bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Use of Bipolar Radiofrequency in Parenchymal Transection of the Liver, Pancreas and Kidney
Authors: Pai Madhava , Spalding Duncan , Jiao Long , Habib Nagy
Published: March 2012

Background: Intraoperative blood loss has been shown to be an important factor correlating with increased morbidity and mortality in oncological surgery. Despite technological advances in parenchymal transection devices, bleeding remains the single most important complication. To address this, we designed and developed a bipolar radiofrequency (RF) device, the Habib 4X (Angiodynamics, Inc., Queensbury, N.Y., USA), which was initially used specifically for liver resections. Methods: A search using Medline, Embase and Google™ Scholar was performed for the period January 2001 to August 2011. The following Mesh terms were used: ‘bipolar radiofrequency’, ‘Habib 4X’, ‘laparoscopic’, ‘liver resection’, ‘partial nephrectomy’ and ‘distal pancreatectomy’. The references of the studies included were also reviewed. Series from our centre were excluded. Results: There wereseven series published, reporting a total of 188 liver resections [113 minor (<3 segments) and 75 major (≧3 segments)] assisted by the bipolar RF (Habib 4X) device over this period. The median blood loss reported ranged from 15 to 427 ml with a transfusion rate of 0–14% In addition, five series of partial nephrectomies were also identified, reporting a total of 149 (45 open and 104 laparoscopic) cases. Hilar clamping was not used in any of the cases, and the mean blood loss reported was 100–337 ml whilst the transfusion rate ranged from 0 to 7.1%. There was only one published series of distal pancreatectomies; these were laparoscopic and included 14 patients. Conclusion: This review of bipolar RF-assisted liver resections, partial nephrectomies and distal pancreatectomies reported in the literature to date shows that there are significant advantages in using this device in these types of operation.
Role of Fibrin Sealants in Liver Surgery
Authors: de Boer Marieke T. , Boonstra Elizabeth A. , Lisman Ton , Porte Robert J.
Published: March 2012

Background: Fibrin sealants are widely used in liver surgery. The aim of this article is to review the literature on evidence of hemostatic and biliostatic capacities of different fibrin sealants in liver surgery. Methods: In PubMed, a literature search was done with the search terms ‘fibrin sealant’ or ‘fibrin glue’ combined with ‘liver resection’ or ‘bile leakage’. Thirteen comparative fibrin sealant studies were selected. Results: In general, these studies have shown a reduced time to hemostasis when fibrin sealants were used. So far, only a few studies have been published that have focused on postoperative resection surface-related complications. There is no strong evidence that fibrin sealants reduce the incidence of bile leakage after liver resection. Important new evidence shows that bile contains profibrinolytic activity that causes lysis of the clot formed by the fibrin sealant at least in vitro. Conclusions: Fibrin sealants can be effective as an adjunct to achieve hemostasis during liver resections. However, considering lack of evidence on the efficacy of fibrin sealants in reducing postoperative resection surface-related complications, routine use of fibrin sealants in liver surgery cannot be recommended.
Standard versus Tubeless Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy: A Systematic Review
Authors: Amer Tarik , Ahmed Kamran , Bultitude Matthew , Khan Shahid , Kumar Pardeep , De Rosa Antonella , Khan Mohammed Shamim , Hegarty Nicholas
Published: March 2012

Objective: This article systematically analyses comparative studies to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tubeless percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) versus standard PCNL. Methods: The Medline, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Cochrane and DARE databases were searched from 1997 to February 2011. Comparative studies evaluating outcomes from standard versus tubeless PCNL were included. Primary outcome measures were post-operative pain scoring, analgesic requirements, duration of hospitalisation/convalescence, operation time, major/minor complications and stone-free rates. Results: Twenty-four studies were included (11 randomised control trials and 13 retrospective or prospective studies). Levels of pain recorded, analgesic requirements, duration of inpatient stay and convalescence time were all significantly reduced in the tubeless PCNL group. Cost was reduced in two studies. Morbidity was not significantly different between the groups. There was no significant difference between groups regarding stone-free status. Discussion: This systematic review has demonstrated that tubeless PCNL is a viable alternative to tubed PCNL in uncomplicated cases. Benefits are as described above. There is no evidence suggesting that patient safety is compromised by the absence of post-operative nephrostomy. The tubeless method has been reported in challenging cases such as stag-horn stones, horseshoe or ectopic kidneys. Promising outcomes have been demonstrated in elderly patients and when clinical needs demand a supracostal approach. Multi-centre randomised controlled trials are needed to fully establish the effectiveness of the tubeless method.
Long-Term Consequences of Iron-Fortified Flour Consumption in Nonanemic Men
Authors: Pouraram Hamed , Elmadfa Ibrahim , Dorosty Ahmad Reza , Abtahi Mitra , Neyestani Tirang Reza , Sadeghian Saeid
Published: March 2012

