bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Expanding the Vision of Self: Why the Arts Matter
Authors: Nathan Linda
Published: May 2015

In this reflective essay, Linda F. Nathan, the founding headmaster of the Boston Arts Academy and currently the executive director of Center for Arts in Education at Boston Arts Academy, shares a story about how one student, Ronald, expands his vision of self through his engagement with the arts. In presenting this reflection on Ronald's experience, Nathan highlights the power of the arts in helping students define and construct their identity.
The Role of Music in Education: Forming Cultural Identity and Making Cross-Cultural Connections
Authors: Pascale Louise
Published: May 2015

In this reflection, Louise Pascale describes the evolution, development, and outcomes of the Afghan Children's Songbook Project, which is reintroducing children's ethnic songs to the children of Afghanistan and Afghan expats as well as to American schoolchildren. Her reflection highlights the potential for music to unify and strengthen community, thus joining people together in a common experience. She explores the suppression and resurgence of musical culture in Afghanistan and the connection of this experience to music education in schools in the United States.
Art Means a Lot
Authors: Almanzar Victor
Published: May 2015

Art means a lot to me. Growing up in New York as a young teenager who came from another country, I felt as if I was an outcast from society due to the language barrier and numerous ethnic groups different than mine. Coming to New York from the Dominican Republic, I was placed in an ESL (English as a Second Language) class at Leonardo da Vinci IS 61 in Queens. I remember trying to speak to a girl who was not an ESL student. She was playing with her friends, tossing an orange back and forth, when she failed to catch it and the orange landed by my feet. She did not notice where it had gone, so I picked it up and tried to toss it back to her, at the same time telling her in Spanish, “Here it is.” The girl jumped back surprised and thought that I tried to hit her with the orange, so she began to curse me out. I didn't know what she was saying, but it was clear that it wasn't nice. I tried to explain myself, but she was not trying to hear me. This experience made me feel terrible.
Art and Its Tantalizing Effects
Authors: Huynh Kelly
Published: May 2015

I walk into the room and take a seat. Immediately I am captivated by the image I am about to recreate; the adrenaline pumps through my veins. My fingers seem to have a mind of their own, and I am filled with an urge to sweep the paper with images.
Afterword: The Turning of the Leaves: Expanding Our Vision for the Arts in Education
Authors: Greene Maxine
Published: May 2015

When I consider the idea of “Expanding Our Vision for the Arts in Education,” the turning colors of fall leaves comes to mind—and I think that there are two parts to the idea of “turning.” We connect with the world, but we also make sense of our experiences in the world and make them our own. One way to engage with the world and the changing colors of all the leaves that surround us is to find our own ways of expressing the impact of beauty. How can we engage authentically with the world around us, how can we attempt to translate what we perceive—both physically and emotionally—into our own unique aesthetic responses?
Ka ulana ‘ana i ka piko (In Weaving You Begin at the Center): Perspectives from a Culturally Specific Approach to Art Education
Authors: Dewhurst Marit , O'Neill Moanike‘Ala Ah-Lan Keawe Lia , MacDowell Marsha , Okada-Carlson Cherie , Wong Annette Ku‘Uipolani
Published: May 2015

“It starts at the piko.”1 For Kanaka Maoli, the piko is extremely important. We have at least three “piko.” There is one located on our head, at the fontanel. The second is located at our navel, the third, our genitals. Each has a significant purpose, function, and meaning. The phrase “It starts at the piko” is a poignant frame for our reflection on Hawaiian lau hala weaving as a source of knowledge, spirituality, and genealogy.
The Cream Does Not Always Rise: The Plight of Visual-Spatial Learners and the Power of Art Education
Authors: Sommer Michele
Published: May 2015

My vivid and colorful imagination turned me into a hopeless daydreamer in elementary school. My daydreams were so real that I would get lost in them. Once, in the first grade, I was so completely absorbed in a daydream that I didn't notice all the children had been dismissed. I found myself sitting completely alone at my desk, my teacher glaring at me. I can still recall today how isolating, scary, and humiliating that experience was. I was keenly aware even as a child that the adults in my life regarded my daydreaming as a defect, and so I was deeply ashamed of it. I worked hard to learn to pay attention and follow directions like everyone else. What I wouldn't give today, as an artist, to once again have that extraordinary mental capacity!
Editors' Introduction: Expanding Our Vision for the Arts in Education
Authors: Clapp Edward , Edwards Laura
Published: May 2015

In 1991 the Harvard Educational Review presented a two-part arts education symposium (vol. 61, nos. 1 & 3) that was published the following year as Arts as Education (Goldberg & Phillips, 1992). Then, HER editors were troubled to look back on the history of our journal and find scant discussion of issues pertaining to the arts in education. Twenty years after the Arts as Education symposium, we remain troubled that the topic of arts teaching and learning has continued to remain a stranger to the pages of our journal, only rarely making an appearance in the occasional article or Book Note. While we are dismayed by this lack of focus on the arts in a generalist education journal such as our own, we wonder, Should we really be surprised by the absence of arts education content in HER? Given that our current educational landscape is so deeply fixated on standardized tests, measurable outcomes in rigid content areas, and increased “achievement” at all costs, perhaps it makes sense that the arts—though fundamental to how we make meaning of ourselves, our environments, and our sociocultural interactions—are relegated to the margins of dominant discussions on education and therefore sadly absent from HER's pages.
Guerrilla Art Action: Taking It to the Street with Teenage Students
Authors: Ciampaglia Steven
Published: May 2015

