bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Carbonic anhydrase 2 deficiency leads to increased pyelonephritis susceptibility
Authors: Hains David S. , Chen Xi , Saxena Vijay , Barr-Beare Evan , Flemming Weisi , Easterling Robert , Becknell Brian , Schwartz George J. , Schwaderer Andrew L.
Published: August 2014

Carbonic anhydrase 2 regulates acid-base homeostasis, and recent findings have indicated a correlation between cellular control of acid-base status and the innate defense of the kidney. Mice deficient in carbonic anhydrase 2 ( Car2−/−mice) have metabolic acidosis, impaired urine acidification, and are deficient in normal intercalated cells. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the biological consequences of carbonic anhydrase 2 deficiency in a murine model of pyelonephritis. Infection susceptibility and transcription of bacterial response components in Car2−/−mice were compared with wild-type littermate controls. Car2−/−mice had increased kidney bacterial burdens along with decreased renal bacterial clearance after inoculation compared with wild-type mice. Standardization of the urine pH and serum HCO3−levels did not substantially alter kidney infection susceptibility between wild-type and Car2−/−mice; thus, factors other than acid-base status are responsible. Car2−/−mice had significantly increased neutrophil-gelatinase-associated lipocalin mRNA and protein and expression at baseline and a marked decreased ability to upregulate key bacterial response genes during pyelonephritis. Our findings provide in vivo evidence that supports a role for carbonic anhydrase 2 and intercalated cells in promoting renal bacterial clearance. Decreased carbonic anhydrase expression results in increased antimicrobial peptide production by cells other than renal intercalated cells, which is not sufficient to prevent infection after a bacterial challenge.
Effects of Cholinergic Stimulation with Pyridostigmine Bromide on Chronic Chagasic Cardiomyopathic Mice
Authors: Cuba Marília Beatriz de , Ribeiro Machado Marcus Paulo , Farnesi Thais Soares , Alves Angelica Cristina , Martins Livia Alves , Oliveira Lucas Felipe de , Capitelli Caroline Santos , Leite Camila Ferreira , Vinícius Silva Marcos , Machado Juliana Reis , Kappel Henrique Borges , Sales de Campos Helioswilton , Paiva Luciano , da Silva Gomes Natália Lins , Guimarães Faleiros Ana Carolina , Carvalho Britto Constança Felicia de Paoli de , Savino Wilson , Moreira Otacílio Cruz , Rodrigues Jr. Virmondes , Montano Nicola , Lages-Silva Eliane , Ramirez Luis Eduardo , Dias da Silva Valdo Jose
Published: August 2014

The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of an anticholinesterase agent, pyridostigmine bromide (Pyrido), on experimental chronic Chagas heart disease in mice. To this end, male C57BL/6J mice noninfected (control:Con) or chronically infected (5 months) withTrypanosoma cruzi(chagasic:Chg) were treated or not (NT) with Pyrido for one month. At the end of this period, electrocardiogram (ECG); cardiac autonomic function; heart histopathology; serum cytokines; and the presence of blood and tissue parasites by means of immunohistochemistry and PCR were assessed. In NT-Chg mice, significant changes in the electrocardiographic, autonomic, and cardiac histopathological profiles were observed confirming a chronic inflammatory response. Treatment with Pyrido in Chagasic mice caused a significant reduction of myocardial inflammatory infiltration, fibrosis, and hypertrophy, which was accompanied by a decrease in serum levels of IFNγwith no change in IL-10 levels, suggesting a shift of immune response toward an anti-inflammatory profile. Lower nondifferent numbers of parasite DNA copies were observed in both treated and nontreated chagasic mice. In conclusion, our findings confirm the marked neuroimmunomodulatory role played by the parasympathetic autonomic nervous system in the evolution of the inflammatory-immune response toT. cruziduring experimental chronic Chagas heart disease in mice.
Evaluating the Mechanisms of Improved Glucose Homeostasis after Bariatric Surgery in Ossabaw Miniature Swine
Authors: Sham Jonathan G. , Simianu Vlad V. , Wright Andrew S. , Stewart Skye D. , Alloosh Mouhamad , Sturek Michael , Cummings David E. , Flum David R.
Published: August 2014

Background. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is the most common bariatric operation; however, the mechanism underlying the profound weight-independent effects on glucose homeostasis remains unclear. Large animal models of naturally occurring insulin resistance (IR), which have been lacking, would provide opportunities to elucidate such mechanisms. Ossabaw miniature swine naturally exhibit many features that may be useful in evaluating the anti diabetic effects of bariatric surgery.Methods. Glucose homeostasis was studied in 53 Ossabaw swine. Thirty-two received an obesogenic diet and were randomized to RYGB, gastrojejunostomy (GJ), gastrojejunostomy with duodenal exclusion (GJD), or Sham operations. Intravenous glucose tolerance tests and standardized meal tolerance tests were performed prior to, 1, 2, and 8 weeks after surgery and at a single time-point for regular diet control pigs.Results. High-calorie-fed Ossabaws weighed more and had greater IR than regular diet controls, though only 70% developed IR. All operations caused weight-loss-independent improvement in IR, though only in pigs with high baseline IR. Only RYGB induced weight loss and decreased IR in the majority of pigs, as well as increasingAUCinsulin/AUCglucose.Conclusions. Similar to humans, Ossabaw swine exhibit both obesity-dependent and obesity-independent IR. RYGB promoted weight loss, IR improvement, and increasedAUCinsulin/AUCglucose, compared to the smaller changes following GJ and GJD, suggesting a combination of upper and lower gut mechanisms in improving glucose homeostasis.
On Some Grüss-Type Fractional Inequalities Using Saigo Fractional Integral Operator
Authors: Chinchane Vaijanath L. , Pachpatte Deepak B.
Published: August 2014