Background/Aims: Despite the advantages of fortifying flour with iron, there are still special concerns regarding the possible adverse effects of the extra iron consumed by nonanemic individuals. This study aimed to investigate the oxidative stress and iron status following 8 and 16 months of consumption of iron-fortified flour in nonanemic men. Methods: In a before-and-after intervention study, 78 nonanemic apparently healthy 40- to 65-year-old men were randomly selected from Semnan, in the northeast of Iran. Data were collected at three time points. Evaluation of oxidative stress biomarkers as well as the assessment of iron status was performed in all three stages. After baseline data collection, the flour fortification program was started with 30 mg/kg iron as ferrous sulfate. Results: After 16 months, serum iron levels had significantly increased from 102.9 ± 31.5 µg/dl (baseline) to 117.2 ± 29.8 µg/dl (p < 0.001). The mean total antioxidant capacity (1.71 ± 0.10 µM) was significantly lower than that at baseline (1.83 ± 0.17 µM; p < 0.01). Among other oxidative stress biomarkers, only superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activity increased significantly compared to the beginning of the study (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). The results of this study did not show any symptoms of iron overload after 8 and 16 months. Conclusions: Our data did not support the safety of flour fortification with 30 mg/kg iron as ferrous sulfate as a community-based approach to control iron deficiency in nonanemic healthy men.
Fisher and Shannon Information in Finite Neural Populations
Authors: Yarrow Stuart , Challis Edward , Seriès Peggy
Published: March 2012

The precision of the neural code is commonly investigated using two families of statistical measures: Shannon mutual information and derived quantities when investigating very small populations of neurons and Fisher information when studying large populations. These statistical tools are no longer the preserve of theorists and are being applied by experimental research groups in the analysis of empirical data. Although the relationship between information-theoretic and Fisher-based measures in the limit of infinite populations is relatively well understood, how these measures compare in finite-size populations has not yet been systematically explored. We aim to close this gap. We are particularly interested in understanding which stimuli are best encoded by a given neuron within a population and how this depends on the chosen measure. We use a novel Monte Carlo approach to compute a stimulus-specific decomposition of the mutual information (the SSI) for populations of up to 256 neurons and show that Fisher information can be used to accurately estimate both mutual information and SSI for populations of the order of 100 neurons, even in the presence of biologically realistic variability, noise correlations, and experimentally relevant integration times. According to both measures, the stimuli that are best encoded are those falling at the flanks of the neuron's tuning curve. In populations of fewer than around 50 neurons, however, Fisher information can be misleading.
Variation in the Local Motion Statistics of Real-Life Optic Flow Scenes
Authors: Durant Szonya , Zanker Johannes M.
Published: March 2012

Optic flow motion patterns can be a rich source of information about our own movement and about the structure of the environment we are moving in. We investigate the information available to the brain under real operating conditions by analyzing video sequences generated by physically moving a camera through various typical human environments. We consider to what extent the motion signal maps generated by a biologically plausible, two-dimensional array of correlation-based motion detectors (2DMD) not only depend on egomotion, but also reflect the spatial setup of such environments. We analyzed the local motion outputs by extracting the relative amounts of detected directions and comparing the spatial distribution of the motion signals to that of idealized optic flow. Using a simple template matching estimation technique, we are able to extract the focus of expansion and find relatively small errors that are distributed in characteristic patterns in different scenes. This shows that all types of scenes provide suitable motion information for extracting ego motion despite the substantial levels of noise affecting the motion signal distributions, attributed to the sparse nature of optic flow and the presence of camera jitter. However, there are large differences in the shape of the direction distributions between different types of scenes; in particular, man-made office scenes are heavily dominated by directions in the cardinal axes, which is much less apparent in outdoor forest scenes. Further examination of motion magnitudes at different scales and the location of motion information in a scene revealed different patterns across different scene categories. This suggests that self-motion patterns are not only relevant for deducing heading direction and speed but also provide a rich information source for scene structure and could be important for the rapid formation of the gist of a scene under normal human locomotion.
Qing Women's Poetry on Roaming as a Female Transcendent
Authors: Wang Yanning
Published: March 2012

Youxian shi (poetry on roaming as a transcendent) has long been a conventional poetic genre in Chinese literature. It has been the common conception that youxian poetry was most popular from the Wei dynasty (220-265) through the Tang dynasty (618-907), and up until now, scholarly studies on the genre seemed to focus exclusively on Tang and pre-Tang periods. This gives the impression that after the Tang nothing of interest was written in this particular genre. Consequently, very little scholarly attention has been given to the youxian poems composed in post-Tang periods. This article examines youxian poems by Qing (1644-1911) women, specifically those poems entitled Nü youxian (roaming as a female transcendent). With the increasing consciousness of "self," the rise of groups of women writers, and the popularity of women's culture in late imperial China, youxian poems provided a unique literary space for women's poetic and autobiographical voices, certainly deserving more scholarly attention. I argue that by presenting female transcendents or women pursuing transcendence at the center of a poem and re-inscribing the traditional literary images, the poets created a stronger female subjectivity that reflected women's desires in their intellectual and spiritual lives. I also propose that nü youxian was a new subgenre of youxian poetry, emerging only in the context of the efflorescence of women's poetry.
Male Honor and Female Chastity in Early China
Authors: Hinsch Bret
Published: March 2012

