bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A blood based 12-miRNA signature of Alzheimer disease patients
Authors: Leidinger Petra , Backes Christina , Deutscher Stephanie , Schmitt Katja , Mueller Sabine C , Frese Karen , Haas Jan , Ruprecht Klemens , Paul Friedemann , Stähler Cord , Lang Christoph JG , Meder Benjamin , Bartfai Tamas , Meese Eckart , Keller Andreas
Published: July 2013

Background

Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia but the identification of reliable, early and non-invasive biomarkers remains a major challenge. We present a novel miRNA-based signature for detecting AD from blood samples.

Results

We apply next-generation sequencing to miRNAs from blood samples of 48 AD patients and 22 unaffected controls, yielding a total of 140 unique mature miRNAs with significantly changed expression levels. Of these, 82 have higher and 58 have lower abundance in AD patient samples. We selected a panel of 12 miRNAs for an RT-qPCR analysis on a larger cohort of 202 samples, comprising not only AD patients and healthy controls but also patients with other CNS illnesses. These included mild cognitive impairment, which is assumed to represent a transitional period before the development of AD, as well as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson disease, major depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. miRNA target enrichment analysis of the selected 12 miRNAs indicates an involvement of miRNAs in nervous system development, neuron projection, neuron projection development and neuron projection morphogenesis. Using this 12-miRNA signature, we differentiate between AD and controls with an accuracy of 93%, a specificity of 95% and a sensitivity of 92%. The differentiation of AD from other neurological diseases is possible with accuracies between 74% and 78%. The differentiation of the other CNS disorders from controls yields even higher accuracies.

Conclusions

The data indicate that deregulated miRNAs in blood might be used as biomarkers in the diagnosis of AD or other neurological diseases.
THetA: inferring intra-tumor heterogeneity from high-throughput DNA sequencing data
Authors: Oesper Layla , Mahmoody Ahmad , Raphael Benjamin J
Published: July 2013

Tumor samples are typically heterogeneous, containing admixture by normal, non-cancerous cells and one or more subpopulations of cancerous cells. Whole-genome sequencing of a tumor sample yields reads from this mixture, but does not directly reveal the cell of origin for each read. We introduce THetA (Tumor Heterogeneity Analysis), an algorithm that infers the most likely collection of genomes and their proportions in a sample, for the case where copy number aberrations distinguish subpopulations. THetA successfully estimates normal admixture and recovers clonal and subclonal copy number aberrations in real and simulated sequencing data. THetA is available at http://compbio.cs.brown.edu/software/
Tyrannoi and Tyrants on the Tragic Stage
Authors: Kucharski Jan
Published: July 2013

The paper analyses the terms tyrannos and basileus in both Greek politics and Greek drama, taking under special scrutiny various connotations and associations of the terms tyrannos and tyrannis in the language of Attic tragedy.
The Statilii of Epidauros
Authors: Pawlak Marcin
Published: July 2013

T. Statilius Timocrates Memmianus, son of Lamprias was one of the most active figures in the life of the Peloponnese in the 2nd century AD.
„Na granicy Zachodu i Wschodu”
Authors: Osadczy Włodzimierz
Published: July 2013

Володимир Осадчий, „На межі Сходу і Заходу”. Значення Почаївського монастиря в імперіальній політиці Росії

Почаїський монастир на Волині був одним з найзнаменитіших сакральних центрів цілого регіону. Початки марійного культу на цих землях сягали ХІІІ ст. Однак свій найбільший розквіт монастир переживає в уніатський період, наприкінці існування Речі Посполитої. У цей час зводяться величні споруди монастирського комплексу, відбуваються знамениті релігійні урочистості. Після придушення польського повстання 1831 р. монастир замінюють на православний русифікаторський центр, спрямований також на закордонне населення Галичини. Крім релігійного призначення він провадив політичну діяльність, що відповідала геополітичним російським планом «воззєднати» всі руські землі. Розмір цієї діяльності ще раз підкреслює підпорядкування релігії політичним цілям у Російській імперії. З іншої сторони «почаївські прощі» показали вплив російської політики на уніатське галицьке населення.
Remarques sur les versions paléographique et critique du Cantar de Mio Cid
Authors: Mańczak Witold
Published: July 2013

Notes on Paleographic and Critical Versions of the Cantar de Mio Cid
According to Yakov Malkiel, Old Spanish forms vide < Latin vīdī and vido < vīdit are to be accounted for by what he calls “paradigmatic resistance to sound change”. The present writer believes that such a phenomenon does not exist, he examined all forms of the verb ver < vidēre in Cantar de Mio Cid and arrived at the conclusion that in the original version of the poem there were no forms with intervocalic -d-, while the forms vide, vido were arbitrarily introduced by Menéndez Pidal. The article also deals with the possessive pronouns mi/mio, su/so and forms like cuemo/quomo.
Realización fonética de las formaciones siglares en español y polaco
Authors: Wicherek Marta
Published: July 2013