The main aim of this paper is to establish some new fractional integral inequalities of Grüss-type via the Saigo fractional integral operator.
Calcium Carbonate versus Sevelamer Hydrochloride as Phosphate Binders after Long-Term Disease Progression in 5/6 Nephrectomized Rats
Authors: Törmänen Suvi , Eräranta Arttu , Riutta Asko , Kööbi Peeter , Honkanen Teemu , Karavalakis Emmanouil , Niemelä Onni , Tokola Heikki , Ruskoaho Heikki , Mustonen Jukka , Pörsti Ilkka
Published: August 2014

Our aim was to compare the effects of calcium carbonate and sevelamer-HCl treatments on calcium-phosphate metabolism and renal function in 5/6 nephrectomized (NX) rats so that long-term disease progression preceded the treatment. After 15-week progression, calcium carbonate (3.0%), sevelamer-HCl (3.0%), or control diets (0.3% calcium) were given for 9 weeks. Subtotal nephrectomy reduced creatinine clearance (−40%), plasma calcidiol (−25%), and calcitriol (−70%) and increased phosphate (+37%), parathyroid hormone (PTH) (11-fold), and fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF-23) (4-fold). In NX rats, calcium carbonate diet increased plasma (+20%) and urinary calcium (6-fold), reduced plasma phosphate (−50%) and calcidiol (−30%), decreased creatinine clearance (−35%) and FGF 23 (−85%), and suppressed PTH without influencing blood pH. In NX rats, sevelamer-HCl increased urinary calcium (4-fold) and decreased creatinine clearance (−45%), PTH (−75%), blood pH (by 0.20 units), plasma calcidiol (−40%), and calcitriol (−65%). Plasma phosphate and FGF-23 were unchanged. In conclusion, when initiated after long-term progression of experimental renal insufficiency, calcium carbonate diet reduced plasma phosphate and FGF-23 while sevelamer-HCl did not. The former induced hypercalcemia, the latter induced acidosis, while both treatments reduced vitamin D metabolites and deteriorated renal function. Thus, delayed initiation influences the effects of these phosphate binders in remnant kidney rats.
The Relationship between the Neighborhood Safety and Nutritional Status of Children in Baghdad City, Iraq
Authors: Ghazi Hasanain Faisal , Isa Zaleha Md. , Shah Shamsul Azhar , Abdal Qader Mohammed A. , Hasan Tiba Nezar , AL-abed AL-abed Ali
Published: August 2014

Introduction.The neighborhoods where the children live play an important role in their development physically and mentally. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between neighborhood safety and child nutritional status in Baghdad city, Iraq.Methods.A cross-sectional study was carried out in Baghdad city, Iraq, among 400 primary school children from 4 schools. BMI-for-ageZscore was used to assess the nutritional status of the children. Newly developed questionnaires on neighborhood safety were distributed to the parents to answer them.Results.In this study, males were more predominant than females with 215 participants compared to 185 females. A total of 49% were normal weight, 38.8% either overweight or obese, and only 12.2% underweight. There was a significant relationship between father education, father and mother working status, family income, and children nutritional status (P=0.10, 0.009, <0.001, 0.37), respectively. The association between neighborhood safety variables and child nutritional status was significant except for worrying about child safety and thinking of leaving the neighborhood (P=0.082, 0.084), respectively.Conclusion.Nutritional status of school children continues to be a public health issue in Iraq especially Baghdad city. There was a significant association between neighborhood safety and children nutritional status.
Contradictory Immune Response in Post Liver Transplantation Hepatitis B and C
Authors: Takaki Akinobu , Yagi Takahito , Yamamoto Kazuhide
Published: August 2014

Hepatitis B and C often progress to decompensated liver cirrhosis requiring orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). After OLT, hepatitis B recurrence is clinically controlled with a combination of hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) and nucleos(t)ide analogues. Another approach is to induce self-producing anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) antibodies using a HBV envelope antigen vaccine. Patients who had not been HBV carriers such as acutely infected liver failure or who received liver from HBV self-limited donor are good candidate. For chronic HBV carrier patients, a successful response can only be achieved in selected patients such as those treated with experimentally reduced immunosuppression protocols or received an anti-HBV adaptive memory carrying donor liver. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) reinfects transplanted livers at a rate of >90%. HCV reinfected patients show different severities of hepatitis, from mild and slowly progressing to severe and rapidly progressing, possibly resulting from different adaptive immune responses. More than half the patients require interferon treatment, although the success rate is low and carries risks for leukocytopenia and rejection. Managing the immune response has an important role in controlling recurrent hepatitis C. This study aimed to review the adaptive immune response in post-OLT hepatitis B and C.
The Effect of Exchange Rate Movements on Trade Balance: A Chronological Theoretical Review
Authors: Abbas Ali Dhakir , Johari Fuadah , Haji Alias Mohammad
Published: August 2014

