bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mechanism of alcohol‐induced impairment in renal development: Could it be reduced by retinoic acid?
Authors: Gray Stephen P , Cullen‐McEwen Luise A , Bertram John F , Moritz Karen M
Published: September 2011

1. Prenatal alcohol exposure impairs kidney development, resulting in a reduced nephron number. However, the mechanism through which alcohol acts to disrupt renal development is largely unknown. Retinoic acid (RA) is critically involved in kidney development and it has been proposed that a diminished concentration of RA is a contributing factor to fetal alcohol syndrome.

2. In the present study we proposed that the ethanol‐induced inhibition of ureteric branching morphogenesis and glomerular development in the cultured rat kidney would be ameliorated by coculture with exogenous RA and that examining the expression profile of key genes involved in the development of the kidney would provide insights into the potential molecular pathways involved.

3. Whole rat metanephroi cultured in the presence of exogenous RA (10–20 nmol/L) without ethanol appeared larger and had significantly more ureteric branch points, tips and glomeruli than metanephroi cultured in control media. Those cultured in the presence of ethanol alone (0.2%) had 20% fewer ureteric branch points, tips and glomeruli, which was ameliorated by coculture with retinoic acid.

4. Gene expression analysis identified changes in the expression of enzymes involved in the metabolism of alcohol in conjunction with changes in key regulators of kidney development, including cRET.

5. These results demonstrate that the teratogenic effects of alcohol in vitro on kidney development resulting in reduced ureteric branching morphogenesis and glomerular development can be ameliorated through coculture with RA. These results provide the foundation for future research into the mechanism through which alcohol acts to disrupt kidney development.
Epithelioid gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the stomach mimicking extragastrointestinal origin
Authors: Nakajima Takahiko , Saito Seiko , Sugiyama Toshirou , Murata Kenichirou , Fukushima Junichi , Horiuchi Hajime
Published: September 2011

We report a case of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) of the stomach mimicking extragastrointestinal origin. The tumor presented as a large isolated mass in the transverse mesocolon with a minor adhesion to the stomach. Microscopic examination revealed c‐kit gene protein product (KIT)‐positive tumor cells with epithelioid features. The tumor pseudocapsule close to the adhesion site included a small smooth muscle tissue component, indicating a gastric origin. Furthermore, tumor cells at the adhesion site showed prominent hyalinization and calcification. The tumor was diagnosed as a gastric GIST showing extensive extramural growth. Thus, GIST of the stomach and other parts of the gastrointestinal tract can present as tumors localized in the soft tissues of the abdomen mimicking extragastrointestinal origin.
Patterns of inflammatory activation associated with precipitants of acute coronary syndromes: a case‐crossover study
Authors: Chew D. P. , Mattschoss S. , Horsfall M. , Astley C. , Vaile J. C. , Joseph M. X.
Published: September 2011

Aims

We sought to assess a broad array of possible precipitants of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and evaluate their association with detectable inflammatory activation.

Methods and Results

Within a case‐crossover design, using a standardised questionnaire, interviews among 348 ST‐elevation myocardial infarction (44%) or high‐risk non‐ST‐elevation ACS patients (56%), explored potential precipitants, including: infection (INF)‐temperature >38°C and/or respiratory tract, urinary or skin infection; inflammation (INFL)‐exacerbation of inflammatory conditions; exercise (EX)‐moderate to heavy exercise; fast food (FF)‐consumption of a meal purchased from a fast food company. Risk and control periods were: weekly over 8 weeks for INF and INFL; 24 hourly over 4 days for FF and 4 hourly over 48 h for EX. C‐reactive protein (CRP) levels were assessed at admission. These precipitants were identified in 203/348 (58.3%) patients. An increased temporal risk was observed for: INF (0–7 days vs 7–8 weeks odds ratio (OR): 7.5, confidence interval (CI): 1.7–67.6, P = 0.002); INFL (0–7 days vs 7–8 weeks OR: 14.0, CI: 2.13–591.9, P = 0.001); EX (0–4 h vs 24–28 h OR: 2.2, CI: 1.3–3.5, P = 0.001) and FF (0–24 h vs 72–96 h OR: 5.67, CI: 1.6–30.2, P = 0.003). CRP levels were significantly elevated among patients reporting infective and inflammatory potential precipitants, but not among those reporting fast food consumption and unaccustomed moderate‐heavy exercise.

Conclusion

Infection, inflammatory conditions, moderate‐heavy exercise and potentially fast food consumption appear to precipitate high‐risk ACS. Increased inflammation as measured by CRP was not consistently detected despite the identification of an ACS precipitant. Strategies that target improved overall health may also lead to fewer ACS events through a reduction in triggers.
Cellular and ultrastructural changes in the seedling roots of upland rice (Oryza sativa) under the stress of two allelochemicals from Ageratina adenophora
Authors: YANG GUO‐QING , WAN FANG‐HAO , GUO JIAN‐YING , LIU WAN‐XUE
Published: September 2011