Fonetyczna realizacja skrótowców w języku hiszpańskim i polskim
Celem niniejszego artykułu jest przedstawienie różnych sposobów realizacji fonetycznej skrótowców współcześnie występujących w polszczyźnie i hiszpańszczyźnie. Konstrukcje te są specyficznymi elementami językowymi z uwagi na fakt, iż ich strona graficzna częstokroć łamie fonetyczne oraz ortograficzne reguły obowiązujące w danym języku, a mimo to są elementami akceptowanymi w tych językach. Z tego też powodu wymowa skrótowców stanowi jeden z najważniejszych problemów związanych z tymi konstrukcjami. W niniejszym artykule główny nacisk położony jest na przedstawienie typologii skrótowców: przedstawiona jest różnica pomiędzy elementami, które dają się wymówić jako jeden wyraz, z drugiej strony, omówione zostały także elementy niespełniające tego warunku. Następnie przedstawione są różne możliwości fonetycznej realizacji skrótowców będących wynikiem zapożyczeń, które można zaobserwować zarówno w polszczyźnie, jak i hiszpańszczyźnie.
Juan Ruiz, Arcipreste de Hita: Libro de Buen Amor, la obra maestra del Medioevo español
Authors: Eminowicz-Jaśkowska Teresa
Published: July 2013

Libro de Buen Amor by Juan Ruiz: a Masterpiece of Spanish Middle Ages The article presents the Libro de Buen Amor in its universal dimension within its cultural and psychological connotations, being at the same time an introduction to the medieval Spanish poetry.
La Monja de Lisboa en un manuscrito anónimo de la “colección berlinesa” depositada en la Biblioteca Jaguelónica de Cracovia
Authors: Rzepka Anna
Published: July 2013

Maria de la Visitación - portugalska zakonnica, bohaterka anonimowego hiszpańskiego manuskryptu ze zbiorów tzw. „kolekcji berlińskiej” Biblioteki Jagiellońskiej

Artykuł nawiązuje do postaci portugalskiej zakonnicy Marii de la Visitación (1551-ok. 1603), która zyskała rozgłos wśród współczesnych dzięki pseudomistycznym doświadczeniom. Obok wymiaru religijnego, historia zakonnicy wpisuje się także w klimat napięć politycznych między Hiszpanią i Portugalią w początkowym okresie Unii Iberyjskiej (1580-1640), kiedy to oba sąsiadujące ze sobą królestwa połączono pod wspólnym berłem hiszpańskiego monarchy Filipa II. Artykuł powstał w oparciu o anonimowy rękopis hiszpański należący do tzw. kolekcji berlińskiej, pochodzącej z dawnej Pruskiej Biblioteki Państwowej w Berlinie (Preussische Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin), zdeponowanej obecnie w Bibliotece Jagiellońskiej w Krakowie.
Diagnostic Value of Distinguishing and Reporting Different Perinuclear ANCA (P-ANCA) Immunofluorescence Patterns
Authors: Perel Susan B. , Prain Kerri M. , Wilson Robert J. , Hogan Patrick G. , Gillis David , Wong Richard C. W.
Published: July 2013

Objectives:

To investigate whether discriminating the classic perinuclear antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (P-ANCA) pattern from atypical P-ANCA and uninterpretable patterns improves the diagnostic utility of ANCA testing.

Methods:

All ANCA requests (n = 3,544) referred to Pathology Queensland were analyzed prospectively over 4 months for P-ANCA pattern subtypes and myeloperoxidase (MPO)-ANCA/PR3-ANCA results and correlated with clinical, laboratory, and radiologic evidence of necrotizing small vessel vasculitis.

Results:

Of the 436 perinuclear immunofluorescence-positive samples, 45 were classic P-ANCA, 163 were atypical P-ANCA, and 228 were antinuclear antibodies/uninterpretable. The classic P-ANCA pattern had a significantly stronger association with vasculitis (30/45) than atypical P-ANCA (2/163) (P <.0001) or ANA/uninterpretable patterns (8/228) (P <.0001). The combination of a classic P-ANCA pattern and positive MPO-ANCA/PR3-ANCA result was also more strongly associated with vasculitis than a positive MPO-ANCA/PR3-ANCA result in isolation (P = .003).

Conclusions:

This study demonstrates that reporting different P-ANCA patterns (including ANA/uninterpretable patterns) provides additional diagnostic information to MPO-ANCA/PR3-ANCA results.
Correlation Between Dysplastic Lineage and Type of Cytopenia in Myelodysplastic Syndromes Patients With Refractory Anemia According to the FAB Classification
Authors: Matsuda Akira , Jinnai Itsuro , Iwanaga Masako , Okamura Daisuke , Ishikawa Maho , Maeda Tomoya , Hata Tomoko , Kawai Nobutaka , Miyazaki Yasushi , Bessho Masami , Tomonaga Masao
Published: July 2013

Objectives:

To analyze the correlation between dysplastic lineage and type of cytopenia in myelodysplastic syndromes.

Methods:

We analyzed the correlation between dysplasia and cell count using the data set of our previous morphologic study.

Results:

There were no correlations between dysgranulopoiesis of 10% or more and absolute neutrophil count (ANC). Similarly, hyposegmented mature neutrophils (Pelger) of 10% or more were not related to ANC. Interestingly, the platelet count of patients with dysmegakaryopoiesis (dys Mgk) was higher than that of patients without dys Mgk (dys Mgk ≥10% vs <10%, P = .08; dys Mgk ≥40% vs <40%, P = .02; micromegakaryocytes ≥10% vs <10%, P = .004).

Conclusions:

Since low cell counts did not correlate with the presence of dysplastic features, we suggest that dysplastic features do not directly relate to apoptosis.
Utility of DNA Sequencing for Direct Identification of Invasive Fungi From Fresh and Formalin-Fixed Specimens
Authors: Moncada Pablo A. , Budvytiene Indre , Ho Dora Y. , Deresinski Stanley C. , Montoya Jose G. , Banaei Niaz
Published: July 2013

Objectives:

To describe and discuss the utility and potential pitfalls of ribosomal RNA locus sequencing for direct identification of invasive fungi from fresh and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens.