This paper evaluates the current state of the literature concerning the effects of exchange rate movements on trade balance. Thus, this paper is a review article and provides a survey of the alternative theories that focus on the effect of exchange rate changes on the trade balance. It systemizes the literature into four distinct reviews and approaches following the chronological order. The paper presents the (a) Standard Theory of International Trade, (b) Elasticity Approach, (c) Keynesian Absorption Approach, and (d) Monetary Approach. The study shows that higher attention should be given for the most plausible dynamic theory in this field, known as the J-Curve.
A Note on Lax Pairs of the Sawada-Kotera Equation
Authors: Sakovich Sergei
Published: August 2014

We prove that the new Lax pair of the Sawada-Kotera equation, discovered recently by Hickman, Hereman, Larue, and Göktaş, and the well-known old Lax pair of this equation, considered in the form of zero-curvature representations, are gauge equivalent to each other if and only if the spectral parameter is nonzero, while for zero spectral parameter a nongauge transformation is required.
XPS Study of the Chemical Structure of Plasma Biocopolymers of Pyrrole and Ethylene Glycol
Authors: González-Torres Maribel , Olayo Ma. Guadalupe , Cruz Guillermo J. , Gómez Lidia Ma. , Sánchez-Mendieta Víctor , González-Salgado Francisco
Published: August 2014

An XPS study about the structure of plasma biocopolymers synthesized with resistive radio frequency glow discharges and random combinations of ethylene glycol, pyrrole, and iodine, as a dopant, is presented in this work. The collisions of molecules produced structures with a great variety of chemical states based in the monomers, their combinations, crosslinking, doping, fragmentation, and oxidation at different levels in the plasma environment. Iodine appears bonded in the copolymers only at high power of synthesis, mainly as C–I and N–I chemical bonds. Multiple bonds as C≡C, C≡N, C=O, and C=N were found in the copolymers, without belonging to the initial reagents, and were generated by dehydrogenation of intermediate compounds during the polymerization. The main chemical states on PEG/PPy/I indicate that all atoms in pyrrole rings participate in the polymerization resulting in crosslinked, partially fragmented, and highly oxidized structures. This kind of analysis can be used to modify the synthesis of polymers to increase the participation of the most important chemical states in their biofunctions.
Intelligent CAD System for Automatic Detection of Mitotic Cells from Breast Cancer Histology Slide Images Based on Teaching-Learning-Based Optimization
Authors: Nateghi Ramin , Danyali Habibollah , Sadegh Helfroush Mohammad , Tashk Ashkan
Published: August 2014

This paper introduces a computer-assisted diagnosis (CAD) system for automatic mitosis detection from breast cancer histopathology slide images. In this system, a new approach for reducing the number of false positives is proposed based on Teaching-Learning-Based optimization (TLBO). The proposed CAD system is implemented on the histopathology slide images acquired by Aperio XT scanner (scanner A). In TLBO algorithm, the number of false positives (falsely detected nonmitosis candidates as mitosis ones) is defined as a cost function and, by minimizing it, many of nonmitosis candidates will be removed. Then some color and texture (textural) features such as those derived from cooccurrence and run-length matrices are extracted from the remaining candidates and finally mitotic cells are classified using a specific support vector machine (SVM) classifier. The simulation results have proven the claims about the high performance and efficiency of the proposed CAD system.
Curing Mice with Large Tumors by Locally Delivering Combinations of Immunomodulatory Antibodies
Authors: Dai Min , Yip Yuen Yee , Hellstrom Ingegerd , Hellstrom Karl Erik
Published: August 2014

Purpose: Immunomodulatory mAbs can treat cancer, but cures are rare except for small tumors. Our objective was to explore whether the therapeutic window increases by combining mAbs with different modes of action and injecting them into tumors.

Experimental Design: Combinations of mAbs to CD137/PD-1/CTLA-4 or CD137/PD-1/CTLA-4/CD19 were administrated intratumorally to mice with syngeneic tumors (B16 and SW1 melanoma, TC1 lung carcinoma), including tumors with a mean surface of approximately 80 mm2. Survival and tumor growth were assessed. Immunologic responses were evaluated using flow cytometry and qRT-PCR.

Results: More than 50% of tumor-bearing mice had complete regression and long-term survival after tumor injection with mAbs recognizing CD137/PD-1/CTLA-4/CD19 with similar responses in three models. Intratumoral injection was more efficacious than intraperitoneal injection in causing rejection also of untreated tumors in the same mice. The three-mAb combination could also induce regression, but was less efficacious. There were few side effects, and therapy-resistant tumors were not observed. Transplanted tumor cells rapidly caused a Th2 response with increased CD19 cells. Successful therapy shifted this response to the Th1 phenotype with decreased CD19 cells and increased numbers of long-term memory CD8 effector cells and T cells making IFNγ and TNFα.

Conclusions: Intratumoral injection of mAbs recognizing CD137/PD-1/CTLA-4/CD19 can eradicate established tumors and reverse a Th2 response with tumor-associated CD19 cells to Th1 immunity, whereas a combination lacking anti-CD19 is less effective. There are several human cancers for which a similar approach may provide clinical benefit. Clin Cancer Res; 21(5); 1127–38. ©2014 AACR.

