bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lay Health Influencers
Authors: Yuan Nicole P. , Castañeda Heide , Nichter Mark , Nichter Mimi , Wind Steven , Carruth Lauren , Muramoto Myra
Published: October 2011

Interventions tailored to individual smoker characteristics have increasingly received attention in the tobacco control literature. The majority of tailored interventions are generated by computers and administered with printed materials or web-based programs. The purpose of this study was to examine the tailoring activities of community lay health influencers who were trained to perform face-to-face brief tobacco cessation interventions. Eighty participants of a large-scale, randomized controlled trial completed a 6-week qualitative follow-up interview. A majority of participants (86%) reported that they made adjustments in their intervention behaviors based on individual smoker characteristics, their relationship with the smoker, and/or setting. Situational contexts (i.e., location and timing) primarily played a role after targeted smokers were selected. The findings suggest that lay health influencers benefit from a training curriculum that emphasizes a motivational, person-centered approach to brief cessation interventions. Recommendations for future tobacco cessation intervention trainings are presented.
Na+-stimulated phosphate uptake system in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 with Pst1 as a main transporter
Authors: Burut-Archanai Surachet , Eaton-Rye Julian J , Incharoensakdi Aran
Published: October 2011

Background

Most living cells uptake phosphate, an indispensable nutrient for growth from their natural environment. In Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, the cells lack phosphate-inorganic transport (Pit) system but contain two phosphate-specific transport (Pst) systems, Pst1 and Pst2. We investigated the kinetics of Pi uptake of these two Pst systems by constructing the two mutants, ΔPst1 and ΔPst2, and comparing their kinetic properties with those of the wild-type cells under both Pi-sufficient and deficient conditions. The effects of pH and Na+ on the uptake of phosphate in Synechocystis were also studied.

Results

Growth rates of the two mutants and wild type were similar either under phosphate-sufficient or deficient condition. The K

m
for phosphate uptake was 6.09 μM in wild type and this was reduced to 0.13 μM in ΔPst1 cells and 5.16 μM in the ΔPst2 strain. The V

max
values of 2.48, 0.22, and 2.17 μmol • (min • mg of chlorophyll a)-1 were obtained for wild type, the ΔPst1 and ΔPst2 strains, respectively. A monophasic phosphate uptake was observed in wild-type cells. The uptake of phosphate was energy and pH-dependent with a broad pH optimum between pH 7-10. Osmolality imposed by NaCl stimulated phosphate uptake whereas that imposed by sorbitol decreased uptake, suggesting stimulation of uptake was dependent upon ionic effects.

Conclusion

The data demonstrate that Pst2 system of Synechocystis has higher affinity toward phosphate with lower V

max
than Pst1 system. The Pst1 system had similar K

m
and V

max
values to those of the wild type suggesting that Pst1 is the main phosphate transporter in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. The K

m
of Pst1 of Synechocystis is closer to that of Pit system than to that of the Pst system of E. coli, suggesting that Synechocystis Pst1 is rather a medium/low affinity transporter whereas Pst2 is a high affinity transporter.
Isolation of mineralizing Nestin+ Nkx6.1+ vascular muscular cells from the adult human spinal cord
Authors: Mamaeva Daria , Ripoll Chantal , Bony Claire , Teigell Marisa , Perrin Florence E , Rothhut Bernard , Bieche Ivan , Lidereau Rosette , Privat Alain , Rigau Valérie , Guillon Hélène , Vachiery-Lahaye Florence , Noel Daniele , Bauchet Luc , Hugnot Jean-Philippe
Published: October 2011

Background

The adult central nervous system (CNS) contains different populations of immature cells that could possibly be used to repair brain and spinal cord lesions. The diversity and the properties of these cells in the human adult CNS remain to be fully explored. We previously isolated Nestin+Sox2+neural multipotential cells from the adult human spinal cord using the neurosphere method (i.e. non adherent conditions and defined medium).