Methods:

DNA was extracted from fresh and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue and subjected to real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting ITS2 and D2 regions of fungal ribosomal RNA locus. Cycle sequencing was performed on PCR products, and the identity of sequences was determined using a public database.

Results:

Four clinical cases of invasive fungal infection are presented to illustrate the utility of DNA sequencing for determining etiology when microbiological culture is negative, for shortening the time to identification of slow-growing fungi, for guiding antifungal therapy, and for shedding light on the pathogenesis of disseminated fungal infection.

Conclusions:

Fungal ribosomal RNA locus sequencing from fresh or formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens is a powerful tool for rapid and accurate diagnosis of patients with culture-negative or uncultured invasive mycosis.
Fresh and Citrated Whole-Blood Specimens Can Produce Different Thromboelastography Results in Patients on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation
Authors: Gilman Elizabeth A. , Koch Christopher D. , Santrach Paula J. , Schears Gregory J. , Karon Brad S.
Published: July 2013

Objectives:

To compare thromboelastography (TEG) tracings obtained from fresh and citrated whole-blood samples in patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) or after cardiopulmonary bypass and in healthy volunteers.

Methods:

Samples of fresh and citrated whole blood were analyzed for 25 patients and 4 healthy volunteers. Thromboelastography analysis was performed in both plain and heparinase cups.

Results:

In 5 of 6 patients on ECMO, use of citrated samples resulted in apparent partial or complete heparin reversal. In TEG tracings from patients following cardiopulmonary bypass, there was a slight hypercoagulable appearance in the citrated sample. No differences were noted between fresh and citrated samples from healthy volunteers whose blood was spiked with heparin.

Conclusions:

In some patients on ECMO, use of samples collected in sodium citrate tubes for TEG analysis results in significant artifacts, which could lead to heparin overdosing in these patients.
Rearrangements in the mechanisms of the indole alkaloid prenyltransferases
Authors: Mahmoodi Niusha , Qian Qi , Luk Louis Y. P. , Tanner Martin E.
Published: July 2013

The indole prenyltransferases are a family of metal-independent enzymes that catalyze the transfer of a prenyl group from dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) onto the indole ring of a tryptophan residue. These enzymes are remarkable in their ability to direct the prenyl group in either a “normal” or “reverse” fashion to positions with markedly different nucleophilicity. The enzyme 4-dimethylallyltryptophan synthase (4-DMATS) prenylates the non-nucleophilic C-4 position of the indole ring in free tryptophan. Evidence is presented in support of a mechanism that involves initial ion pair formation followed by a reverse prenylation at the nucleophilic C-3 position. A Cope rearrangement then generates the C-4 normal prenylated intermediate and deprotonation rearomatizes the indole ring. The enzyme tryprostatin B synthase (FtmPT1) catalyzes the normal C-2 prenylation of the indole ring in brevianamide F (cyclo-L-Trp-L-Pro). It shares high structural homology with 4-DMATS, and evidence is presented in favor of an initial C-3 prenylation (either normal or reverse) followed by carbocation rearrangements to give product. The concept of a common intermediate that partitions to different products via rearrangements can help to explain how these evolutionarily related enzymes can prenylate different positions on the indole ring.
Glossary of terms used in medicinal chemistry. Part II (IUPAC Recommendations 2013)
Authors: Buckle Derek R. , Erhardt Paul W. , Ganellin C. Robin , Kobayashi Toshi , Perun Thomas J. , Proudfoot John , Senn-Bilfinger Joerg
Published: July 2013

The evolution that has taken place in medicinal chemistry practice as a result of major advances in genomics and molecular biology arising from the Human Genome Project has carried with it an extensive additional working vocabulary that has become both integrated and essential terminology for the medicinal chemist. Some of this augmented terminology has been adopted from the many related and interlocked scientific disciplines with which the modern medicinal chemist must be conversant, but many other terms have been introduced to define new concepts and ideas as they have arisen. In this supplementary Glossary, we have attempted to collate and define many of the additional terms that are now considered to be essential components of the medicinal chemist’s expanded repertoire.
International Forensic Investigations and the Human Rights of the Dead
Authors: Rosenblatt Adam
Published: July 2013

This essay asks whether dead bodies have human rights, and if so, what philosophical foundations those rights have. With equal importance, it considers how these rights would operate in a real-world area of human rights practice, the forensic exhumation of mass graves. It argues that human rights for the dead are philosophically unworkable and irreconcilable with the practical limitations of forensic work; therefore, we should not think of the dead as having human rights. However, this conclusion does not end discussion about what forensic investigators do for dead bodies. Rather, it makes room for a modest but rich sense of how exhumation can restore the identity, physical location, and care that have been denied to victims of atrocity.
The Justice Balance: When Transitional Justice Improves Human Rights and Democracy
Authors: Olsen Tricia D. , Payne Leigh A. , Reiter Andrew G.
Published: July 2013

Evidence from the Transitional Justice Data Base reveals which transitional justice mechanisms and combinations of mechanisms positively or negatively affect human rights and democracy. This article demonstrates that specific combinations of mechanisms—trials and amnesties; and trials, amnesties, and truth commissions—generate improvements in those two political goals. The findings support a justice balance approach to transitional justice: trials provide accountability and amnesties provide stability, advancing democracy and respect for human rights. The project further illustrates that, all else being equal, truth commissions alone have a negative impact on the two political objectives, but contribute positively when combined with trials and amnesty.
Mugabe's Zimbabwe, 2000-2009: Massive Human Rights Violations and the Failure to Protect
Authors: Howard-Hassmann Rhoda E.
Published: July 2013