In this essay, author Steven Ciampaglia reflects on the creation of a guerilla art course he and a colleague designed to engage students in the process of creating contemporary art relevant to them outside the traditional classroom setting. He examines how reflecting on his teaching practices led him to rethink the key objectives and design features of the course. Ciampaglia chronicles his experiences working with students as they wrestled with the various challenges involved in conceptualizing and executing a collaborative guerilla art project. He reflects on the ways in which his own assumptions and teaching practices interacted with the interests and efforts of the students to produce a successful and replicable teaching model.
From Art as Stained Glass to Art as Mirror: Addressing a Holistic View of Education
Authors: Matsunobu Koji
Published: May 2015

In college I majored in piano performance and music education. I often practiced for long hours—sometimes from morning till midnight—to prepare for exams, juries, and occasional public performances. Upon graduation I taught piano to many students privately and publicly. Piano has always been closely linked to my identity as a musician and teacher. During my graduate studies, however, I was introduced the concept of bimusicality in ethnomusicology (Hood, 1971). Akin to second language acquisition, bimusicality refers to the mastery of a musical idiom other than that associated with one's own culture. Applied in music education, it suggests that music teachers should be acquainted with multiple musical idioms as a prerequisite for licensure.
Democracy under Fire: Voter Confusion and Influences in Colorado's Anti-Affirmative Action Initiative
Authors: Farley Amy , Gaertner Matthew , Moses Michele
Published: May 2015

In this article, Amy N. Farley, Matthew N. Gaertner, and Michele S. Moses examine the use of ballot initiatives as a particularly attractive form of direct democracy for opponents of affirmative action in higher education. Building on previous scholarship, the authors question whether anti-affirmative ballot initiatives validly reflect voters’ attitudes toward affirmative action. The authors examine the case of Colorado's Amendment 46, an anti-affirmative action ballot initiative. They investigate the language of the initiative itself, as well as voters’ perceptions of and confusion around its intent, and the factors that influenced voting behavior. They employ item response theory to estimate voters’ attitudes toward affirmative action. The authors then describe the prevalence of voter confusion around the initiative's intent. Finally, employing a binary logistic regression model, they analyze survey data to determine which factors influenced voting behavior. They find that the initiative's language was successful at confusing voters who intended to support affirmative action. Following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Fisher v. University of Texas and in anticipation of its decision in Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, the authors call for greater scrutiny with regard to the use of initiatives to craft education policies that have a disproportionately negative impact on members of disadvantaged populations.
From Bureaucracy to Profession: Remaking the Educational Sector for the Twenty-First Century
Authors: Mehta Jal
Published: May 2015

In this essay, Jal Mehta examines the challenges faced by American schooling and the reasons for persistent failure of American school reforms to achieve successful educational outcomes at scale. He concludes that many of the problems faced by American schools are artifacts of the bureaucratic form in which the education sector as a whole was cast: “We are trying to solve a problem that requires professional skill and expertise by using bureaucratic levers of requirements and regulations.” Building on research from a variety of fields and disciplines, Mehta advances a “sectoral” perspective on education reform, exploring how this shift in thinking could help education stakeholders produce quality practice across the nation.
“Who would they talk about if we weren't here?”: Muslim Youth, Liberal Schooling, and the Politics of Concern
Authors: Jaffe-Walter Reva
Published: May 2015

With the growing number of immigrant youth moving into new communities and host nations across the globe (Suarez-Orozco, 2007), it is critical that we deepen our understanding of the ways in which schools enable either the civic engagement or the social marginalization of these young people. In this article Reva Jaffe-Walter presents the results of an ethnographic case study of Muslim students and their teachers in a Danish secondary school. Her findings reveal how liberal educational discourses and desires to offer Muslim immigrant students a better life can slide into processes of everyday exclusion in schools. Jaffe-Walter theorizes that immigrants in liberal democracies face technologies of concern—that is, policies and practices that champion the goals of fostering the engagement and social incorporation of immigrant students while simultaneously producing notions of these youth as Other, justifying practices of coercive assimilation (Foucault, 1977; Ong, 1996). She argues that beyond just producing negative representations, technologies of concern position youth within hierarchical schemes of racial and cultural difference that complicate their access to educational resources in schools (Abu El-Haj, 2010; Ong, 1996). This article has implications for the education and social integration of Muslim immigrants within liberal societies, as it reveals the troubling persistence of exclusion buried within practices of concern.
Thinking Otherwise About the Arts in Education—A Rejoinder
Authors: Gaztambide-Fernández Rubén
Published: May 2015