Results

Here we report the isolation and long term propagation of another population of Nestin+cells from this tissue using adherent culture conditions and serum. QPCR and immunofluorescence indicated that these cells had mesenchymal features as evidenced by the expression of Snai2 and Twist1 and lack of expression of neural markers such as Sox2, Olig2 or GFAP. Indeed, these cells expressed markers typical of smooth muscle vascular cells such as Calponin, Caldesmone and Acta2 (Smooth muscle actin). These cells could not differentiate into chondrocytes, adipocytes, neuronal and glial cells, however they readily mineralized when placed in osteogenic conditions. Further characterization allowed us to identify the Nkx6.1 transcription factor as a marker for these cells. Nkx6.1 was expressed in vivo by CNS vascular muscular cells located in the parenchyma and the meninges.

Conclusion

Smooth muscle cells expressing Nestin and Nkx6.1 is the main cell population derived from culturing human spinal cord cells in adherent conditions with serum. Mineralization of these cells in vitro could represent a valuable model for studying calcifications of CNS vessels which are observed in pathological situations or as part of the normal aging. In addition, long term propagation of these cells will allow the study of their interaction with other CNS cells and their implication in scar formation during spinal cord injury.
High-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) screening and detection in healthy patient saliva samples: a pilot study
Authors: Turner Deidre O , Williams-Cocks Shelley J , Bullen Ryan , Catmull Jeremy , Falk Jesse , Martin Daniel , Mauer Jarom , Barber Annabel E , Wang Robert C , Gerstenberger Shawn L , Kingsley Karl
Published: October 2011

Background

The human papillomaviruses (HPV) are a large family of non-enveloped DNA viruses, mainly associated with cervical cancers. Recent epidemiologic evidence has suggested that HPV may be an independent risk factor for oropharyngeal cancers. Evidence now suggests HPV may modulate the malignancy process in some tobacco- and alcohol-induced oropharynx tumors, but might also be the primary oncogenic factor for inducing carcinogenesis among some non-smokers. More evidence, however, is needed regarding oral HPV prevalence among healthy adults to estimate risk. The goal of this study was to perform an HPV screening of normal healthy adults to assess oral HPV prevalence.

Methods

Healthy adult patients at a US dental school were selected to participate in this pilot study. DNA was isolated from saliva samples and screened for high-risk HPV strains HPV16 and HPV18 and further processed using qPCR for quantification and to confirm analytical sensitivity and specificity.

Results

Chi-square analysis revealed the patient sample was representative of the general clinic population with respect to gender, race and age (p < 0.05). Four patient samples were found to harbor HPV16 DNA, representing 2.6% of the total (n = 151). Three of the four HPV16-positive samples were from patients under 65 years of age and all four were female and Hispanic (non-White). No samples tested positive for HPV18.

Conclusions

The successful recruitment and screening of healthy adult patients revealed HPV16, but not HPV18, was present in a small subset. These results provide new information about oral HPV status, which may help to contextualize results from other studies that demonstrate oral cancer rates have risen in the US among both females and minorities and in some geographic areas that are not solely explained by rates of tobacco and alcohol use. The results of this study may be of significant value to further our understanding of oral health and disease risk, as well as to help design future studies exploring the role of other factors that influence oral HPV exposure, as well as the short- and long-term consequences of oral HPV infection.
A model-based circular binary segmentation algorithm for the analysis of array CGH data
Authors: Hsu Fang-Han , Chen Hung-I H , Tsai Mong-Hsun , Lai Liang-Chuan , Huang Chi-Cheng , Tu Shih-Hsin , Chuang Eric Y , Chen Yidong
Published: October 2011

Background

Circular Binary Segmentation (CBS) is a permutation-based algorithm for array Comparative Genomic Hybridization (aCGH) data analysis. CBS accurately segments data by detecting change-points using a maximal-t test; but extensive computational burden is involved for evaluating the significance of change-points using permutations. A recent implementation utilizing a hybrid method and early stopping rules (hybrid CBS) to improve the performance in speed was subsequently proposed. However, a time analysis revealed that a major portion of computation time of the hybrid CBS was still spent on permutation. In addition, what the hybrid method provides is an approximation of the significance upper bound or lower bound, not an approximation of the significance of change-points itself.