This article reviews human rights violations in Zimbabwe from 2000 to 2009, under the rule of Robert Mugabe. It argues that these violations, including state-induced famine, illegal mass expulsions, and systemic rape, constituted crimes against humanity. The article considers what African regional organizations, including the African Union and the Southern African Development Community, and various organs of the international community did, and might have done, to restrain Mugabe and his inner circle from committing these violations. It concludes that the lack of forceful action by African and international organizations constituted a failure to protect the people of Zimbabwe.
Public Theologies of Human Rights and Citizenship: The Case of Turkey's Christians
Authors: Sandal Nukhet A.
Published: July 2013

Human rights violations against religious or ethnic minorities cannot be treated independently of the state-society relations in respective countries. With a focus on the Christian citizens of the Turkish Republic, this article investigates the limits posed by theological underpinnings of citizenship to the rights and freedoms of religious minorities. This study approaches human rights issues and citizenship using the public theologies concept, which accounts for the temporal, spatial, substantive and spiritual aspects of the contemporary tension between rights and duties. The main argument is that unless the entire concept of citizenship is democratized in Turkey or in any other context, improvements in the rights of minority populations cannot last long.
Evaluation of enzymatic BM Test HbA1con the JCA-BM6010/C and comparison with Bio-Rad Variant II Turbo, Tosoh HLC 723 G8, and AutoLab immunoturbidimetry assay
Authors: Lee Jehoon , Kim Myungshin , Chae Hyojin , Kim Yeongsic , Park Hae-il , Kim Yonggoo , Chi Hyunyoung , Kwon Hi Jeong
Published: July 2013

Background: A novel enzymatic HbA1cassay was introduced for use in an automated chemistry analyzer. With this unique method, HbA1cand plasma glucose can be measured from the same EDTA tube. We evaluated the analytical performance of this enzymatic HbA1cassay in a JCA-BM6010/C analyzer and compared the HbA1cvalues with the results from other widely used methodological instruments.

Methods: The imprecision, linearity, carry-over and concordance rate of the enzymatic HbA1ctest (BM Test HbA1c) using the JCA-BM6010/C analyzer were evaluated. Three hundred and seventy-seven specimens with HbA1cconcentrations from 16 to 133 mmol/mol were used for a comparison study with two high performance liquid chromatography methods: Variant II Turbo and Tosoh HLC 723 G8 and the AutoLab Hemoglobin A1cimmunoturbidimetry reagent using a Hitachi 7600-110. Forty specimens were used for the glucose method comparison.

Results: The HbA1ccoefficients of variation of the within-run imprecision for low and high levels were 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively. The linearity of the BM Test HbA1cusing the JCA-BM6010/C analyzer was excellent in the range between 31 mmol/mol and 143 mmol/mol. The carry-over rate was 0.2%. The relationships between the BM test and the other three methods were 0.916×Tosoh G8+3.644, r=0.986; 0.887×Bio-Rad Variant II+1.896, r=0.972; and 0.941×AutoLab+4.532, r=0.977. The concordance rates using a cut-off of 48 mmol/mol were 91.5% with Tosoh G8, 82.8% with Bio-Rad Variant II, and 91.0% with AutoLab. The simultaneously assayed plasma glucose with HbA1cwas 1.002×Routine plasma glucose+0.625, r=1.000

Conclusions: The enzymatic BM Test HbA1cin the JCA-BM6010/C analyzer showed excellent precision and linearity, and a minimal carry-over rate. The simultaneously assayed plasma glucose analysis showed good performance.
Do we really need high-sensitivity troponin immunoassays in the emergency department? Maybe not
Authors: Lippi Giuseppe , Cervellin Gianfranco
Published: July 2013

The diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) has challenged the minds of cardiologists, emergency physicians and laboratorists for decades. A major breakthrough has, however, occurred at the dawn of the third millennium, with development, commercialization and introduction into clinical practice of troponin immunoassays. A novel generation of these methods, conventionally defined as “high-sensitivity” (HS), has more recently emerged. These latest generation assays are characterized by improved analytical sensitivity, which would theoretically allow earlier and more efficient diagnosis of ACS. Despite the considerable amount of information gathered over the past few years about the clinical use of conventional and HS immunoassays, several doubts persist and – according to our personal perspective – the evidence that the latest generation methods would represent a real breakthrough in management of patients in short-stay units such as the emergency department is still an unresolved issue. Beside the mystifying nomenclature that characterizes several commercial tests, recent evidence suggests that the diagnostic performance of some contemporary sensitive methods would equal those of HS immunoassays for early diagnosis, serial assessment and even prognostication of patients. Conversely, the better diagnostic specificity of conventional methods may represent an advantage for triaging patients in overcrowded emergency departments. There is hence a tangible threat that the measurement of troponin with HS methods would become more or less an “expensive cholesterol of the third millennium”, and this risk must be carefully considered in a world of limited resources. So, our answer to the question if we do really need HS troponin immunoassays in the emergency department is “maybe not”.
Warum brauchen wir Biodiversitätsforschung?
Authors: Wägele Johann-Wolfgang , Moenikes-Peis Ruth
Published: July 2013

