bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ergotism in Norway. Part 1: The symptoms and their interpretation from the late Iron Age to the seventeenth century
Authors: Alm Torbjørn , Elvevåg Brita
Published: February 2013

Ergotism is a horrendous disease with grotesque symptoms caused by ingesting specific ergot alkaloids. Mass poisoning episodes are attributable to consumption of grain – usually rye – infected with the fungus Claviceps purpurea. By focusing on possible cases of ergotism, we re-examine Norwegian history from the sagas through to the end of the seventeenth century. Our review – not intended to be exhaustive, or ex post facto to assign medical or psychiatric labels – draws attention to the very real possibility that many remarkable medical cases may have been the result of the ingestion of highly poisonous and psychoactive food substances. Where possible we highlight explanations given at the time – often rooted in religion or demonology – to explain the disease.
Revisiting mental hygiene: Josef Lundahl’s interpretation of modern psychiatry in Sweden at the beginning of the twentieth century
Authors: Piuva Katarina
Published: February 2013

The concept of mental hygiene is historically intertwined with eugenics and what it meant both ideologically and for the care of the mentally ill. A closer investigation of the concept and of the historical context shows that different interpretations existed simultaneously. The aim of this essay is to highlight the literary and scientific works of a Swedish psychiatrist, Josef Lundahl, an advocate of the mental hygiene concept. A close reading of his texts is used to provide an example of how the concept of mental hygiene was understood by a psychiatrist and practitioner of mental hygiene. The practice of child-care and out-patient care that Lundahl founded in Visby is far from what we now associate with mental hygiene in the past.
‘Paralysed with fears and worries’: neurasthenia as a gender-specific disease of civilization
Authors: Slijkhuis Jessica , Oosterhuis Harry
Published: February 2013

Around 1900 neurasthenia received much attention in both the medical world and society at large. Based on professional publications by Dutch psychiatrists and neurologists and on patient records from the Rhijngeest sanatorium near Leiden in the Netherlands, this article addresses the meanings and interpretations of this nervous disorder as put forward by doctors and patients. We argue that their understanding of this disorder was determined not only by medical views, but also by social-cultural factors and prevailing gender norms.
Love Suspended
Authors: Masri Mazen
Published: February 2013

This article considers a recent decision by the Supreme Court of Israel dealing with the right to family unification of Palestinian citizens of Israel (PCI). By situating the decision in the broader debate on Israel’s constitutional definition as a Jewish and democratic state, the article examines patterns where the definition plays an important role in defining the nature of the citizenship held by PCI and the limits of their rights. This examination focuses on three main issues that arose in the case: the scope of the protection of the right to family life, the comparative method used by some of the Justices to limit that right, and statements about the legitimacy of demographic considerations in devising immigration policies. This analysis demonstrates how the arguments and justifications used by the Court may provide building blocks for a legal framework that is proceeding in the direction of institutionalizing separate hierarchical categories of citizenship.
Teaching micro air vehicles how to fly as we teach babies how to walk
Authors: Han Jae-Hung , Lee Dong-Kyu , Lee Jun-Seong , Chung Sang-Joon
Published: February 2013

Recently, various micro air vehicles have drawn significant attention in numerous areas including surveillance and reconnaissance. The manual control of micro air vehicles is very difficult due to their smaller profile; therefore, a stability and controllability augmentation system is a minimum requirement for stable and efficient flight. However, it is not easy to obtain an accurate numerical model for the flight dynamics of micro air vehicles in the design of the stability and controllability augmentation system. An alternative approach for the stability and controllability augmentation systems is to incorporate reinforcement learning in order to address the numerical complexity. However, in order to train micro air vehicles to learn how to fly, they must first be airborne. This article presents a new method that provides an effective environment where a micro air vehicle can learn to fly in a similar manner to an infant learning to walk. The test setup was constructed to enable the magnetic levitation of a micro air vehicle that has a permanently embedded magnet. This apparatus allows for flexible experimentation: the position and attitude of the micro air vehicle, the constraint forces, and the resulting moments are adjustable and fixable. This “ Pseudo Flight Environment” was demonstrated using a fixed-wing micro air vehicle model. Furthermore, in order for the model to maintain a constant altitude, a height hold control system was devised and implemented.
Stigmatization of ADHD
Authors: Lebowitz Matthew S.
Published: February 2013

Objective: In recent years, the stigmatization faced by people with mental disorders has received considerable attention in the empirical literature. However, individuals with different disorders are subject to distinct types of negative attitudes, necessitating examinations of stigma that treat specific disorders individually. Method: This article reviews recent empirical literature concerning the stigmatization of ADHD. Further specificity is achieved by taking a developmental perspective, reviewing studies of stigmatizing attitudes as a function of the age of the target and perceiver. Results: Findings from nationally representative data sets, experimental investigations, surveys, and qualitative studies indicate that individuals of all ages who exhibit symptoms of ADHD are the recipients of substantial stigmatization. Conclusion: Although the stigmatizing attitudes of children and adolescents appear to differ in some ways from those of adults, negative perceptions toward people with ADHD appear to generally be present at all stages of development.
AAFP and ISFM Feline Environmental Needs Guidelines
Authors: Ellis Sarah L H , Rodan Ilona , Carney Hazel C , Heath Sarah , Rochlitz Irene , Shearburn Lorinda D , Sundahl Eliza , Westropp Jodi L
Published: February 2013

Guidelines rationale:

A cat’s level of comfort with its environment is intrinsically linked to its physical health, emotional wellbeing and behavior. Having a basic understanding of the cat’s species-specific environmental needs and how cats interact with their environment will provide a foundation for addressing these fundamental requirements.