Results

We developed a novel model-based algorithm, extreme-value based CBS (eCBS), which limits permutations and provides robust results without loss of accuracy. Thousands of aCGH data under null hypothesis were simulated in advance based on a variety of non-normal assumptions, and the corresponding maximal-t distribution was modeled by the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution. The modeling results, which associate characteristics of aCGH data to the GEV parameters, constitute lookup tables (eXtreme model). Using the eXtreme model, the significance of change-points could be evaluated in a constant time complexity through a table lookup process.

Conclusions

A novel algorithm, eCBS, was developed in this study. The current implementation of eCBS consistently outperforms the hybrid CBS 4× to 20× in computation time without loss of accuracy. Source codes, supplementary materials, supplementary figures, and supplementary tables can be found at http://ntumaps.cgm.ntu.edu.tw/eCBSsupplementary.
Leaving No Remains: Death among the Bengalis in Jhumpa Lahiri's Fiction
Authors: Chakraborty Mridula Nath
Published: October 2011

The obsession with “remains” in the wake of a devastated human century has been taken up in the work of European philosophers like Walter Benjamin, Maurice Blanchot, Jacques Derrida, Emmanuel Lévinas, and Jacqueline Rose and theorists like Marianne Hirsch and Kaja Silverman. That the Jewish Holocaust looms large over these theorizations and that the graphemic (both inscribed and visual) presides over these discourses on “remains” is undeniable, but these animadversions also open the door to other kinds of unmoorings and unravelings. This specter of spectacular death that haunts our historical moment is rendered suspect in Indo-American writer Jhumpa Lahiri's work; instead, in her death-ly preoccupation with the realm of the intimate and the domestic, she offers an unspeakably private contradistinction to public forms and forums of clamorous mourning. I understand Lahiri's work as first and foremost offering an ethics of mourning and a poetics of remembrance, where the death scene is made the literal representation of the in absentia remains of a model diaspora. The death scenes perform the function of witnessing the otherwise uncataloged lives of a specific migrant community she writes about, the Hindu Bengalis from the Indian subcontinent. In Lahiri's fiction, death in the adopted land becomes a site for fixing and rooting the migrant into his or her adopted country, a claim final and irrefutable. The deeply personal nature of her strokes brings our attention back to the domestic and quotidian aspects of “common” death scenes in a century embroiled in the spectacularity of death. Lahiri captures the ways in which death scenes necessitate a deeply involved and intricate processing of remains, a processing that calls on us to marshal all that is contextual in the human socius. This is not to suggest that the private and the personal are not the political; to the contrary, it is precisely in her refusal to proclaim publicity for her death scenes along with a relentless pursuit of that which remains (and not) that Lahiri critiques the politicized vulgarization of death in our times.
“I did not lose my baby... My baby just died”: Twenty-First-Century Discourses of Miscarriage in Political and Historical Context
Authors: Kevin Catherine
Published: October 2011

This essay examines narratives of early miscarriage in the contexts of the history of the medicalization of pregnancy and abortion politics. It argues that the significance of early miscarriage has increased with the medicalization of pregnancy but expressions of this significance have been thwarted by a number of discursive conditions. Many women's accounts of miscarriage attest to the absence of familiar language that is specific to the contours of this experience of loss. In its place is language appropriate to the death scene, the language of failure, or the explicit struggle to find vocabulary to describe the loss. Often the effect of this discursive gap is testimony that blurs the distinction between fetus and baby. While my research suggests that many women giving their testimonies were not engaged with the discursive effects of this on abortion politics, those who were felt themselves to be in a quandary with few resources for resolving the tensions they felt between the depth of their miscarriage grief and their pro-choice politics. In 2005, an Australian parliament passed legislation in response to cases of women miscarrying pregnancies as a result of violence inflicted on them by third parties. This legislative response offers a conceptual framework for miscarriage that both recognizes the profound sense of loss that can be experienced in its aftermath while explicitly protecting the right to abortion.
Teresa Margolles's Crime Scene Aesthetics
Authors: Bray Rebecca Scott
Published: October 2011