Two sesquiterpene‐derivative compounds, 4,7‐dimethyl‐1‐(propan−2‐ylidene)–1,4,4a,8a‐tetrahydronaphthalene‐2,6(1H, 7H)‐dione (DTD) and 6‐hydroxy‐5‐isopropyl‐3,8‐dimethyl−4a,5,6,7,8,8a‐hexahydronaphthalen‐2(1H)–one (HHO), are the major putative allelochemicals of the aqueous leachates of Ageratina adenophora. A laboratory experiment was conducted, using the hydroponic method, to evaluate the cellular and ultrastructural changes in the seedling roots of upland rice under the stress of DTD and HHO. The subsequent changes were observed in the treated upland rice roots in comparison with their controls. The scanning electron microscopy results showed that the DTD‐treated root tip cells turned into an irregular arrangement and shape and that most of them were wizened, with a poor cytoplasm. In the HHO treatment, the root tips had many irregularly shaped cells, with a greater number of sloughing cells, as well as short, wide cells that resulted in spherical and wider, but shorter, roots. At the ultrastructural level, DTD and HHO induced irregularly shaped and lobed nuclei, increased cytoplasmic vacuolation, reduced ribosome density and dictyosomes, and a reduced number of mitochondria in the cells, which indicated limited protein transportation and a reduced capability to export substances for cell development and growth in the upland rice seedling roots. The overall effect of HHO on the upland rice seedlings was more pronounced than that of DTD.
Iron transporters in marine prokaryotic genomes and metagenomes
Authors: Hopkinson Brian M. , Barbeau Katherine A.
Published: September 2011

In the pelagic environment, iron is a scarce but essential micronutrient. The iron acquisition capabilities of selected marine bacteria have been investigated, but the recent proliferation of marine prokaryotic genomes and metagenomes offers a more comprehensive picture of microbial iron uptake pathways in the ocean. Searching these data sets, we were able to identify uptake mechanisms for Fe3+, Fe2+ and iron chelates (e.g. siderophore and haem iron complexes). Transport of iron chelates is accomplished by TonB‐dependent transporters (TBDTs). After clustering the TBDTs from marine prokaryotic genomes, we identified TBDT clusters for the transport of hydroxamate and catecholate siderophore iron complexes and haem using gene neighbourhood analysis and co‐clustering of TBDTs of known function. The genomes also contained two classes of siderophore biosynthesis genes: NRPS (non‐ribosomal peptide synthase) genes and NIS (NRPS Independent Siderophore) genes. The most common iron transporters, in both the genomes and metagenomes, were Fe3+ ABC transporters. Iron uptake‐related TBDTs and siderophore biosynthesis genes were less common in pelagic marine metagenomes relative to the genomic data set, in part because Pelagibacter ubique and Prochlorococcus species, which almost entirely lacked these Fe uptake systems, dominate the metagenomes. Our results are largely consistent with current knowledge of iron speciation in the ocean, but suggest that in certain niches the ability to acquire siderophores and/or haem iron chelates is beneficial.
Functional results and patient satisfaction with sacral nerve stimulation for idiopathic faecal incontinence
Authors: Duelund‐Jakobsen J. , van Wunnik B. , Buntzen S. , Lundby L. , Baeten C. , Laurberg S.
Published: September 2011

Aim  Sacral nerve stimulation (SNS) is an established treatment for faecal incontinence (FI) when conservative modalities have failed to restore continence. This two‐centre study aimed to document functional outcome and its relationship to patient satisfaction.

Method  Patients treated with SNS for idiopathic FI in Aarhus (Denmark) and Maastricht (The Netherlands) were included. At the most recent follow‐up appointment, 127 patients (80%) were identified as receiving active SNS therapy. A questionnaire considering bowel habits, quality of life, and self‐reported satisfaction and a 3‐week bowel‐habit diary were mailed to these patients, and 85% responded.

Results  Patient satisfaction was clearly related to the number of FI episodes. Patients experiencing full continence were all satisfied, and although the satisfaction rate decreased as the number of FI episodes increased, 46% of the patients with more FI episodes at follow‐up than at baseline were still satisfied. Per‐protocol analysis resulted in a satisfaction rate of 57.3%. In total, 74.7% of the patients receiving active SNS therapy reported a reduction of ≥ 50% in FI episodes, 10.3% of whom were dissatisfied after a median of 46 months of follow‐up.

Conclusion  There is a clear relationship between patient satisfaction and improved continence. A total of 57.3% of the patients offered SNS therapy were satisfied at follow‐up. However, 46% of the patients with more FI episodes at follow‐up than at baseline were also satisfied. Therefore, functional outcome of SNS therapy cannot be based only on bowel‐habit diaries and bowel scores.
Increased prevalence of chronic kidney disease in patients with Type 1 diabetes and non‐alcoholic fatty liver
Authors: Targher G. , Pichiri I. , Zoppini G. , Trombetta M. , Bonora E.
Published: September 2011

Diabet. Med. 29, 220–226 (2012)

Aims  We determined whether non‐alcoholic fatty liver is associated with an increased prevalence of chronic kidney disease in Type 1 diabetes.

Methods  We studied 343 patients with Type 1 diabetes, who had no history of excessive alcohol consumption or other secondary causes of chronic liver disease. Non‐alcoholic fatty liver was diagnosed by ultrasonography. Chronic kidney disease was defined as presence of either abnormal albuminuria (i.e. urinary albumin/creatinine ratio ≥ 30 mg/g) or estimated glomerular filtration rate of less than 60 ml min−1 1.73 m−2.