In many respects, masculinity in early China resembled practices which have been described by anthropologists researching the Mediterranean region. Maintaining a reputation for honor was particularly important to Chinese manhood. As the individual was tightly integrated into a social group, men had to control the behavior of those around them to defend themselves against possible shame. For this reason, men found it useful to regulate the sexual practices of female kin to defend their own honor. The emergence of female chastity was thus closely tied to the honor culture of early Chinese masculinity.
Orientation Based on Ambient Directional Information by Red-Spotted Newts (Notophthalmus Viridescens)
Authors: Omland Kristian Shawn
Published: March 2012

Red-spotted newts migrate between breeding sites in ponds and upland habitats. I tested the use and importance of slope as an orientation cue among adult male newts that I had removed from ponds. Newts reliably oriented downhill upon being released in a sloped orientation arena and in enclosures on the forest floor. By contrast, juvenile newts, which are wholly terrestrial animals, oriented randomly with respect to slope. Adult newts oriented downhill after having spent five days in pens at the test sites even though they presumably had access to information about the location of their pond during that time. Newts kept on land for 10 or 20 days prior to testing still oriented downhill in the orientation arenas but oriented randomly with respect to both slope and the homeward direction in the forest enclosures. I trained newts to exhibit shoreward orientation in aquaria, then tested their response in orientation arenas. Newts oriented toward shore in a flat arena and when the downhill direction coincided with the trained shoreward direction, but they oriented downhill rather than toward shore when the two directions conflicted. These results show that slope is an important cue to adult red-spotted newts returning to ponds and suggest that orientation based on ambient directional information is one of the mechanisms red-spotted newts employ when migrating to their breeding sites.
Dominance Styles of Female and Male Barbary Macaques (Macaca Sylvanus)
Authors: Preuschoft Signe , Paul Andreas , Kuester Jutta
Published: March 2012

Dominance styles can be understood as consequences of different competition regimes imposed by socio-ecological conditions. As vital resources differ for males and females of the same species, one might expect different competitive tactics, hence differential dominance styles in both sexes. This was investigated on the basis of dyadic competition over a food resource (peanut) or mating partner (estrous female) in the semifree ranging colony of Barbary macaques at 'Affenberg Salem'. Both, females and males competed over nuts. The dominant typically won the nut by eliciting the retreat of the subordinate with a ritualised assertive signal, the 'rounded-mouth threat face'. The competitive style in adult male dyads (AM-AM) differed from that of all other age-sex class combinations, including adult versus subadult males, and did not change with the kind of incentive: Use of threat faces and retreat was replaced by ignoring, tension, or recruitment behaviour, and in 115of AM-AM dyads at least one nut was taken by a third party. In the few cases where a male did perform a threat face his rival responded by counter aggression, recruitment or appeasement/affiliation, or by taking the nut nevertheless. It is concluded that (1) dominance relations among adult females are stricter than those between males, indicating different dominance styles for the two sexes; (2) the 'egalitarian' competitive style of adult males was compatible with an absence of formalisation of dominance-subordination relations and did not indicate an absence of competition among them; (3) Adult males behaved as dominance oriented as females if the risk of injury was small (as in AM-SM dyads). The 'egalitarian' behaviour in AM-AM dyads is best understood as the result of a stalemate where the risks of escalation are high relative to the value of the resource. In sum, the results suggest that variance in power asymmetries and differential cost-benefit ratios of escalated competition may produce different dominance styles even within the same species.
Infant 'Babbling' in a Nonhuman Primate: Complex Vocal Sequences with Repeated Call Types
Authors: Elowson A. Margaret , Snowdon Charles , Lazaro-Perea Cristina
Published: March 2012

The pygmy marmoset is a small South American primate with a complex social system based on cooperative breeding. Infant pygmy marmosets are extremely vocal; most of their calling is a repetitive pattern of mixed call types that is babbling-like. In a longitudinal study of vocal development in 8 infant pygmy marmosets, we recorded more than 750 calling bouts which occurred in a wide range of behavioural contexts. The infants used 16 different call types that we grouped into three categories: Adult-Like (acoustic structure consistent with that of adult calls), Adult-Variant (acoustic structure with some adult features and some variable features), and Infant (absent from the adult repertoire). The calling bouts were highly conspicuous in their duration (ranging up to more than 6.5 min/bout), complexity (up to 10 different call types/bout), and call rate with nearly 3 calls/s. When the infants were older, their call rate slowed and they shifted to using several of the Adult-Like calls with greater frequency, and used fewer Adult-Variant types. The infants did not use the Adult-Like call types appropriately when compared to the typical adult usage of those types. Caregivers were significantly more likely to respond to an infant when it was vocalizing than when it was not.
Litter Composition Influences the Development of Aggression and Behavioural Strategy in Male Mus Domesticus
Authors: Benus  , Henkelmann
Published: March 2012