When her exhibition “Operativo” opened at New York's Y Gallery, in July 2008, Mexican artist Teresa Margolles said, “Everyone dies but not everyone is murdered. I want people to recognize that.” Ostensibly, with this call for recognition, Margolles simultaneously gestures toward both the universality of death and the crucial differentiation of its genres. Death is not a standardized moment or an equal event; it can be untimely, premature, and violent. As such, death spotlights difference; death has a social life that is contextualized by brutality, inequality, poverty, and politics. To achieve this recognition Margolles works in medico-legal and forensic spaces, creating aesthetic pieces from the remains of crime. This essay examines a number of artworks by Margolles as she deals in death scenes that exceed the boundaries of “typical” criminological, political, or juridical discourse. The essay explores dimensions of Margolles's practice to examine additionally the constitutive value of aesthetic projects that deal in violent death.
Materialism, Transformation Expectations, and Spending: Implications for Credit Use
Authors: Richins Marsha L.
Published: October 2011

Materialism has often been blamed for consumers’ overspending and excessive debt levels, but there is little understanding of how materialism influences these practices. This research introduces the concept of transformation expectations as an important explanatory variable for the relationship between materialism and credit overuse. Qualitative research is conducted to refine the construct of transformation expectations, followed by research to develop a measure of this construct. In survey research, transformation expectations fully mediate the relationship between materialism and credit overuse. Evidence supports the idea that materialism leads simultaneously to a more favorable attitude toward debt and a stronger belief that life transformations will occur as a result of acquisition, and these two forces work together to increase credit overuse.
Cognitive foundations of topic-comment and foreground-background structures: Evidence from sign languages, cospeech gesture and homesign
Authors: Engberg-Pedersen Elisabeth
Published: October 2011

Krifka (The origin of topic/comment structure, of predication, and of focusation in asymmetric bimanual coordination, 2006, Interdisciplinary Studies on Information Structure (ISIS): Working Papers of SFB 632 08: 61–96, 2007b) suggests that asymmetric bimanual coordination and ultimately the evolution of lateralization in humans may be the cognitive basis of linguistic topic-comment structure and foreground-background structures in general. As asymmetric bimanual constructions abound in sign languages and are also found in their possible precursors, cospeech gesture and homesign, sign languages may serve as a test ground for the hypothesis. Asymmetric bimanual constructions are indeed used for differentiating foreground and background in sign languages, but some of these constructions are derived from indexical gestures, not manipulation, i.e., they draw on visual attention. Signed topics may be marked by nonmanual features derived from signals of visual attention, and the defining feature of signed topics is eye contact with the addressee, needed to establish a communicative common ground. There, thus, seems to be not one embodied origin of topic-comment structures, but several. Finally, signed topic-comment structure demonstrates how attention shifts in the course of the entire structure, thereby explaining how topics can be described alternately as foreground (e.g., Talmy, Attention phenomena, Oxford University Press, 2007: 265) and background (Jacobs, Linguistics 39: 641–681, 2001).
Experimental and clinical evidence for the protective role of progesterone in motoneuron degeneration and neuroinflammation
Authors: Deniselle M.C. Gonzalez , Garay L. , Meyer M. , Gargiulo-Monachelli G. , Labombarda F. , Gonzalez S. , Guennoun R. , Schumacher M. , De Nicola Alejandro F.
Published: October 2011

Far beyond its role in reproduction, progesterone exerts neuro­protective, promyelinating, and anti-inflammatory effects in the nervous system. These effects are amplified under pathological conditions, implying that changes of the local environment sensitize nervous tissues to steroid therapy. The present survey covers our results of progesterone neuroprotection in a motoneuron neurodegeneration model and a neuroinflammation model. In the degenerating spinal cord of the Wobbler mouse, progesterone reverses the impaired expression of neurotrophins, increases enzymes of neurotransmission and metabolism, prevents oxidative damage of motoneurons and their vacuolar degeneration (paraptosis), and attenuates the development of mitochondrial abnormalities. After long-term treatment, progesterone also increases muscle strength and the survival of Wobbler mice. Subsequently, this review describes the effects of progesterone in mice with induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a commonly used model of multiple sclerosis. In EAE mice, progesterone attenuates the clinical severity, decreases demyelination and neuronal dysfunction, increases axonal counts, reduces the formation of amyloid precursor protein profiles, and decreases the aberrant expression of growth-associated proteins. These actions of progesterone may be due to multiple mechanisms, considering that classic nuclear receptors, extranuclear receptors, and membrane receptors are all expressed in the spinal cord. Although many aspects of progesterone action in humans remain unsolved, data provided by experimental models makes getting to this objective closer than previously expected.
Humanists and the Public University
Authors: Lye Colleen , Newfield Christopher , Vernon James
Published: October 2011