In this essay, Rubén Gaztambide-Fernández reflects on the comments made in a forum convened to reflect on his article “Why the Arts Don't Do Anything: Toward a New Vision for Cultural Production in Education,” published in the Harvard Educational Review (HER)'s special issue entitled Expanding Our Vision for the Arts in Education (Vol. 83, No. 1). Participants in the forum (published in HER Vol. 83, No.3) were John Abodeely, manager of national partnerships, John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts, Washington, DC; Ken Cole, associate director, National Guild for Community Arts Education, New York City; Janna Graham, project curator of the Serpentine Gallery, Centre for Possible Studies, London; Ayanna N. Hudson, director of arts education, National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, DC; and Carmen Mörsch, head of the Research Institute for Art Education, Zurich University of the Arts. In his original essay, Gaztambide-Fernández makes the case that advocacy for arts education is trapped within a “rhetoric of effects” that relies too heavily on causal arguments for the arts, whether construed as instrumental or intrinsic. Gaztambide- Fernández further argues that what counts as “the arts” is based on traditional, Eurocentric, hierarchical notions of aesthetic experience. As an alternative, he suggests a “rhetoric of cultural production” that would focus on the cultural processes and experiences that ensue in particular contexts shaped by practices of symbolic work and creativity. Here the author engages the forum's discussion in an effort to clarify his argument and move the dialogue forward.
In Here, Out There: Professional Learning and the Process of School Improvement
Authors: Noonan James
Published: May 2015

In this article, James Noonan uses portraiture to examine how the administrative team and the teachers at a small, urban middle school approach school improvement. He illustrates the ways in which the pressures associated with attempting school reform in our current high-accountability environment make it difficult for school personnel to engage in the deep learning that transformative change requires. Noonan finds that at Fields Middle School, district-initiated redesign is built around an expansive view of learning that embraces uncertainty, collaboration, and reflection as catalysts for broad and sustained school improvement. He illuminates school transformation efforts that hinge on adult learning and an understanding of schools as learning organizations, in contrast to reform efforts that adopt linear and hierarchical views of teaching and learning.
The Author Has the Last Word: Buddy Editing in a First-Grade Classroom
Authors: Auger Jessie
Published: May 2015

In this essay, Jessie L. Auger reflects on the practice of Buddy Editing in her first-grade classroom as an opportunity for student and teacher learning. By explicitly revealing her pedagogical approach and sharing transcripts of students' engagement with her Buddy Editing protocol, Auger presents the dynamics of a learning partnership that exists among teachers and students and between students. She offers a glimpse of what happens in one classroom when the teacher focuses on providing students with the appropriate tools, environment, structure, and access to the subject matter; trusts students to enact their own agency as learners; and takes a reflective stance on improving her practice based on lessons from student practice.
The Challenge of Holistic Student Support: Investigating Urban Adolescents’ Constructions of Support in the Context of School
Authors: Brion-Meisels Gretchen
Published: May 2015

In this piece, Gretchen Brion-Meisels investigates how adolescents conceptualize support in the context of school. Student support systems have become a permanent structure in most U.S. public schools, responsible for ensuring equal access to support services. Unfortunately, little is known about how adolescents make meaning of school-based support. To answer this question, Brion-Meisels explores how urban adolescents in a northeastern city talk about support, paying close attention to the cultural narratives that underlie their conceptions. Analyzing text from survey, interview, and focus group data, she argues that adolescents in the sample both draw on and actively resist dominant societal discourses of support. Findings suggest that support providers would benefit from better understanding the cultural and contextual narratives underlying youth conceptions of support, as well as the individual perspectives of the youth that they serve. In addition, Brion-Meisels contends that adults must shift their own discourses of support if they want to create spaces in which young people feel empowered and safe to seek help.
The Maker Movement in Education
Authors: Halverson Erica Rosenfeld , Sheridan Kimberly
Published: May 2015

In this essay, Erica Halverson and Kimberly Sheridan provide the context for research on the maker movement as they consider the emerging role of making in education. The authors describe the theoretical roots of the movement and draw connections to related research on formal and informal education. They present points of tension between making and formal education practices as they come into contact with one another, exploring whether the newness attributed to the maker movement is really all that new and reflecting on its potential pedagogical impacts on teaching and learning.
The Kinesiology of Race
Authors: McAfee Myosha
Published: May 2015

In this research article, Myosha McAfee presents findings from her grounded theory and microethnographical study of math instruction in a racially and socioeconomically diverse public school. Her analysis puts forth a new theory—the kinesiology of race—which conceptualizes race as a verb rather than a noun. It centrally considers how racial patterns and hierarchies emerge through the accumulation of ordinary, everyday interactions. Rather than focus on the relationship between individuals’ beliefs and actions, McAfee identifies three racial kinetics occurring in the classroom—sifting, gridlocking, and advantaging—and maintains that, over time, these processes inform the racial stratification of students’ learning experiences and academic outcomes. The kinesiology of race theory differs from pre-existing frameworks of race as a category, identity, or outcome (i.e., racism) and can reframe thinking about how race works.
Ölüm Zamanı ve Ölüm Nedeni ile İlişkili Olarak Postmortem Göz İçi Sıvısında Biyokimyasal İncelemelerin Önemi
Authors: Teyin Muharrem , Balcı Yasemin , Uslu Sema , Karbeyaz Kenan , Özdamar Kazım
Published: May 2015

