlinear Vibration Equations with MathCAD
Authors: NG JAMES C.O.
Published: August 2010

This article discusses the use of the equation‐solving package MathCAD as an alternative to conventional programming for nonlinear vibration analysis on microcomputers. The example problem considered is vibration of a submerged horizontal cylinder under the action of water waves. If the higher harmonics are ignored, the analysis can be handled by the software efficiently and conveniently. The advantages and limitations of this approach are discussed briefly.
An Integration Algorithm for Constitutive Models with Two Intersecting Yield Surfaces
Authors: Abdel‐Rahman Mostafa A. , Edil Tuncer B.
Published: August 2010

Abstract: In this paper, the constitutive models involving two active intersecting yield surfaces, such as Lade's model, are considered and a new integration algorithm is formulated. The formulation introduces a new class of the return mapping algorithm within the framework of the operator splitting methodology. The proposed algorithm is applicable to a general class of elastoplastic constitutive models exhibiting associative or nonassociative flow rule, arbitrary yield criteria and hardening laws. The algorithm can handle one or two active yield surfaces at a time. The development leads to a relatively simple, straightforward algorithm for updating the stresses at Gauss point.

Finally, the new algorithm is implemented in a generalized nonlinear finite element computer program incorporating Lade's model. The results of a number of boundary value problems are presented and compared with available experimental data and theoretical formulas. The comparisons indicate that incorporating the new class of return mapping algorithm gives reasonable solutions.
Flood Routing Using Spreadsheet
Authors: Thandaveswara B. S. , Sajikumar N.
Published: August 2010

Abstract: Flood routing is one of the very important basic topics that is dealt with in the first course in hydrology. To illustrate the solution of the Muskingum method requires the computation of K and X, Which are usually obtained using the graphical approach. Similarly, reservoir routing requires a storage function, and a semigraphical approach is adopted. The hydraulic method of routing of flood requirs a knowledge of the soulution of nonlinear hyperbolic partial differential equations. In this paper, spreadsheet of LOTS 1–2‐3 has been used to demonstrate its potential as a pedagogical tool for solving flood routing problems for both the hydrological and hydraulic approaches.
A Requirements Analysis/Educational Design for Courseware Relating to Heat Loss Through Building Walls
Authors: Keane Marcus M. , Monaghan Paul F.
Published: August 2010

Abstract: Courseware is educational software, designed to create an instructional environment, for the purpose of facilitating learning. Courseware is being developed to support training in a wide range of engineerign disciplines, including Heating Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) design. It in anticipated that courseware will be used much more, to support current training practices in HVAC design, in order to make training more effective, efficient and accessible. Current practices in courseware design indicate very few courseware products are designed using formal methods. this has led to courseware, that is many ways, fails to address learner's needs. If courseware is to be effective, in supporting training in HVAC design, then courseware must be developed using formal methods.

In this paper, a formal courseware design model is described. An Educational Design (ED) is carried out, for courseware relating to heating load calculations in buildings, resulting in a detailed conceptual description of how the coursware appears to the user. Sixteen screens are shown, depicting how ther courseware guides the user, in learning how to perform heating load calculations in buildings.
Advanced CAD Environments: A Knowledge‐Based Foundation
Authors: Akman Varol
Published: August 2010

Abstract: Current computer‐aided design (CAD) systems are extremely powerful tools for the development of products in an industrial setting. However, they still leave a lot to be desired when it comes to fulfilling a designer's demands and dreams. We believe that knowledge engineering, or more broadly artificial intelligence (AI), is a promising candidate for providing advanced design environments. This paper proposes assorted techniques from AI—such as logical knowledge representation, naive physics, and commonsense reasoning—as effective means of obtaining such environments.

In order to make adept, temporal comments, an architecture machine must have a certain basic understanding of qualities. Though at first primitive, this qualitative appreciation itself would evolve within a value system that is very personal, between a man and a machine.
An Object‐Oriented Data Management Model for Numerical Analysis in Computer‐Aided Engineering
Authors: Adeli H. , Yu G.
Published: August 2010

Abstract: This paper presents an object‐oriented data management model for numerical analysis in computer‐aided engineering. A data storage structure and an index system have been developed for complex data objects encountered in numerical analysis. As an example, the model is applied to the finite element analysis.
Constitutive Laws for Normal Stiffness and Thermal Resistance of a Contact Element
Authors: Schrefler B. A. , Zavarise G.
Published: August 2010

Abstract: The contact element formulation presented considers microscopically mechanisms of force transmission and heat exchange together with coupling between thermal and mechanical fields. Experimentally and theoretically well founded micro‐mechanical and micro‐thermal laws are adapted to FEM consistent linearization necessities. Based on these laws the nonlinear macroscopic related stiffness is calculated as a function of changes in significant parameters.

