bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Some Conclusions
Authors: Reinisch Jessica
Published: October 2013

The concluding chapter identifies significant differences and similarities between the four occupation regimes, and elucidates on the place and role of public health in post-war Germany.
Experimental and numerical methods
Authors: Cantat Isabelle , Cohen-Addad Sylvie , Elias Florence , Graner François , Höhler Reinhard , Pitois Olivier , Rouyer Florence , Saint-Jalmes Arnaud
Published: October 2013

The study of foams is interdisciplinary, both in terms of the questions that foams give rise to and the methods (experimental, simulations and theoretical) used to study them. We present some of the experimental techniques used in research laboratories in order to make and study foams. The appropriate method depends on the length-scale that should be probed, i.e. liquid/gas interface, single liquid film, bubble, or macroscopic sample. We also show how the optical and electrical properties of a foam depend on its physical parameters. We describe the main numerical tools used to simulate the static structure and rheology of foams. Some have high levels of precision while others generate statistics for large numbers of bubbles. An image of a foam, particularly in 2D, is remarkably informative as it contains almost all the physical information required (except for the viscous dissipation). We describe how to extract this information.
Languages of Democracy in America from the Revolution to the Election of 1800
Authors: Cotlar Seth
Published: October 2013

Before and during the American Revolution, ‘democracy’ was relatively rarely invoked in American political discourse, and when it was, usually had negative weight. By contrast, in 1800, candidates who called themselves Democrats won control of the Federal Government. This chapter charts the emergence of the first advocates of democracy in the United States. During the Constitution debates, attacks on aristocracy were much more common than positive accounts of democracy. After 1790, a group of radical newspaper editors sympathetic to the French Revolution promoted the term as a political slogan. Its entry into mainstream political discourse thereafter was however accompanied by the shearing away of some of its more radical associations.
The ‘Fortunate Banner’: Languages of Democracy in the United States, c.1848
Authors: Smith Adam I. P.
Published: October 2013

By the mid-nineteenth century, inhabitants of the United States generally agreed that they lived in a democratic state and society. But uses of the term were complicated by the fact that it also had partisan associations: one group of politicians claimed to be par excellence leaders of ‘the Democracy’. This party had no single or unchanging political identity: it was strongly backed in slave states, but also had white working-class supporters who pushed egalitarian notions hard. Their Whig opponents were not prepared to surrender the language of democracy to them, yet they were more ambivalent about endorsing it, and sometimes distinguished restrained and principled forms of democracy, which they favoured, from vulgar populist forms. The effect of the European revolutions of 1848 in the United States was to encourage the drawing of such distinctions.
Talking about Democracy: Britain in the 1790s
Authors: Philp Mark
Published: October 2013

Before the 1790s, ‘democracy’ was rarely invoked in British political discourse. The word had negative associations, and there were many other ways of framing political challenges. The first variant of the word to catch on was ‘democrat’, which after the French Revolution – following Edmund Burke's lead – achieved currency as a term of abuse directed against the Revolution's British sympathizers. Some of these came to adopt the identity ascribed to them, at least privately and playfully; in public they were more cautious. Even self-avowed democrats did not aim to institute ‘democracy’, a concept which lacked clear modern content. Cognates of democracy featured in British political discourse in this era less as concepts than as ‘fighting words’.
The Church and the World
Authors: Wood Philip
Published: October 2013

This chapter examines the continuation of the patriarchal history into the tempestuous divisions of the Church of the East in the early sixth century. This period was remarkable for the abolition of clerical celibacy, and the Chronicle includes material from within this period as well as retrospectives written after the restoration of celibacy in the middle of the century. This period also allows us to trace the growing importance of the School of Nisibis as a training ground for the bishops of the Church of the East and as conduit for Western ideas: both are reflected in the Chronicle’s material for the early sixth century. One of the most important of these Nisibis-trained reformers was the catholicos Aba, who played a major role in establishing the role of the catholicos as a lawgiver for the Christians of the empire.
Roman Ecclesiastical History in the Sasanian World: Reception, Adaptation, and Reaction
Authors: Wood Philip
Published: October 2013

This chapter and the next examine the massive expansion in the historical awareness of the Church of the East of c.580, including the incorporation of large amounts of Roman ecclesiastical history, which provided an assurance of the ‘orthodoxy’ of the East through the celebration of a Western canon of patristic thinkers. One feature of this borrowed history is its treatment of Nestorius and the council of Chalcedon, which was a major waypoint in the orthodox self-definition of the Roman world. Several fifth-century accounts seem ignorant of the condemnation of Nestorius at Chalcedon, while others have more accurate information and are more reluctant to accept the orthodoxy of the Chalcedonian churches of the West. This separation between the Church of the East and the Dyophysites of the West becomes increasingly marked by the seventh century, with the elevation of Nestorius’ theology under the leadership of Babai the Great.
The Last Great War of Antiquity: The Reaction of Christian Iraq
Authors: Wood Philip
Published: October 2013