Aim: The time of the death has been one of the questions frequently inquired by courts to the forensic medicine experts. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the relationship between cause of death and postmortem interval with can easily be detected in postmortem intraocularfluid samples and routine biochemical tests.
Materials and Methods: A total of 100 cases autopsied at the Eskisehir Osmangazi University whose exact times of the death were known has been included in the study. Cases were divided into 3 groups as 10 hour and below postmortem interval, 10-20 hours and upon 20 hours. The cause of death was divided into two groups as traumatic and non-traumatic.
Results: In this study the significant relationship was determined between potassium and uric acid levels and postmortem interval. It is determined that the mean level of Sodium and Chlorine sow difference in patients died because of traumatic and non-traumatic reasons.
Key words: Postmortem biochemistry, Vitreous humor, Time since death, Cause of death.
Antifiriz İçerek İntihar Ettiği Bildirilen Bir Olguda El Yazısındaki Değişikliklerin İncelenmesi
Authors: Kömür İlhami , Şahin Esat , Saltı Ersen , Seçkin Çetin , Baklacıoğlu Ferruh , Özbay Işıl , Üner Hüseyin Bülent
Published: May 2015

Although forensic autopsy was performed on the subject, who was found dead in his car, the reason of dead could not be identified. The body was found in his car with an antifreeze bottle near to him and with a suicide note telling that the subject committed suicide by drinking the antifreeze. In order to confirm the reason origin of the dead, prosecution office want to determine whether the suicide note was in fact written by the subject. The handwriting samples and the diary obtained from the scene were sent to The Council of Forensic Medicine Forensic Document Examination Laboratory for comparison.In this study, we aim to present a subject who committed suicide by drinking antifreeze (ethylene glycol) and noted what he feels until he looses his conscious. By investigating the impact of ethylene glycol intake on handwriting changes, we would like to show the contribution of forensic document examination to determination of reason of dead.Keywords: Ethylene glycol. Suicide, Handwriting, Questioned Document
Analysis of Glimepiride in Human Blood and Urine by Thin Layer Chromatography and UV Spectrophotometry
Authors: Ibragimova Mareta Mukharbekovna , Ikramov Latif Tulaganovich
Published: May 2015

Objective: An increasing numbers of cases of poisonings by glimepiride, either attempted suicide or accidental, combined with the absence of reliable methods for the detection and quantitation of glimepiride in biological matrices is the basis for the need for the development of new analytical techniques for forensic analysis.Materials and Methods: Analyses were performed using drug- free biological fluids (whole blood and urine). Specimens were spiked with chromatographically pure glimepiride. After hydrolysis with diluted hydrochloric acid at 50-60 °C for 15-20 min and a double extraction into chloroform, glimepiride was identified by thin-layer chromatography. Standard solution of glimepiride (1 mg/mL) and Sorbfil chromatographic plates were used for thin-layer chromatography. The thin-layer chromatography studies showed that the best mobile phase was chloroform:acetone (9:1), Rf value of glimepiride in five examinations was 0.37±0.02. Visualization of glimepiride was achieved byspraying with Dragendorff’s, Bushard’s, or diphenylcarbazone-chloroform solution followed by mercuric sulphate. The limit of detection of pure glimepiride by thin-layer chromatography was 0.5 p/mL, 1.5 p g/mL in whole blood and 1.0 p g/mL in urine. For spectrophotometric determinations of glimepiride, a UV/VIS spectrophotometer with 1 cm matches quartz cell was used. Standard solutions of glimepiride in ethanol were prepared at concentrations of 1-50 p g/mL and scanned in full-scan mode between 200-400 nm.Results and Conclusion: The wavelength maxima for glimepiride was found to be 227 nm with molar absorptivity of 3.2685x10 4 l/mol/cm. Beer’s law was obeyed in the concentration range of 2-40 p g/mL. The limit of detection and limit of quantification were found to be 0.97 p g/mL and 2.70 p g/mL, respectively. The results have been successfully applied in blood of patients after oral administration and on postmortem blood in an overdose death.Keywords: Glimepiride, Thin-layer chromatography, Spectrophotometry.
Samsun’da Hekimlerin Meslekleri Nedeniyle Yaşadıkları Şiddetin Özellikleri ve Şiddetin Önlenmesi Konusundaki Düşünceleri
Authors: Karaca Bülent Koray , Aydın Berna , Turla Ahmet , Dündar Cihad
Published: May 2015

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify the types, frequency and causes of occupational violence experienced by physicians working in the province of Samsun, and their opinions regarding prevention strategies.Materials and methods: The data from this descriptive research was collected, following ethical committee approval and institutional permissions, from questionnaire forms received from 865 physicians serving in the province of Samsun between 01.06.2013 and 30.11.2013 and volunteering to participate, and through face-to-face interviews. The data obtained were analyzed on SPSS software (Version 13.0), using descriptive statistics and the chi-square test.Results: Five hundred eighty-seven (67.8%) of the 865 participants reported being subjected to occupational violence at least once; of these, 86.4% described the most recent violence as verbal, 74.4% reported violence from patient relatives and 38.9% from patients, 81.4% reported that the aggressors were male and 43.9% that they were exposed to violence for refusing illegitimate demands.Of the physicians, 72.3% stated that physicians are subjected to violence because doctors are generally depicted as responsible for flaws in the health system, and 79.6% believed that legally enforced sanctions on the subject of violence against physicians need to be introduced in Turkey to prevent the problem.Conclusion: As with much preventive medicine, violence must also be prevented before it happens.Keywords: Violence, Workplace violence, Violence against physicians.
Beyin Ölümlü Adli Olgulardan Transplantasyon Amaçlı Organ Alımında Ortaya Çıkan Hukuki Sorunlar ve Adli Tıp Açısından Önemi
Authors: Tepehan Selma , Elmas İmdat , Özkara Erdem
Published: May 2015