Environmental needs:

Addressing environmental needs is essential (not optional) for optimum wellbeing of the cat. Environmental needs include those relating not only to the cat’s physical surroundings (indoors or outdoors; in the home environment or at the veterinary practice) but also those affecting social interaction, including responses to human contact.

Five ‘pillars’ framework:

The authorship panel has organized the Guidelines around five primary concepts (‘pillars’) that provide the framework for a healthy feline environment. Understanding these principles and the unique environmental needs of the cat will help veterinarians, cat owners and care-givers to reduce stress, the incidence of stress-related disorders, and unwanted behavior in their feline patients and pets. The recommendations in the Guidelines apply to all pet cats, regardless of lifestyle.
Being occupied: An embodied re-reading of organizational ‘wellness’
Authors: Dale Karen , Burrell Gibson
Published: February 2013

‘Organizational wellness’ has become a high profile issue for businesses. We argue that a ‘wellness movement’ has sprung up around a particular coalescence of economic, ideological and organizational interests. In this article we re-read the discourse of this ‘movement’ through the lens of ‘organized embodiment’. We argue that organizational wellness operates as a rhetorical device which masks contradictory power relations. It serves to hide differential occupational effects and opportunities for workers, and obscures the relationship between wellness and its necessary Other, unwellness. The article suggests that employee unwellness is often produced—and required—by the different forms of organized embodiment that arise directly from occupations and employment. It analyses this corporeal ‘occupation’ in terms of the extortion, exchange and embrace of our bodies to the coercive, calculative and normative power of the organization. Thus, our organizational experiences produce an embodied individual who is ‘fit’ for purpose in a rather more circumscribed fashion than prevailing discourses of wellness might suggest.
Perceived and actual arm performance in multiple sclerosis: relationship with clinical tests according to hand dominance
Authors: Lamers Ilse , Kerkhofs Lore , Raats Joke , Kos Daphne , Van Wijmeersch Bart , Feys Peter
Published: February 2013

Background:

The real-life relevance of frequently applied clinical arm tests is not well known in multiple sclerosis (MS).

Objective:

This study aimed to determine the relation between real-life arm performance and clinical tests in MS.

Methods:

Thirty wheelchair-bound MS patients and 30 healthy controls were included. Actual and perceived real-life arm performance was measured by using accelerometry and a self-reported measure (Motor Activity Log). Clinical tests on ‘body functions & structures’ (JAMAR handgrip strength, Motricity Index (MI), Fugl Meyer (FM)) and ‘activity’ level (Nine Hole Peg Test (NHPT), Action Research Arm test) of the International Classification of Functioning were conducted. Statistical analyses were performed separately for current dominant and non-dominant arm.

Results:

For all outcome measures, MS patients scored with both arms significantly lower than the control group. Higher correlations between actual arm performance and clinical tests were found for the non-dominant arm (0.63–0.80). The FM (55%) was a good predictor of actual arm performance, while the MI (46%) and NHPT (55%) were good predictors of perceived arm performance.

Conclusions:

Real-life arm performance is decreased in wheelchair-bound MS patients and can be best predicted by measures on ‘body functions & structures’ level and fine motor control. Hand dominance influenced the magnitude of relationships.
Women bloggers: Identity and the conceptualization of sports
Authors: Antunovic Dunja , Hardin Marie
Published: February 2013

With the emergence of the blogosphere, women have gained a unique opportunity to share their experiences. This study explored the formation of self and the conceptualization of sports in the “Sports Blog” directory of BlogHer, a women’s blog network. A content analysis of 449 profiles in the directory revealed that women bloggers tend to use blogging to document personal experiences of participation in sports and to provide resources for others about physical activity, health, and fitness. Women’s active and participatory relationship with sports defies both stereotypical representations of women in mainstream sports media and hegemonic masculine discourses replicated in the blogosphere. We suggest that women who blog about sports challenge assumptions about sports consumption and engagement in sports. This study offers an alternative conceptualization of sports blogging as well as a broader understanding of the role of sports in women’s lives.
Environmentally coupled repairs and remedies in the airline cockpit: Repair practices of talk and action in interaction
Authors: Arminen Ilkka , Auvinen Petra
Published: February 2013

Our article explores the repair practices pilots use to correct various troubles during flights. The intersubjective understanding of action is a salient part of the time-critical activities of aviation. Repairs solve troubles before any accident risk emerges, thus contributing to flight safety. In repair practices, the social and technical environment is interwoven. If remedies concern faulty lines of action, they target the techno-material condition of the aircraft. Such repair practices are not repairs of talk, but remedies of action in a socio-material interaction. We discuss remedies of action as a particular type of repair practice, and outline their role in socio-material interactions. The aim is to continue building a holistic analysis of social action, not just to add a multimodal layer over an analysis of talk. The rethinking of social action contributes to the exploration of social actions anchored to their socio-material environment.
Rhetorical relations in multimodal documents
Authors: Taboada Maite , Habel Christopher
Published: February 2013