This chapter discusses the culmination of several social trends seen in previous chapters: the growing importance of monastic leadership within the Church of the East, the prominence of a Christian aristocracy, and the engagement with the Roman church and its theology. The early seventh century saw a cataclysmic war between Rome and Iran, in which the shah claimed the universal mandate of the Roman emperor. Hagiographies embedded in the Chronicle of Seert present the shah Khusrau II and his wife Shirin as the special sponsors of the catholicos Sabrisho. Later texts, also embedded in the Chronicle, allow us to trace the breakdown of this relationship: of Khusrau’s suppression of the catholicosate, of the assassination of the shah at the hands of Christian aristocrats, and of the attempts of his successors to appeal to his subjects and the Romans in Christian terms.
The Church of Baghdad: A New Past for Christian Iraq
Authors: Wood Philip
Published: October 2013

This chapter proposes that there was a major lacuna in history-writing centred on the catholiocsate in the Umayyad period, c.660–750. However, the transfer of the catholicosate from Ctesiphon to Bagdad under the Abbasids prompted a period of unprecedented power and influence for the Church of the East. Missionary success in Egypt and Central Asia was now matched by new histories that retrojected a ‘Nestorian’ presence further back into time. Oecumenical tendencies between Christian confessions meant the incorporation of Melkite and Jacobite histories and the celebration of Roman figures such as Constantine as part of a shared Christian past. The chapter also examines the treatment of Muhammad in the Chronicle of Seert. Here the Christians presented themselves as fellow monotheists and allies of the early Muslims, in a pragmatic recognition of the influence of the catholicos at the courts of the caliph and the rewards that this relationship offered.
Laws, causes, and invariance
Authors: Woodward Jim
Published: October 2013

This chapter explores some issues having to do with the structure of the evidential reasoning we use to infer causal and lawful claims. It is argued that such reasoning always makes use of prior, causally, or nomologically committed information, thus undercutting various views that attempt to reduce causal and lawful claims to claims about regularities. A non-reductive account of laws and causes built around the notion of invariance is advanced as an alternative.
Notions of proximity to spatial homogeneity and isotropy
Authors: Ringström Hans
Published: October 2013

The cosmological principle states that the universe is spatially homogeneous and isotropic. However, it is clear that this assumption is not exactly satisfied. As a consequence, it is of interest to quantify the distance to spatial homogeneity and isotropy. We illustrate the risks associated with approaching this topic in too naive a way by discussing unexpected pathological examples. In particular we discuss the EGS theorem.
Function spaces for distribution functions II: the manifold setting
Authors: Ringström Hans
Published: October 2013

In order to be able to formulate the Cauchy problem for the Einstein–Vlasov system, it is necessary to define suitable function spaces for the initial datum for the distribution function, as well as for the resulting solution. We do so in Chapter 15. We also define norms for the initial datum in case the initial manifold is compact. Finally, we demonstrate that the stress energy tensor is well defined if the distribution function belongs to the relevant function space.
Global existence
Authors: Ringström Hans
Published: October 2013

In Chapter 31, we prove future global existence in the case that the initial data are specified on the 3-torus, and assuming the initial data are close to those of de Sitter space. The proof is a bootstrap argument, one important ingredient being a system of differential inequalities. At the end of the chapter, we derive rough conclusions concerning the asymptotics.
Feminism versus the Family?
Authors: McDonough Peter
Published: October 2013

This chapter begins by examining the connection between evangelical Protestantism and conservatism Catholicism. James Kurth, a political scientist and ardent evangelical, was a professor of Robert George, the Catholic lawyer who became a chaired professor at Princeton and a pre-eminent leader on the Catholic right after the death of Richard John Neuhaus. Kurth denounced feminism as a primary factor behind the decay of Western civilization and, in particular, American hegemony. The chapter also looks at the influence of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, whose research on the link between family dissolution and the perpetuation of poverty was seminal to James Q. Wilson, John DiIulio, and others. The work of Mary Ann Glendon, George Bush's ambassador to the Vatican, criticizes the decay of the two-parent family from another perspective, emphasizing the noxious effects of no-fault divorce laws on the feminization of poverty.
Voice of the Faithful and the Struggle for Catholic Pluralism
Authors: McDonough Peter
Published: October 2013

Voice of the Faithful, a movement that arose “out of the pews” in response to the Boston Globe's exposé of sexual abuse, has been confined mostly to the Northeastern U.S. The ambiguity of the organization's goals, the hostility of conservative bishops, the inadequacy of its financial resources, and internal factionalism all contributed to VOTF's marginalization. The profile represented by VOTF—devout Catholics who at the same time are in dissent—is less common than both devout adherents and disaffected, low participant Catholics. VOTF expresses a diffuse “loyal opposition” that has proved resistant to organization and dubiously legitimate within the church. Reliance on mobilization through the Internet has also turned out to be unsatisfactory. Aggregating multiple concerns with the problems of individual parishes into a coherent program of reform that allowed at the same time for democratic procedures has proved to be daunting.
Conclusion
Authors: McDonough Peter
Published: October 2013