The differences in behavioural strategies coping with social and environmental challenges in male house mice have been reported. In this study, we describe the influence of litter composition on the readiness of male mice to engage a social (intruder) and non-social (unfamiliar object/area) challenge, as well as on their flexibility in behaviour. For this purpose wild-type house mice selected for long attack latency and litter compositions of 1 male + 5 females, and 6 males were used. Data obtained during the period in which littermates were housed together (until a subadult age) are referred to as short-term effects. Data obtained in adulthood (at least 4 weeks after separation from their siblings) are indicated as long-term effects. The small difference in maternal care between dams caring for 1 + 5- and 6 + 0-litters, had no consequence on the bodyweight development of the pups. However, indications for a slower locomotor development in 1 + 5- than in 6 + 0-males were found. Aggressive interactions within litters in an undisturbed situation were less frequent in 1+5-litters compared with 6+0-litters. An unfamiliar intruder, however, was faster attacked by 1+ 5- than by 6 + 0-males. In the long-term, there was no significant difference in attack latency towards an unknown intruder between 1 + 5- and 6 + 0-males. Though, there was within time a remarkable difference in the shortening of attack latencies. It was much more pronounced in 6 + 0- than in 1 + 5-males. The same contradiction between short- and long-term consequences of litter composition on subsequent behaviour was found in the response to challenging non-social events. In the short-term, 1+5-males were more prone to investigate an unfamiliar object than 6+0-males. In adulthood, however, 1 + 5-males were much more reluctant to investigate an unfamiliar area than 6 + 0-males. Several previous studies demonstrated a narrow interrelation between readiness to engage a challenge and rigidity in behaviour. However, this study shows that adult 6 + 0-males, which are very prone to engage a challenge, are more flexible in their behaviour, measured as response to a change in a Y-maze, than the more reluctant 1 + 5-males. It can be concluded that litter composition has a pronounced influence on the development of aggression and behavioural strategy. Differences in the rate of behavioural maturation might underiy the differences in adult behaviour.
Chorusing and Call Convergence in Chimpanzees: Tests of Three Hypotheses
Authors: Mitani John , Gros-Louis Julie
Published: March 2012

Male chimpanzees produce a species-typical long distance call known as the pant hoot. Males give acoustically similar pant hoots when calling together during choruses, but the process by which this vocal convergence takes place is unclear. Three potential mechanisms might account for call matching. First, vocal convergence could represent the passive effect of male chimpanzees sharing a common affective state during choruses. Second, matching could result through the active modification of calls. Such modification might occur if males modeled their calls after those produced by their current chorusing partner. Alternatively, actively mediated convergence would result if males mimicked the calls given by high-ranking males. We examined acoustic variation in calls given during choruses and while alone to test these three hypotheses. Results showed that a similar call type is not given repeatedly during successive choruses. In addition, low-ranking individuals did not produce calls that matched those of the alpha male. Chorused calls produced by two dyadic pairs were more similar to each other than they were to calls delivered during other choruses. The higher ranking, yet dependent, member of one of these dyads appeared to give calls that converged on those produced by the other individual. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that male chimpanzees accomodate each other vocally through the active alteration of their calls during choruses. We suggest that a similar form of accomodation takes place in animals from a wide range of other taxa and that the process serves to maintain and strengthen social bonds between individuals.
Practice and Song Development in Zebra Finches
Authors: Slater  , Jones
Published: March 2012

Male zebra finches reared by both parents were placed in isolation from day 35 to day 70 of life, the sensitive phase for song learning, and exposed to a singing adult male thereafter. Half the birds were stimulated to practice by a tape of birdroom noise during their period in isolation, and the practice of all birds was monitored. Those that were stimulated did practice more during the period when the tape was on, but the overall amount of practice in both groups was very high, rising to occur in 60-80% of all 10 min monitoring sessions after 50 days of age. Individual differences were considerable. In the unstimulated group, there was some suggestion that birds which practised more had achieved greater song stereotypy on one measure by day 70. However, the hypothesis that birds which practised more would be more likely to develop copies of their fathers' songs was not supported. Instead, the final song of birds in both groups was clearly based on that of the tutor introduced at 70 days. While the results point to a great deal of practice by young zebra finches, they do not suggest that greater practice leads to earlier crystallisation of song or increases the likelihood of copying songs heard earlier.
Asymmetries in Physiological State as a Possible Cause of Resident Advantage in Contests
Authors: Papaj Daniel , Messing Russell
Published: March 2012