Objective: Transplantation is very imporlantforpatients probably because it is their last chance to survive. Major sources of organs for transplantation are patients under treatment having brain death. Some of them are forensic cases. This study was conducted to reveal problems with transplantations from forensic cases. Characteristics of the cases and opinions of the parties about the subject were investigated.Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, data about 810 cases having brain death were obtained from Brain Death Forms completed in Istanbul Local Organ and Tissue Transplantation Coordination Department between 2005 and 2009. Data about opinions of 179 physicians and 279 nurses working in intensive care units of education and research hospitals in Istanbul were collected with a questionnaire.Results: Out of 810 cases, 259 (32%) were forensic cases. Of 273 cases that had brain death and were donors for transplantations, 39.9% were forensic cases. Of 109 forensic cases having brain death, 44 donors (40.4%) and 58 non-donors (38.7%) had traffic accidents and 33 donors (30.2%) and 19 non-donors (12.7%) had gunshot wounds. Permission for transplantation was obtained from the public prosecutor only in 6% of the donors. According to analyses of datafrom the questionnaire, 69.1% of the nurses and 74.1% of the physicians believed that new regulations determining criteria for organ transplantation from forensic cases and eliminating shortcomings of current laws should be adopted.Conclusion: New laws are needed to determine criteria for transplantations from forensic cases and eliminate shortcomings of the current laws.Keywords: Brain death, Forensic case, Organ transplantation, Autopsy.
İş Kazasına Bağlı Ölüm İki Olgu Sunumu
Authors: Bütün Celal , Beyaztaş Fatma Yücel , Yaman Sema , Artar Adem , Öğüt Oğuzhan
Published: May 2015

Today's rapid technological developments increase, also the risks to worker's health and work safety. Occupational accidents occurred with reasons such as necessary safety measures in work environment, incorrect behavior, inability on personal skills, technical failures result in bodily injury, loss of labor, disability or death. In this study; two male death cases aged 27 and 39 occured as a result of work accident in the area at the chrome mines were discussed. On the cases, physical examination, forensic autopsy and post-mortem examinations were performed. Event-related findings are similar; the cases were evaluated, together. It was determined that, respectively, cyanotic appearance on facial area and the front of the neck, the hyperemia on the sclera during external body examinations; in places punctuated hemorrhages under the skin and on the visceral organs' surfaces during the autopsies; hemorrhage in subarachoidal area of the brain, hemorrhage on pleural areas of the lungs, sub-mucosal bleeding and congestion in the stomach during the post-mortem histopathology. Finally, the death cause of cases was due to lack of oxygen. In this study; also taking into account of work accident related injuries and deaths seen hight rates in our country, the determination of personal, socio-economic and enviromental factors and, the importance of taking the necessary measures for prevention of occupational accident were emphasized. Also, it aimed to be discussed forensic medical approach to occupational injuriy cases in the literature.Key Word: Forensic medicine, Work accident, Asphyxia, Death, Autopsy.
Updated distribution of the European pond turtle Emys orbicularis (Linnaeus, 1758) and its conservation issues in Serbia
Authors: Krizmanic Imre , Urosevic Aleksandar , Simovic Aleksandar , Krstic Milivoj , Jovic Danko , Ajtic Rastko , Andjelkovic Marko , Slijepcevic Maja , Djordjevic Sonja , Golubovic Ana , Zikic Vladimir , Dzukic Georg
Published: May 2015

Although the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) has been included in
studies for several decades, the information about its distribution and the
state of populations in Serbia is still incomplete. The data collected from
the available literature sources, and those based on the authors? own field
investigations, indicate that E. orbicularis occupies a large part of the
territory of the Republic of Serbia, preferring aquatic biotopes at lower
altitudes. We compiled a list of 287 localities where the presence of the
pond turtle has been recorded. Of those, 14% (40 localities) were known only
from literature sources, localities added during our field investigations
represent 82% (235 sites), 4% (12 localities) confirming literature data. We
also gathered information on the main negative threats to the endurance of
the pond turtle in Serbia. These are habitat pollution, degradation and
destruction, and the spread of allochthonous invasive turtle species. Some
protective and conservation measures are suggested in the conclusion.
Chemical composition of Aster albanicus Deg. (Asteraceae) essential oil: Taxonomical implications
Authors: Rajcevic Nemanja , Marin Petar , Vujisic Ljubodrag , Krivosej Zoran , Vajs Vlatka , Janackovic Pedja
Published: May 2015

The composition of essential oil isolated from the areal parts of Aster
albanicus Deg, an endemic species of the central Balkans, was analyzed. In
total, 111 compounds were identified, representing 98% of the essential oil.
The essential oil was dominated by sesquiterpene (69.3%) and monoterpene
hydrocarbons (15.9%), with germacrene D as the most abundant compound
(34.7%). Several multivariant statistical methods (HCA, NJ, PCoA) were
deployed to infer the relation between A. albanicus and other species
belonging to this genus. Taxonomical implications are discussed.
Immobilization of horseradish peroxidase onto kaolin by glutaraldehyde method and its application in decolorization of anthraquinone dye
Authors: Sekuljica Natasa , Prlainovic Nevena , Jovanovic Jelena , Stefanovic Andrea , Grbavcic Sanja , Mijin Dusan , Knezevic-Jugovic Zorica
Published: May 2015