The official culture of American Catholicism has remained intact since Vatican II. But with the drop in the number of priests and nuns, lay personnel have taken over church-affiliated ministries. SNAP has succeeded in holding the church to account for predatory behavior by priests, while VOTF has made little progress in altering the hierarchical culture and organization of the church. The Leadership Roundtable has promoted modest reforms in the management of day-to-day church operations, though no grand bargain has been struck between bishops and lay benefactors. A paradoxical effect of relaxed sexual practice by Catholics is to sap collective incentives for change in doctrinal areas, and clerical authority stays in place. Decommitment and departures from the church, along with immigration and the growing though less than transparent power of mega-groups like the Knights of Columbus, have tilted church politics toward the right, markedly on “social issues.”
Conjecture
Authors: McDonough Peter
Published: October 2013

The impact of the advocacy groups covered in this book seems modest compared to the influence of Vatican II, immigration, the power of mega-groups groups like the Knights of Columbus, and the selective tuning out of Catholics themselves. At the same time, the emergence of a coalition of Catholic and non-Catholic philanthropists interested in promoting church-affiliated schools, against a background of minorities in need, makes for a potentially powerful, generally conservative bloc. However, constitutional restrictions on public support for religious institutions restrict their effectiveness. Comparison of Catholicism with the trajectory of the Ottoman Empire suggests that, unlike that long imperial experiment, the American church will survive in part because it can gain by welcoming minorities as long as their values are compatible with clerical authority and gender stratification. Comparison with emancipatory movements like abolitionism and feminism indicates that the liberal tradition remains weak within the church.
The Compensatory Relationship of Upper and Subaxial Cervical Motion in the Presence of Cervical Spondylosis
Authors: Hayashi Tetsuo , Daubs Michael D. , Suzuki Akinobu , Scott Trevor P. , Phan Kevin , Aghdasi Bayan , Ruangchainikom Monchai , Hu Xueyu , Lee Chris , Takahashi Shinji , Shiba Keiichiro , Wang Jeffrey C.
Published: October 2013

Study Design:

This study was an in vivo kinematic magnetic resonance imaging analysis of cervical spinal motion in human subjects.

Objective:

The objective of the study was to identify associations between disk degeneration in the subaxial cervical spine and upper cervical spinal motion in patients with general age-related cervical spondylosis.

Summary of Background Data:

The kinematic relationship between the occipital-atlantoaxial complex and subaxial cervical spine in patients with cervical spondylosis and decreased cervical motion is not well understood.

Methods:

A total of 446 symptomatic patients who had neck pain with and without neurogenic symptoms were included in this study. Kinematic magnetic resonance imaging was performed with dynamic motion of the cervical spine in upright, weight-bearing neutral, flexion, and extension positions. Intervertebral disk degeneration for each segment from C2–3 to C7–T1 and sagittal angular motion between flexion and extension for each segment from Oc–C1 to C7–T1 was evaluated. Depending on the amount of sagittal subaxial angular motion, the patients were classified into 3 groups by sagittal angular motion using cutoff points based on tertile (<36-degree group: 149 cases; 36–47-degree group: 148 cases; and >47-degree group: 149 cases).

Results:

A significant correlation was found between subaxial angular motion and intervertebral disk degeneration, indicating that the subaxial motion decreases according to the degree of disk degeneration. Mean angular motion of the occipital-atlantoaxial complex, especially of Oc–C1, was significantly higher in the <36-degree and 36–47-degree group than in the >47-degree group, whereas no significant difference was found at C1–C2.

Conclusions:

Our study demonstrates that decreased subaxial cervical spinal motion is associated with intervertebral disk degeneration in a symptomatic population. This decrease in mobility at the subaxial cervical spine is compensated for by an increase in angular mobility of the upper cervical spine at the occipital-atlantoaxial complex, especially at Oc–C1.
Hyperlordosis is Associated With Facet Joint Pathology at the Lower Lumbar Spine
Authors: Jentzsch Thorsten , Geiger James , König Matthias A. , Werner Clément M.L.
Published: October 2013

Study Design:

A retrospective study.

Objective:

Our study opted to clarify the remaining issues of lumbar lordosis (LL) with regard to (1) its physiological values, (2) age, (3) sex, and (4) facet joint (FJ) arthritis and orientation using computed tomography (CT) scans.

Summary of Background Data:

Recent studies have questioned whether LL really decreases with age, but study sample sizes have been rather small and mostly been based on x-rays. As hyperlordosis increases the load transferred through the FJs, it seems plausible that hyperlordosis may lead to FJ arthritis at the lower lumbar spine.

Methods:

We retrospectively analyzed the CT scans of 620 individuals, with a mean age of 42.5 (range, 14–94) years, who presented to our traumatology department and underwent a whole-body CT scan, between 2008 and 2010. LL was evaluated between the superior endplates of L1 and S1. FJs of the lumbar spine were evaluated for arthritis and orientation between L2 and S1.