See related commentary by Dronca and Dong, p. 944
Where now for the critique of the liberal peace?
Authors: Richmond Oliver P , Mac Ginty Roger
Published: August 2014

This article seeks to take stock of the critique of the liberal peace and identify what it has and has not achieved. It also asks ‘where do we go from here?’ The article surveys an agenda for future research and can also be read as a rebuttal of some recent literature that has attempted to shut down the liberal peace debate. The article opens with a quick recap of the bases of the critique of the liberal peace. It then outlines the ‘achievements’ of the debate and examines the failings and oversights of the original critique. Questions are raised about the epistemology and terms of the debate, and of the ability of critical intellectual projects to break through the material power held by mainstream intellectual and policy actors. In its final substantive section, the article asks ‘where next for the critique of the liberal peace?’ We conclude by highlighting avenues of research that might be fruitfully explored.
ENAM Mutations with Incomplete Penetrance
Authors: Seymen F. , Lee K.-E. , Koruyucu M. , Gencay K. , Bayram M. , Tuna E.B. , Lee Z.H. , Kim J.-W.
Published: August 2014

Amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) is a genetic disease affecting tooth enamel formation. AI can be an isolated entity or a phenotype of syndromes. To date, more than 10 genes have been associated with various forms of AI. We have identified 2 unrelated Turkish families with hypoplastic AI and performed mutational analysis. Whole-exome sequencing identified 2 novel heterozygous nonsense mutations in the ENAM gene (c.454G>T p.Glu152* in family 1, c.358C>T p.Gln120* in family 2) in the probands. Affected individuals were heterozygous for the mutation in each family. Segregation analysis within each family revealed individuals with incomplete penetrance or extremely mild enamel phenotype, in spite of having the same mutation with the other affected individuals. We believe that these findings will broaden our understanding of the clinical phenotype of AI caused by ENAM mutations.
Does pelvic floor muscle training abolish symptoms of urinary incontinence? A randomized controlled trial
Authors: Celiker Tosun O , Kaya Mutlu E , Ergenoglu AM , Yeniel AO , Tosun G , Malkoc M , Askar N , Itil IM
Published: August 2014

Objective:

To determine whether symptoms of urinary incontinence is reduced by pelvic floor muscle training, to determine whether urinary incontinence can be totally eliminated by strengthening the pelvic floor muscle to grade 5 on the Oxford scale.

Design:

Prospective randomized controlled clinical trial.

Setting:

Outpatient urogynecology department.

Subjects:

One hundred thirty cases with stress and mixed urinary incontinence.

Intervention:

All participants were randomly allocated to the pelvic floor muscle training group or control group. A 12-week home based exercise program, prescribed individually, was performed by the pelvic floor muscle training group.

Main measures:

Urinary incontinence symptoms (Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7, Urogenital Distress Inventory-6, bladder diary, stop test and pad test) were assessed, and the pelvic floor muscle strength was measured for (PERFECT testing, perineometric and ultrasound) all participants before and after 12 weeks of treatment.

Results:

The pelvic floor muscle training group had significant improvement in their symptoms of urinary incontinence ( P=0.001) and an increase in pelvic floor muscle strength ( P=0.001, by the dependent t test) compared with the control group. All the symptoms of urinary incontinence were significantly decreased in the patients that had reached pelvic floor muscle strength of grade 5 and continued the pelvic floor muscle training ( P<0.05).

Conclusion:

The study demonstrated that pelvic floor muscle training is effective in reducing the symptoms of stress and mixed urinary incontinence and in increasing pelvic floor muscle strength.
The effects of geometrical inaccuracies of the experimental set-up on small punch creep test results
Authors: Cortellino Francesco , Sun Wei , Hyde Thomas H , Shingledecker John
Published: August 2014

The small punch creep testing technique is able to provide creep properties from a very small amount of material. However, a universal and robust technique, to convert small punch creep testing results to corresponding uniaxial creep test data, has still not been established. In addition, the experimental output can be affected by several sources of uncertainty, such as friction between the components of the test rig and the specimen, and inaccuracies in the geometry of the experimental set-up and the testing procedures. This article reports the results of three-dimensional elastic/creep finite element analyses of small punch creep testing, taking into account geometrical inaccuracies in the initial punch position and the loading direction. The results of the calculations show that the initial position of the punch and the loading direction can considerably affect the variation in the specimen’s central deflection with time and the final time to failure. The minimum displacement rate was found to decrease when the punch moves away from the centre of the specimen and when the angle between the loading direction and the axis of the test rig increases. The time to failure increases when the punch deviates from the perfect axi-symmetric configuration. The effects of the direction of the load increase as the initial distance of the punch from the centre of the specimen increases. Analytical correlations, corresponding to the inaccuracies investigated, are also proposed.
Effect of a constant magnetic field (0.4 T) on electromagnetic properties of chiral polyaniline
Authors: Tang Jihai , Ma Li , Huo Qisheng , Yan Jun , Gan Mengyu , Xu Fenfang
Published: August 2014

Chiral polyaniline doped with d-camphorsulfonic acid (d-CSA) (PANI-(d-CSA)) was synthesized by in situ polymerization in the presence of a constant magnetic field (0.4 T). The micromorphology, conductivity, and electromagnetic properties of chiral polyaniline were systematically investigated using scanning electron microscopy, electrochemical workstation, four-point probe conductivity measurements, and a vector network analyzer. The results showed that when compared with PANI-(d-CSA)-O synthesized in the absence of a magnetic field, PANI-(d-CSA)-M synthesized in the presence of a magnetic field had increased length–diameter ratio, higher conductivity, and stronger electromagnetic loss property. The minimum reflectivity of PANI-(d-CSA)-M reduced by 21.78% and the bandwidth of microwave absorption (reflection loss < −10 dB) of PANI-(d-CSA)-M increased 4.7 times.
Iterative learning control based on a noninstantaneous impulsive fractional-order system
Authors: Liu Shengda , Wang JinRong , Wei Wei
Published: August 2014