Die aktuelle, durch den Menschen verursachte Biodiversitätskrise droht die wertvollsten erneuerbaren Ressourcen unseres Planeten zu vernichten. Der zerstörerische Effekt einer wachsenden Weltbevölkerung ist hinreichend nachgewiesen. In den kommenden Jahrzehnten werden wir Zeugen des Aussterbens einer großen Zahl von Tier- und Pflanzenarten sein. Legt man vergleichbare Phasen der Erdgeschichte zugrunde, in denen es zu Massenaussterben kam, so zeigt sich, dass die Dauer einer Regeneration von Biodiversität die für den Menschen vorstellbare Zeitspanne bei weitem überschreitet. Während die meisten Menschen gut über die Klimaerwärmung informiert sind, sind vielen die Veränderungen in der Biosphäre nicht bewusst. Im Gegensatz zur Klimaforschung gibt es hier bislang keine groß angelegten Monitoringprogramme und es besteht noch Entwicklungsbedarf für Methoden zur schnellen Erfassung der Artenvielfalt. Die Taxonomen, d. h. die Wissenschaftler, die Arten kennen und klassifizieren, brauchen umfassendere Unterstützung.
Naturethik und Biodiversität
Authors: Sturma Dieter
Published: July 2013

Naturethische Analysen zum ethischen Schutz von Biodiversität müssen mit einer epistemisch und normativ schwierigen Begründungssituation zurechtkommen. Der Ausdruck ‚Biodiversität‘ ist semantisch unscharf und normative Bestimmungen, die sich mit ihm verbinden, vollziehen sich grundsätzlich unter Bedingungen epistemischer Unsicherheit. Der Beitrag entwickelt aus der Perspektive eines integrativen Naturalismus, der gleichermaßen den Ort der humanen Lebensform in der Natur wie die damit einhergehende epistemische und normative Rolle berücksichtigt, eine naturethische Konzeption zum Schutz von Biodiversität. Die Konzeption stützt sich systematisch auf die Kritik exploitativen Verhaltens und asymmetrische Anerkennungsverhältnisse. Die daraus abgeleiteten praktischen Vorschläge stellen einen Zusammenhang zwischen Motivation, begründetem Selbstinteresse und Schutz von Biodiversität her.
Biodiversität als Naturgegenstand?
Authors: Gutmann Mathias
Published: July 2013

Wird Biodiversität als Naturgegenstand angesprochen, bleiben häufig die verschiedenen und durchaus nicht reduzierbaren Konnotationen von ‚Natur‘ unberücksichtigt. Dies führt zur Annahme, Biodiversität sei gleichsam von Hause aus in den Lebenswissenschaften angesiedelt. Das Ziel des Aufsatzes ist es nun umgekehrt, den Sitz solcher Bestimmungen ‚im Leben‘ ausweisend, die Besonderheit der Gegenstandsbestimmung in den Lebenswissenschaften in den Blick zu nehmen und die systematischen Folgen einer solchen Verortung für die lebenswissenschaftliche Theoriebildung selber zu untersuchen. Der zugrunde liegende Funktionalismus weist auf einige fundamentale (Selbst-)Missverständnisse der Lebenswissenschaften hin und zeigt zugleich systematische Alternativen auf.
Biodiversität und die Frage der Ersetzbarkeit
Authors: Birnbacher Dieter
Published: July 2013

Aus mehr als einem Grund ist Biodiversität für die Umweltethik ein hard case. Es ist schwierig, Biodiversität zu definieren und darauf aufbauend zu begründen, warum Biodiversität ein Wert ist und warum es uns ein Anliegen sein sollte, sie zu schützen und zu erhalten. Ein weiteres Problem, das mit Biodiversität als Wertbegriff einhergeht, ist das sogenannte „Substitutionsproblem“. Es besteht darin, dass im Prinzip jede natürliche Entität durch eine andere ersetzt werden kann, so lange sie dieselben Werteigenschaften aufweist. Wie und zu welchem theoretischen Preis lassen sich nun Intuitionen verteidigen, die der ökologischen Ersetzbarkeit widersprechen? Ist Substitution grundsätzlich problematisch oder nur unter besonderen Bedingungen? Gibt es Werte, die, prinzipiell oder faktisch, einen Ersatz ausschließen? Und wie überzeugend sind diese Werte im Kontext des Biodiversitätsschutzes? Meine Schlussfolgerung ist, dass keiner der Werte, die Substitution einschränken, unmittelbar zu den wesentlichen Wert- Dimensionen von Biodiversität beiträgt, sodass sogar im Rahmen eines streng verstandenen Biodiversitätsschutzes (zumindest prinzipiell) breiter Spielraum für anthropogene Ersetzungen besteht.
‚Gehirndoping‘ als legitimes Mittel zur Perfektionierung?
Authors: Glockentöger Ilke , Bittner Uta , Fangerau Heiner
Published: July 2013

Im diachronen Vergleich kann über die Epochen hinweg eine Verschiebung der Gewichtung einzelner Aspekte von Optimierung, Selbstverbesserung oder der Idee eines ‚guten Lebens‘ identifiziert werden. Die analytischen Überlegungen zum Neuro- Enhancement machen deutlich, dass aufklärerische Ideale heute noch wirkmächtig bleiben. Vor allem zum Neuro-Enhancement analoge Leitmotive lassen sich - so die These des Beitrags - in den philanthropischen Theorien der Spätaufklärung finden. Und auch die dort angelegten Widersprüche und Ambivalenzen wirken in die heutigen Diskurse um das Neuro-Enhancement. Ziel dieses Beitrags ist es, den Versuch zu unternehmen, die historischen Ideale eines ‚perfekten Menschen‘ zur heutigen Enhancement-Situation anschlussfähig zu machen.
Mortuary Variability at Salamis (Cyprus)
Authors: Blackwell Nicholas G.
Published: July 2013