We present a corpus-based study of coherence in multimodal documents. We concern ourselves with the types of relationships between graphs and tables and the text of the document in which they appear. In order to understand and categorize the types of relations across modalities, we are making use of Rhetorical Structure Theory (Mann and Thompson, 1988), and propose that this can adequately describe these types of relations. We analyzed a corpus comprising three different genres, and consisting of about 1500 pages of material and almost 600 figures, tables and graphs. We show that figures stand in both presentational and subject matter relations to the text, and that the relationship between figures and text is one of a small set out of the larger possible rhetorical relations. We also discuss several issues that arise in the treatment of multimodal material, such as the potential for multiple connections between figure and text.
Telling and retelling prankster stories: Evaluating cleverness to perform identity
Authors: Trester Anna Marie
Published: February 2013

Using interactional sociolinguistics, I analyze two versions of a narrative chronicling the humorous antics of a prankster called Zimmerman who, along with the narrator, was a seminary student in the Midwestern United States in the 1950s. To explore the interactional function of telling stories about pranks, I compare two versions: one which is more performative (Schiffrin, 2006), the other which feels more like a summary, calling attention to differences in narrative evaluation accomplished through use of such linguistic features as reference, deixis, and contextualization cues (i.e. laughter). I argue that both versions accomplish moral positioning for the narrator, and work to construct and negotiate his identity as someone who values cleverness, finding humor in the playful defiance of authority. However, by contrasting a telling in which this evaluation is accomplished internally (the more performative version) to one in which evaluation is largely external, I hope to highlight how evaluative devices contribute to meaning-making through narrative performance in the relatively understudied genre of prankster tales.
CBFA2T3-GLIS2 fusion transcript is a novel common feature in pediatric, cytogenetically normal AML, not restricted to FAB M7 subtype
Authors: Masetti Riccardo , Pigazzi Martina , Togni Marco , Astolfi Annalisa , Indio Valentina , Manara Elena , Casadio Rita , Pession Andrea , Basso Giuseppe , Locatelli Franco
Published: February 2013

Key Points

The CBFA2T3-GLIS2 fusion transcript is common in pediatric cytogenetically normal AML and not restricted to FAB M7 subtype. The CBFA2T3-GLIS2 fusion transcript is associated with poor prognosis in pediatric patients with AML.
RETRACTED ARTICLE: Fuzzy fractional Ostrowski inequality with Caputo differentiability
Authors: Allahviranloo Tofigh , Avazpour Lutfi , Ebadi Mohammad J , Baleanu Dumitru , Salahshour Soheil
Published: February 2013

The use of fractional inequalities in mathematical models is increasingly widespread in recent years. In this manuscript, we firstly propose the right Caputo derivative of fuzzy-valued functions about fractional order ν (

0
<
ν
<
1

). To this end, we consider two types of differentiability (similar to the non-fractional case). Then we derive the equivalent integral forms of original fuzzy fractional differential equations. Finally, we prove the fuzzy Ostrowski inequality involving three functions under Caputo’s differentiability. In this regard, we state some new results.
Learning contextual gene set interaction networks of cancer with condition specificity
Authors: Jung Sungwon , Verdicchio Michael , Kiefer Jeff , Hoff Daniel Von , Berens Michael , Bittner Michael , Kim Seungchan
Published: February 2013

Background

Identifying similarities and differences in the molecular constitutions of various types of cancer is one of the key challenges in cancer research. The appearances of a cancer depend on complex molecular interactions, including gene regulatory networks and gene-environment interactions. This complexity makes it challenging to decipher the molecular origin of the cancer. In recent years, many studies reported methods to uncover heterogeneous depictions of complex cancers, which are often categorized into different subtypes. The challenge is to identify diverse molecular contexts within a cancer, to relate them to different subtypes, and to learn underlying molecular interactions specific to molecular contexts so that we can recommend context-specific treatment to patients.

Results

In this study, we describe a novel method to discern molecular interactions specific to certain molecular contexts. Unlike conventional approaches to build modular networks of individual genes, our focus is to identify cancer-generic and subtype-specific interactions between contextual gene sets, of which each gene set share coherent transcriptional patterns across a subset of samples, termed contextual gene set. We then apply a novel formulation for quantitating the effect of the samples from each subtype on the calculated strength of interactions observed. Two cancer data sets were analyzed to support the validity of condition-specificity of identified interactions. When compared to an existing approach, the proposed method was much more sensitive in identifying condition-specific interactions even in heterogeneous data set. The results also revealed that network components specific to different types of cancer are related to different biological functions than cancer-generic network components. We found not only the results that are consistent with previous studies, but also new hypotheses on the biological mechanisms specific to certain cancer types that warrant further investigations.