Examples related to industrial applications are shown.
The development of a subjective health indicator
Authors: Hunt Soiya M. , McEwen James
Published: August 2010

Abstract Changing patterns of concern in medicine and health care have interacted with philosophic trends in social sciences and politics to create demands for new directions in the measurement of health. Traditional indicators such as morbidity and mortality are seen to require supplementation by more subjective assessments of need. The addition of subjective data, collected in a standardized way could enable those concerned to delineate more closely the needs and problems of the community.

The practical development of a subjective health indicator is described. The ultimate objective is to produce an instrument which can be used as a population survey tool, where the information obtained could add a new dimension to traditional indices of health. Studies carried out over the past four years have led to the construction of an indicator in the form of a profile which has been shown to provide valid measures of perceived health status and to be acceptable to respondents.
The Buffalo System: an example of remediation as a method of social control
Authors: Kovit Leonard
Published: August 2010

Abstract This paper has two foci: an ethnographic description of the‘Buffalo System’and a discussion of socializing practices that are aimed at preventing unrepairable and stigmatizing failure.

The‘Buffalo System’is a method of socialization and social control which was used in the process of training residents in the obstetric and gynaecological department of a university teaching hospital. An ethnographic account of the system is presented. The main features of the system that are described include the method of reporting‘outstanding surgical activity above, below and lateral to the call of duty’(Buffalo Chips), the nature of monetary fines for these‘feats of negativity’(Buffalo Bills), and the hierarchy which controls the symbolic and behavioural components of the system (Buffalo Chiefs). The role and mechanisms of peer review and the impact of failure and humour are also discussed.

The paper attempts to show how a socialization system can operate which does not confer the stigmatizing label of‘failure’on the seemingly failed, but rather transforms them into 'successful’before their failure becomes unrepairable and stigmatizing. The Buffalo System is unique in that it capitalizes on failure and encourages the discovery of failure as a technique for training residents to deal with the possibility of their own and others’failure at medical tasks.
Staff‐inmate bargaining tactics in long‐term treatment institutions
Authors: Roth Julius A.
Published: August 2010

The field notes of four studies of long‐term treatment institutions are examined for patterns of staff‐inmate bargaining. The main focus is on the conditions which enhance the bargaining power of staff and of inmates in relation to each other. A list of such conditions with examples is provided.
Constructing commonsense—young people's beliefs about AIDS
Authors: Warwick Ian , Aggleton Peter , Homans Hilary
Published: August 2010

Abstract There is growing interest amongst social researchers in enquiry related to lay beliefs about HIV infection and AIDS. Research of this kind is important not only theoretically, in that it may help us to understand more clearly the interface between professional and lay beliefs about health and illness, but also practically, in that it may lead to more effective policy interventions.

This paper reports on findings from a series of in‐depth interviews carried out with young people participating in local authority and voluntary sector youth provision and in youth training schemes. It identifies lay beliefs about the nature, causes and origins of AIDS amongst young people in lesbian and gay youth groups, and contrasts these with the beliefs of young people in undifferentiated forms of youth provision.
Domestic conditions, paid employment and women's experience of ill‐health
Authors: Hartley Mel , Popay Jennie , Plewis Ian
Published: August 2010

Traditionally, research concerned with the relationship between paid employment and women's experience of ill‐health has focused on one or other of two competing explanatory models: the role enhancement model which postulates a positive health effect of paid employment and the role overload model which postulates a negative effect. Though a synthesis of these two models is becoming apparent in the literature (Arber 1990, 1991) a number of important issues remain neglected. This paper focuses on three of these neglected issues: the extent to which the relationship between employment and health is mediated by the nature and/or extent of the workload associated with both formal and domestic work; whether the relationship differs for different types of ill‐health; and the role of health related selection into different social roles.

Using data from the Health and Lifestyles survey, an innovative approach is taken to the measurement of domestic conditions, and separate measures of long‐term health status, and of short‐term physical and psychological health state are used. Proportional odds models are used to assess the relationship between employment status, domestic conditions and type of employment (measured in terms of the socio‐economic group of a woman's own occupation) independent of underlying long‐term health status. Our findings suggest that the presence of long‐term illness is the single most powerful influence on present health state, but that this does not explain away the positive relationship between employment and women's health. They also suggest that this relationship is different for different types of ill health and is not the same for women in different types of occupation. In particular, our findings suggest that the association between paid work and better health is rather less apparent for physical than psychological health, and in women working full time in professional or managerial occupations. Domestic conditions appear to have an effect on women's health equal to or greater than employment status, depending on the health measure used. However, there was no evidence of an interaction between employment status and domestic conditions.