Results  Compared with those without steatosis, patients with non‐alcoholic fatty liver (n = 182) had significantly lower estimated GFR (83.0 ± 27 vs. 93.3 ± 29 ml min−1 1.73 m−2, P < 0.001) and a greater prevalence of abnormal albuminuria (50.0 vs. 20.5%, P < 0.0001) and chronic kidney disease (54.4 vs. 24.2%, P < 0.0001). Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that non‐alcoholic fatty liver was associated with an increased risk of either abnormal albuminuria (adjusted odds ratio 2.21, 95% CI 1.2–4.1, P = 0.01) or chronic kidney disease (adjusted odds ratio 1.93, 95% CI 1.1–3.6, P = 0.02), independently of age, gender, smoking status, physical activity, diabetes duration, HbA1c, BMI, systolic blood pressure, plasma lipids and use of anti‐hypertensive and lipid‐lowering medications.

Conclusions  Our findings demonstrate that ultrasound‐diagnosed non‐alcoholic fatty liver is associated with a higher prevalence of chronic kidney disease in patients with Type 1 diabetes, independently of several risk factors, including the components of the metabolic syndrome.
On the Complexities of Time and Temporality: Implications for World History and Global Futures
Authors: Patomäki Heikki
Published: September 2011

Human beings are temporal and spatial beings. We cannot go back in time; whatever we do is an intervention in irreversible, on‐going causal processes; physically, we cannot be in two places simultaneously; and the specific area of space we fill in cannot be occupied by anybody else simultaneously. While the nature of time has been theorised in philosophy, social theory and (world) political theory, in practice historians and social scientists tend to equate time with the modern linear conception of time, organising their narratives and explanations in a chronological order, without reflecting upon the complexities of time and temporalities of social being. I make four arguments, developing them in the context of concrete world historical events and processes. First, I ask what and when is “now”? The present cannot be punctual. Rather, the present is a moment of becoming, and makes reference to an on‐going process. Second, because “now” is relative to the relevant processes, its meaning and characteristics depend on how these processes turn out. Thus, the past is, in part, undetermined, and at some level will remain so. Third, the futurized nature of the present is changing. Critical social sciences are involved in this process of transformation, especially through reflexive self‐regulation of social systems. Fourthly, the move from predictions to reflexive scenarios about possible futures, and to open ethico‐political discourse about unwanted and desired future possibilities, raises deep — in effect, mythological — questions about the meaning and purpose of world history as a whole. I argue that mythopoetic imagination can also be a means for critique.
Social Imaginaries and Therapeutic Self-Work: The Ethics of the Embodied Imagination
Authors: Dawney Leila
Published: September 2011

This paper explores the concept of the social imaginary as a means for understanding how bodies and worlds interact in the production of therapeutic spaces. The ‘body that imagines’ is discussed through an engagement with Foucault's writing on subjectivation and Spinoza's theory of knowledge and the imagination. This focus on the ‘body that imagines’ allows a consideration of social imaginaries as processual and collective entities, and reveals how imaginaries are worked on and through, and invested in affectively by bodies. Two case studies consider the employment and negotiation of social imaginaries in constituting a relation to the self through the embodied experience of walking along a coastal footpath. These imaginaries contribute to a therapeutic framing of specific assemblages of bodies and landscapes. The paper concludes with a discussion of how the subject's capacity to work with and through imaginaries is central to both the production of meaningful space and a politics and ethics of the self.
Imagining Nature Politics in the Era of Australia's Emerging Market in Environmental Services Interventions
Authors: Verran Helen
Published: September 2011

With the advent of environmental ‘governance by commission’, associated with evidence-based policy and market mechanisms, there is a need to (re)imagine Australia's nature politics. I identify two distinct domains of nature politics – one associated with distribution of goods produced in nature, and another concerned with constituting nature itself.

The paper offers two analytically distinct readings of a tender bids hearing to select a contractor to assemble a diagnostic design for a government funded project of river rehabilitation. The tool that enables these incommensurable accounts is a purposefully crafted ethnographic story of the hearing. These dual readings engage alternative framings in order to see alternative political domains. The first reading mobilises an orthodox relativising framing to show a familiar politics evident in the competition for the contract; a politics over the distribution of goods produced from nature. This can be read as a politics over valuing nature. The second reading, proposing an alternative nature politics that should be understood as sitting alongside, utilises an alternative analytic framing. It offers a reading of the tender bids hearing as a politics contesting the form of the entities that should order Australian nature. In concluding I propose that the juxtaposed alternative readings, analyses made with disparate explicit metaphysical commitments, which reveal separate but connected political domains, constitute a politics of imagination, and ask how to configure the analyst who can engage such a politics?
Imagining Personhood Differently: Person Value and Autonomist Working-Class Value Practices
Authors: Skeggs Beverley
Published: September 2011