Conclusions

The analysis on the contextual gene sets and characterization of networks of interaction composed of these sets discovered distinct functional differences underlying various types of cancer. The results show that our method successfully reveals many subtype-specific regions in the identified maps of biological contexts, which well represent biological functions that can be connected to specific subtypes.
Transcription signatures encoded by ultraconserved genomic regions in human prostate cancer
Authors: Hudson Robert S , Yi Ming , Volfovsky Natalia , Prueitt Robyn L , Esposito Dominic , Volinia Stefano , Liu Chang-Gong , Schetter Aaron J , Van Roosbroeck Katrien , Stephens Robert M , Calin George A , Croce Carlo M , Ambs Stefan
Published: February 2013

Background

Ultraconserved regions (UCR) are genomic segments of more than 200 base pairs that are evolutionarily conserved among mammalian species. They are thought to have functions as transcriptional enhancers and regulators of alternative splicing. Recently, it was shown that numerous RNAs are transcribed from these regions. These UCR-encoded transcripts (ucRNAs) were found to be expressed in a tissue- and disease-specific manner and may interfere with the function of other RNAs through RNA: RNA interactions. We hypothesized that ucRNAs have unidentified roles in the pathogenesis of human prostate cancer. In a pilot study, we examined ucRNA expression profiles in human prostate tumors.

Methods

Using a custom microarray with 962 probesets representing sense and antisense sequences for the 481 human UCRs, we examined ucRNA expression in resected, fresh-frozen human prostate tissues (57 tumors, 7 non-cancerous prostate tissues) and in cultured prostate cancer cells treated with either epigenetic drugs (the hypomethylating agent, 5-Aza 2′deoxycytidine, and the histone deacetylase inhibitor, trichostatin A) or a synthetic androgen, R1881. Expression of selected ucRNAs was also assessed by qRT-PCR and NanoString®-based assays. Because ucRNAs may function as RNAs that target protein-coding genes through direct and inhibitory RNA: RNA interactions, computational analyses were applied to identify candidate ucRNA:mRNA binding pairs.

Results

We observed altered ucRNA expression in prostate cancer (e.g., uc.106+, uc.477+, uc.363 + A, uc.454 + A) and found that these ucRNAs were associated with cancer development, Gleason score, and extraprostatic extension after controlling for false discovery (false discovery rate < 5% for many of the transcripts). We also identified several ucRNAs that were responsive to treatment with either epigenetic drugs or androgen (R1881). For example, experiments with LNCaP human prostate cancer cells showed that uc.287+ is induced by R1881 (P < 0.05) whereas uc.283 + A was up-regulated following treatment with combined 5-Aza 2′deoxycytidine and trichostatin A (P < 0.05). Additional computational analyses predicted RNA loop-loop interactions of 302 different sense and antisense ucRNAs with 1058 different mRNAs, inferring possible functions of ucRNAs via direct interactions with mRNAs.

Conclusions

This first study of ucRNA expression in human prostate cancer indicates an altered transcript expression in the disease.
Silver nanoparticles of Albizia adianthifolia: the induction of apoptosis in human lung carcinoma cell line
Authors: Govender Rishalan , Phulukdaree Alisa , Gengan Robert M , Anand Krishnan , Chuturgoon Anil A
Published: February 2013

Background

Silver nanoparticles (AgNP), the most popular nano-compounds, possess unique properties.Albizia adianthifolia(AA) is a plant of the Fabaceae family that is rich in saponins. The biological properties of a novel AgNP, synthesized from an aqueous leaf extract of AA (AAAgNP), were investigated on A549 lung cells. Cell viability was determined by the MTT assay. Cellular oxidative status (lipid peroxidation and glutathione (GSH) levels), ATP concentration, caspase-3/-7, -8 and −9 activities were determined. Apoptosis, mitochondrial (mt) membrane depolarization (flow cytometry) and DNA fragmentation (comet assay) were assessed. The expression of CD95 receptors, p53, bax, PARP-1 and smac/DIABLO was evaluated by flow cytometry and/or western blotting.

Results

Silver nanoparticles of AA caused a dose-dependent decrease in cell viability with a significant increase in lipid peroxidation (5-fold vs. control;p = 0.0098) and decreased intracellular GSH (p = 0.1184). A significant 2.5-fold decrease in cellular ATP was observed upon AAAgNPexposure (p = 0.0040) with a highly significant elevation in mt depolarization (3.3-fold vs. control;p < 0.0001). Apoptosis was also significantly higher (1.5-fold) in AAAgNPtreated cells (p < 0.0001) with a significant decline in expression of CD95 receptors (p = 0.0416). Silver nanoparticles of AA caused a significant 2.5-fold reduction in caspase-8 activity (p = 0.0024) with contrasting increases in caspase-3/-7 (1.7-fold vs. control;p = 0.0180) and −9 activity (1.4-fold vs. control;p = 0.0117). Western blots showed increased expression of smac/DIABLO (4.1-fold) in treated cells (p = 0.0033). Furthermore, AAAgNPsignificantly increased the expression of p53, bax and PARP-1 (1.2-fold;p = 0.0498, 1.6-fold;p = 0.0083 and 1.1-fold;p = 0.0359 respectively).