We conclude with a discussion of the ways in which our findings fit in with those of previous research. We argue in particular for more attention to be given to the nature of both the dependent (‘health’) and explanatory (‘work’) variables used in research on the relationship between employment and women's health.
Thinking teams thinking clients: issues of discourse and representation in the work of health care teams
Authors: Opie Anne
Published: August 2010

AbstractThe use of multi‐disciplinary health care teams is an increasingly common aspect of service delivery in health care in Western countries. While the literature rehearses the putative benefits to practitioners and clients of such teams, there appears to be an absence of extensive evidence‐based research on team practices to substantiate such claims. What evidence there is suggests that team work is in different ways problematic. This article is a progress report on a qualitative research project into the operation of health teams with responsibility for clients in hospitals and the community in New Zealand. The first part of the article presents some of the main themes in current research on health care teams. The second part argues that effective teamwork requires giving attention to a hitherto marginalised dimension of teamwork ‐ the team's reflexive and representational practices. Attention to these practices appears to be particularly important in complex cases or when the team believes that its work with the client is not progressing as well as it might. The article concludes by highlighting the sociological significance of representational issues in team work and by drawing some inferences about factors affecting effective teamwork.
Risk and the construction of social identity: children's talk about accidents
Authors: Green Judith
Published: August 2010

This paper draws on data from a focus group based study of children's stories about accidents. It examines the ways in which talk about accident risks is utilised as a resource for constructing social identities. In their stories, children claimed responsibility for managing their own accident risks, and in doing so constructed themselves and their peers as mature risk assessors and managers. Furthermore, stories about accidents were used to construct gendered identities and to delineate the boundaries of peer groups. This suggests that, rather than undercutting subjectivity, discourses of risk can be used to construct social identity.
Psychoanalytic sociology and the medical encounter: Parsons and beyond
Authors: Lupton Deborah
Published: August 2010

While sociologists earlier this century often used insights derived from psychoanalytic theory in their writings, contemporary sociology has largely tended to ignore this body of work. This is as true of medical sociologists as it is of others, despite the fact that the ‘founding father’ of medical sociology, Talcott Parsons, used psychoanalytic perspectives extensively in his theorising on the social aspects of medicine and health. In this paper I make a case for a return to a medical sociology that incorporates understandings of subjectivity derived from psychoanalytic writings, with particular reference to the medical encounter and the illness experience. The paper begins with an overview of psychoanalytic sociology. I go on to review the major insights Parsons developed in his writings and the work of other writers who have more recently used psychoanalytic theory productively in theorising the sociocultural dimensions of medicine and health care. The paper concludes with some thoughts about future directions for taking up the psychoanalytic perspective in the sociology of health and illness.
Governing the ethical consumer: identity, choice and the primary care medical encounter
Authors: McDonald Ruth , Mead Nicola , Cheraghi‐Sohi Sudeh , Bower Peter , Whalley Diane , Roland Martin
Published: August 2010

Government policy promoting consumerism in healthcare can be seen as offering up certain preferred identities to which its citizens are encouraged to aspire. Whilst many commentators reject the notion that health services users should be conceived of as consumers, this paper outlines the relevance of the concept to our understanding of the ways in which individuals manage their health and service use. The paper examines the identity work undertaken by individuals in relation to decisions about healthcare preferences and assesses the extent to which this is compatible with the identities promoted in Government policy. We suggest that in circumstances where individuals feel both a sense of personal entitlement and a desire to be supportive of the needs of other members of the community, ‘doing’ ethical consumer can be fraught with discomfort and anxiety. These anxieties are exacerbated in a context where citizenship is increasingly being defined in terms of consumer identities, and making good (health) choices might be seen as distinguishing the civilised from the marginalised.
Public health and the cult of humanity: a neglected Durkheimian concept
Authors: Dew Kevin
Published: August 2010

Public health researchers have used a number of concepts derived from the work of Durkheim, such as anomie and social capital. One concept that has not been deployed in public health discourses is that of the cult of humanity – Durkheim's religion in a society organised around organic solidarity. This paper discusses Durkheim's views on religion and science, and the cult of humanity. The cult of humanity is characterised as having humanity at the centre of worship and combining elements of religion and science. Medicine and complementary therapies are identified as possible candidates to fulfil the role of the cult of humanity, but the institution of public health seems to be a particularly apt candidate. The paper concludes by discussing the way in which this analysis provides insight into the dual advocacy and academic functions of public health, the tension between individual choice and constraint and the buffering role of public health in relation to other social institutions.
Exclusive, idiosyncratic and collective expertise in the interprofessional arena: the case of optometry and eye care in The Netherlands
Authors: Stevens Fred C.J. , Diederiks Joseph P.M. , Grit Fieke , Van Der Horst Frans
Published: August 2010