Theories of the good and proper self (the governmental normative subject, be it a reflexive, enterprising, individualising, rational, prosthetic, or possessive self) 1 or even the self produced in conditions not of its own making, such as Bourdieu's habitus, all rely on ideas about self-interest, investment and/or ‘playing the game’. As people are increasingly expected to publicly legitimate themselves as good and worthy subjects, and as capital increasingly enters the spaces of intimacy and bio-politics, we need to reconsider the limits of our theoretical imaginaries for understanding the value production necessary to the performance of personhood. Specifically, most of the theories we have for understanding the connections between personhood and value reproduce and legitimate the normative, hinging our theoretical imaginary to the dominant symbolic, making proper personhood an exclusive resource predicated on constitution by exclusion; where limits define the norm, the margins the centre and the improper the proper. How then can we understand how people who are excluded from the possibilities of accruing and attaching value to themselves, who are positioned outside of the dominant symbolic as the constitutional limit for the proper self, or as the zero limit to culture, develop value/s? Drawing upon three different empirical research projects the paper builds on my previous critique of the self as a classed concept to develop a different perspective on value. It argues that an analysis of autonomist working-class sociality offers us ways to imagine personhood and person value that are often imperceptible to the bourgeois gaze.
Fascists as Much as Painters: Imagination, Overidentification, and Strategies of Intervention
Authors: Shukaitis Stevphen
Published: September 2011

This paper explores the work of Laibach and the Neue Slowenische Kunst collective from Slovenia, and their usage and fusion of avant-garde and fascist aesthetics as a form of cultural and political intervention into the collective imagination. This approach of adopting a set of ideas, images, or politics and attacking them, not by a direct, open or straightforward critique, but rather through a rabid and obscenely exaggerated adoption of them, is referred to as overidentification. This paper will examine the formation of overidentification as a strategy of cultural-political intervention uniquely suited to the Slovenian context. Since their interventions this approach to cultural intervention has been adopted more broadly within political organizing. The argument for such strategies is that in the current functioning of capitalism, the critical function of governance is to be more critical than the critics of governance itself. The question then becomes of how a strategy of overidentification either creates or restrains the possibility of intervening within the creation of collective imaginaries within the present. Overidentification is thus a fitting tool for developing methods of intervention for contexts marked by a high degree of ambivalence, and to find ways to recompose a politics in and against these conditions.
Government Size, the Role of Commitments*
Authors: Albanese Giuseppe , Modica Salvatore
Published: September 2011

We explore the hypothesis that long‐term commitments affect the dynamics of government expenditure. With the aid of a simple median‐voter model we interpret the pattern of increasing‐then‐constant tax rates observed in OECD countries in the second half of the last century: persistence of public expenditure and a lower bound on new interventions will push government size upward, and preferences of the electorate put a halt to this growth at some point. In this view, the fiscal policy variable is seen to consist of only a part of the total expenditure, the rest being predetermined by its past level.
Estimating carnivoran diets using a combination of carcass observations and scats from GPS clusters
Authors: Tambling C. J. , Laurence S. D. , Bellan S. E. , Cameron E. Z. , du Toit J. T. , Getz W. M.
Published: September 2011

Scat analysis is one of the most frequently used methods to assess carnivoran diets, and global positioning system (GPS) cluster methods are increasingly being used to locate feeding sites for large carnivorans. However, both methods have inherent biases that limit their use. GPS methods to locate kill sites are biased towards large carcasses, while scat analysis overestimates the biomass consumed from smaller prey. We combined carcass observations and scats collected along known movement routes, assessed using GPS data from four African lion Panthera leo prides in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, to determine how a combination of these two datasets change diet estimates. As expected, using carcasses alone underestimated the number of feeding events on small species, primarily impala Aepyceros melampus and warthog Phacochoerus africanus, in our case, by more than 50%, and thus significantly underestimated the biomass consumed per pride per day in comparison with when the diet was assessed using carcass observations alone. We show that an approach that supplements carcass observations with scats that enables the identification of potentially missed feeding events increases the estimates of food intake rates for large carnivorans, with possible ramifications for predator–prey interaction studies dealing with biomass intake rate.
COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY AND COMPUTED RADIOGRAPHY OF LATE BRONZE AGE CREMATION URNS FROM DENMARK: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY ATTEMPT TO DEVELOP METHODS APPLIED IN BIOARCHAEOLOGICAL CREMATION RESEARCH
Authors: HARVIG L. , LYNNERUP N. , EBSEN J. AMSGAARD
Published: September 2011

To improve the methods used to study prehistoric cremation rituals, cremation urns from the Danish Late Bronze Age were examined using computed tomography and computed radiography (digital X‐ray). During micro‐excavation, the digital images were used as a registration tool. Our results suggest that osteological ageing and sexing are more accurate when combining CT images with excavated remains. Digital volume rendering further enables a compromised estimation of the original cremation weight. Micro‐excavation is clearly a primary cause of bone fragmentation. Cremated remains affected by lower cremation intensity show markedly poorer preservation and recovery than do white calcined fragments. Thus post‐excavation estimations of cremation intensity are systematically biased.
Who Values Information from a Health Plan Internet‐Based Decision Tool and Why: A Demographic and Utilization Analysis
Authors: Chen Song , Karaca‐Mandic Pinar , Levin Regina
Published: September 2011

Objectives

The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with utilization of health plan Internet‐based decision tools.

Data Sources and Study Setting

Enrollment, claims, plan design, and web transaction data during 2008 provided by a national health insurer for 253,398 subscribers from 919 employers.

Study Design

Multivariate models of the effects of demographic, health, employer, and plan benefit design characteristics on the use of the tool and its individual function categories.

Data Extraction Methods

Subscribers, who were either an individual member or a family, were included if at least one family member had 12 months of coverage in 2008. Members older than 65 and those with multiple insurance carriers were excluded.