Conclusion

Data suggests that AAAgNPinduces cell death in the A549 lung cells via the mt mediated intrinsic apoptotic program. Further investigation is required to potentiate the use of this novel compound in cancer therapy trials.
Visualizing RNA base-pairing probabilities with RNAbow diagrams
Authors: Aalberts Daniel P. , Jannen William K.
Published: February 2013

There are many effective ways to represent a minimum free energy RNA secondary structure that make it easy to locate its helices and loops. It is a greater challenge to visualize the thermal average probabilities of all folds in a partition function sum; dot plot representations are often puzzling. Therefore, we introduce the RNAbows visualization tool for RNA base pair probabilities. RNAbows represent base pair probabilities with line thickness and shading, yielding intuitive diagrams. RNAbows aid in disentangling incompatible structures, allow comparisons between clusters of folds, highlight differences between wild-type and mutant folds, and are also rather beautiful.
Surgical outcomes data and seven-day working: how the health sector has responded
Authors: Moulds Alison
Published: February 2013

At the end of 2012, the NHS Commissioning Board made two important announcements affecting the surgical workforce. Namely, that it wanted to see outcomes data published for individual surgeons and that it intends to review the barriers preventing seven-day working in the NHS.
BOOK REVIEWS
Authors: Marrone Daniel , Shamsavari Sina , Oksman Tahneer
Published: February 2013

Lynda Barry: Girlhood through the Looking Glass, Susan E. Kirtley (2012) University Press of Mississippi, 217 pp., 9781617032356, Paperback, £25.99

No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics, Justin Hall (ed.), Fantagraphics Books, 328 pp., 9781606995068, Hardback, $35

Projections:
Comics and the History of Twenty-First Century Storytelling, Jared Garner (2012) Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 240 pp., ISBN: 978-08-04771474, Paperback, $24.95
Zwischen Innovation, User Involvement und digitaler Ausrichtung
Authors: Seitenbecher Manuel
Published: February 2013

Am Jahresende 2014 bezieht die Hauptbibliothek Aarhus ihr neues Domizil im Urban Mediaspace. Der Weg dorthin ist geprägt von innovativen Projekten und dem Ausbau der Öffentlichen Bibliothek zur interaktiven Erlebnisstätte, von User Involvement und der verstärkten Fokussierung auf digitale Angebote. Manuel Seitenbecher konnte diesen Prozess vier Wochen lang begleiten. Der Bericht gibt einen Überblick über die vorbildliche Arbeit des Teams der Hauptbibliothek Aarhus sowie über aktuelle Entwicklungen im dänischen Bibliothekswesen.
Quantitative structure-activity relationship analysis of thiazolidineones: potent antidiabetic compounds
Authors: Vishvakarma Vijay Kumar , Singh Prashant , Dubey Monica , Kumari Kamlesh , Chandra Ramesh , Pandey Narender D.
Published: February 2013

Background: Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes, accounting for over 90% of cases. Current treatment approaches for type 2 diabetes include diet, exercise, and a variety of pharmacologic agents, including insulin, biguanides, sulfonylureas, and thiazolidinediones.

Methods: In the present scenario, researchers focused themselves on thiazolidine ring-based compounds to cure type 2 diabetes mellitus. Among the peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR) family, PPAR-γ is the most effective in curing glucose homeostasis.

Results and conclusions: Thiazolidine ring-based compounds act as PPAR-γ agonists, and herein, we have successfully developed nine derivatives of thiazolidine ring-based compounds that are found to be biologically potent using two-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship model.
Electrical application of polystyrene (PS) reinforced with old tire rubber (GTR): dielectric, thermal, and mechanical properties
Authors: Mujal-Rosas Ramon , Ramis-Juan Xavier
Published: February 2013

Mass production of tires and their subsequent storage after use are serious environmental problems that are being tried to be solved in various ways. One of these is the mixture of these old used tires [ground rubber tire (GTR)] with various thermoplastic and thermostable polymers. The present work aimed to obtain materials suitable for the electric industry from the mixture of polystyrene (PS) with old used tires (GTR), starting from the requirement of minimum recycling costs, i.e., by using vulcanized GTR without any prior treatment but acting on the particle sizes with a simple and inexpensive screening. In order to do so, dielectric, mechanical, thermal, and microstructure analyses were performed for a large number of compounds, which were obtained using three GTR particle sizes (p<200 μm, 200 μm
500 μm) and seven concentrations of GTR in the compound (0%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 40%, 50%, and 70%). All these data have allowed an accurate characterization of the properties of the new compounds, and according to these results, possible electrical applications have been explored.
The embryonic transcription factor Hlxb9 is a menin interacting partner that controls pancreatic β-cell proliferation and the expression of insulin regulators
Authors: Shi Kerong , Parekh Vaishali I , Roy Swarnava , Desai Shruti S , Agarwal Sunita K
Published: February 2013

The multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) syndrome is caused by germline mutations in the MEN1 gene encoding menin, with tissue-specific tumors of the parathyroids, anterior pituitary, and enteropancreatic endocrine tissues. Also, 30–40% of sporadic pancreatic endocrine tumors show somatic MEN1 gene inactivation. Although menin is expressed in all cell types of the pancreas, mouse models with loss of menin in either pancreatic α-cells, or β-cells, or total pancreas develop β-cell-specific endocrine tumors (insulinomas). Loss of widely expressed tumor suppressor genes may produce tissue-specific tumors by reactivating one or more embryonic-specific differentiation factors. Therefore, we determined the effect of menin overexpression or knockdown on the expression of β-cell differentiation factors in a mouse β-cell line (MIN6). We show that the β-cell differentiation factor Hlxb9 is posttranscriptionally upregulated upon menin knockdown, and it interacts with menin. Hlxb9 reduces cell proliferation and causes apoptosis in the presence of menin, and it regulates genes that modulate insulin level. Thus, upon menin loss or from other causes, dysregulation of Hlxb9 predicts a possible combined mechanism for β-cell proliferation and insulin production in insulinomas. These observations help to understand how a ubiquitously expressed protein such as menin might control tissue-specific tumorigenesis. Also, our findings identify Hlxb9 as an important factor for β-cell proliferation and insulin regulation.
Isothermal Stress Relaxation in Passivated Alsicu- and Al- Lines with Different Aspect Ratios
Authors: Roths Ch. , Hönings J. , Eppler I. , Schroeder H.
Published: February 2013