As is common in defense of resources in many animals, contests on host fruit between female Mediterranean fruit flies (Ceratitis capitata) are generally resolved in favour of the resident individual. Here we offer an interpretation of resident advantage in this species which is derived from a dynamical state-variable perspective on behaviour. We first demonstrated the occurrence of residence advantage. In field-cage assays of freely-foraging and freely-interacting females within a tree bearing host coffee berries, the occurrence of two females on a berry almost always resulted in contests. Approximately half of the contests among females on berries resulted in clear winners; resident females won an overwhelming majority of such contests. Contests tended to occur while the resident fly was currently engaged in egg-laying, either boring into the berry with their ovipositor or marking the berry after laying eggs. Non-residents, by contrast, were uniformly engaged in searching behaviour. We next tested the hypothesis that degree of resident advantage is a function of the degree to which a resident is engaged in egg-laying behaviour just prior to the contest. In experimental manipulations of resident status, which female won depended strongly on what residents were doing at the time contests were initiated. If residents were resting and grooming, non-residents (who were uniformly searching) usually won. If residents were laying eggs or marking the fruit after laying eggs, residents usually won. Only when both residents and non-residents were engaged in searching behaviour did the outcome of a contest not depend on resident status. Finally, we tested the hypothesis that contest outcome is related to the dynamical state of the contestants in terms of their relative age. We staged contests between host-deprived females that differed in age by two weeks, manipulating age independently of resident status. Older females won virtually all contests with younger ones regardless of resident status. In a field-cage assay of freely-foraging flies, older females also engaged in significantly more egg-laying activity. Taken together, these results indicate that older females value a fruit more highly than do younger ones, invest more in defense of that resource and therefore win more contests.
Zur interpretatio Romana in der ,Germania' des Tacitus
Authors: Lund Allan A.
Published: March 2012

This article demonstrates that Tacitus, who coined the term interpretatio Romana, used this concept differently than today's historians of religion. Tacitus differentiated between universal and local gods. It is also shown that this differentiation fits the author's structuring of "Germania", which he divides into a general and a specific part. This carries far-reaching consequences because for instance the cult of the Semnones is a local superstitio in tacitean terms, and the common identification of Roman with ”Germanic“ gods since J. Grimm must be abandoned. Finally, the article establishes that G. Wissowa's seminal work on interpretatio Romana, which assumes the deity cults of Germania superior and inferior, fails to take into account that Tacitus, as a historian of religion, merely dealt with "authentic" and "original" Germania.
Eine Rehabilitierungs-Maßnahme Alfred Kurellas Kritik an Bertolt Brechts Lob der Parteidisziplin
Authors: Schaad Martin
Published: March 2012

This essay seeks to illuminate the motives behind Alfred Kurella's damning review of Bertold Brecht's Lehrstück The Measures Taken. This review of 1931 is commonly regarded as having turned the official marxist literary critique against Brecht, straining the relations between the playwright and the nomenklatura for the years that followed. Yet, a closer examination of Alfred Kurella's biography reveals that his review of The Measures Taken has much less to do with Bertold Brecht or with marxist cultural politics, than with the serious political difficulties its author was facing at the time.
Land, Development and Ecology
Authors: Verstraelen Frans J.
Published: March 2012

For all peoples, land is an invaluable asset, a pre-condition for life, growth, and development. There are, however, different assessments of land in various parts of the world. In the North with its Enlightenment inheritance, scientific approach and technological development, land is viewed rather rationally, while in the South land is understood also rela- tionally, intuitively and mystically, in contrast to a purely rational view and use. "Reason seeks to analyse, to define and so, in a sense to master. The intuitive view has a strong component of belonging" (Tuwere 1994:10). Since in both the Pacific and Africa land has a mystical, spiritual background, it seems that Christians and Christian churches elsewhere can greatly benefit from their experiences and insights for deepening an understanding of and approach to land, development and ecological issues. This paper presents viewpoints expressed mainly by Pacific and Africans theologians. There are, of course, other perspectives as instanced by Cecilia Asogwa, a popular educator in Nigeria who, in her reflection on the integrity of creation, inserts experiences and initiatives of rural women in Ebenebe, Nigeria, who through involvement in an economic self-help group obtained personal and community empowerment experienced as part of the healing of creation (see Asogwa 1992).
The Conversion of Izates and Galatians 2:11-14
Authors: Na Kang-Yup
Published: March 2012

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood self-condemned. For before certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. After they came, however, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of all of them, "If you, a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how is it that you force the Gentiles to become Jews?" (Galatians 2.11-14)
The God at the End of the Story: Are Biblical Theology and Narrative Character Development Compatible?
Authors: McEntire Mark
Published: March 2012