The Royal Necropolis and the Cellarka cemetery at Iron Age Salamis (Cyprus) have notable funerary shifts that likely reflect changes in socio-political organization. Construction of the Royal Tombs eventually ceased in favor of grave reuse, roughly when initial elite Cellarka burials appeared in emulation of the Royal Necropolis. This study modifies Rupp’s (1988) argument that the Royal Tombs represent aggrandizing individuals who legitimized a monarchical government through funerary display. Instead, it is argued that the Salaminian burials show transformations in social stability indicative of power being renegotiated among competing regions. Not only were social statuses at stake but also inter regional social, political and economic relations, especially as they are concerned with territorial boundaries and mercantile privileges. A Salaminian strategy for island supremacy over the other early city-kingdoms, particularly Kition, emphasized international relations through display of foreign items and through legitimizing claims of association with Bronze Age Enkomi. The development of the elaborate mortuary displays at Salamis, subsequent restrictions in funerary behavior and even perhaps the often-claimed parallels to Homer are all part of this process of multi-regional competition.
The Minoan ‘Palace-Temple’ Reconsidered
Authors: Schoep Ilse
Published: July 2013

Although aspects of Arthur Evans’s vision of Minoan society have undergone modification during the course of the 20th century, his basic interpretation of the monumental building complex with courts at Knossos as a Palace-Temple, or the residence of both a political and religious authority, remains the dominant paradigm in Minoan archaeology. When set within the context of other contemporary Bronze Age societies in the eastern Mediterranean, however, Evans’s model of a priest-king who resided in a Palace Temple is actually highly unusual and anomalous. Indeed, it will be argued that the Palace-Temple model was invented by Evans as a distinctive, formative and intermediate stage between the Oriental Temple, which was the model then current in the Near East at the time of his writing, and what might be termed European kingship. The perception that Cretan culture and society was essentially European (and thus different from the East) formed a cornerstone of Evans’s vision and its enduring popularity goes some way to explaining why the intellectual and empirical origins of Evans’s Palace-Temple model have not previously been critically reassessed.
Models of Relatedness and Early Helladic Architecture
Authors: Peperaki Olympia
Published: July 2013

This paper brings forward a particular architectural arrangement—the room with the central hearth—that becomes popular on the Greek mainland in Early Helladic II, in order to refocus analysis of the relationship between architecture and models of social organization proposed for this period. Shifting attention to the implications of the specific material configuration for the realization of particular forms of collective life, this room is revealed as a medium employed for the promotion of a new, historically specific theme of social integration centred around the consumption of collectively procured produce. It is argued that this insight may open up the way for subtler understandings of social organization and change in the Early Helladic period.
Building Social Boundaries at the Hybridizing First-Millenium BC Complex of Vouni (Cyprus)
Authors: Kearns Catherine
Published: July 2013

Recent studies of past built environments have shown that archaeologists can investigate successfully the role of buildings in constructions of identity and the production of society. Yet despite this attention to social life, ancient architectural forms are often still viewed as blueprints of ethnic style. Postcolonial arguments for hybridization, while contesting culture-historical labels, can still associate built forms with essentialized signatures. The ongoing interactions of social actors and materials within the built environment, and the resulting negotiations of boundaries and claims to distinction, require more consideration. In this study, I argue that an approach to hybridizing built forms actively, one that avoids issues related to ethnicity and instead emphasizes the social lives of buildings and the chaîne opératoire of construction, offers a framework for investigating these dynamics over time, within contesting sociopolitical apparatuses. I use a case study from a debated imperial context in the eastern Mediterranean—the fifth-century BC monumental complex at Vouni, on Cyprus—to examine the built environment as implicated in the production of social boundaries and the reorganization of power relations.
Disarming the Snake Goddess
Authors: Bonney Emily Miller
Published: July 2013

The two reconstituted faience figurines from the Temple Repositories at Knossos were restored by Sir Arthur Evans as epitomes of elite women of the Neopalatial period and objects of an indigenous palatial cult of the Snake Goddess. They have appeared as such in the literature for the past century. This article reassesses the accuracy of Evans’s characterization by examining only the original fragments—a head, two torsos and the remnants of a flounced skirt—to determine whether the coiffures, clothing, and gestures have parallels in Cretan art. This process reveals that the figures do not have close parallels, for the most part, within the Cretan tradition. Furthermore, there are no Cretan iconographic sources for the images of the women as participants in the cult of the Snake Goddess, whether as goddesses or as priestesses. Rather, the craftsmen who created them employed motifs from the Syrian artistic tradition most likely relying on the representations of the goddess opening her skirt and the renderings of Syrian goddesses with cylindrical crowns, straight hair, and robes with thick edges. The elites who ordered the production of the figurines did so within the context of the construction of the Middle Minoan III palace at Knossos. At a time of heightened interaction with the late Middle Bronze Age monarchies of the Levant, the elites at Knossos emulated Syrian iconography as an assertion of their access to exotic knowledge and control of trade. When the Middle Minoan III palace was destroyed, the figurines were deposited in the Temple Repositories, and their iconography was buried with them. There is no trace of them in subsequent Neopalatial art.
Two Knights and a Goddess
Authors: Eller Cynthia
Published: July 2013