Mechanical stress relaxation in passivateci metal lines generally has two components, shear relaxation at constant volume, changing the stress distribution, and volumetric relaxation changing the hydrostatic stress. In order to contribute to the understanding of the underlying mechanisms we have collected detailed data on relaxation of passivated Al- and AlSiCu-lines with different aspect ratios a (0.2 ≤ a ≤ 1) and different thicknesses. A bending beam technique was used to measure the stress of these lines during thermal cycling from RT to 450°C and isothermal relaxation at different temperatures between RT and 350°C. Main results are: i) During thermal cycling the stress at RT and the total stress amplitude increase with increasing aspect ratio a, while stress hysteresis formation increases with decreasing a. ii) During isothermal relaxation the relaxed stress is strongly dependent on temperature with maxima between 150 and 250°C. The maximum shifts to lower temperatures with decreasing aspect ratio. From the temperature dependence the effective activation energy of 0.6±0.3eV for AlSiCu can be determined, iii) Finite element calculation and the method of “eigenstrains” are used to estimate seperately volumetric (voiding) and shear plasticity in these lines. Clearly voiding dominates the isothermal stress relaxation in all measured samples.
Residual Ion Implantation Damage at Source/Drain Junctions of Excimer Laser Annealed Polycrystalline Silicon Thin Film Transistor
Authors: Park Kee-Chan , Kim Jae-Shin , Nam Woo-Jin , Han Min-Koo
Published: February 2013

Residual ion implantation damage at source/drain junctions of excimer laser annealed polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin film transistor (TFT) was investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). Cross-sectional TEM observation showed that XeCl excimer laser (λ=308 nm) energy decreased considerably at the source/drain junctions of top-gated poly-Si TFT due to laser beam diffraction at the gate electrode edges and that the silicon layer amorphized by ion implantation, was not completely annealed at the juncions. The HR-TEM observation showed severe lattice disorder at the junctions of poly-Si TFT.
Hoop Stress and the Conical Connection
Authors: Flanagan Dennis , Phillips Justin , Connor Matthew , Dyer Timothy , Kazerounian Kazem
Published: February 2013

Dental implant-abutment connection design has developed into the use of a conical, shank and socket connection between the implant abutment and fixture. The connection between these two elements is, in effect, a conical wedge that may exert lateral forces under load that may result in fracture of the coronal implant socket fixture walls. This study evaluated the axial loading on a conical connection and found that axial loads were well tolerated but off-axial loads were not. Fracture of the implant coronal socket fixture wall occurred under off-axial loading.
The Influence of Socioeconomic Markers on the Association Between Fine Particulate Matter and Hospital Admissions for Respiratory Conditions Among Children
Authors: Yap Poh-Sin , Gilbreath Susan , Garcia Cynthia , Jareen Nargis , Goodrich Bryan
Published: February 2013

Objectives. We evaluated the influence of socioeconomic status (SES) on hospital admissions for respiratory conditions associated with ambient particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometers or less in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5) in children aged 1 to 9 years in 12 California counties, from 2000 to 2005.

Methods. We linked daily hospital admissions for respiratory conditions (acute respiratory infections, pneumonia, and asthma) to meteorological, air pollution, and census data.

Results. In San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Los Angeles counties, the admission rates for children associated with PM2.5 ranged from 1.03 to 1.07 for combined respiratory conditions and 1.03 to 1.08 for asthma in regions with lower SES. We observed 2 distinct patterns of the influence of the composite SES Townsend index. In lower-SES South Coast areas, PM2.5-associated hospital admission rates for all respiratory outcomes were predominantly positive whereas results in the Central Valley were variable, often tending toward the null.

Conclusions. These distinct patterns could be attributed to the heterogeneity of regional confounders as well as the seasonal variation of emission sources of PM2.5. Composite SES is one potential factor for increasing susceptibility to air pollution.
Fish Oils, Coronary Heart Disease, and the Environment
Authors: Greene Jonathan , Ashburn Sarah M. , Razzouk Louai , Smith Donald A.
Published: February 2013

Clinical trials continue to produce conflicting results on the effectiveness of fish oils for the primary and secondary prevention of coronary heart disease. Despite many large, well-performed studies, questions still remain, made even more complex by the addition of early revascularization and statins in our coronary heart disease armamentarium. This is complicated by the reality that fish oil production has a measureable impact on reducing fish populations, which in turn has a negative impact on creating a sustainable product. We review the current data for fish oil usage in the primary and secondary prevention of coronary heart disease with an eye toward future studies, and the effects fish oil production has on the environment and efforts that are currently under way to mitigate these effects.
Military Exceptionalism or Tobacco Exceptionalism: How Civilian Health Leaders' Beliefs May Impede Military Tobacco Control Efforts
Authors: Smith Elizabeth A. , Malone Ruth E.
Published: February 2013

Smoking impairs the readiness and performance of military personnel, yet congressional opposition has thwarted military tobacco control initiatives. Involvement of civilian organizations might alter this political dynamic.