If the end goal of theology of the Hebrew Scriptures is a description of God and God’s relationship to the world, then the Hebrew Scriptures present us with a dilemma. It is increasingly apparent that the Tanak provides a wide variety of portraits of the divine being. There are two basic possibilities for making use of all of these portraits. The first option is to lay all of them out on a level surface and allow them be in dialogue and tension with one another. The second option is to place these portrayals on a trajectory which gives a position of privilege to those which are at some particular point along the path. Of course there are three choices of trajectory: Historical, canonical, or narrative. The last two differ far more for the Christian Old Testament than for the Tanak. A strictly narrative approach, which reads the biblical story from Genesis to Nehemiah, presents a divine being who is changing and developing as a character, a process which has been well demonstrated over the past decade by Jack Miles, Richard Elliot Friedman, W. Lee Humphreys, Meir Sternberg, Jerome M. Segal, and others. There is general agreement that the divine character portrayed at the end of this narrative trajectory is the one which matches the religious experience of those who were putting the literature, both the individual books and the canon, into its final form. This conclusion would seem to point toward a narrative method of doing theology which gives this endpoint a place of privilege, an observation which raises two questions. First, does this match the actual use of texts by those who are attempting narrative approaches to biblical theology? Second, what role do those portrayals which present earlier stages in the divine character development play in a narrative approach to a theology of the Hebrew Scriptures?
‘Knocking on my neighbour’s door’: On metamorphoses of sociality in rural Bosnia
Authors: Henig David
Published: March 2012

The idea of neighbourhood ( komšiluk) has been widely discussed in the anthropology of Bosnia. In the hegemonic academic discourse metaphorical usage prevailed over ethnographic examination. The dominant perspective portrays komšiluk as a social mechanism producing long-lasting differences between ethnoreligious groups that might at times result in inter-group hatred. However, intimate ethnographic encounters reveal that such ethnicization of neighbourliness seems to be problematic, and even mixes different scales of social complexity. It is argued here that the Bosnian idiom of neighbourliness is a vigorous social process that embraces localized, face-to-face sociality, morality and lifeworlds, and thus a very different scale of relations. In contemporary Bosnia, wedged between post-war as well as post-socialist trajectories of societal change, the intimacy of komšiluk has changed profoundly. This article critically reassesses the academic discourse and questions how far anthropological imagination and metaphorization can travel without impairing experience-near insights.
Anticoagulation Review
Authors: Stewart David W. , Gentry Chad , Freshour Jessica
Published: March 2012

Anticoagulants, also known as antithrombotics, are among the most commonly prescribed medications in the United States. Understanding how these medications work, the propensity for interactions with other drugs, dietary factors, and disease states is important for clinicians assessing and providing care to patients in all environments. In this review, we seek to provide essential information for the home health care provider for evaluating patients receiving anticoagulants commonly prescribed in the home health care setting. The low-molecular-weight heparins and vitamin K antagonists are the most commonly used agents for outpatient anticoagulation. New agents, such as the direct factor Xa inhibitors and direct thrombin inhibitors have recently been approved with additional new agents in the approval process and development pipeline. We seek to review the most pertinent information for each of these classes of medications providing information on pharmacology, interactions with other drugs, diet, and diseases and important clinical information.
The Şahin village (Kütahya, Turkey) clay deposit and its possible utilization
Authors: Yanik G. , Ceylantekin R. , Taşçi E. , Özçay Ü.
Published: March 2012

The Şahin-village clay deposit, situated in the vicinity of Kütahya, western Turkey, has a promising reserve suitable for tile production. In order to evaluate its potential use, 27 clay samples were collected and their mineralogical, chemical, firing and technological properties were evaluated. The reaction of samples with dilute HCl, dispersion in water and their swelling properties were determined. Mineral identification studies were conducted using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), differential thermal analyses (DTA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. Analysis showed that clay minerals are illite, kaolinite and montmorillonite. Non-clay minerals are quartz, muscovite, microcline and goethite. The clay samples consisted mainly of SiO2 and Al2O3 corresponding to about 81–83% (average) because of the presence of clay minerals and quartz, accompanied by a significant amount of iron oxide. Mineralogical, chemical, thermal analysis and technological tests showed that the clays from Şahin village could be used for stoneware tiles, tile and brick-making.
Chronostratigraphic distribution and genesis of palygorskite in Tertiary sediments of the Isfahan region, central Iran
Authors: Hojati S. , Khademi H. , Arocena J. M. , Faz Cano A. , Ayoubi S.
Published: March 2012