The precarity of the humanities today is symptomatic of the broader reassessment of the value and utility of the public university. This helps explain the prevalent role of humanists in the recent struggles for public education, but it now also demands from humanists a new level of institutional engagement and reflexivity about the conditions of their labor.
The End of Educated Democracy
Authors: Brown Wendy
Published: October 2011

This essay considers the sharp disinvestment in public higher education in terms of the democratic requirement of a broadly educated citizenry.
Vein of Galen Aneurysmal Malformation Associated With an Endoglin Gene Mutation
Authors: Tsutsumi Yoshiyuki , Kosaki Rika , Itoh Yushi , Tsukamoto Keiko , Matsuoka Rumiko , Shintani Masaki , Nosaka Shunsuke , Masaki Hidekazu , Iizuka Yuo
Published: October 2011

A child with vein of Galen aneurysmal malformation (VGAM) presented with cardiac failure in the neonatal period. The family history revealed his mother to have hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. The child underwent an endoglin genetic analysis after the newborn period, which eventually demonstrated an endoglin mutation. The pathogenesis of VGAM is currently unknown. The findings of this case suggest that an endoglin mutation might be linked with VGAM.
Inpatient Costs and Charges for Surgical Treatment of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
Authors: Dean Peter N. , Hillman Diane G. , McHugh Kimberly E. , Gutgesell Howard P.
Published: October 2011

OBJECTIVE:

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is one of the most serious congenital cardiac anomalies. Typically, it is managed with a series of 3 palliative operations or cardiac transplantation. Our goal was to quantify the inpatient resource burden of HLHS across multiple academic medical centers.

METHODS:

The University HealthSystem Consortium is an alliance of 101 academic medical centers and 178 affiliated hospitals that share diagnostic, procedural, and financial data on all discharges. We examined inpatient resource use by patients with HLHS who underwent a staged palliative procedure or cardiac transplantation between 1998 and 2007.

RESULTS:

Among 1941 neonates, stage 1 palliation (Norwood or Sano procedure) had a median length of stay (LOS) of 25 days and charges of $214 680. Stage 2 and stage 3 palliation (Glenn and Fontan procedures, respectively) had median LOS and charges of 8 days and $82 174 and 11 days and $79 549, respectively. Primary neonatal transplantation had an LOS of 87 days and charges of $582 920, and rescue transplantation required 36 days and $411 121. The median inpatient wait time for primary and rescue transplants was 42 and 6 days, respectively. Between 1998 and 2007, the LOS for stage 1 palliation increased from 16 to 28 days and inflation-adjusted charges increased from $122 309 to $280 909, largely because of increasing survival rates (57% in 1998 and 83% in 2007).

CONCLUSIONS:

Patients with HLHS demand considerable inpatient resources, whether treated with the Norwood-Glenn-Fontan procedure pathway or cardiac transplantation. Improved survival rates have led to increased hospital stays and costs.
Effectiveness of Screening for Life-Threatening Chest Pain in Children
Authors: Saleeb Susan F. , Li Wing Yi V. , Warren Shira Z. , Lock James E.
Published: October 2011

OBJECTIVE:

We sought to determine the incidence of sudden cardiac death among patients discharged from the cardiology clinic with presumed noncardiac chest pain (CP).

METHODS:

The records of children >6 years of age who presented to Children's Hospital Boston between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2009, with a complaint of CP were reviewed for demographic features, clinical characteristics, resource utilization, and presumed diagnosis. Patients were searched for in the US National Death Index and Social Security Death Index.