We interviewed 13 leaders of national civilian public health and tobacco control organizations to explore their perspectives on military tobacco control, inductively analyzing data for themes. Leaders believed that military tobacco use was problematic but lacked specific knowledge. Most supported smoke-free policies and prohibiting smoking in uniform; however, they opposed banning tobacco use, arguing that it would violate smokers’ rights. Most leaders inappropriately applied civilian models of policy development to the military context.

A tobacco-free military is unlikely to be achieved without military–civilian partnerships that include educating civilian health leaders about military policy development and implementation.
Abortion Law Around the World: Progress and Pushback
Authors: Finer Louise , Fine Johanna B.
Published: February 2013

There is a global trend toward the liberalization of abortion laws driven by women’s rights, public health, and human rights advocates. This trend reflects the recognition of women’s access to legal abortion services as a matter of women’s rights and self-determination and an understanding of the dire public health implications of criminalizing abortion.

Nonetheless, legal strategies to introduce barriers that impede access to legal abortion services, such as mandatory waiting periods, biased counseling requirements, and the unregulated practice of conscientious objection, are emerging in response to this trend. These barriers stigmatize and demean women and compromise their health.

Public health evidence and human rights guarantees provide a compelling rationale for challenging abortion bans and these restrictions.
Alcohol-Attributable Cancer Deaths and Years of Potential Life Lost in the United States
Authors: Nelson David E. , Jarman Dwayne W. , Rehm Jürgen , Greenfield Thomas K. , Rey Grégoire , Kerr William C. , Miller Paige , Shield Kevin D. , Ye Yu , Naimi Timothy S.
Published: February 2013

Objectives. Our goal was to provide current estimates of alcohol-attributable cancer mortality and years of potential life lost (YPLL) in the United States.

Methods. We used 2 methods to calculate population-attributable fractions. We based relative risks on meta-analyses published since 2000, and adult alcohol consumption on data from the 2009 Alcohol Epidemiologic Data System, 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, and 2009–2010 National Alcohol Survey.

Results. Alcohol consumption resulted in an estimated 18 200 to 21 300 cancer deaths, or 3.2% to 3.7% of all US cancer deaths. The majority of alcohol-attributable female cancer deaths were from breast cancer (56% to 66%), whereas upper airway and esophageal cancer deaths were more common among men (53% to 71%). Alcohol-attributable cancers resulted in 17.0 to 19.1 YPLL for each death. Daily consumption of up to 20 grams of alcohol (≤ 1.5 drinks) accounted for 26% to 35% of alcohol-attributable cancer deaths.

Conclusions. Alcohol remains a major contributor to cancer mortality and YPLL. Higher consumption increases risk but there is no safe threshold for alcohol and cancer risk. Reducing alcohol consumption is an important and underemphasized cancer prevention strategy.
Decriminalization of Abortion in Mexico City: The Effects on Women’s Reproductive Rights
Authors: Becker Davida , Díaz Olavarrieta Claudia
Published: February 2013

In April 2007, the Mexico City, Mexico, legislature passed landmark legislation decriminalizing elective abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

In Mexico City, safe abortion services are now available to women through the Mexico City Ministry of Health’s free public sector legal abortion program and in the private sector, and more than 89 000 legal abortions have been performed. By contrast, abortion has continued to be restricted across the Mexican states (each state makes its own abortion laws), and there has been an antichoice backlash against the legislation in 16 states.

Mexico City’s abortion legislation is an important first step in improving reproductive rights, but unsafe abortions will only be eliminated if similar abortion legislation is adopted across the entire country.
A New Approach to Load Balance for Parallel Compositional Simulation Based on Reservoir Model Over-decomposition
Authors: Wang Yuhe , Killough John E.
Published: February 2013

The quest for efficient and scalable parallel reservoir simulators has been evolving with the advancement of high performance computing architectures. Among the various challenges of efficiency and scalability, load imbalance is a major obstacle that has not been fully addressed and solved. The reasons that cause load imbalance in parallel reservoir simulation are both static and dynamic. Robust graph partitioning algorithms are capable of handling static load imbalance by decomposing the underlying reservoir geometry to distribute a roughly equal load to each processor. However, these loads determined by a static load balancer seldom remain unchanged as the simulation proceeds in time. This so called dynamic imbalance can be further exacerbated in parallel compositional simulations. The flash calculations for equations of state in complex compositional simulations not only can consume over half of the total execution time but also are difficult to balance merely by a static load balancer. The computational cost of flash calculations in each grid block heavily depends on the dynamic data such as pressure, temperature, and hydrocarbon composition. Thus, any static assignment of grid blocks may lead to dynamic load imbalance in unpredictable manners. A dynamic load balancer can often provide solutions for this difficulty. However, traditional techniques are inflexible and tedious to implement in legacy reservoir simulators. In this paper, we present a new approach to address dynamic load imbalance in parallel compositional simulation. It over-decomposes the reservoir model to assign each processor a bundle of subdomains. Processors treat these bundles of subdomains as virtual processes or user-level migratable threads which can be dynamically migrated across processors in the run-time system. This technique is shown to be capable of achieving better overlap between computation and communication for cache efficiency. We employ this approach in a legacy reservoir simulator and demonstrate reduction in the execution time of parallel compositional simulations while requiring minimal changes to the source code. Finally, it is shown that domain over-decomposition together with a load balancer can improve speedup from 29.27 to 62.38 on 64 physical processors for a realistic simulation problem.
Co-digestion of bovine slaughterhouse wastes, cow manure, various crops and municipal solid waste at thermophilic conditions: a comparison with specific case running at mesophilic conditions
Authors: Pagés-Díaz J. , Sárvári-Horváth I. , Pérez-Olmo J. , Pereda-Reyes I.
Published: February 2013