No comprehensive study has yet been conducted to determine the chronostratigraphic distribution of palygorskite in the Tertiary sediments of Iran. Thirty sediment samples of different Tertiary epochs were taken, based on the field observations and geological maps. The clay fraction of samples was then investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission and scanning electron microscopy (TEM and SEM), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results showed that sediments of the Miocene and Pliocene had large amounts of palygorskite whereas no trace of this mineral was found in the sediments from the Palaeocene, Eocene and Oligocene. Geochemical analyses revealed that sediments younger than the Oligocene had greater amounts of soluble Mg and H4SiO4and a higher pH than those of the Palaeocene and Eocene. The stability diagram of the smectite-palygorskite system suggests that smectite is unstable and transforms to palygorskite in Neogene sediments. The SEM micrographs showed palygorskite as interwoven fibrous mats, coatings, pore-fillings and pore-bridging material in Neogene sediments. This textural evidence suggests a direct chemical precipitation of palygorskite by dissolution of silicates under the alkaline conditions. The results also suggest that geochemical conditions in the Early Tertiary era, represented by deep-sea conditions in central Iran, were not apparently favourable for palygoskite formation until the Late Oligocene.
Protective effect of recombinant staphylococcal enterotoxin A entrapped in polylactic-co-glycolic acid microspheres against Staphylococcus aureus infection
Authors: Chen Liben , Li Shuang , Wang Zhengfang , Chang Ruilong , Su Jingliang , Han Bo
Published: March 2012

Staphylococcus aureusis an important cause of nosocomial and community-acquired infections in humans and animals, as well as the cause of mastitis in dairy cattle. Vaccines aimed at preventingS. aureusinfection in bovine mastitis have been studied for many years, but have so far been unsuccessful due to the complexity of the bacteria, and the lack of suitable vaccine delivery vehicles. The current study developed anEscherichia coliprotein expression system that produced a recombinant staphylococcal enterotoxin A (rSEA) encapsulated into biodegradable microparticles generated by polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) dissolved in methylene chloride and stabilized with polyvinyl acetate. Antigen loading and surface properties of the microparticles were investigated to optimize particle preparation protocols. The prepared PLGA-rSEA microspheres had a diameter of approximately 5 μm with a smooth and regular surface. The immunogenicity of the PLGA-rSEA vaccine was assessed using mice as an animal model and showed that the vaccine induced a strong humoral immune response and increased the percent survival of challenged mice and bacterial clearance. Histological analysis showed moderate impairment caused by the pathogen upon challenge afforded by immunization with PLGA-rSEA microspheres. Antibody titer in the sera of mice immunized with PLGA-rSEA microparticles was higher than in vaccinated mice with rSEA. In conclusion, the PLGA-rSEA microparticle vaccine developed here could potentially be used as a vaccine against enterotoxigenicS. aureus.
Sequence signatures involved in targeting the male-specific lethal complex to X-chromosomal genes in Drosophila melanogaster
Authors: Philip Philge , Pettersson Fredrik , Stenberg Per
Published: March 2012

Background

In Drosophila melanogaster, the dosage-compensation system that equalizes X-linked gene expression between males and females, thereby assuring that an appropriate balance is maintained between the expression of genes on the X chromosome(s) and the autosomes, is at least partially mediated by the Male-Specific Lethal (MSL) complex. This complex binds to genes with a preference for exons on the male X chromosome with a 3' bias, and it targets most expressed genes on the X chromosome. However, a number of genes are expressed but not targeted by the complex. High affinity sites seem to be responsible for initial recruitment of the complex to the X chromosome, but the targeting to and within individual genes is poorly understood.

Results

We have extensively examined X chromosome sequence variation within five types of gene features (promoters, 5' UTRs, coding sequences, introns, 3' UTRs) and intergenic sequences, and assessed its potential involvement in dosage compensation. Presented results show that: the X chromosome has a distinct sequence composition within its gene features; some of the detected variation correlates with genes targeted by the MSL-complex; the insulator protein BEAF-32 preferentially binds upstream of MSL-bound genes; BEAF-32 and MOF co-localizes in promoters; and that bound genes have a distinct sequence composition that shows a 3' bias within coding sequence.

Conclusions

Although, many strongly bound genes are close to a high affinity site neither our promoter motif nor our coding sequence signatures show any correlation to HAS. Based on the results presented here, we believe that there are sequences in the promoters and coding sequences of targeted genes that have the potential to direct the secondary spreading of the MSL-complex to nearby genes.
High resolution melting: improvements in the genetic diagnosis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in a Portuguese cohort
Authors: Santos Susana , Marques Vanda , Pires Marina , Silveira Leonor , Oliveira Helena , Lança Vasco , Brito Dulce , Madeira Hugo , Esteves J Fonseca , Freitas António , Carreira Isabel M , Gaspar Isabel M , Monteiro Carolino , Fernandes Alexandra R
Published: March 2012

Background

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a complex myocardial disorder with a recognized genetic heterogeneity. The elevated number of genes and mutations involved in HCM limits a gene-based diagnosis that should be considered of most importance for basic research and clinical medicine.

Methodology

In this report, we evaluated High Resolution Melting (HRM) robustness, regarding HCM genetic testing, by means of analyzing 28 HCM-associated genes, including the most frequent 4 HCM-associated sarcomere genes, as well as 24 genes with lower reported HCM-phenotype association. We analyzed 80 Portuguese individuals with clinical phenotype of HCM allowing simultaneously a better characterization of this disease in the Portuguese population.