This paper addresses expertise as the foundation of professional boundaries and domains through a comparative study of four eye care occupations in the Netherlands. Claims of expertise are explored with an analysis of whether practitioners believe that expertise is exclusive to their profession. Results show that (a) established professions display a stronger sense of the ‘exclusiveness’ of expertise; (b) idiosyncratic expertise is more common among encroaching professions than among established ones. These findings substantiate trends towards professionalism, as jurisdictional disputes on professional domains and boundaries usually occur between more established medical professions seeking to protect their knowledge area, and encroaching ones trying to expand theirs. The study next addresses the ways in which claims to expertise influence practitioners’ attitudes towards professional status and professional practice. Attitudes to expertise are influenced by age, and affect professional work in the workplace. Practitioners who considered expertise as a collective characteristic were younger, undertook more examinations, more diagnoses, gave more treatments, referred less, and perceived more problems regarding inter‐professional recognition of their professional status.
Therapeutic pluralism? Evidence, power and legitimacy in UK cancer services
Authors: Broom Alex , Tovey Philip
Published: August 2010

The integration of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) into cancer services is increasingly discussed as a potential part of UK health policy but as yet there has been little sociological research examining this process. This paper examines the results of a study on the provision of CAM to cancer patients in two distinct organisational contexts: the hospice and the hospital. It is based on interviews with medical specialists, nursing staff and CAM therapists. This paper focuses on how integration is managed in each organisation, examining professional boundary disputes and inter‐professional dynamics. Discussion focuses on the rhetorical and practical strategies that are employed by a variety of differently positioned interviewees to negotiate the complexities of the interface of CAM and biomedicine. The results show significant differentiation in how differently positioned cancer clinicians view and utilise the biomedical hierarchy of evidence. We argue that the integration of CAM should not be conceptualised as a mere challenge to biomedicine, or, as resulting in a linear process of deprofessionalisation. Rather, it should be seen as producing a complex array of processes, including strategic adaptation on the part of medical specialists and NHS organisations.
Migrating identities: the relational constitution of drug use and addiction
Authors: Hughes Kahryn
Published: August 2010

This paper aims to develop a properly social conceptualisation of addiction through drawing on analyses of rich, in‐depth data from ex/users of heroin. Practices of addiction are considered as in and of themselves constitutive of particular identities, ways of being, and ways of being with and for others. The discussion seeks to demonstrate how heroin use is predicated upon, and productive of, purposeful drug‐using relationships in which users produce and reproduce the conditions for continued use (e.g.scoring, grafting, using). Accordingly, the concept of ‘dependence’ is here reconfigured to encompass both dependence on the provision (and ingestion) of drugs and, simultaneously, dependence upon diverse configurations of users, clinicians, support workers, and so on. The paper makes a critical departure from existing debates in which addiction, even if conceived as a social practice, is nonetheless understood at the level of ‘the individual’. It is argued that this tendency towards ontological individualism leads towards conceiving the problem of addiction as residing predominantly in the individual negotiation and, ultimately, resolution of identity narratives. The analyses presented here explore how the migration from addict to non‐addict involves more than identity work. Theorisations of the level of ‘field’ or ‘configuration’ are developed, and considered as both a level of analysis and a conceptual lens for understanding changes in the ongoing, relational, practices involved in such identity migration. Finally, the consequences of intersecting, relational, dimensions of time horizons, place and space in the talk of ex/users are considered for strategies for successful recovery, identified during the research.
Trusting in the New NHS: instrumental versus communicative action
Authors: Brown Patrick R.
Published: August 2010

Recent reforms within the UK National Health Service, particularly the introduction of clinical governance, have been enacted with the apparent aim of rebuilding patient trust. This paper analyses the approach taken by policy makers, arguing that it is based very much on an instrumental conception of trust. The assumptions and limitations of this model are discussed and in so doing, a communicative understanding of trust is proposed as an alternative. It is argued that the instrumental rationality and institutional focus inherent to instrumental trust neglect the importance of the communication between patient and medical professional and its affective dimensions. Communicative trust goes beyond a mere cognitive appreciation of the system and rather is dependent on the qualitative interaction at the access point, where the patient comes to believe that the communicative rationality of their best interests is mirrored by the professional's instrumental rationality. Whilst recent challenges to the confidence of patients in professionals and medical knowledge make some approximation of an ideal speech situation more imperative than previously, the application of an instrumental concept of trust in the NHS makes such interactions less likely, as well as facilitating a divergence between instrumental and communicative rationality in healthcare provision.
Human Embryos and Human Dignity: Differing Presuppositions in Human Embryo Research in Germany and Great Britain*
Authors: Rolf Sibylle
Published: August 2010

This article notes differences in legislation in Germany and Great Britain regarding human embryo research and looks for an explanation in their divergent intellectual traditions. Whereas the German Stem Cell Act invokes an anthropological concept of human dignity to ground its ban on using embryos for research, there is no definition of what it means to be human in either the British Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act or in the advisory Warnock‐Report. After studying the differences and providing some philosophical background, the essay distinguishes two notions that are significant for understanding human dignity. It then proposes from a theological point of view a basic understanding within a relational anthropology, and comes to the conclusion that because of continuity in development and their relational constitution, humans embryos should be accepted as human from the moment of conception.
JOHN HENRY NEWMAN AND WILLIAM FROUDE, F.R.S.
Authors: SHERRY PATRICK
Published: August 2010