Recent biographies of Sir Arthur Evans and histories of his excavations at Knossos have made it clear that Evans’s description of Minoan religion was not solidly based on the material evidence at Knossos. By the time Evans wrote The Palace of Minos he was fully committed to the belief that the Minoans worshipped a single Great Mother Goddess in many guises, along with a subordinate male deity, her son. There are two key questions about Evans’s vision of Minoan religion: first, when did Evans arrive at the conclusion that the Minoans’ principal deity was a goddess? And second, why did he prefer this goddess-centered explanation of the material facts when so many other stories could be told about the religious meaning of the same objects? The most common answers to these questions are that Evans thought Minoan religion was goddess-centered from the time he first began to explore Bronze Age Crete, and that he was drawn to the figure of a Mother Goddess because he lost his own mother when he was only six years old. Both of these suppositions are almost certainly mistaken. Evans did not bring the goddess thesis with him to Crete, and whatever his lingering feelings about his mother’s death, they were not responsible for his conversion to the goddess thesis for Minoan culture. This paper argues that by far the most significant factor in Evans’s creation of the Minoan Goddess was his exposure to the work of Sir James George Frazer, both directly and through the auspices of classicist Jane Ellen Harrison.
The Social World of Early-Middle Bronze Age Cyprus
Authors: Steel Louise
Published: July 2013

The Vounous Bowl occupies a privileged position in discussions of prehistoric representations on Cyprus. It has most commonly been viewed as a sacred scene, or a religious ceremony conducted within a rural sanctuary, and several commentators have emphasized the funerary connotations of the scene, perhaps depicting idealized funerary ritual or an ancestor cult. Somewhat mundane interpretations of the bowl place it within a range of genre scenes, portraying daily life in a Bronze Age village. More recently it has been interpreted as the physical expression of emergent elite authority on Cyprus during the Bronze Age. This study explores the object as a form of social communication: through a detailed structural analysis of the Vounous Bowl it aims to develop a clearer understanding of the social world of Early-Middle Bronze Age Cyprus.
The Cultural Life of Caves in Seulo, Central Sardinia
Authors: Skeates Robin , Gradoli Maria Giuseppina , Beckett Jessica
Published: July 2013

This paper seeks to refine understandings of the cultural life of caves—especially later prehistoric caves—in Sardinia, with particular reference to the themes of landscape and ritual performance. It also highlights significant local diversity within this category of archaeological site, drawing upon the results of archaeological research into an extraordinary group of over ten ritual caves in the territory of Seulo in central Sardinia, including a series of twenty new radiocarbon dates.
Stochastic models reveal conditions for cyclic dominance in sockeye salmon populations
Authors: Wilson White J. , Botsford Louis W. , Hastings Alan , Holland Matthew D.
Published: July 2013

The cause of population cycles is a common question in ecology, and one especially puzzling case is the cycles over the past century in populations of sockeye salmon, Oncorhyncus nerka. Some populations of this semelparous species in British Columbia, Canada, exhibit a phenomenon termed cyclic dominance: every four years there is a dominant cohort of primarily four‐year‐old spawners, orders of magnitude more abundant than other cohorts, producing a distinctive four‐year cycle. In some populations, these cycles stop, start, or shift phase. We used a stochastic age‐structured model to investigate the conditions allowing cycles and the events that could cause them to move in and out of cyclic dominance. We first defined cyclic dominance as high values of cyclicity, the fraction of time the population is cyclic, and dominance, the difference in abundance between the dominant cohort and the other three cohorts. We then used simulations to determine the values of (1) relative population persistence (i.e., proximity to collapse), (2) variability in survival, (3) variability in growth, and (4) spread in spawning age distribution that led to the observed levels of cyclic dominance in 18 stocks from the Fraser River, British Columbia, and nine stocks from Bristol Bay, Alaska, USA. Our simulations produced a range of dynamics similar to those observed in real stocks, from noncyclic to intermittent cycles to extremely consistent cyclic‐dominant cycles. We found that cyclicity and dominance were most likely to be high under conditions of low population persistence, high variability in survival, and narrow age structure. Populations could be driven into cyclic‐dominant behavior by unusually large perturbations in survival, but not in individual growth rate. Because this triggering mechanism is stochastic, populations may exist under conditions enabling cycles for a substantial time without displaying cyclic dominance, which is consistent with observations from real stocks. The association between cyclic dominance and low population persistence is of some concern for management. Also, the dependence of cyclic variability on intrinsic population dynamics (albeit stochastically driven) should be taken into account when assessing whether statistically independent fluctuations of stocks produce a biodiversity portfolio effect.
Evaluation of Antioxidant Enzymes Activity and Malondialdehyde Levels in Patients With Chronic Periodontitis and Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Trivedi Shilpa , Lal Nand , Mahdi Abbas Ali , Mittal Madhukar , Singh Babita , Pandey Shivani
Published: July 2013

Background: The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of diabetes, a known risk factor for periodontitis, on activities of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GR), and catalase (CAT) as well as levels of free radical damage marker malondialdehyde (MDA) in blood and saliva of individuals with chronic periodontitis (CP).

Methods: Sixty patients with CP (30 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus [DMCP] and 30 systemically healthy patients [CP]) and 60 periodontally healthy individuals (30 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and 30 systemically healthy patients [PH]) were included in this study. After clinical measurements, blood and saliva samples were collected. SOD, GR, and CAT activities in red blood cell lysate and saliva and MDA levels in plasma and saliva samples were spectrophotometrically assayed. An analysis of variance test followed by a post hoc test was used to compare the intragroup and intergroup variances among the study groups.