The problem of environmental pollution day by day becomes more worrisome,
primarily due to the large amounts of wastewater contaminated with various
harmful organic compounds, discharged into the environment untreated or
partially clean. Feasibility of use of horseradish peroxidase (Amoracia
rusticana) in the synthetic dyes decolorization was approved by many
researchers. Among a number of supports used for the immobilization, it was
found that natural clay, kaolin has excellent features which are a
precondition for obtaining biocatalysts with the excellent performances. For
this reason, a horseradish peroxidase was immobilized onto kaolin using
glutaraldehyde as a cross-linking agent. Obtained biocatalyst was applied in
the decolorization of anthraquinone dye C. I. Acid Violet 109. Under
determined optimal conditions (pH 4.0, hydrogen peroxide concentration 0.6
mM, dye concentration 30 mg L-1, temperature 24?C) around 76 % of dye
decolorization was achieved. Reusability study showed that resulting
biocatalyst was possible to apply four times in the desired reaction with
relatively high decolorization percentage.
Laparoscopic operations in pediatric surgery
Authors: Janic Nenad , Golubovic Zoran , Jovanovic Branislav
Published: May 2015

From January 2003 to January 2004, laparoscopy was performed in 100 cases,
aged from 10 months to 19 years. Diagnostic laparoscopy was applied in 39
patients, most often in nonpalpable testes (29), ovarian cysts (4), abdominal
trauma (1), abdominal cysts (2) and intersex states (3). Ninety patients
underwent operative laparoscopy: appendectomy (44), orchiopexy (2),
orchiectomy (1), herniorrhaphy (1), varicocelectomy (8), adnexectomy (2),
cholecystectomy (8), Fowler-Stephens procedure (1), abdominal cysts (2),
ovarian cystectomy (6), subdiaphragmatic abscess (1), adhesiotomy (11), liver
cysts (2) and splenectomy (1). Diagnostic laparoscopy has proved to be more
reliable and less invasive method in comparison to previously used methods.
Our conclusion is that operative laparoscopy has many advantages compared
with some of the classical surgical procedures.
Initial antibiotic therapy of neonatal sepsis
Authors: Jesic Milos , Jesic Maja , Maglajlic Svjetlana , Lukac Marija , Sindjic Sanja , Vujovic Dragana , Grkovic Slobodanka
Published: May 2015

It is certain that in the past the types of bacterial agents responsible for
neonatal sepsis and their sensitivity to antibiotics were not the same in all
historical periods. However, the reports confirming the conclusion have been
published only in the last three years. According to these facts, the
bacterial causes of neonatal sepsis were analyzed in patients treated at the
University children?s hospital in Belgrade (S&M) as well as their sensitivity
to antibiotics to determine the most effective initial therapy. Between
January 2001 and June 2004, 35 neonates, aged from 1-30 days, with positive
blood culture were treated. Gram-negative bacteria were the cause of sepsis
in 57% of patients (Pseudomonas - 20%, Klebsiella - 20%, E. coli - 8,5%,
Acinetobacter - 8.5%), gram-positive in 43% (coagulase-negative Staphylococci
- 14%, Staphylococcus epidermidis - 14%, Staphylococcus aureus - 9%,
Streptococcus group B - 3%, Listeria monocytogenes - 3%). The bacteria were
the most sensitive to carbapenems (85-89%), amikacin (68%), third-generation
cephalosporins (47-50%), while the sensitivity to gentamicin was less than
expected (48.5%). Sensitivity to ampicillin (8%) confirmed a high level of
resistance to this antibiotic. All isolated Staphylococci were sensitive to
vancomycin, and the overall methicillin resistance was 46%. Combined
cefotaxime and amikacin therapy was the most effective of all suggested
initial combinations of antibiotics (74%). The sensitivity to all other
combinations of antibiotics was 51-71%. The most adequate initial combination
of antibiotics for the treatment of neonatal sepsis is cefotaxime plus
amikacin. The most adequate antibiotic for the treatment of nosocomial
neonatal sepsis is carbapenem.
Closed reduction and percutaneous fixation offemoral neck fractures in children
Authors: Abramovic Dusan , Brdar Radivoj , Vidosavljevic Marko
Published: May 2015

Fracture of the femoral neck is a rare injury in children but remains
difficult problem and challenge with high rate of complications. Having in
mind recommendations of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, our
effort was to improve treatment approach. In the period 1999 to 2004, five
patients, aged 5 to 14 years, were treated by closed reduction and
percutaneous pinning. All patients sustained high energy trauma and displaced
femoral neck fractures, out of which two were transcervical, two
cervicotrochanteric and one intertrochanteric. Procedures were performed
under image amplifier. Hip decompression was achieved by needle aspiration
via a subadductor approach. Three smooth Kirschner wires appeared to be
stable and least aggressive fixation device, easy for applying and subsequent
removal. We insisted on urgent treatment, anatomic alignment, stabile
fixation and hip decompression. Excellent results were obtained in four
patients who had undergone immediate treatment. Poor outcome with vascular
necrosis in a five-year-old girl was attributed to five-day treatment delay.
Suggested treatment, simple and applicable in practice, is aimed at reducing
pathologic mechanisms crucial for development of complications.
Surgery for complication of neutropenic enterocolitisin a patient with acute lymfoblast leukemia
Authors: Radulovic Spasoje , Golubovic Zoran , Jovanovic Branislav , Pejanovic Jelena
Published: May 2015