Results

HRM technology allowed us to identify 60 mutated alleles in 72 HCM patients: 49 missense mutations, 3 nonsense mutations, one 1-bp deletion, one 5-bp deletion, one in frame 3-bp deletion, one insertion/deletion, 3 splice mutations, one 5'UTR mutation inMYH7,MYBPC3,TNNT2,TNNI3,CSRP3,MYH6andMYL2genes. Significantly 22 are novel gene mutations.

Conclusions

HRM was proven to be a technique with high sensitivity and a low false positive ratio allowing a rapid, innovative and low cost genotyping of HCM. In a short return, HRM as a gene scanning technique could be a cost-effective gene-based diagnosis for an accurate HCM genetic diagnosis and hopefully providing new insights into genotype/phenotype correlations.
Community based weighing of newborns and use of mobile phones by village elders in rural settings in Kenya: a decentralised approach to health care provision
Authors: Gisore Peter , Shipala Evelyn , Otieno Kevin , Rono Betsy , Marete Irene , Tenge Constance , Mabeya Hillary , Bucher Sherri , Moore Janet , Liechty Edward , Esamai Fabian
Published: March 2012

Background

Identifying every pregnancy, regardless of home or health facility delivery, is crucial to accurately estimating maternal and neonatal mortality. Furthermore, obtaining birth weights and other anthropometric measurements in rural settings in resource limited countries is a difficult challenge. Unfortunately for the majority of infants born outside of a health care facility, pregnancies are often not recorded and birth weights are not accurately known. Data from the initial 6 months of the Maternal and Neonatal Health (MNH) Registry Study of the Global Network for Women and Children's Health study area in Kenya revealed that up to 70% of newborns did not have exact weights measured and recorded by the end of the first week of life; nearly all of these infants were born outside health facilities.

Methods

To more completely obtain accurate birth weights for all infants, regardless of delivery site, village elders were engaged to assist in case finding for pregnancies and births. All elders were provided with weighing scales and mobile phones as tools to assist in subject enrollment and data recording. Subjects were instructed to bring the newborn infant to the home of the elder as soon as possible after birth for weight measurement.

The proportion of pregnancies identified before delivery and the proportion of births with weights measured were compared before and after provision of weighing scales and mobile phones to village elders. Primary outcomes were the percent of infants with a measured birth weight (recorded within 7 days of birth) and the percent of women enrolled before delivery.

Results

The recorded birth weight increased from 43 ± 5.7% to 97 ± 1.1. The birth weight distributions between infants born and weighed in a health facility and those born at home and weighed by village elders were similar. In addition, a significant increase in the percent of subjects enrolled before delivery was found.

Conclusions

Pregnancy case finding and acquisition of birth weight information can be successfully shifted to the community level.
The association of N-palmitoylethanolamine with the FAAH inhibitor URB597 impairs melanoma growth through a supra-additive action
Authors: Hamtiaux Laurie , Masquelier Julien , Muccioli Giulio G , Bouzin Caroline , Feron Olivier , Gallez Bernard , Lambert Didier M
Published: March 2012

Background

The incidence of melanoma is considerably increasing worldwide. Frequent failing of classical treatments led to development of novel therapeutic strategies aiming at managing advanced forms of this skin cancer. Additionally, the implication of the endocannabinoid system in malignancy is actively investigated.

Methods

We investigated the cytotoxicity of endocannabinoids and their hydrolysis inhibitors on the murine B16 melanoma cell line using a MTT test. Enzyme and receptor expression was measured by RT-PCR and enzymatic degradation of endocannabinoids using radiolabeled substrates. Cell death was assessed by Annexin-V/Propidium iodine staining. Tumors were induced in C57BL/6 mice by s.c. flank injection of B16 melanoma cells. Mice were injected i.p. for six days with vehicle or treatment, and tumor size was measured each day and weighted at the end of the treatment. Haematoxylin-Eosin staining and TUNEL assay were performed to quantify necrosis and apoptosis in the tumor and endocannabinoid levels were quantified by HPLC-MS. Tube formation assay and CD31 immunostaining were used to evaluate the antiangiogenic effects of the treatments.

Results

The N-arachidonoylethanolamine (anandamide, AEA), 2-arachidonoylglycerol and N- palmitoylethanolamine (PEA) reduced viability of B16 cells. The association of PEA with the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitor URB597 considerably reduced cell viability consequently to an inhibition of PEA hydrolysis and an increase of PEA levels. The increase of cell death observed with this combination of molecules was confirmed in vivo where only co-treatment with both PEA and URB597 led to decreased melanoma progression. The antiproliferative action of the treatment was associated with an elevation of PEA levels and larger necrotic regions in the tumor.

Conclusions

This study suggests the interest of targeting the endocannabinoid system in the management of skin cancer and underlines the advantage of associating endocannabinoids with enzymatic hydrolysis inhibitors. This may contribute to the improvement of long-term palliation or cure of melanoma.