I discuss John Henry Newman's correspondence with William Froude, F.R.S., (1810–79) and his family. Froude remained an unbeliever, and I argue that Newman's disputes with him about the ethics of belief and the relationship between religion and science not only reveal important aspects of his thought, but also anticipate modern discussions on foundationalism, the ethics of beliefs and scientism.
Relation of allergy to HIV infection
Authors: Dikeacou T. , Lowenstein W. , Romana C. , Carabinis A. , Renieri N. , Balamotis A. , Petridis A. , Chatzivassiliou M. , Fragouli E. , Katsambas A. , Stratigos J.
Published: August 2010

In this retrospective study on 141 HIV‐positive subjects, allergy was studied by a specific questionnaire and the Phadia‐Top‐Test, an in vitro screening test detecting specific IgE; both were correlated to the patient's history, clinical symptoms and the treatment used. Allergy was studied in reference to HIV‐negative controls and in relation to the clinical and biological subgroups of HIV patients.

The application of the x2 test demonstrated a high incidence of allergy and a specific relation to the HIV infection compared to the controls as well as in relation to the clinical stage of the infection. Atopy was not specifically related to the HIV infection despite the higher frequency found in the AIDS‐IKEL group.

A significant number (21%) of patients with T4 > 300/μ1 considered immunocompetent presented clinical manifestations of AIDS‐IKEL and 100% of these patients were allergic. A significant number (19%) of patients with T4 < 300/μ1 considered immunodeficient were asymptomatic and 75% of them were allergic.

Thus allergic symptoms may transiently be the only clinical manifestations in HIV infection and possibly a co‐factor for the evolution of the disease due to the immunomodulatory function of the mediators, the cytokines and the proteases released during allergic reaction.
Cutaneous nerves in diabetic neuropathy: an immunohistochemical study
Authors: Al'Abadie Mohammed S.K. , Gawkrodger David J. , Senior H. Jennifer , Dent Mervyn , Ward John D.
Published: August 2010

Background Diabetic neuropathy is usually investigated using the invasive sural nerve biopsy technique; while little is known about dermal nerve alteration in diabetic neuropathy.

Patients and Methods Skin biopsies from the lower leg of five diabetics (mean age, 55 years)with autonomic and sensorimotor peripheral neuropathy were compared to biopsies from five non‐diabetic controls (mean age, 47 years). Immunohistochemical methods were employed using the anti‐neurofilament monoclonal antibodies 127.11 and UJ 13A. The dermal nerve profile areas were counted with a Quantimet image analyser.

Results he diabetic biopsies gave significantly lower readings than the controls (P < 0.05, Mann‐Whitney U‐test).

Conclusion Skin biopsy is a simple and reliable method for evaluating distal nerves in diabetes.
Sweet's syndrome associated with ovarian carcinoma
Authors: Ehrsam Eric P.J. , Thomas Patrick C. , Marrakchi Slaheddine , Mailfer Christine Y. , Rotteleur Guy L.M. , Thomas Pierre M.
Published: August 2010

Sweet's syndrome is sometimes associated with haematological malignancies and less frequently with solid tumors. We report a new case of association of a Sweet's syndrome with an ovarian carcinoma.
Dermatologic balneology: The American view of waters, spas, and hot springs
Authors: Parish Lawrence Charles , Witkowski Joseph A.
Published: August 2010

Abundant water is an important part of everyday living. The substance also has therapeutic capabilities, some of which may have been neglected or even ignored by many societies. Whereas Italians are quick to praise the virtues of mineral water and spa treatment, Americans have often forgotten the potential benefits of the waters. A visit to the Dead Sea for the treatment of psoriasis is an accepted modality by many, but others might question a weekend at Saratoga Springs, New York, other than for horse‐racing and relaxation. Patients have learned from grammar school hygiene classes about the so‐called of cleansing of the body, requiring the drinking of eight glasses of water per day. Washing is also an important ritual in contemporary society, so much so that, one might say: “not even time for a hath”. According to an old Hindustani proverb, “bathe early every day and sickness will avoid you”

Nary a practitioner would deny the use of water in the dermatologic armamentatium. The colloidal bath is recognized as an integral part of the therapy for pruritic dermatitis, just as the wet to dry compress is highly useful in the treatment of eczematized skin. In addition, water is a necessary adjunct in acne therapy or for that matter seborrheic dermatitis.
Lichen planus on the palms and soles
Authors: Mugoni M.G. , Montesu M.A. , Cottoni F.
Published: August 2010

Case reports Five cases of palm and sole lichen planus (LP) taken from our series of 263 cases observed from 1985 to date are reported.