Results:

(1) The mean LL was 49.0 degrees (SD 11.1 degrees; range, 11.4–80.1 degrees). (2) LL increased with age and there was a significant difference in LL in our age groups (30 y and below, 31–50, 51–70, and ≥71 y and above) (P=0.02). (3) There was no significant difference in LL between females and males (50 and 49 degrees) (P=0.17). (4) LL showed a significant linear association with FJ arthritis [P=0.0026, OR=1.022 (1.008–1.036)] and sagittal FJ orientation at L5/S1 (P=0.001). In a logistic regression analysis, the cutoff point for LL was 49.4 degrees.

Conclusions:

This is the largest CT-based study on LL and FJs. LL significantly increases with age. As a novelty finding, hyperlordosis is significantly associated with FJ arthritis and sagittal FJ orientation at the lower lumbar spine. Thus, hyperlordosis may present with back pain and patients may benefit from surgical correction, for example, in the setting of trauma.
Target Vessel Detection by Epicardial Ultrasound in Off-Pump Coronary Bypass Surgery
Authors: Hayakawa Masato , Asai Tohru , Kinoshita Takeshi , Suzuki Tomoaki , Shiraishi Shoichiro
Published: October 2013

Objective

The detection of embedded coronary arteries is difficult especially in off-pump coronary bypass surgery. From June 2010, we introduced high-frequency epicardial ultrasound (ECUS) to assess and evaluate embedded arteries during off-pump coronary bypass surgery.

Methods

Between June 2010 and June 2011, a total of 89 consecutive patients underwent isolated coronary bypass surgery at our institution. The patients consisted of 72 men and 17 women with a mean age of 67.9 years. We routinely use the VeriQC system (MediStim, Oslo, Norway) to detect the target vessels in the operation. The patients were assigned to one of two groups, depending on whether ECUS was used in the operation (n = 10, ECUS group) or not (n = 79, non-ECUS group). We analyzed the impact of introducing the ECUS in terms of operative outcome.

Results

All patients underwent revascularization using the off-pump technique without emergent conversion to cardiopulmonary bypass during surgery. The total number of distal anastomoses was 299, and 12 target vessels could not be identified either visually or on palpation. Thus, the frequency of the embedded coronary arteries was 4.01% (12/299 cases). The preoperative profiles of the two groups were not significantly different. Operation time was significantly longer in the ECUS group ( P = 0.02). There were no significant differences in postoperative outcome between the two groups.

Conclusions

In the present study, in which the target coronary arteries could not be detected either visually or on palpation in 12 (4.01%) of 299 cases, the use of high-frequency ECUS allowed all patients to undergo off-pump coronary bypass surgery without conversion to cardiopulmonary bypass during the operation. High-frequency ECUS is therefore useful in off-pump coronary bypass surgery.
Domestic water and sanitation as water security: monitoring, concepts and strategy
Authors: Bradley David J. , Bartram Jamie K.
Published: October 2013

Domestic water and sanitation provide examples of a situation where long-term, target-driven efforts have been launched with the objective of reducing the proportion of people who are water-insecure, most recently through the millennium development goals (MDGs) framework. Impacts of these efforts have been monitored by an increasingly evidence-based system, and plans for the next period of international policy, which are likely to aim at universal coverage with basic water and sanitation, are being currently developed. As distinct from many other domains to which the concept of water security is applied, domestic or personal water security requires a perspective that incorporates the reciprocal notions of provision and risk, as the current status of domestic water and sanitation security is dominated by deficiency This paper reviews the interaction of science and technology with policies, practice and monitoring, and explores how far domestic water can helpfully fit into the proposed concept of water security, how that is best defined, and how far the human right to water affects the situation. It is considered that they fit well together in terms both of practical planning of targets and indicators and as a conceptual framework to help development. The focus needs to be broad, to extend beyond households, to emphasize maintenance as well as construction and to increase equity of access. International and subnational monitoring need to interact, and monitoring results need to be meaningful to service providers as well as users.
Removing the Mote in the Knower's Eye: Education and Epistemology in Hugh of St. Victor's Didascalicon
Authors: Dillard Peter S.
Published: October 2013

The Didascalicon of Hugh of St. Victor encourages the study of many disciplines in order for the soul to acquire knowledge that aids in the restoration of human nature. However, according to Hugh's epistemology much of the acquired knowledge depends upon sensory qualities internalized as images which distract the soul and cause it to degenerate from its original unity. This essay explores the tension between Hugh's educational optimism and Hugh's epistemological pessimism. After considering and rejecting two unsuccessful strategies the soul might pursue for avoiding degeneration and distraction, we shall utilize Hugh's non‐representational conception of cognition to develop a plausible intellectual strategy. We shall also build upon some of Hugh's remarks about music to sketch a model of self‐knowledge as a kind of proportionality in the soul.
Acute treatment with relaxin protects the kidney against ischaemia/reperfusion injury
Authors: Collino Massimo , Rogazzo Mara , Pini Alessandro , Benetti Elisa , Rosa Arianna Carolina , Chiazza Fausto , Fantozzi Roberto , Bani Daniele , Masini Emanuela
Published: October 2013