RESULTS:

Data for a total of 3700 patients with CP (median age at evaluation: 13.4 years [range: 7–22.3 years]) were reviewed. The median follow-up period was 4.4 years (range: 0.5–10.4 years), for total of 17 886 patient-years of follow-up data. CP with exertion occurred in 1222 cases (33%), including 15 with associated syncope. A cardiac cause was determined in 37 cases; the remaining 3663 patients (99%) had CP of unknown (n = 1928), musculoskeletal (n = 1345), pulmonary (n = 242), gastrointestinal (n = 108), anxiety-related (n = 34), or drug-related (n = 4) origin. Emergency department visits for CP were documented for 670 patients (18%), and 263 patients (7%) had cardiology follow-up visits related to CP. There were 3 deaths, including 2 suicides and 1 spontaneous retroperitoneal hemorrhage.

CONCLUSION:

CP in children is a common complaint and rarely has a cardiac cause. Review of 1 decade of cardiology visits (nearly 18 000 patient years) revealed that no patient discharged from the clinic died as a result of a cardiac condition.
Randomized Trial of a Hearing Conservation Intervention for Rural Students: Long-term Outcomes
Authors: Marlenga Barbara , Linneman James G. , Pickett William , Wood Douglas J. , Kirkhorn Steven R. , Broste Steven K. , Knobloch Mary Jo , Berg Richard L.
Published: October 2011

OBJECTIVES:

We had the rare opportunity to conduct a cluster-randomized controlled trial to observe the long-term (16-year) effects of a well-designed hearing conservation intervention for rural high school students. This trial assessed whether the intervention resulted in (1) reduced prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) assessed clinically and/or (2) sustained use of hearing protection devices.

METHODS:

In 1992–1996, 34 rural Wisconsin schools were recruited and 17 were assigned randomly to receive a comprehensive, 3-year, hearing conservation intervention. In 2009–2010, extensive efforts were made to find and contact all students who completed the original trial. Participants in the 16-year follow-up study completed an exposure history questionnaire and a clinical audiometric examination. Rates of NIHL and use of hearing protection were compared.

RESULTS:

We recruited 392 participants from the original trial, 200 (53%) from the intervention group and 192 (51%) from the control group. Among participants with exposure to agricultural noise, the intervention group reported significantly greater use of hearing protection compared with the control group (25.9% vs 19.6%; P = .015). The intervention group also reported significantly greater use of hearing protection for shooting guns (56.2% vs 41.6%; P = .029), but the groups reported similar uses of protection in other contexts. There was no significant difference between groups with respect to objective measures of NIHL.

CONCLUSION:

This novel trial provides objective evidence that a comprehensive educational intervention by itself may be of limited effectiveness in preventing NIHL in a young rural population.
Strategies for Implementing Screening for Critical Congenital Heart Disease
Authors: Kemper Alex R. , Mahle William T. , Martin Gerard R. , Cooley W. Carl , Kumar Praveen , Morrow W. Robert , Kelm Kellie , Pearson Gail D. , Glidewell Jill , Grosse Scott D. , Howell R. Rodney
Published: October 2011

BACKGROUND:

Although newborn screening for critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) was recommended by the US Health and Human Services Secretary's Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children to promote early detection, it was deemed by the Secretary of the HHS as not ready for adoption pending an implementation plan from HHS agencies.

OBJECTIVE:

To develop strategies for the implementation of safe, effective, and efficient screening.

METHODS:

A work group was convened with members selected by the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Cardiology Foundation, and the American Heart Association.

RESULTS:

On the basis of published and unpublished data, the work group made recommendations for a standardized approach to screening and diagnostic follow-up. Key issues for future research and evaluation were identified.

CONCLUSIONS:

The work-group members found sufficient evidence to begin screening for low blood oxygen saturation through the use of pulse-oximetry monitoring to detect CCHD in well-infant and intermediate care nurseries. Research is needed regarding screening in special populations (eg, at high altitude) and to evaluate service infrastructure and delivery strategies (eg, telemedicine) for nurseries without on-site echocardiography. Public health agencies will have an important role in quality assurance and surveillance. Central to the effectiveness of screening will be the development of a national technical assistance center to coordinate implementation and evaluation of newborn screening for CCHD.
Serratia Ficaria isolated from sputum specimen
Authors: Gul Mustafa , Dogan Ekrem , Kirecci Ekrem , Ucmak Hasan , Dirican Ebubekir , Karadag Abdullah
Published: October 2011