Principal Findings

Higher education, higher income, younger age, female gender, higher co‐morbidity risk, prevalence of chronic conditions, Caucasian race, and English as the primary language were positively associated with using the tool. Plan benefit characteristics such as free preventive coverage, higher deductible, moderate coinsurance rate, family coverage, and enrollment in health savings accounts were also associated with higher likelihood of using the tool.

Conclusions

Insurers provide consumers information on cost efficiency, quality, and wellness through Internet‐based decision tools, but more effort is needed to reach certain demographics.
Nighttime Blood Pressure in Cluster Headache
Authors: Santos Lasaosa Sonia , Navarro Calzada Jorge , Velázquez Benito Alba , Pérez Lázaro Cristina
Published: September 2011

Background.— It has been proposed that desaturation of oxygen during an apnea event is the trigger for cluster headache. Obstructive sleep apnea has been associated with a higher than normal cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Some obstructive sleep apnea syndrome patients lack the sleep‐related, nocturnal decrease, or “dip” in blood pressure, which is seen in normal individuals.

Objective.— The aim of this study is to assess whether this non‐dipper pattern is present in cluster headache patients.

Design and Methods.— A total of 30 normotensive cluster headache patients underwent an ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. “Non dippers” were defined as patients with a nighttime mean blood pressure fall <10%.

Results.— Fifteen cluster headache patients (50%) were non‐dippers, a frequency higher than expected. The pattern of nocturnal non‐dipping is associated with a higher body mass index. Non‐dipper patients displayed higher mean nighttime systolic and diastolic blood pressure. No significant difference was observed in the mean 24‐hour and daytime blood pressure.

Conclusions.— The high incidence (50%) of non‐dipper pattern in both processes, cluster headache and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, provides support for the hypothesis of a relationship between theses 2 disorders.
Aging and Left Ventricular Mass and Function in People with End‐Stage Renal Disease
Authors: Tripepi Giovanni , Mattace‐Raso Francesco , Sijbrands Eric , Witteman Jacqueline , Rapisarda Francesco , Malatino Lorenzo , Mallamaci Francesca , Zoccali Carmine
Published: September 2011

OBJECTIVES: To identify the main age‐related factors responsible for cardiomyopathy in people with end‐stage renal disease (ESRD).

DESIGN: Cross‐sectional.

SETTING: Dialysis unit.

PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred fifty‐four individuals undergoing chronic dialysis.

MEASUREMENTS: Left ventricular (LV) systolic function (assessed according to midwall fractional shortening (mwFS)) and LV mass index (LVMI).

RESULTS: At echocardiography, 196 (77%) participants displayed LV hypertrophy (LVH) and 123 (48%) had LV systolic dysfunction. On univariate analysis, age was related directly to LVMI (correlation coefficient (r)=0.33, P<.001) and inversely to mwFS (r=−0.23, P<.001) and a 10‐year increase in age was associated with 4.2‐g/m2.7 greater LVMI and 0.5% lower mwFS. Albumin, pulse pressure, cardiovascular comorbidities, and C‐reactive protein were age‐related risk factors for LVMI and mwFS, whereas hemoglobin was an age‐dependent risk factor only for LVMI and heart rate and diabetes mellitus only for mwFS. After adjusting for age‐related risk factors, the predictive value of age for cardiomyopathy was substantially less (–67%) and the age‐dependent variability in LVMI and mwFS was much attenuated (−61%), and neither was significant.

CONCLUSION: This study suggests that in people with ESRD, the relationship between age and cardiomyopathy is largely dependent on age‐related risk factors and that interventions focused on modifiable risk factors linked to age (e.g., malnutrition and inflammation) could attenuate the detrimental effect of aging on cardiovascular risk in the dialysis population.
Piezoelectric Materials for High Temperature Sensors
Authors: Zhang Shujun , Yu Fapeng
Published: September 2011

Piezoelectric materials that can function at high temperatures without failure are desired for structural health monitoring and/or nondestructive evaluation of the next generation turbines, more efficient jet engines, steam, and nuclear/electrical power plants. The operational temperature range of smart transducers is limited by the sensing capability of the piezoelectric material at elevated temperatures, increased conductivity and mechanical attenuation, variation of the piezoelectric properties with temperature. This article discusses properties relevant to sensor applications, including piezoelectric materials that are commercially available and those that are under development. Compared to ferroelectric polycrystalline materials, piezoelectric single crystals avoid domain‐related aging behavior, while possessing high electrical resistivities and low losses, with excellent thermal property stability. Of particular interest is oxyborate [ReCa4O (BO3)3] single crystals for ultrahigh temperature applications (>1000°C). These crystals offer piezoelectric coefficients deff, and electromechanical coupling factors keff, on the order of 3–16 pC/N and 6%–31%, respectively, significantly higher than those values of α‐quartz piezocrystals (~2 pC/N and 8%). Furthermore, the absence of phase transitions prior to their melting points ~1500°C, together with ultrahigh electrical resistivities (>106 Ω·cm at 1000°C) and thermal stability of piezoelectric properties (< 20% variations in the range of room temperature ~1000°C), allow potential operation at extreme temperature and harsh environments.
Influence of surface treatments on the flexural strength of denture base repair
Authors: de Paula Pereira Rodrigo , Delfino Carina Sinclér , Butignon Luis Eduardo , Vaz Marcos André Kalabaide , Arioli‐Filho João Neudenir
Published: September 2011

doi: 10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2011.00454.x

Influence of surface treatments on the flexural strength of denture base repair

Objective:  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the flexural strength of repairs made with autopolymerising acrylic resin after different treatments of joint surfaces.