Comments The clinical features of LP on the palms and soles are hyperkeratotic papules, erythematous patches, erosive lesions and also acrosyringeal LP. It has been hypothesized that betablocker drugs excreted by the ecerine if glands could influence the physiology of the excretory duct producing the acrosyringeal modification of LP. The authors evidence the association, in two patients, between erosive palm and sole LP and HCV‐positive hepatopathy and also the association between LP erosive features and liver involvement.
Systemic lupus erythematosus presenting as pyoderma gangrenosum
Authors: Wenzel H.‐C. , Wollina U.
Published: August 2010

A 64‐year‐old man presented with multiple, rapidly growing painful ulcers on the legs, buttocks, hands and the nose, suggesting pyoderma gangrenosum. Laboratory investigations, especially autoantibodies such as high‐titered speckled antinuclear antibodies, anti‐dsDNA, anti‐RNP, anti‐Ro, anti‐La, and anticardiolipin antibodies both of the IgG and IgM type, signs of mild non‐deforming arthritis, renal and hematologic involvement suggested the diagnosis SLE presenting as pyoderma gangrenosum. A combination of azathioprine and prednisolone completely resolved the pyoderma skin lesions. A brief overview on pyoderma gangrenosum associated systemic diseases and current treatment modalities is given.
Lichen scrofulosorum: an unusual expression of pulmonary tuberculosis in a child
Authors: Seghal Virendra N. , Chander Ram , Logani Kulbhushan
Published: August 2010

Lichen scrofulosorum, an uncommon expression of an active case of pulmonary tuberculosis is reported in a female child of 6 years. The diagnosis was supported by the relative criteria. The skiagram of the chest was affirmative, though it was not possible to demonstrate Mycobacterium tuberculosis through smear and/or culture. The response to anti‐tuberculosis treatment was favorable.
A travelling bather's dermatosis: cutaneous larva migrans
Authors: Bardazzi Federico , Stinchi Caterina , Vincenzi Colombina , Tosti Antonella
Published: August 2010

Background Cutaneous larva migrans (CLM) is the clinical manifestation of the penetration of human skin by peculiar nematode larvae. In the last few years this condition has been increasingly reported among travellers returning after bathing in tropical regions.

Patients Thirteen patients affected by localized or diffuse CLM have been studied.

Treatment and Results Twelve patients were treated with a topical 10% thiabendazole preparation, wherease one patient with multiple lesions needed oral administration of Ivermectin.
Anticandidal activity of trifluoperazine
Authors: Krajewska‐Kulak Elzbieta , Niczyporuk Wiaczeslaw
Published: August 2010

Background Trifluoperazine, a potent calmodulin inhibitor, is used as an antipsychotic drug. Similar agents have inhibited the growth of yeasts.

Methods Susceptibility of 101 Candida aibicans strains from patients were tested against trifluoperazine (Trif), ketoconazole (Ktz), and the combination of Ktz with Trif, using Sabouraud's broth.

Results The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC)s for 101 Strains of C. aibicans were: Trif 65.8 ± 2.1 μg/ml, Ktz 27.9 ± 9.1 μg/ml. The combination of Ktz and Trif in various ratios (1:1. 1:2. 2: 1) was found to exert synergistic effect and the mean values of the combinations were: Ktz ± Trif 2.72 ± 0.17, 2.5 ± 0.18, 3.43 ± 0.21 μg/ml. These results were significantly different (P < 0.001) when compared with ketoconazole alone.

Outcome Our findings indicate that trifluoperazine (calmodulin inhibitor) increased the antifungal activity of Ktz against C. aibicam in vitro.
Fungi in onychomycosis. A study by immunohistochemistry and dual flow cytometry
Authors: Arrese J.E. , Piérard‐Franchimont C. , Greimers R. , Piérard G.E.
Published: August 2010

Aim To specify that different types of fungi attack the nails, and that they have different pathogenetic influences.

Background There is still debate about the different pathogenicities of the different types of fungi which cause onychomycosis.

Materials and Methods Histology, immunohistochemistry and dual flow cytometry were used to identify distinct fungi, including dermatophytes, yeasts and molds, in nail clippings.

Results Various distinct fugi were confirmed responsible for nail infection, and these microorganisms were found morphologically indistinguishable from the pathogenic forms that invade other tissues and organs.

Conclusion The term onychomycosis comprises a group of diseases of the nails caused by various distinct fungi.
Sensitivity to ampicillin in pemphigus vulgaris patients and first‐degree healthy relatives
Authors: Brenner Sarah , Bialy‐Golan Anat , Fishman Michal , Livni Ella
Published: August 2010

Objective To elucidate the relationship between the endogenous and exogenous factors involved in pemphigus vulgaris.