Serratia ficaria was first described in 1979 as a Gram-negative facultative anaerobic rod. S. ficaria was found in figs, but also isolated from human specimens in a few cases. We now report an isolate of S. ficaria from sputum specimen.A 46-year-old man was suffering from a chronic renal failure of five years, four months of peritoneal dialysis and one week of fever due to respiratory tract infection, accompanied by cough. Sputum culture yielded a Gram-negative rod. It was identified as S. ficaria and the antibiotic susceptibility test was performed by automated Vitek II (bioMerieux). The tested S. ficaria strain was susceptible to amikacin, gentamicin, cefepime, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, imipenem, meropenem, tigecycline and ciprofloxacin. This strain was resistant to ampicillin, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, cephalothin, cefoxitine, cefuroxime and ceftriaxone. The patient was treated successfully (80 mg trimethoprim/400 mg sulfamethoxazole twice daily for 7 days)S. ficaria is an opportunistic pathogen responsible for intestinal colonization or serious infections such as septicaemia, gall bladder empyema in immunocompromised patients. The fig tree and fig play an important role in human colonization. It should be remembered that S. ficaria infections may be encountered frequently especially in fig tree culture zones.
Finitely approximate groups and actions Part I: The Ribes–Zalesskiĭ property
Authors: Rosendal Christian
Published: October 2011

We investigate extensions of S. Solecki's theorem on closing off finite partial isometries of metric spaces [11] and obtain the following exact equivalence: any action of a discrete group Γ by isometries of a metric space is finitely approximable if and only if any product of finitely generated subgroups of Γ is closed in the profinite topology on Γ.
Finitely approximable groups and actions Part II: Generic representations
Authors: Rosendal Christian
Published: October 2011

Given a finitely generated group Γ we study the space Isom(Γ, ) of all actions of Γ by isometries of the rational Urysohn metric space , where Isom (Γ, ) is equipped with the topology it inherits seen as a closed subset of Isom . When Γ is the free group on n generators this space is just Isom , but is in general significantly more complicated. We prove that when Γ is finitely generated Abelian there is a generic point in Isom(Γ, ), i.e., there is a comeagre set of mutually conjugate isometric actions of Γ on .
Remarks on unimodularity
Authors: Kestner Charlotte , Pillay Anand
Published: October 2011

We clarify and correct some statements and results in the literature concerning unimodularity in the sense of Hrushovski [7], and measurability in the sense of Macpherson and Steinhorn [8], pointing out in particular that the two notions coincide for strongly minimal structures and that another property from [7] is strictly weaker, as well as “completing” Elwes' proof [5] that measurability implies 1-basedness for stable theories.
Phenolic content and antioxidant activity of Phymatopteris hastata
Authors: Su Wei , Li Peiyuan , Huo Lini , Wu Caiying , Guo Nana , Liu Liangquan
Published: October 2011

Various solvent extracts of Phymatopteris hastata, a traditional Chinese
medicinal material, were screened for their antioxidant activities. Four
systems of in vitro testing were employed to investigate the antiradical and
antioxidant effect, i.e., the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl (DPPH) and
2,2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) systems, the
hydroxyl radical scavenging assay and the reducing power. In addition,
butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), a widely used synthetic antioxidant, was also
studied for comparison. The results revealed that the ethyl acetate extract
exhibited outstanding antioxidant activities, which was close or even
superior to BHT. Furthermore, the total phenolic (TP) and total flavonoid
(TF) contents of different extracts were measured, expressed as gallic acid
and rutin equivalent, respectively. The antioxidant activities and the TP/TF
content of different extracts followed the same order: ethyl acetate extract
> butyl alcohol extract > petroleum ether extract, showing a good correlation
between the antioxidant activities and the TP/TF content. The results showed
that these extracts, especially the ethyl acetate extract, were rich in
phenolics and flavonoids and could be considered as natural antioxidants.
The first finding of the fig psylla Homotoma ficus L. (Hemiptera, Psylloidea, Homotomidae) in Serbia
Authors: Jerinic-Prodanovic Dusanka
Published: October 2011