Although recent preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated that recombinant human relaxin (rhRLX) may have important therapeutic potential in acute heart failure and chronic kidney diseases, the effects of acute rhRLX administration against renal ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury have never been investigated. Using a rat model of 1‐hr bilateral renal artery occlusion followed by 6‐hr reperfusion, we investigated the effects of rhRLX (5 μg/Kg i.v.) given both at the beginning and after 3 hrs of reperfusion. Acute rhRLX administration attenuated the functional renal injury (increase in serum urea and creatinine), glomerular dysfunction (decrease in creatinine clearance) and tubular dysfunction (increase in urinary excretion of N‐acetyl‐β‐glucosaminidase) evoked by renal I/R. These beneficial effects were accompanied by a significant reduction in local lipid peroxidation, free radical‐induced DNA damage and increase in the expression/activity of the endogenous antioxidant enzymes Mn‐ and CuZn‐superoxide dismutases (SOD). Furthermore, rhRLX administration attenuated the increase in leucocyte activation, as suggested by inhibition of myeloperoxidase activity, intercellular‐adhesion‐molecule‐1 expression, interleukin (IL)‐1β, IL‐18 and tumour necrosis factor‐α production as well as increase in IL‐10 production. Interestingly, the reduced oxidative stress status and neutrophil activation here reported were associated with rhRLX‐induced activation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase and up‐regulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase, possibly secondary to activation of Akt and the extracellular signal‐regulated protein kinase (ERK) 1/2, respectively. Thus, we report herein that rhRLX protects the kidney against I/R injury by a mechanism that involves changes in nitric oxide signalling pathway.
Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation in Older Adults: Existing Knowledge Gaps and Areas for Innovation: A Summary of an American Federation for Aging Research Seminar
Authors: Lubitz Steven A. , Bauer Kenneth A. , Benjamin Emelia J. , Besdine Richard W. , Forman Daniel E. , Gurol Mahmut E. , Reddy Vivek Y. , Singer Daniel E.
Published: October 2013

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common and morbid cardiac arrhythmia that increases in prevalence with advancing age. The risk of ischemic stroke, a primary and disabling hazard of AF, also increases with advancing age. The aging of the population is anticipated to contribute to a rising burden of AF‐related morbidity and economic costs, given the close association between the arrhythmia and aging. Recent biological, diagnostic, and therapeutic developments raise hope that AF‐related stroke can be largely prevented, yet despite advances in stroke prevention for individuals with AF, numerous scientific and clinical knowledge gaps remain, particularly as these developments are applied to older adults. Given the public health importance of AF‐related stroke in elderly adults, a group of clinician‐investigators convened on April 5, 2012, to identify promising areas for investigation that may ultimately reduce stroke‐related morbidity. This article summarizes the meeting discussion and emphasizes innovative topic areas that may ultimately facilitate the application of novel preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic insights into the management of older adults with AF. The opinions of those that participated in the meeting limit this report, which may not represent all of the questions that other experts in this field might raise.
Astroglial potassium clearance contributes to short‐term plasticity of synaptically evoked currents at the tripartite synapse
Authors: Sibille Jérémie , Pannasch Ulrike , Rouach Nathalie
Published: October 2013

Key points

Astrocytes, active players in neurotransmission, display complex membrane ionic responses upon neuronal activity.

However, the nature, plasticity and role of the activity‐dependent astroglial currents on synaptic plasticity remain unclear in the hippocampus.

We here demonstrate, using simultaneous electrophysiological recordings of hippocampal neurons and astrocytes, that the complex astroglial current induced synaptically is dominated (80%) by potassium entry through Kir4.1 channels and also includes, in addition to the glutamate transporter current, a small residual current, partially mediated by GABA transporters and Kir4.1‐independent potassium channels.

These synaptically evoked astroglial currents exhibit differential short‐term plasticity patterns, and astroglial potassium uptake mediated by Kir4.1 channels down‐regulates hippocampal short‐term plasticity.

This study establishes astrocytes as integrators of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic activity, which may, through dynamic potassium handling, define the signal‐to‐noise ratio essential for specific strengthening of synaptic contacts and synchronization of neuronal ensembles, a prerequisite for learning and memory.

Abstract  Astroglial processes enclose ∼60% of CA1 hippocampal synapses to form the tripartite synapse. Although astrocytes express ionic channels, neurotransmitter receptors and transporters to detect neuronal activity, the nature, plasticity and impact of the currents induced by neuronal activity on short‐term synaptic plasticity remain elusive in hippocampal astrocytes. Using simultaneous electrophysiological recordings of astrocytes and neurons, we found that single stimulation of Schaffer collaterals in hippocampal slices evokes in stratum radiatum astrocytes a complex prolonged inward current synchronized to synaptic and spiking activity in CA1 pyramidal cells. The astroglial current is composed of three components sensitive to neuronal activity, i.e. a long‐lasting potassium current mediated by Kir4.1 channels, a transient glutamate transporter current and a slow residual current, partially mediated by GABA transporters and Kir4.1‐independent potassium channels. We show that all astroglial membrane currents exhibit activity‐dependent short‐term plasticity. However, only the astroglial glutamate transporter current displays neuronal‐like dynamics and plasticity. As Kir4.1 channel‐mediated potassium uptake contributes to 80% of the synaptically evoked astroglial current, we investigated in turn its impact on short‐term synaptic plasticity. Using glial conditional Kir4.1 knockout mice, we found that astroglial potassium uptake reduces synaptic responses to repetitive stimulation and post‐tetanic potentiation. These results show that astrocytes integrate synaptic activity via multiple ionic channels and transporters and contribute to short‐term plasticity in part via potassium clearance mediated by Kir4.1 channels.
Performance of Thermoactive Foundations for Commercial Buildings
Authors: Chang Kwag Byung , Krarti Moncef
Published: October 2013