Background Based on the observation that patients suffering hypersensitivity to penicillin often develop intercellular antibodies indistinguishable from those typical of pemphigus, it was decided to examine the hypersensitivity to a widely used semi‐synthetic penicillin, ampicillin, in pemphigus vulgaris (PV) patients and their blood relatives.

Methods Hypersensitivity was tested by macrophage migration inhibition factor (MIF) and mast cell degranulation (MCD) tests in 13 pemphigus vulgaris (PV) patients and 24 of their first‐degree relatives.

Results The humoral immune response to ampicillin was increased in PV patients and their relatives compared to controls. The cell mediated immune response was increased in the relatives compared to the controls, and negative in all patients, probably due to steroid therapy.

Conclusions Increased humoral hypersensitivity to ampicillin in both PV patients and their relatives emphasizes the close relationship between drugs and the pathogenesis of the disease, and points to a possible genetic predisposition.
Erectile dysfunction and fertility related to cigarette smoking
Authors: Wolf Ronni , Shulmam Adrian
Published: August 2010

Background Many comprehensive review articles on the adverse effects of cigarette smoking on health have been published, but relatively few have focused on the effect of smoking on erectile function and fertility. Data substantiating the damage caused by smoking to the reproductive system may be helpful in enhancing anti‐smoking campaigns.

Aim To critically review the literature on the effects of smoking on erectile function and fertility.

Observations Whilst most of the studies were performed on groups of men with sexual and reproductive disorders and none included a control for alcohol consumption, it appears that the association between cigarette smoking and impotence is significant. The pathogenetic mechanism of smoking‐induced erectile dysfunction is associated with vascular (arterial and venous) dysfunction. The biochemical defects remain to be determined. Endothelium‐derived relaxing factor, nitric oxide, prostaglandin, prostacycline and thromboxane‐changes may explain smoking‐induced impotence. Studies concerning the endocrine profile showed elevated serum estradiol levels in smokers. The results of testosterone levels were contradictory. Mosl studies on the association between cigarette smoking and sperm density indicated a 13% to 17% decrease in smokers compared to nonsmokers. Cigarette smokers had also greater numbers of leukocytes in (he seminal fluid and lower sperm penetration assay scores. Although the studies conducted to date do not indicate lhat smoking among males is a risk factor for delayed or difficult conception, this might not be the case in men with marginal semen quality and other risk factors.

Conclusions Cigarette smoking is associated with vascular (arterial and venous) impotence, elevated serum estradiol levels and lowered sperm density. These associations are of greater relevance in patients with pre‐existing impaired function, as compared to healthy, potent and fertile individuals.
Interferon α 2B for treatment of complex cutaneous haemangiomas of infancy
Authors: Rampini Enrico , Occella Corrado , Rampini Paolo , Bleidl Dario
Published: August 2010

Summary Interferon alpha 2b for the treatment of complex haemangiomas of infancy (HI) and childhood.

Background Recombinant interferon α has been used with success in the treatment of complex haemangiomas of infancy.

Materials and methods Eleven infants and children (10 females and 1 male) with complex haemangiomas (age 3–14 months) were treated with interferon α 2b by subcutaneous infection of up to 1 million UI/m2/day three times a week for 2 weeks: then the dosage was increased to 3 million Ul/m2/day three times a week. The duration of treatment ranged from 6 to 14 months. A decrease of 50% or more in the dimension of haemangiomas that was maintained for at least 6 months during the treatment or after the withdrawal of the medication was considered a consequence of therapy.

Results In 1 case regression of HI was of 20%; in the other 10 cases, regression ranged from 60% to 90%. The side effects of interferon therapy were mild and transient. Our treatment schedule shows that the administration of interferon α 2b three times a week is as effective as the daily administration of the drug. In our opinion interferon α 2b is a safe agent in the treatment of complex haemangiomas of infancy and therefore should he considered a first line therapeutic option.
Photodynamic therapy of superficial basal cell carcinomas using exogenous 5‐aminolevulinic acid and 514‐nm light
Authors: Alvanopoulos Kosmas , Antoniou Christina , Melpo Petrou , Vareltzidis Antonis , Katsambas Andreas
Published: August 2010

Objective The evaluation of the effectiveness of topical photodynamic therapy with 5‐aminolevulinic acid (5‐ALA) and green laser light on superficial basal cell carcinomas.

Background Topical photodynamic therapy with exogenous 5‐ALA and visible or red laser light has been used up to now for the treatment of superficial non‐melanoma skin tumors.

Patients and methods Four patients with nine superficial carcinomas participated in this study. The tumors were irradiated with green laser light 5 h after the application of cold cream with 20% aminolevulinic acid under occlusive dressing.

Results All nine lesions were resolved with a single treatment and clinical evidence of recurrence was observed in one tumor 1 year after the therapy.