Neutropenic enterocolitis (NE) is an unusual acute complication of
neutropenia, associated with leukemia and lymphoma. It has been observed
mainly in the first phase of therapy when drugs are used in maximally
tolerated dose. This is a case report of neutropenic enterocolitis in a
patient with acute lymphoblast leukemia who received prednisone, vincristine,
daunorubicin and L-asparaginase, with perforation of cecal and terminal
ileum. Perforation and defect intestine wall was excised and sutured directly
in two layers. Protective proximal loop ileostomy was performed at that time.
Evaluation and comparison of root resorption between tooth-borne and tooth-tissue borne rapid maxillary expansion appliances: A CBCT study
Authors: Dindaroğlu Furkan , Doğan Servet
Published: May 2015

Objective: 

To compare volumetric root resorption after rapid maxillary expansion (RME) between tooth-borne and tissue-borne appliances using CBCT. Repair in resorption cavities after 6 months of fixed retention was also compared.

Materials and Methods: 

A sample of 33 subjects were randomly divided into two groups: Hyrax (n  = 16) and Haas (n = 17). CBCT scans were taken 6 months before expansion, immediately after expansion, and 6 months after fixed retention. Mimics Innovation V 16.0 software was used for segmentation and volumetric measurement of 198 teeth. Bland-Altman plots, independent samples t test, repeated measures analysis of variance, and the Friedman test were used for statistical analysis.

Results: 

Differences in root resorption after RME and repair after retention were not significant between the hyrax and Haas appliances or between male and female. Significant differences were found between preexpansion and postexpansion root volumes in the first premolars and molars—even in unattached second premolars. When the percentage of root volume loss is considered, no significant difference was found between the first premolar, second premolar, and first molar. Volumetric changes after 6 months of retention were not statistically significant.

Conclusions: 

More resorption was observed in the Hyrax expander group. But it was not statistically significant. Repair was observed after 6 months of retention. Heavy RME forces affected premolars and molar similarly.
Radar absorption, basal reflection, thickness and polarization measurements from the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Authors: Hanson Jordan C. , Barwick Steven W. , Berg Eric C. , Besson Dave Z. , Duffin Thorin J. , Klein Spencer R. , Kleinfelder Stuart A. , Reed Corey , Roumi Mahshid , Stezelberger Thorsten , Tatar Joulien , Walker James A. , Zou Liang
Published: May 2015

Radio-glaciological parameters from the Moore’s Bay region of the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica, have been measured. The thickness of the ice shelf in Moore’s Bay was measured from reflection times of radio-frequency pulses propagating vertically through the shelf and reflecting from the ocean, and is found to be 576 ± 8 m. Introducing a baseline of 543 ± 7m between radio transmitter and receiver allowed the computation of the basal reflection coefficient, R, separately from englacial loss. The depth-averaged attenuation length of the ice column, 〈L〉 is shown to depend linearly on frequency. The best fit (95% confidence level) is 〈L(ν)〉= (460±20) − (180±40)ν m (20 dB km−1), for the frequencies ν = [0.100–0.850] GHz, assuming no reflection loss. The mean electric-field reflection coefficient is (1.7 dB reflection loss) across [0.100–0.850] GHz, and is used to correct the attenuation length. Finally, the reflected power rotated into the orthogonal antenna polarization is <5% below 0.400 GHz, compatible with air propagation. The results imply that Moore’s Bay serves as an appropriate medium for the ARIANNA high-energy neutrino detector.
Immediate and midterm impact of percutaneous transvenous mitral valve commisurotomy (PTMC) on right ventricular function
Authors: Rahman Mohammad Abdur , Ahsan Syed Ali , Siddique Md Abu , Habib SM Ahsan , Salim Md Abu , Akhtar Gulsan , Hossain Mohammad Mobarack , Khaled Md Fakhrul Islam , Kabir Muhammad Faisal Ibn , Moshed SM Nahid , Islam Lohani Md Tajul
Published: May 2015