A co-digestion process was evaluated when mixing different ratios of agro-industrial residues, i.e. bovine slaughterhouse waste (SB); cow manure (M); various crop residues (VC); and municipal solid waste (MSW) by anaerobic batch digestion under thermophilic conditions (55 °C). A selected study case at mesophilic condition (37 °C) was also investigated. The performance of the co-digestion was evaluated by kinetics (k0). The best kinetic results were obtained under thermophilic operation when a mixture of 22% w/w SB, 22% w/w M, 45% w/w VC and 11% w/w MSW was co-digested, which showed a proper combination of high values in rsCH4 and k0 (0.066 Nm3CH4/kgVS*d, 0.336 d−1) during the anaerobic process. The effect of temperature on methane yield (YCH4), specific methane rate (rsCH4) and k0 was also analyzed for a specific study case; there a mixture of 25% w/w of SB, 37.5% w/w of M, 37.5% of VC and 0% of MSW was used. Response variables were severely affected by mesophilic conditions, diminishing to at least 45% of the thermophilic values obtained for a similar mixture. The effect of temperature suggested that thermophilic conditions are suitable to treat these residues.
Two-stage combined treatment of acid mine drainage and municipal wastewater
Authors: Deng Dongyang , Lin Lian-Shin
Published: February 2013

This study examined the feasibility of the combined treatment of field-collected acid mine drainages (AMD, pH = 4.2 ± 0.9, iron = 112 ± 118 mg/L, sulfate = 1,846 ± 594 mg/L) and municipal wastewater (MWW, avg. chemical oxygen demand (COD) = 234–333 mg/L) using a two-stage process. The process consisted of batch mixing of the two wastes to condition the mixture solutions, followed by anaerobic biological treatment. The mixings performed under a range of AMD/MWW ratios resulted in phosphate removal of 9 to ∼100%, the mixture pH of 6.2–7.9, and COD/sulfate concentration ratio of 0.05–5.4. The biological treatment consistently removed COD and sulfate by >80% from the mixture solutions for COD/sulfate ratios of 0.6–5.4. Alkalinity was produced in the biological treatment causing increased pH and further removal of metals from the solutions. Scanning electron microscopy of produced sludge with energy dispersion analysis suggested chemical precipitation and associated adsorption and co-precipitation as the mechanisms for metal removal (Fe: >99%, Al: ∼100%, Mn: 75 to ∼100%, Ca: 52–81%, Mg: 13–76%, and Na: 56–76%). The study showed promising results for the treatment method and denoted the potential of developing innovative technologies for combined management of the two wastes in mining regions.
Acute and Chronic Toxic Effects of Chloramphenicol on Scenedesmus Obliquus and Chlorella Pyrenoidosa
Authors: Zhang Wei , Sun Wenfang , An Shuai , Xiong Bang , Lin Kuangfei , Cui Xinhong , Guo Meijin
Published: February 2013

The acute and chronic toxicological effects of Chloramphenicol (CAP) on Scenedesmus obliquus and Chlorella pyrenoidosa are not well understood. The indoor experiments were carried to observe and analyze the CAP induced changes. Results of the observations have showed that CAP exposure could significantly inhibit the growth of Scenedesmus obliquus in almost all the treated groups, while Chlorella pyrenoidosa exhibited less sensitivity. Chlorophyll‐a syntheses of Scenedesmus obliquus were all inhibited by CAP exposure, while Chlorella pyrenoidosa displayed obvious stimulation effect. Catalase (CAT) and Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities of both algae were promoted in all the treatments. The experimental results indicated that the growth and Chlorophyll‐a syntheses of Scenedesmus obliquus were more sensitive in response to CAP exposure than that of Chlorella pyrenoidosa. While for CAT and SOD activities, Chlorella pyrenoidosa showed more susceptible. This research provides a basic understanding of CAP toxicity to aquatic organisms.
Polyploidy and b chromosomes in Alium flavum from Serbia
Authors: Vujosevic M. , Jovanovic V. , Blagojevic Jelena
Published: February 2013

The most intriguing karyological features of the genus Allium are polyploidy
and the frequent appearance of supernumerary or B chromosomes (Bs). Specimens
of Allium flavum from natural populations at the Gornjacka Gorge in the
vicinity of Gornjak Monastery, Serbia, were analyzed karyologically. All
studied plants were tetraploid (2n = 32). One submetacentric B chromosome
representing 1% of the genome, smaller than the smallest chromosomes of the
standard set, was present in some plants. This is the first finding of Bs in
tetraploid A. flavum.