Conclusion Topical photodynamic therapy with exogenous 5‐ALA and green laser light is very effective for superficial basal cell carcinomas.
Accuracy of diagnosis of benign skin lesions in hospital practice: a comparison of clinical and histological findings
Authors: Parslew Richard A.G. , Rhodes Lesley E.
Published: August 2010

Demand for surgical removal of presumed benign skin lesions is increasing. Our aim was to see whether the practice of sending every skin specimen for histological review is necessary in a hospital‐based dermatology department. We first reviewed the histological findings of 1000 lesion removed between 1990 and 1992 where a firm clinical diagnosis of a benign melanocytic naevus (BM; n= 250). seborrhoeic keratosis (SK: n= 250). viral wan (VW; n=250) or skin tag (n= 250) had been made. Next, we perused the original clinical diagnosis made for all histologically proven malignant melanomas (MM) between 1968 and 1993, to see whether they had been misdiagnosed as one of the above four common benign lesions. Histology confirmed the clinical diagnosis in 89% of presumed BM. 89% of presumed SK, 83% of presumed VW and 81% of presumed skin tags. Common causes of misdiagnosis were other benign lesions: 52% of incorrectly diagnosed BM were SK and 30% of incorrectly diagnosed SK were BM, while 38% of incorrectly diagnosed VW were SK. A total of seven malignant tumours (six basal cell carcinomas, one squamous, cell carcinoma) were misdiagnosed clinically, one as BM, three as VW, and two as SK, but no malignant lesions were mistakenly diagnosed as skin lags. Review of 238 histologically proven malignant melanomas revealed a prior clinical diagnosis of BM in 9% and SK in 0.8%, but none were clinically misdiagnosed us skin tags or VW. Hence, in a hospital setting, a firm clinical diagnosis of u skin tag did not lead to missed malignancy, and routine histological confirmation of these lesions appears unnecessary. However, in the case of BM and SK. and where clinical doubt exists, histological review remains essential.
Segmental neurofibromatosis: a rare or underestimated disease?
Authors: Pauluzzi Paolo , Kokelj Franco
Published: August 2010

Segmental neurofibromatosis is a rare form of neurofibromatosis characterized by neurofibromas and/or‘café au lait’macules limited to one or more segment of the body. A case of segment neurofibromatosis in an elderly patient is presented. Classification and genetic counseling are discussed briefly with emphasis on the possibility that because it is benign this condition may not be given sufficient consideration.
Mycosis fungoides bullosa
Authors: Aranha João , dos Anjos Cabeças Maria , Afonso Ana , Pereira Fátima
Published: August 2010

A case of a 52‐year‐old man with mycosis fungoides bullosa. plaque‐stage IIA, follicular mucinosis and milia is described. The disease started about 15 years ago and evolved with periods of remission induced by photochemotherapy (PUVA) and, later, by topical nitrogen mustard and etretinate. Vesiculobullous lesions, alopecia and milia sequentially appeared in the course of its evolution. Besides characteristic features of mycosis fungoides, histopathology revealed subepidermal vesicles and follicular mucinosis associated with lymphoid cells (CD3+). The pathophysiology of these particular aspects of the mycosis fungoides is discussed.
Institutional Dividend Clienteles Under an Imputation Tax System
Authors: Jun Aelee , Gallagher David R. , Partington Graham H.
Published: August 2010

Abstract:  Shareholdings for a sample of institutional equity funds, operating under the Australian imputation tax system, show that dividend policy and fund holdings are related. Relative to market benchmarks and ownership levels across firms, institutional funds are overweight in stocks that pay dividends. Among dividend‐paying stocks there is no simple preference for high dividend yields, probably because the highest dividend yields are not sustainable. Instead we find an inverted U relationship between institutional ownership and dividend yield. The tax hypothesis dominates the prudent‐man hypothesis in explaining ownership by institutional clienteles. Institutional funds have a higher ownership in stocks which carry full imputation tax credits compared to stocks which have partial, or zero, imputation tax credits.
SEROTONERGIC MODULATION OF BEHAVIOUR: A PHYLOGENETIC OVERVIEW
Authors: WEIGER WENDY A.
Published: August 2010

Serotonergic neurons are present in all phyla that possess nervous systems. In most of these phyla, serotonin modulates important behaviours, including feeding, sexual and aggressive behaviour. Serotonin exerts its effects by acting in three basic modes: as a classical neurotransmitter, as a neuromodulator, or as a neurohormone. In a number of invertebrate species, the neural circuitry underlying the effects of serotonin has been well characterized, whereas in vertebrates, the mechanisms by which serotonin affects behaviour are currently less fully understood. The following review examines the role played by serotonin in the generation and modulation of behaviour in successively more complex species, ranging from coelenterates to humans.