In order to track the discontinuous reference trajectory accurately using a few iterations in a finite time interval, we design a P-type iterative learning control law with initial state learning for a noninstantaneous impulsive fractional-order system. The convergent sufficient conditions of open-loop and closed-loop iterative learning schemes are established. Finally, two numerical examples are given to illustrate our results.
The effect of renin–angiotensin system blockade on renal protection in chronic kidney disease patients with hyperkalemia
Authors: Lee Ju-Hyun , Kwon Young Eun , Park Jung Tak , Lee Mi Jung , Oh Hyung Jung , Han Seung Hyeok , Kang Shin-Wook , Choi Kyu Hun , Yoo Tae-Hyun
Published: August 2014

Hypothesis:

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of renin–angiotensin system (RAS) blockade maintenance on renal protection in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients with hyperkalemia occurring during treatment with RAS blockade.

Materials and methods:

CKD III or IV patients, who were prescribed with RAS blockers and also had hyperkalemia, were included. The study population was divided into two groups based on maintenance or withdrawal of RAS blocker. Renal outcomes (doubling of creatinine or end-stage renal disease) and incidence of hyperkalemia were compared between the two groups.

Results:

Out of 258 subjects who developed hyperkalemia during treatment with RAS blockers, 150 (58.1%) patients continued on RAS blockades, while RAS blockades were discontinued for more than 3 months in the remaining 108 patients. Renal event-free survival was significantly higher in the maintenance group compared with the withdrawal group. Cox proportional hazard ratio for renal outcomes was 1.35 (95% CI: 1.08–1.92, p=0.04) in the withdrawal group compared with the maintenance group. However, the incidence of hyperkalemia and hyperkalemia-related hospitalization or mortality did not differ between the two groups.

Conclusions:

This study demonstrated that the maintenance of RAS blockade is beneficial for the preservation of renal function and relatively tolerable in patients with CKD and hyperkalemia occurring during treatment with RAS blockade.
The relationship between three X-linked genes and the risk for hypertension among northeastern Han Chinese
Authors: Li Jinxin , Feng Min , Wang Yanli , Li Yaodong , Zhang Yanyi , Li Lei , Xiong Jian , Lu Changzhu , Wang Bin , Cheng Zuheng , Tang Baopeng , Niu Wenquan
Published: August 2014

Background and objective:

Incidences of hypertension are increasing and this condition is more common in men than in women. We selected six well-characterized polymorphisms from three X-linked genes (ACE2, AGTR2, apelin) aiming to investigate their interactive association with hypertension among northeastern Han Chinese.

Methods and results:

This was a case-control study involving 1009 hypertensive patients and 756 normotensive controls. All polymorphisms except rs3761581 in the apelin gene satisfied the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in females. The genotype and allele distributions of rs1403543 in the AGTR2 gene and rs56204867 in the apelin gene differed significantly between patients and controls for both genders, even after the Bonferroni correction ( P<0.05/6). The risk prediction was significant for rs1403543 and rs56204867 under both additive and dominant models for both genders. In haplotype analysis, significance was seen for haplotype G-T-G-G-A (alleles in order of rs1978124, rs2106809, rs1403543, rs5194 and rs56204867), which was overrepresented in patients (5.15% versus 1.10% in controls, PSim=0.004). Interaction analysis indicated that all derived multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) models were non-significant for both genders.

Conclusion:

Our findings demonstrate that genetic defects in AGTR2 and apelin genes by themselves may play an independent leading role in determining susceptibility to hypertension in both genders.
Deliberation and disagreement
Authors: Landemore Hélène , Page Scott E.
Published: August 2014

Consensus plays an ambiguous role in deliberative democracy. While it formed the horizon of early deliberative theories, many now denounce it as an empirically unachievable outcome, a logically impossible stopping rule, and a normatively undesirable ideal. Deliberative disagreement, by contrast, is celebrated not just as an empirically unavoidable outcome but also as a democratically sound and normatively desirable goal of deliberation. Majority rule has generally displaced unanimity as the ideal way of bringing deliberation to a close. This article offers an epistemic perspective on this question of consensus versus disagreement. For ensuring the production of better decisions, we argue, the normative appeal of consensus varies depending on the deliberative task – whether it entails problem solving or prediction. We argue that in pure problem-solving contexts, consensus retains a strong normative appeal and forms the ideal deliberative outcome of deliberation. In contrast, on predictive tasks, consensus should generally not be used as a stopping rule noris it likely to be epistemically desirable as an outcome. Instead deliberators may be better served by ending the deliberation with a form of deliberative disagreement we call ‘positive dissensus’, which paves the way for more accurate aggregate predictions.
The 2014 China meeting of the International Society for Vascular Surgery
Authors: Dardik Alan , Ouriel Kenneth , Wang JinSong , Liapis Christos
Published: August 2014