Material and Methods:  Fifty rectangular specimens were made with heat‐polymerised acrylic resin and 40 were repaired with autopolymerising acrylic resin following joint surface treatments: group 1 (intact specimens), group 2 (chemical treatment: wetting with methyl‐methacrylate for 180 s), group 3 (abraded with silicon carbide paper), group 4 (abraded and wetting with methyl‐methacrylate for 180 s) and group 5 (without surface treatment). The flexural strength was measured by a three‐point bending test using a universal testing machine with a 100 Kgf load cell in the centre of repair at 5 mm/min cross‐head speed. All data were analysed using one‐way anova and Tukey HSD test for multiple comparisons (p < 0.05).

Results:  Among repaired specimens, groups 2 and 4 had 66.53 ± 3.4 and 69.38 ± 1.8 MPa mean values and were similar. These groups had superior flexural strength than groups 3 and 5 that were similar and had 54.11 ± 3.4 and 51.24 ± 2.8 MPa mean values, respectively. Group 1 had a mean value of 108.30 ± 2.8 MPa being the highest result.

Conclusion:  It can be concluded that the treatment of the joint surfaces with methyl‐methacrylate increases the flexural strength of denture base repairs, although the strength is still lower than that observed for the intact denture base resin. Abrasion with sandpaper was not able to influence the flexural strength of repaired denture bases.
Structural Alterations in Small Resistance Arteries in Obesity
Authors: Rizzoni Damiano , De Ciuceis Carolina , Porteri Enzo , Semeraro Francesco , Rosei Enrico Agabiti
Published: September 2011

Abstract:  In cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, small resistance arteries may show the presence of structural alterations. In particular, in essential hypertension, an increased media‐to‐lumen ratio of subcutaneous small arteries with no change in the total amount of vascular wall tissue (eutrophic remodelling) has already been described several years ago. Similar alterations have been demonstrated also in patients with diabetes mellitus and obesity; in this case, however, a more evident contribution of vascular smooth muscle cell growth (hypertrophic remodelling) is present. This review addresses the effects of obesity on small resistance artery structure. Similar to diabetic patients, obese patients show an increased media‐to‐lumen ratio of subcutaneous small arteries, which appears associated with hypertrophic remodelling, as demonstrated by an increase in media cross‐sectional area. Endothelial dysfunction evaluated as vasodilator response to acetylcholine has also been observed. Several studies have shown that increased media‐to‐lumen ratio of subcutaneous small resistance arteries possesses a prognostic significance in relation to cardiovascular outcome. Appropriate antihypertensive treatment may improve microvascular alterations both in essential hypertension and in type 2 diabetes mellitus. In obesity, a pronounced weight loss may improve microvascular structure. However, further studies are needed to elucidate the effects of other pharmacological and non‐pharmacological interventions in obesity.
The Importance of Sexual Self-Disclosure to Sexual Satisfaction and Functioning in Committed Relationships
Authors: Rehman Uzma S. , Rellini Alessandra H. , Fallis Erin
Published: September 2011

Introduction

Past research indicates that sexual self-disclosure, or the degree to which an individual is open with his or her partner about sexual preferences, is a key aspect of sexual satisfaction and that partner's lack of knowledge about one's sexual preferences is associated with persistent sexual dysfunction.

Aims

To replicate and extend past research by examining (i) how one's own levels of sexual self-disclosure are related to one's own sexual health (after controlling for partner's levels of sexual self-disclosure); (ii) how one's partner's levels of sexual self-disclosure are associated with one's own sexual health (after controlling for one's own levels of sexual self-disclosure); and (iii) whether gender moderates the associations between sexual self-disclosure and sexual health.

Main Outcome Measures

Scores from the Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction and the Sexual Communication Satisfaction Scale.

Methods

A cross-sectional dyadic study using a convenience sample of 91 heterosexual couples in long-term committed relationships. Data were analyzed using the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model.

Results

One's own level of sexual self-disclosure is positively associated with one's own sexual satisfaction, β = −0.24, t(172.85) = −3.50, P < 0.001. Furthermore, partner's level of sexual self-disclosure is associated with men's sexual satisfaction but not with women's sexual satisfaction, β = −0.45, t(86.81) = −4.06, P < 0.001 and β = 0.02, t(87.00) = 0.20, ns, respectively. The association between own self-disclosure and sexual problems is stronger for women as compared with men, β = −0.72, t(87.00) = −6.31, P < 0.001 and β = −0.24, t(86.27) = −3.04, P < 0.01, respectively.