A transient three-dimensional numerical solution is developed to analyze the thermal performance of thermo-active foundations used to heat and cool commercial buildings. Using laboratory testing data, the numerical solution is validated and used to carry out a sensitivity analysis to assess the most important design and operating parameters that affect the thermal performance of thermo-active foundations. It is found that the foundation depth, the shank space, the fluid flow rate, and the number of U-tube loops in each foundation pile are the main parameters that affect the thermal performance of a thermo-active foundation system. Based on the validated numerical solution, thermal response factors for a thermo-active foundation are developed, and implemented into a detailed building energy simulation program. These thermal response factors are then used to estimate the impact of installing thermo-active foundations on the total energy use of typical office buildings in representative US climates.
Design Optimization of Energy Efficient Office Buildings in Tunisia
Authors: Ihm Pyeongchan , Krarti Moncef
Published: October 2013

Optimal and cost-effective energy efficiency design and operation options are evaluated for office buildings in Tunisia. In the analysis, several design and operation features are considered including orientation, window location and size, high performance glazing types, wall and roof insulation levels, energy efficient lighting systems, daylighting controls, temperature settings, and energy efficient heating and cooling systems. First, the results of the optimization results from a sequential search technique are compared against those obtained by a more time consuming brute-force optimization approach. Then, the optimal design features for a prototypical office building are determined for selected locations in Tunisia. The optimization results indicate that utilizing daylighting controls, energy efficient lighting fixtures, and low-e double glazing, and roof insulation are required energy efficiency measures to design high energy performance office buildings throughout climatic zones in Tunisia. In particular, it is found that implementing these measures can cost-effectively reduce the annual energy use by 50% compared to the current design practices of office buildings in Tunisia.
Fully Coupled Three-Dimensional Dynamic Response of a Tension-Leg Platform Floating Wind Turbine in Waves and Wind
Authors: Ramachandran G. K. V. , Bredmose H. , Sørensen J. N. , Jensen J. J.
Published: October 2013

A dynamic model for a tension-leg platform (TLP) floating offshore wind turbine is proposed. The model includes three-dimensional wind and wave loads and the associated structural response. The total system is formulated using 17 degrees of freedom (DOF), 6 for the platform motions and 11 for the wind turbine. Three-dimensional hydrodynamic loads have been formulated using a frequency- and direction-dependent spectrum. While wave loads are computed from the wave kinematics using Morison's equation, the aerodynamic loads are modeled by means of unsteady blade-element-momentum (BEM) theory, including Glauert correction for high values of the axial induction factor, dynamic stall, dynamic wake, and dynamic yaw. The aerodynamic model takes into account the wind shear and turbulence effects. For a representative geographical location, platform responses are obtained for a set of wind and wave climatic conditions. The platform responses show an influence from the aerodynamic loads, most clearly through quasi-steady mean surge and pitch responses associated with the mean wind. Further, the aerodynamic loads show an influence from the platform motion through a fluctuating rotor load contribution, which is a consequence of the wave-induced rotor dynamics. Loads and coupled responses are predicted for a set of load cases with different wave headings. Further, an advanced aero-elastic code, Flex5, is extended for the TLP wind turbine configuration and the response comparison with the simpler model shows a generally good agreement, except for the yaw motion. This deviation is found to be a result of the missing lateral tower flexibility in the simpler model.
An Enhanced Study of the Load–Displacement Relationships for Rolling Element Bearings
Authors: Houpert L.
Published: October 2013

An enhanced analytical approach is suggested for calculating three rolling element bearing loads Fx, Fy, and Fz as well as the two tilting moments My and Mz as a function of five relative race displacements: three translations dx, dy, and dz, and two tilting angles dθy and dθz. A full coupling between all these displacements and forces is considered. This approach is particularly recommended for programming the rolling element bearing behavior in any finite element analysis or multibody system dynamic tool, since only two nodes are considered: one for the inner race center, usually connected to a shaft, and another node for the outer race center, connected to the housing. Also, roller and raceway crown radii are considered, meaning that Hertzian point contacts stiffness can be used at low load with a smooth transition toward Hertzian line contact as the load increases. This approach can be used for describing any rolling element bearing type when neglecting centrifugal and gyroscopic effects and applying the approximation of a constant ball–race contact angle. Deep groove ball bearings (whose contact angle sign follows the sign of the applied bearing axial force) or other ball bearings or spherical roller bearing operating under large misalignment may not support such approximations.
Protein Binding of β-Lactam Antibiotics in Critically Ill Patients: Can We Successfully Predict Unbound Concentrations?
Authors: Wong Gloria , Briscoe Scott , Adnan Syamhanin , McWhinney Brett , Ungerer Jacobus , Lipman Jeffrey , Roberts Jason A.
Published: October 2013