The 2014 meeting of the International Society for Vascular Surgery (ISVS) was held in Guangzhou, China, in conjunction with the fifth annual Wang Zhong-Gao’s Vascular Forum, the eighth annual China Southern Endovascular Congress, and the third annual Straits Vascular Forum. Keynote addresses were given by Professors Christos Liapis, Wang Zhong-Gao, and Wang Shen-Ming. President Liapis presented the first ISVS Lifetime Achievement Award to Professor Wang Zhong-Gao for his multi-decade accomplishments establishing Vascular Surgery as a specialty in China. Faculty presentations were made in plenary sessions that focused on diseases relevant to the patterns of vascular disease prevalent in China. Thirty-one abstracts were presented by vascular surgeons from around the globe, and the top 10 presentations were recognized. Thirteen countries were represented in the meeting. The 2014 ISVS meeting was a success. Partnership of this meeting with host Chinese Vascular Surgery societies was of mutual benefit, bringing vascular surgeons of international reputation to the local area for academic and intellectual exchange and formation of collaborations; integration of the meetings allows easier logistics to facilitate meeting organization and optimization of time for both faculty and attendees. This integrated model may serve as an optimal model for future meetings.
“Swan Neck Deformity” of the Second Toe Corrected by Flexor Digitorum Longus to Flexor Digitorum Brevis Tenodesis
Authors: Lui Tun Hing
Published: August 2014

“Swan neck deformity” of the second toe is a rare deformity. It is a hyperextension of the proximal interphalangeal joint. The patient may complain of painful callosity underneath the proximal interphalangeal joint. Surgical correction should be considered if conservative treatment fails to relieve the pressure point. The optimal surgical option for this deformity has not yet been defined. We report a case of swan neck deformity of the second toe that was successfully corrected by flexor digitorum longus to brevis tenodesis.

Levels of Evidence: Therapeutic Level IV: Case Report
Pain in cancer survivors
Authors: Brown Matthew RD , Ramirez Juan D , Farquhar-Smith Paul
Published: August 2014

Cancer and its treatment exert a heavy psychological and physical toll. Of the myriad symptoms which result, pain is common, encountered in between 30% and 60% of cancer survivors. Pain in cancer survivors is a major and growing problem, impeding the recovery and rehabilitation of patients who have beaten cancer and negatively impacting on cancer patients’ quality of life, work prospects and mental health. Persistent pain in cancer survivors remains challenging to treat successfully. Pain can arise both due to the underlying disease and the various treatments the patient has been subjected to. Chemotherapy causes painful chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), radiotherapy can produce late effect radiation toxicity and surgery may lead to the development of persistent post-surgical pain syndromes. This review explores a selection of the common causes of persistent pain in cancer survivors, detailing our current understanding of the pathophysiology and outlining both the clinical manifestations of individual pain states and the treatment options available.
Myc-induced SUMOylation is a therapeutic vulnerability for B-cell lymphoma
Authors: Hoellein Alexander , Fallahi Mohammad , Schoeffmann Stephanie , Steidle Sabine , Schaub Franz X. , Rudelius Martina , Laitinen Iina , Nilsson Lisa , Goga Andrei , Peschel Christian , Nilsson Jonas A. , Cleveland John L. , Keller Ulrich
Published: August 2014

Key Points

The Myc oncoprotein targets central regulators of the SUMOylation machinery, resulting in a hyper-SUMOylation state in Myc-induced lymphoma. Targeting SUMOylation by genetic or pharmacologic means represents a novel therapeutic option for lymphomas with MYC involvement.
Chloroplast RNA editing going extreme: more than 3400 events of C-to-U editing in the chloroplast transcriptome of the lycophyte Selaginella uncinata
Authors: Oldenkott Bastian , Yamaguchi Kazuo , Tsuji-Tsukinoki Sumika , Knie Nils , Knoop Volker
Published: August 2014

RNA editing in chloroplasts and mitochondria of land plants differs significantly in abundance. For example, some 200–500 sites of cytidine-to-uridine RNA editing exist in flowering plant mitochondria as opposed to only 30–50 such C-to-U editing events in their chloroplasts. In contrast, we predicted significantly more chloroplast RNA editing for the protein-coding genes in the available complete plastome sequences of two species of the spike moss genus Selaginella (Lycopodiophyta). To evaluate these predictions we investigated the Selaginella uncinata chloroplast transcriptome. Our exhaustive cDNA studies identified the extraordinary number of 3415 RNA-editing events, exclusively of the C-to-U type, in the 74 mRNAs encoding intact reading frames in the S. uncinata chloroplast. We find the overwhelming majority (61%) of the 428 silent editing events leaving codon meanings unaltered directly neighboring other editing events, possibly suggesting a sterically more flexible RNA-editing deaminase activity in Selaginella. No evidence of RNA editing was found for tRNAs or rRNAs but we identified a total of 74 editing sites in cDNA sequences of four group II introns (petBi6g2, petDi8g2, ycf3i124g2, and ycf3i354g2) retained in partially matured transcripts, which strongly contribute to improved base-pairing in the intron secondary structures as a likely prerequisite for their splicing.
Across the Great Divide: How Birth-Order Terms Scaled the Saruwaged Mountains in Papua New Guinea
Authors: Sarvasy Hannah
Published: August 2014