Conclusions

Our results demonstrate that sexual self-disclosure is significantly associated with sexual satisfaction and functioning for both men and women, albeit in different ways. Our findings underscore the importance of sexual self-disclosure and highlight the importance of the interpersonal level of analysis in understanding human sexuality.
Minimizing Bias in Biomass Allometry: Model Selection and Log‐Transformation of Data
Authors: Mascaro Joseph , Litton Creighton M. , Hughes R. Flint , Uowolo Amanda , Schnitzer Stefan A.
Published: September 2011

Nonlinear regression is increasingly used to develop allometric equations for forest biomass estimation (i.e., as opposed to the traditional approach of log‐transformation followed by linear regression). Most statistical software packages, however, assume additive errors by default, violating a key assumption of allometric theory and possibly producing spurious models. Here, we show that such models may bias stand‐level biomass estimates by up to 100 percent in young forests, and we present an alternative nonlinear fitting approach that conforms with allometric theory.
Natural Attenuation of Septic System Nitrogen by Anammox
Authors: Robertson W.D. , Moore T.A. , Spoelstra J. , Li L. , Elgood R.J. , Clark I.D. , Schiff S.L. , Aravena R. , Neufeld J.D.
Published: September 2011

On‐site disposal of sewage in septic systems can lead to groundwater plumes with NO3−–N concentrations exceeding the common drinking water limit of 10 mg/L. Currently, denitrification is considered as the principal natural attenuation process. However, at a large seasonal‐use septic system in Ontario (256 campsites), a suboxic zone exists where nitrogen removal of up to 80% occurs including removal of NH4+–N. This zone has both NO3−–N and NH4+–N at >5 mg/L each. In the distal NH4+‐rich zone, NH4+–N concentrations (8.1 ± 8.0 mg/L) are lower than in the proximal zone (48 ± 36 mg/L) and NH4+–N is isotopically enriched (concentration‐weighted mean δ15N of +15.7‰) compared to the proximal zone (+7.8‰). Furthermore, δ15N–NH4+ isotopic enrichment increases with depth in the distal zone, which is opposite to what would result if nitrification along the water table zone was the mechanism causing NH4+ depletion. Bacterial community composition was assessed with molecular (DNA‐based) analysis and demonstrated that groundwater bacterial populations were predominantly composed of bacteria from two Candidatus genera of the Planctomycetales (Brocadia and Jettenia). Together, these data provide strong evidence that anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) plays an important role in nitrogen attenuation at this site.
Comparison of Approaches for Predicting Solute Transport: Sandbox Experiments
Authors: Illman Walter A. , Berg Steven J. , Yeh Tian‐Chyi Jim
Published: September 2011

The main purpose of this paper was to compare three approaches for predicting solute transport. The approaches include: (1) an effective parameter/macrodispersion approach (Gelhar and Axness 1983); (2) a heterogeneous approach using ordinary kriging based on core samples; and (3) a heterogeneous approach based on hydraulic tomography. We conducted our comparison in a heterogeneous sandbox aquifer. The aquifer was first characterized by taking 48 core samples to obtain local‐scale hydraulic conductivity (K). The spatial statistics of these K values were then used to calculate the effective parameters. These K values and their statistics were also used for kriging to obtain a heterogeneous K field. In parallel, we performed a hydraulic tomography survey using hydraulic tests conducted in a dipole fashion with the drawdown data analyzed using the sequential successive linear estimator code (Yeh and Liu 2000) to obtain a K distribution (or K tomogram). The effective parameters and the heterogeneous K fields from kriging and hydraulic tomography were used in forward simulations of a dipole conservative tracer test. The simulated and observed breakthrough curves and their temporal moments were compared. Results show an improvement in predictions of drawdown behavior and tracer transport when the K tomogram from hydraulic tomography was used. This suggests that the high‐resolution prediction of solute transport is possible without collecting a large number of small‐scale samples to estimate flow and transport properties that are costly to obtain at the field scale.
An Investigation of Bioecological Influences Associated With First Use of Methamphetamine in a Rural State
Authors: Bowen Anne , Moring John , Williams Mark , Hopper Glenna , Daniel Candice
Published: September 2011

Purpose: Methamphetamine (MA) addiction is a significant problem in rural areas of the United States. Yet, little theoretically driven formative research has been conducted on the interactions of factors influencing initiation. The study was guided by Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model.

Methods: Eighty‐three MA users participated in an interview. Quantitative data included sociodemographic characteristics, drug use history, and psychosocial functioning. Semistructured interviews examined MA use histories with a focus on initiation. Transcripts of the interviews were coded for 5 themes related to Bronfenbrenner's influences including individual motivation, family, peers, work or school, or community as factors influencing initiation of MA use. Five dummy variables representing the presence or absence of a mention of Bronfenbrenner's 5 influences were created from the qualitative codes and entered into a hierarchical cluster analysis.

Findings: The analyses revealed 4 distinct clusters: (1) predominantly female, influenced by peers and individual curiosity, (2) predominantly female, youngest age of first use, influenced by a family culture of drug use, (3) predominantly male, older age at first use, influenced by work settings and family co‐workers, and (4) predominantly male, older age at first use, in the school context with a desire to increase intimacy.