The use of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) to optimize beta-lactam dosing in critically ill patients is growing in popularity, although there are limited data describing the potential impact of altered protein binding on achievement of target concentrations. The aim of this study was to compare the measured unbound concentration to the unbound concentration predicted from published protein binding values for seven beta-lactams using data from blood samples obtained from critically ill patients. From 161 eligible patients, we obtained 228 and 220 plasma samples at the midpoint of the dosing interval and trough, respectively, for ceftriaxone, cefazolin, meropenem, piperacillin, ampicillin, benzylpenicillin, and flucloxacillin. The total and unbound beta-lactam concentrations were measured using validated methods. Variabilities in both unbound and total concentrations were marked for all antibiotics, with significant differences being present between measured and predicted unbound concentrations for ceftriaxone and for flucloxacillin at the mid-dosing interval (
P
< 0.05). The predictive performance for calculating unbound concentrations using published protein binding values was poor, with bias for overprediction of unbound concentrations for ceftriaxone (83.3%), flucloxacillin (56.8%), and benzylpenicillin (25%) and underprediction for meropenem (12.1%). Linear correlations between the measured total and unbound concentrations were observed for all beta-lactams (
R
2
= 0.81 to 1.00;
P
< 0.05) except ceftriaxone and flucloxacillin. The percent protein binding of flucloxacillin and the plasma albumin concentration were also found to be linearly correlated (
R
2
= 0.776;
P
< 0.01). In conclusion, significant differences between measured and predicted unbound drug concentrations were found only for the highly protein-bound beta-lactams ceftriaxone and flucloxacillin. However, direct measurement of unbound drug in research and clinical practice is suggested for selected beta-lactams.
One-Month Transplacental Pharmacokinetics of Raltegravir in a Premature Newborn after Short-Course Treatment of the HIV-1-Infected Mother
Authors: Clavel-Osorio C. , Cazassus F. , Stegmann S. , Huc-Anaïs P. , Lecam D. , Peytavin G.
Published: October 2013

We describe the pharmacokinetics of raltegravir of a preterm newborn after short-course treatment of the mother tested HIV + the day of delivery. At age 1 month, the circulating concentration of raltegravir in the newborn was 29 ng/ml (the IC95 of RAL against HIV-1 is 15 ng/ml). Raltegravir should therefore be considered a potential transplacental postexposure prophylaxis for HIV-1 and an alternative to the use of boosted lopinavir in this context.
High-Dose Daptomycin Therapy for Left-Sided Infective Endocarditis: a Prospective Study from the International Collaboration on Endocarditis
Authors: Carugati Manuela , Bayer Arnold S. , Miró Josè M. , Park Lawrence P. , Guimarães Armenio C. , Skoutelis Athanasios , Fortes Claudio Q. , Durante-Mangoni Emanuele , Hannan Margaret M. , Nacinovich Francisco , Fernández-Hidalgo Nuria , Grossi Paolo , Tan Ru-San , Holland Thomas , Fowler Vance G. , Corey Ralph G. , Chu Vivian H.
Published: October 2013

The use of daptomycin in Gram-positive left-sided infective endocarditis (IE) has significantly increased. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of high-dose daptomycin on the outcome of left-sided IE due to Gram-positive pathogens. This was a prospective cohort study based on 1,112 cases from the International Collaboration on Endocarditis (ICE)-Plus database and the ICE-Daptomycin Substudy database from 2008 to 2010. Among patients with left-sided IE due to
Staphylococcus aureus
, coagulase-negative staphylococci, and
Enterococcus faecalis
, we compared those treated with daptomycin (cohort A) to those treated with standard-of-care (SOC) antibiotics (cohort B). The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Time to clearance of bacteremia, 6-month mortality, and adverse events (AEs) ascribable to daptomycin were also assessed. There were 29 and 149 patients included in cohort A and cohort B, respectively. Baseline comorbidities did not differ between the two cohorts, except for a significantly higher prevalence of diabetes and previous episodes of IE among patients treated with daptomycin. The median daptomycin dose was 9.2 mg/kg of body weight/day. Two-thirds of the patients treated with daptomycin had failed a previous antibiotic regimen. In-hospital and 6-month mortalities were similar in the two cohorts. In cohort A, median time to clearance of methicillin-resistant
S. aureus
(MRSA) bacteremia was 1.0 day, irrespective of daptomycin dose, representing a significantly faster bacteremia clearance compared to SOC (1.0 versus 5.0 days;
P
< 0.01). Regimens with higher daptomycin doses were not associated with increased incidence of AEs. In conclusion, higher-dose daptomycin may be an effective and safe alternative to SOC in the treatment of left-sided IE due to common Gram-positive pathogens.
Vaginolysin Drives Epithelial Ultrastructural Responses to Gardnerella vaginalis
Authors: Randis Tara M. , Zaklama Joanne , LaRocca Timothy J. , Los Ferdinand C. O. , Lewis Emma L. , Desai Purnahamsi , Rampersaud Ryan , Amaral Fábio E. , Ratner Adam J.
Published: October 2013