Results: MDA levels in both the periodontitis groups were higher than in the periodontally healthy groups, but the difference between the CP and DMCP groups did not reach statistical significance (P >0.05). There was a highly significant difference between the CP and PH groups for all the enzymes studied except for SOD in blood. Only salivary SOD and GR activities were significantly different in the CP and DMCP groups.

Conclusions: This study favors the role of oxidative stress in both diabetes and periodontitis. It shows that the compensatory mechanism of the body is partially collapsed because of excessive production of free radicals during periodontitis and is not able to cope with increased free radical generation attributable to diabetes, thereby worsening the situation.
Association Between Edentulism and Angina Pectoris in Mexican Adults Aged 35 Years and Older: A Multivariate Analysis of a Population‐Based Survey
Authors: Medina‐Solís Carlo Eduardo , Pontigo‐Loyola América Patricia , Pérez‐Campos Eduardo , Hernández‐Cruz Pedro , Ávila‐Burgos Leticia , Kowolik Michael J. , Maupomé Gerardo
Published: July 2013

Background:The possible association between oral infection and chronic inflammation and cardiovascular disease risk has been studied intensively. The present study is designed to determine the strength of association between edentulism and angina pectoris in Mexican adults aged 35 years and older.

Methods:Using the tools and sampling strategies of the World Health Survey of the World Health Organization, cross‐sectional data were collected in Mexico in the National Performance Assessment Survey (probabilistic, multistage, and cluster sampling). Dental information was available for 20 of the 32 states of Mexico. Angina and edentulism are self‐reported in this study. Statistical analysis was performed using binary logistic regression adjusting for complex samples.

Results:A total of 13,966 participants, representing a population of 29,853,607 individuals, were included. Of the complete study population, 3,052,263 (10.2%) were completely toothless, and 673,810 (2.3%) were diagnosed with angina pectoris. After adjusting for smoking, alcohol consumption, diabetes, body mass index, and sex, the effect of edentulism on angina was modified by age (interaction), being more marked in the younger age group (odds ratio [OR] = exp2.5597=12.93) than in the older individuals surveyed (OR = exp2.5597 + (−0.0334)=12.51). Additionally, low physical activity (OR = 1.51; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.03 to 2.22) and higher socioeconomic status (OR = 1.37; 95% CI = 1.00 to 1.90) were more likely to be associated with angina pectoris.

Conclusions:Overall, the results of this study, conducted in a representative sample of Mexican adults, suggest that an association exists between edentulism and angina pectoris. Additional studies are necessary to elucidate the underlying mechanism for this association.
Acceleromyography at the Flexor Hallucis Brevis Muscle Underestimates
Residual Neuromuscular Blockade
Authors: Sugi Yasuyuki , Nitahara Keiichi , Katori Kiyoshi , Kusumoto Go , Shigematsu Kenji , Higa Kazuo
Published: July 2013

Purpose:

Recovery of the train-of-four ratio (TOFR) to > 0.9 in the upper limb is commonly used to determine
that neuromuscular function has returned to the preoperative level. It is not known whether recovery of neuromuscular
function can be determined in the same way using lower limb acceleromyography. We compared measurements of recovery
from neuromuscular blockade using upper limb electromyography and lower limb acceleromyography.

Methods:

Twenty-nine patients who were scheduled for elective surgery were enrolled in this study. Patients were excluded
if they had neuromuscular disease or contraindications to neuromuscular blockade. General anesthesia was induced
and maintained with propofol and fentanyl. Patients were monitored using electromyography at the first dorsal interosseous
muscle of the upper limb and acceleromyography at the flexor hallucis brevis muscle of the lower limb. Vecuronium
0.1 mg/kg was administered for neuromuscular blockade, and the profile of the blockade was recorded, including onset
time and recovery times to TOFR 0.7 and 0.9. Results were compared between the upper and lower limbs.

Results:

The first dorsal interosseous muscle of the upper limb was slower to recover to TOFR 0.7 and 0.9 than the flexor
hallucis brevis muscle. When the TOFR at the flexor hallucis brevis muscle had recovered to 0.9, the TOFR at the first
dorsal interosseous muscle was 0.44 ± 0.23.

Conclusion:

Monitoring the flexor hallucis brevis muscle using acceleromyography underestimates the residual neuromuscular
blockade.
Natural Pozzolan as a Partial Substitute for Cement in Concrete
Authors: K. Al-Chaar Ghassan , Alkadi Mouin , Asteris Panagiotis G.
Published: July 2013

In this paper, the use of natural pozzolan as a partial cement substitute in concrete materials is investigated. By
means of a test series, four mixes using three types of natural pozzolan, as well as a Class F fly ash, are evaluated. The effectiveness
of each pozzolan in controlling alkali-silica reactions has been studied. Correlations have been revealed between
the mechanical properties of the proposed mixes and a Portland cement control mix. The results are also compared
with industry standards for mortars made with fly ash and silica fume. The paper's findings indicate that one type of
pozzolan may be used as a substitute for fly ash, but not for silica fume.
Dynamic Identification Techniques to Numerically Detect the Structural Damage
Authors: Foti Dora
Published: July 2013

Damage detection in civil engineering structures using changes in measured modal parameters is an area of research
that has received notable attention in literature in recent years. In this paper two different experimental techniques
for predicting damage location and severity have been considered: the Change in Mode Shapes Method and the Mode
Shapes Curvature Method. The techniques have been applied to a simply supported finite element bridge model in which
damage is simulated by reducing opportunely the flexural stiffness EI. The results show that a change in modal curvature
is a significant damage indicator, while indexes like MAC and COMAC – extensively and correctly used for finite element
model updating - lose their usefulness in order to damage detection.