The Papuan language Nungon is spoken in four villages of the Uruwa River valley, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea, each with its own dialect. Only the Kotet village dialect has a system of birth-order terms, which form a nominal subclass. The Kotet birth-order terms are formally similar to birth-order terms in Papuan languages to the south. Because Kotet was historically oriented southward for trade, the Kotet birth-order terms are postulated to have been borrowed from the south. Every language in the area with birth-order terms, including the Kotet dialect, exhibits differences in the forms of the terms, term recycling within the system, and ordering of the terms. Thus, the specific trajectory by which the birth-order terms reached Kotet village is murky.
Monster, Demon, Warrior: St. Guthlac and the Cultural Landscape of the Anglo-Saxon Fens
Authors: Noetzel Justin T.
Published: August 2014

This essay argues that Old English and Latin literature from the eighth to eleventh centuries reveal the cultural understanding of the swampy English Fens along the eastern coast of the North Sea. This cultural notion defines the Fens as a haunted landscape and a marginal space suitable only for prisoners, exiles, monsters, and demons. For example, the monster Grendel from the poem Beowulf possesses a hybridized human-animal nature that mimics the tumultuous land/water dynamic of his native fen-dwelling. Throughout the Anglo-Saxon corpus, symbolic fens act as a mythical landscape of uncertainty, danger, and monstrosity, and this cultural subject matter is present most profoundly in the historically attested literature of St. Guthlac. This Christian warrior establishes a hermitage in the Fens at Crowland, and through his heroism and religious warfare, he survives the demons and other terrors of the mysterious landscape and colonizes the Fens as an Anglo-Saxon cultural landscape.
Spectatorship and Vision in The York Corpus Christi Plays
Authors: Walker Katherine
Published: August 2014

In The York Corpus Christi Plays , Christ calls upon spectators to look at his body in a devotional gaze, one that demands sympathy for his sufferings. This article examines how medieval notions of vision inform our understanding of what it means to participate in a Passion narrative through the vehicle of sight. In The York Plays , the character Christ compels the spectator to look at him, to recall the sacrifice he made and, through performance, is continuously making. This synchronicity suggests different avenues for studying medieval devotional performance; these images and bodies of Christ are not static but rather fluid, and thus serve as cues to the importance of remembering and seeing Christ internally, beyond the performance.
Consecrated Merchants and Midnight Criers: Commercial Evangelicalism and a Jazz Theory of Gender Distinctions in Nineteenth-Century America
Authors: Noddings T. R.
Published: August 2014

Drawing on Jeanne Boydston’s “aesthetic of jazz” and the contributions of queer theory, this article complicates notions of a “normative” gender binary and feminized Protestant religion in nineteenth-century America. Evangelical tract and book sellers known as “colporteurs” constructed spiritual personalities that failed to organize neatly around a gender binary, combining private, passive, and dependent roles as servants and employees with conquering, public identities as sellers of the gospel message. Moving away from a focus on female preaching and the liminal gender fluidity of “fringe” sects, this paper argues that colportage reflected a larger cultural instability in the gender binary where spiritual selling collapsed conventional masculine and feminine traits, opening a queer space for expressions beyond the gender line. Tracing colporteur identities from the American Tract Society and Millerites of the 1840s to the International Bible Students of the 1890s and 1900s, this article suggests that colportage was one expression of the vast variation and instability of potential gender identities that marked America in the nineteenth century.
Beyond the Binaries in Early America: Special Issue Introduction
Authors: Cleves Rachel Hope
Published: August 2014

An introduction is offered to this special issue focusing on non-binary formations of sex and gender in early America.
Cherokee “Two Spirits”: Gender, Ritual, and Spirituality in the Native South
Authors: Smithers Gregory D.
Published: August 2014

Since the sixteenth century, European and Euroamerican observers have puzzled over the identity, roles, and sexuality of the berdache, or what scholars now refer to as two-spirit people, in Native American societies in the Southeast. Formerly the domain of anthropological research, over the past generation gender theorists and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) scholars have produced fine studies that aim to demystify two spirits and decouple them from the racialized and heteronormative modes of thinking associated with settler colonialism in North America. As this activist scholarship continues to grow, historians of early America have at best played a marginal role in scholarly debates about two-spirit people. This essay represents a historical intervention in the current scholarly discussions about two-spirit people. Focusing particularly on the Cherokee in early America, the following analysis considers the methodological challenges associated with historical studies of two spirits, and presents insights into how historians might effectively craft more sophisticated and nuanced analyses of people variously referred to as hermaphrodites, sodomites, berdache, and two-spirit people in Native American societies of the Southeast.
Beyond Other Minds: Fictional Characters, Mental Simulation, and “Unnatural” Experiences
Authors: Caracciolo Marco
Published: August 2014

My essay joins the contemporary cognitive-narratological debate on whether readers bring to bear on fictional characters the folk psychology that they apply to real people. While arguing for a continuity in readers’ engagement with real and fictional minds, I point out that some literary techniques harness our imaginative, empathic skills to a greater degree than is likely in real life. Specifically, internally focalized texts encourage readers to simulate characters’ experiences in a first-person way, going beyond our usual second- or third-person stance towards other minds. This can create the illusion that we penetrate more deeply into the mental life of characters than we could ever penetrate into that of real people. In the second part of the essay, I use a short story by Julio Cortázar as case study for arguing that readers’ first-person involvement with characters can also explain the unsettling effect of texts evoking non-ordinary or impossible mental states and experiences. The thrust of this article is that the narratorial function of “authentication” (in Lubomír Doležel’s term) is crucial in creating an empathic bond between readers and characters: since in some situations the narrator’s statements about the mental states of a character cannot be falsified, they are taken to be direct reflections of the character’s experience, thereby inviting readers to adopt an empathic mode of engagement.
Achieving Their Country: Richard Rorty and Jonathan Franzen
Authors: Mahon Áine
Published: August 2014