Conclusions: Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model was useful for classifying initiating influences and grouping individuals based on different combinations of influences. Identifying combinations of initiating factors such as work and community may facilitate tailoring of prevention programs, which may maximize efficacy and cost‐effectiveness.
The Dynamics of Blood Pressure and Cognitive Functioning: Results From 6‐Year Follow‐Up of an Elderly Cohort
Authors: Paran Ester , Anson Ofra
Published: September 2011

J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2011;13:813–817. ©2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The association between blood pressure (BP) and cognitive functioning in the elderly is still under debate. Theoretically, high BP could either prevent or enhance cognitive impairment. The authors assessed the changes that took place in BP and cognitive functioning over 6 years. A total of 318 noninstitutional elderly (81% of the survivors) were re‐evaluated. BP was measured and a cognitive test was performed. Elderly patients who had higher systolic BP (SBP) and scored lower on the Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE) at baseline were less likely to survive. At follow‐up, the proportion of patients with normal or normalized BP by treatment increased. Considerable changes in SBP were observed. Most cognitive functions declined during follow‐up; however, decline in SBP was associated with better verbal fluency and memory. Both an increase and a decline in SBP were associated with better MMSE scores. Changes in diastolic BP (DBP) were less evident and DBP was not related to cognitive functioning. The current study demonstrates the importance of studying the dynamics of both BP and cognition over time. It appears that transition from hypertension to normotension improves cognitive functions. Survival processes may restrict the evaluation of the BP‐cognition interaction over time.
Vaccines for the future: learning from human immunology
Authors: De Gregorio Ennio , Rappuoli Rino
Published: September 2011

Conventional vaccines have been extremely successful in preventing infections by pathogens expressing relatively conserved antigens through antibody‐mediated effector mechanisms. Thanks to vaccination some diseases have been eradicated and mortality due to infectious diseases has been significantly reduced. However, there are still many infections that are not preventable with vaccination, which represent a major cause of mortality worldwide. Some of these infections are caused by pathogens with a high degree of antigen variability that cannot be controlled only by antibodies, but require a mix of humoral and cellular immune responses. Novel technologies for antigen discovery, expression and formulation allow now for the development of vaccines that can better cope with pathogen diversity and trigger multifunctional immune responses. In addition, the application of new genomic assays and systems biology approaches in human immunology can help to better identify vaccine correlates of protection. The availability of novel vaccine technologies, together with the knowledge of the distinct human immune responses that are required to prevent different types of infection, should help to rationally design effective vaccines where conventional approaches have failed.
ANIE: A mathematical algorithm for automated indexing of planar deformation features in quartz grains
Authors: HUBER Matthew S. , FERRIÈRE Ludovic , LOSIAK Anna , KOEBERL Christian
Published: September 2011

Abstract– Planar deformation features (PDFs) in quartz, one of the most commonly used diagnostic indicators of shock metamorphism, are planes of amorphous material that follow crystallographic orientations, and can thus be distinguished from non‐shock‐induced fractures in quartz. The process of indexing data for PDFs from universal‐stage measurements has traditionally been performed using a manual graphical method, a time‐consuming process in which errors can easily be introduced. A mathematical method and computer algorithm, which we call the Automated Numerical Index Executor (ANIE) program for indexing PDFs, was produced, and is presented here. The ANIE program is more accurate and faster than the manual graphical determination of Miller–Bravais indices, as it allows control of the exact error used in the calculation and removal of human error from the process.
Raman characterization of carbonaceous matter in CONCORDIA Antarctic micrometeorites
Authors: DOBRICĂ E. , ENGRAND C. , QUIRICO E. , MONTAGNAC G. , DUPRAT J.
Published: September 2011

Abstract– We report a multi‐wavelength Raman spectroscopy study of carbonaceous matter in 38 Antarctic micrometeorites (AMMs) from the 2006 CONCORDIA collection. The particles were selected as a function of their degree of thermal alteration developed during the deceleration in the atmosphere. These samples range from unmelted (fine‐grained—Fg; ultracarbonaceous—UCAMMs) to partially melted AMMs (scorias—Sc) and completely melted particles (cosmic spherules—CS). More than half of the analyzed AMMs contain a substantial amount of polyaromatic carbonaceous matter with a high degree of disorder. The proportion of particles where carbon is not detected increase from the Fg to the Fg‐Sc and to the Sc‐AMMs, and no carbon is detected in CS. In addition, the spectral characteristics of the G and D bands of the carbonaceous matter in Sc‐AMMs plot apart from the trend formed by the data from Fg‐AMMs and UCAMMs. These results suggest that oxidation processes occurred during the deceleration of the particles in the atmosphere. In Fg‐AMMs and UCAMMs, the spectral characteristics of the G and D bands reveal the high degree of disorder of the carbonaceous matter, precluding a long duration thermal metamorphism on the parent body and suggesting that AMMs have a connection with C1–C2 chondrites. The Raman parameters of the deuterium‐rich carbonaceous matter of UCAMMs do not differ from that of Fg‐AMMs. Using a 244 nm excitation, we detected the cyanide (–CN) functional group for the first time in a UCAMM, reinforcing the likely cometary origin of this type of micrometeorites.
Balloon dilation of oesophageal strictures in two horses
Authors: Reichelt U. , Hamann J. , Lischer C.
Published: September 2011

Oesophageal strictures in 2 horses with chronic recurrent oesophageal obstruction or choke was diagnosed by endoscopy and contrast radiography. Balloon dilation of the strictures was performed under endoscopic and fluoroscopic guidance. Follow‐up endoscopic and radiological examinations performed 6 weeks after the procedure showed clear dilation of the strictures. Both horses did not have any recurrence during follow‐up periods of 10 and 12 months.