Mitral stenosis (MS) affects right ventricular (RV) function as a result of myocardial and hemodynamic factors. Although the long-term effects of mitral commissurotomy are well known, the aim of this study was to evaluate the immediate and midterm impact of percutaneous mitral commissurotomy (PTMC) on RV function in patients with MS. This is an observational study conducted at University cardiac centre, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University during December 2012 to November 2013 (one year), among 50 patients Patients presenting with mitral stenosis, who fulfill the criteria to PTMC procedure attending Cardiology department of BSMMU during the study period were enrolled in this study whereas, patients with systemic hypertension, diabetes mellitus, more than mild mitral and aortic regurgitation and or aortic stenosis, with history of previous mitral and aortic valve surgery, atrial fibrillation and bundle branch block were excluded from the study. The current study shows female predominance (66%) and majority (68%) of study population were in age group between 36-40 years. 90% of study population presented with fatigue and other symptoms includes shortness of breath (85%), palpitation (65%), chest pain (28%), dizziness (25%), ankle edema (15%) and headache among 10%. Echocardiographic measurement showed, MVA significantly improved immediately and 6 months after PTMC among the study population. Hemodynamic function of the study sample revealed significantly reduction of PASP, PADP and mean PAP immediately and 6 months after PTMC. 2 D echocardiographic parameter of right ventricular systolic function showed RVOTfs%, Tei index significantly improved immediately and 6 months after PTMC.Others parameters of RV systolic function TAPSE, RVFAC and RVEF(2D and 3D) remain stable immediately after but showed significant improvement 6 months after PTMC. There was significant reduction in IVA during the immediate period following PTMC and also after 6 months.. Immediately and 6 months after successful PTMC, significant decrease in RV contractility as assessed by IVA was observed whereas other parameters of infundibular and global RV function as assessed by RVOTfs and Tei index showed significant improvement. TAPSE,RVFAC and RVEF(2D and 3D) remain stable immediately after PTMC but showed significant improvement 6 months after PTMC. Further work using larger numbers of patients is needed to confirm our findings and to assess their utility in patient followup and management.University Heart Journal Vol. 9, No. 2, July 2013; 88-98
Quantitative Assessment of Tissue Perfusion in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Using Perflubutane Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasonography: A Preliminary Study
Authors: Ohno Naoki , Miyati Tosiaki , Yamashita Makiko , Narikawa Mayu
Published: May 2015

Our purpose in this study was to assess the relationship between contrast signal intensity (CI) and concentration of perflubutane microbubbles in a phantom experiment, and to examine the feasibility of this technique for quantitative analysis of vascularity in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Microbubble solutions of the perflubutane contrast agent were prepared by mixing with purified water. We examined the relationship between CI in dB units and the concentration. Moreover, seven HCC patients were examined using real-time dynamic contrast imaging. The perfusion index was calculated from time-intensity curves generated for both HCC and surrounding liver parenchyma. We observed a linear relationship between the CIdB and the concentration in the phantom study and a higher perfusion index in the HCC lesions relative to the surrounding liver parenchyma. Dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasonography with perflubutane microbubbles, which exhibit linear and temporally stable characteristics under continuous ultrasound exposure, allows the collection of quantitative hemodynamic information regarding HCC.
Nonparametric Denoising Methods Based on Contourlet Transform with Sharp Frequency Localization: Application to Low Exposure Time Electron Microscopy Images
Authors: Ahmed Soumia , Messali Zoubeida , Ouahabi Abdeldjalil , Trepout Sylvain , Messaoudi Cedric , Marco Sergio
Published: May 2015

Image denoising is a very important step in cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) and the energy filtering TEM images before the 3D tomography reconstruction, as it addresses the problem of high noise in these images, that leads to a loss of the contained information. High noise levels contribute in particular to difficulties in the alignment required for 3D tomography reconstruction. This paper investigates the denoising of TEM images that are acquired with a very low exposure time, with the primary objectives of enhancing the quality of these low-exposure time TEM images and improving the alignment process. We propose denoising structures to combine multiple noisy copies of the TEM images. The structures are based on Bayesian estimation in the transform domains instead of the spatial domain to build a novel feature preserving image denoising structures; namely: wavelet domain, the contourlet transform domain and the contourlet transform with sharp frequency localization. Numerical image denoising experiments demonstrate the performance of the Bayesian approach in the contourlet transform domain in terms of improving the signal to noise ratio (SNR) and recovering fine details that may be hidden in the data. The SNR and the visual quality of the denoised images are considerably enhanced using these denoising structures that combine multiple noisy copies. The proposed methods also enable a reduction in the exposure time.
De Novo Assembly and Characterization of the Transcriptome of the Chinese Medicinal Herb, Gentiana rigescens
Authors: Zhang Xiaodong , Allan Andrew , Li Caixia , Wang Yuanzhong , Yao Qiuyang
Published: May 2015

Gentiana rigescens is an important medicinal herb in China. The main validated medicinal component gentiopicroside is synthesized in shoots, but is mainly found in the plant’s roots. The gentiopicroside biosynthetic pathway and its regulatory control remain to be elucidated. Genome resources of gentian are limited. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies can aid in supplying global gene expression profiles. In this study we present sequence and transcript abundance data for the root and leaf transcriptome of G. rigescens, obtained using the Illumina Hiseq2000. Over fifty million clean reads were obtained from leaf and root libraries. This yields 76,717 unigenes with an average length of 753 bp. Among these, 33,855 unigenes were identified as putative homologs of annotated sequences in public protein and nucleotide databases. Digital abundance analysis identified 3306 unigenes differentially enriched between leaf and root. Unigenes found in both tissues were categorized according to their putative functional categories. Of the differentially expressed genes, over 130 were annotated as related to terpenoid biosynthesis. This work is the first study of global transcriptome analyses in gentian. These sequences and putative functional data comprise a resource for future investigation of terpenoid biosynthesis in Gentianaceae species and annotation of the gentiopicroside biosynthetic pathway and its regulatory mechanisms.