Richard Rorty’s Achieving Our Country (1998) chastises a particular strain of contemporary American fiction. This literature, in the Rortyan schema, is more “knowing” than “inspirational”; its cynical complexity stymies related possibilities of moral improvement and patriotic hope. This article brings Rorty’s theory to bear on Freedom , the 2010 novel by Jonathan Franzen. I argue that Freedom troubles the strict oppositions of Rorty’s schema in two fundamental ways: (1) it offers a vision of America at once postmodernist and patriotically hopeful, and (2) it is aesthetically complex and morally compelling.
Dante’s Paradiso : No Human Beings Allowed
Authors: Silver Bruce
Published: August 2014

That there is a balance between reason and faith in Dante’s Divine Comedy is not news. Still, an exploration of this balance is worth additional attention. Among other things, one discovers that Dante, following Thomas Aquinas, rejects the classical Greek ideal of happiness as reasoning with excellence. In addition and more important, one discovers that what Dante requires in order for human beings to be happy leads to this surprising conclusion: the set of happy human beings in Dante’s heaven is empty.
William Blake’s Jerusalem and the Los Angeles of Film Noir
Authors: Hellwig Harold Henry
Published: August 2014

William Blake and film noir apparently had the same problem with the urban landscape. While Blake attempts to create a mental world within language that would give a new face of religion to offer comfort to the inhabitants of London, film noir in Los Angeles finds noise and nihilism in the absence of faith. Both struggle with Immanuel Kant, who claimed that reason actively makes the world worthwhile. Hickey and Boggs , a relatively obscure neo-noir movie from 1972, represents the meaninglessness and noise of language, bereft of the religion of Blake and the reason of Kant.
Recent Studies in the Restoration and Eighteenth Century
Authors: Ferguson Frances
Published: August 2014

An assessment of recent scholarly work treating the literature of the Restoration and Eighteenth Century and some general observations on the state of the profession. A full bibliography and price list of the works received by SEL for consideration follow.
David Hume, Literary Cognitivism, and the Truth of the Novel
Authors: Maioli Roger
Published: August 2014

This essay discusses David Hume’s dismissal of the cognitive value of novels and suggests that his attitude has both aesthetic and epistemological roots. Hume’s neoclassicism imposes formal demands on literature that compromise the evidential value of fictional narratives, and while novelists neglected such demands, Hume believed that even the most realistic narrative would fail at capturing the complex dynamics governing social life. Hume’s views bring into relief a theoretical tension between empiricism and literary cognitivism, a tension that, in turn, sheds light on the work of novelists such as Henry Fielding, whose theory of fiction was informed by the attempt to solve it.
Geotechnical and Geophysical Long-term Monitoring at a Levee of Red River in Vietnam
Authors: Weller Andreas , Lewis Ronald , Canh Tran , Möller Marcus , Scholz Bernhard
Published: August 2014

The stability or safety of a levee during flooding depends on both the temporal development of the amplitude of the hydraulic loads in surface water and ground water and the change of soil parameters within the levee and subsoil. Therefore, a levee monitoring system should record the temporal development of the hydraulic loads of surface water and the resulting variations of water flow within the levee and subsoil.

Long-term monitoring has been performed at a levee of Red River in Thai Binh province in Vietnam. The monitoring system consists of a permanent electrode array for resistivity imaging and geotechnical tools including tensiometers, frequency-domain reflectometry sensors and an observation well. The components were installed after a detailed inspection of the levee and foundation by drilling, sampling, and a geoelectrical survey. The levee monitoring system provided time series of the sensor data that were related to the variation of pore water pressure and water distribution. Additionally, the water level in the river and the precipitation rate were recorded.

A two-dimensional transient finite element modeling of the seepage and groundwater flow was performed using the database of a single flood season. The resulting hydraulic model was used for a stability analysis. It could be shown that the stability calculations taking into account the transient development of the seepage line allows a more favorable safety factor in the stability analysis in comparison with the conventional steady state approach.

According to our experience with the prototype of a levee monitoring system (LMS), the water level registration in the river, a tensiometer in the levee body and an observation well behind the levee should constitute the basic configuration of a LMS. The addition of more components improves the reliability of the system even in the case of failures of single sensors.
Acquired Class D β-Lactamases
Authors: Antunes Nuno , Fisher Jed
Published: August 2014

The Class D β-lactamases have emerged as a prominent resistance mechanism against β-lactam antibiotics that previously had efficacy against infections caused by pathogenic bacteria, especially by Acinetobacter baumannii and the Enterobacteriaceae. The phenotypic and structural characteristics of these enzymes correlate to activities that are classified either as a narrow spectrum, an extended spectrum, or a carbapenemase spectrum. We focus on Class D β-lactamases that are carried on plasmids and, thus, present particular clinical concern. Following a historical perspective, the susceptibility and kinetics patterns of the important plasmid-encoded Class D β-lactamases and the mechanisms for mobilization of the chromosomal Class D β-lactamases are discussed.