Gardnerella vaginalis
, the bacterial species most frequently isolated from women with bacterial vaginosis (BV), produces a cholesterol-dependent cytolysin (CDC), vaginolysin (VLY). At sublytic concentrations, CDCs may initiate complex signaling cascades crucial to target cell survival. Using live-cell imaging, we observed the rapid formation of large membrane blebs in human vaginal and cervical epithelial cells (VK2 and HeLa cells) exposed to recombinant VLY toxin and to cell-free supernatants from growing liquid cultures of
G. vaginalis
. Binding of VLY to its human-specific receptor (hCD59) is required for bleb formation, as antibody inhibition of either toxin or hCD59 abrogates this response, and transfection of nonhuman cells (CHO-K1) with hCD59 renders them susceptible to toxin-induced membrane blebbing. Disruption of the pore formation process (by exposure to pore-deficient toxoids or pretreatment of cells with methyl-β-cyclodextrin) or osmotic protection of target cells inhibits VLY-induced membrane blebbing. These results indicate that the formation of functional pores drives the observed ultrastructural rearrangements. Rapid bleb formation may represent a conserved response of epithelial cells to sublytic quantities of pore-forming toxins, and VLY-induced epithelial cell membrane blebbing in the vaginal mucosa may play a role in the pathogenesis of BV.
Coxiella burnetii Interaction with Neutrophils and Macrophages
In Vitro
and in SCID Mice following Aerosol Infection
Authors: Elliott Alexandra , Peng Ying , Zhang Guoquan
Published: October 2013

Coxiella burnetii
is an obligate intracellular bacterium that causes acute and chronic Q fever in humans. Human Q fever is mainly transmitted by aerosol infection. However, there is a fundamental gap in the knowledge regarding the mechanisms of pulmonary immunity against
C. burnetii
infection. This study focused on understanding the interaction between
C. burnetii
and innate immune cells
in vitro
and
in vivo
. Both virulent
C. burnetii
Nine Mile phase I (NMI) and avirulent Nine Mile phase II (NMII) were able to infect neutrophils, while the infection rates were lower than 29%, suggesting that
C. burnetii
can infect neutrophils, but infection is limited. Interestingly,
C. burnetii
inside neutrophils can infect and replicate within macrophages, suggesting that neutrophils cannot kill
C. burnetii
and
C. burnetii
may be using infection of neutrophils as an evasive strategy to infect macrophages. To elucidate the mechanisms of the innate immune response to
C. burnetii
natural infection, SCID mice were exposed to aerosolized
C. burnetii
. Surprisingly, neutrophil influx into the lungs was delayed until day 7 postinfection in both NMI- and NMII-infected mice. This result suggests that neutrophils may play a unique role in the early immune response against aerosolized
C. burnetii
. Studying the interaction between
C. burnetii
and the innate immune system can provide a model system for understanding how the bacteria evade early immune responses to cause infection.
The temporal relationship between drug supply indicators: an audit of international government surveillance systems
Authors: Werb Dan , Kerr Thomas , Nosyk Bohdan , Strathdee Steffanie , Montaner Julio , Wood Evan
Published: October 2013

Objectives

Illegal drug use continues to be a major threat to community health and safety. We used international drug surveillance databases to assess the relationship between multiple long-term estimates of illegal drug price and purity.

Design

We systematically searched for longitudinal measures of illegal drug supply indicators to assess the long-term impact of enforcement-based supply reduction interventions.

Setting

Data from identified illegal drug surveillance systems were analysed using an a priori defined protocol in which we sought to present annual estimates beginning in 1990. Data were then subjected to trend analyses.

Main outcome measures

Data were obtained from government surveillance systems assessing price, purity and/or seizure quantities of illegal drugs; systems with at least 10 years of longitudinal data assessing price, purity/potency or seizures were included.

Results

We identified seven regional/international metasurveillance systems with longitudinal measures of price or purity/potency that met eligibility criteria. In the USA, the average inflation-adjusted and purity-adjusted prices of heroin, cocaine and cannabis decreased by 81%, 80% and 86%, respectively, between 1990 and 2007, whereas average purity increased by 60%, 11% and 161%, respectively. Similar trends were observed in Europe, where during the same period the average inflation-adjusted price of opiates and cocaine decreased by 74% and 51%, respectively. In Australia, the average inflation-adjusted price of cocaine decreased 14%, while the inflation-adjusted price of heroin and cannabis both decreased 49% between 2000 and 2010. During this time, seizures of these drugs in major production regions and major domestic markets generally increased.

Conclusions

With few exceptions and despite increasing investments in enforcement-based supply reduction efforts aimed at disrupting global drug supply, illegal drug prices have generally decreased while drug purity has generally increased since 1990. These findings suggest that expanding efforts at controlling the global illegal drug market through law enforcement are failing.