The fig psylla Homotoma ficus (Homotomidae, Psylloidea) is reported for the
first time from Serbia where it has recently been found in 12 localities. It
is a Mediterranean species which has been introduced together with
cultivated fig plants also outside their original distributional range. It
can cause economic damage on its host in certain years. A diagnosis and
illustrations of adult, larva and egg of H. ficus are provided and
information is given on its distribution, life cycle and natural enemies in
Serbia.
Management of Leucinodes Orbonalis Guenee on Eggplants During the Rainy Season in India
Authors: Chakraborti Sudarshan , Sarkar Pijush
Published: October 2011

Management of Leucinodes Orbonalis Guenee on Eggplants During the Rainy Season in India

Leucinodes orbonalis Guenee (Pyraustidae: Lepidoptera) is a fruit and shoot borer which is the key pest of eggplant (also known as brinjal and aubergine). L. orbonalis causes broad-based problems in eggplant cultivation. An effort was made to control the borer during the Indian rainy season, as this is the time when the problem is at its worst. The impact of treatments on natural enemies as well as pollinators was also assessed. Integration of phytosanitation, mechanical control and prophylactic application of neem seed kernel extract (NSKE) exerted a satisfactory impact on the incidence and damage of L. orbonalis. After two need-based applications of new generation pesticide molecules like flubendiamide or rynaxypyr or emamectin benzoate, fairly good, healthy yields were produced. A ready-mix formulation (triazophos 40% + cypermethrin 4%), and carbofuran also offered good protection against the borer but both were found highly toxic and unsafe for predators i.e. predatory coccinellids and spiders and pollinating bees. Flubendiamide and rynaxypyr appeared comparatively more unsafe for bees than emamectin benzoate, while both allowed a substantial proportion of coccinellids and spiders to survive. Naturolyte, with the active ingredient emamectin benzoate, was found safe for predators and bees and on par with the untreated check.
New Record of Trichospilus Diatraeae Margabandhu & Cherian, 1942 (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) Parasitizing Sarsina Violascens (Herrich-Schaeffer, 1856) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) in Brazil
Authors: Zaché Bruno , da Costa Zaché Ronelza , de Souza Natália , Dias Thaíse , Wilcken Carlos
Published: October 2011

New Record ofTrichospilus DiatraeaeMargabandhu & Cherian, 1942 (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) ParasitizingSarsina Violascens(Herrich-Schaeffer, 1856) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) in Brazil

This is the first report ofTrichospilus diatraeae(Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) found in the field, parasitizing pupae of the eucalyptus defoliatingSarsina violascens(Herrich-Schaeffer, 1856) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) in Brazil. This offers a new perspectives for the use of this parasitoid in biological control programs against caterpillars of forestry importance.
Interleukin 18 gene promoter polymorphisms in Latvian patients with rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: Mihailova Anna , Mikažāne Helena , Kloviņs Jānis , Ņikitina-Zaķe Liene
Published: October 2011

Interleukin 18 gene promoter polymorphisms in Latvian patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Interleukin 18 (IL-18) is a proinflammatory cytokine involved in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). There are controversial reports suggesting that IL-18 promoter polymorphisms may be an independent marker of RA susceptibility. The aim of the present study was to determine whether polymorphisms of the IL-18 gene promoter in positions -607 (rs 1946519) and -656 (rs 1946518) are associated with RA, and its characteristics in the Latvian population. We examined 105 patients with RA diagnosed according to the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology. DNA and phenotypic data from a healthy control population was obtained from Genome Database of Latvian Population. Genotypes were obtained by direct sequencing. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were studied and frequencies of alleles and genotypes were compared between patients and controls. A P value less than 0.05 was accepted as statistically significant. There were no significant differences in the distribution of alleles and genotypes between RA patients and the control group. The frequencies of IL-18-607C/A and -656G/T genotypes differed between patients and the control group in women (P = 0.084 and 0.097). Heterozygous genotypes -607CA and -656GT occurred more frequently in the RA group than in the control (P = 0.046, P = 0.060), and this difference was also significant for the only women groups (P = 0.041,P = 0.054). The heterozygous states -607CA and -656GT of IL-18 gene affect susceptibility to RA. On the basis of investigated IL-18 polymorphisms, female patients with RA seem to represent a separate disease subgroup.
Impact of coastal inundation on ecology and agricultural land use case study in central Java, Indonesia
Authors: Marfai Muh
Published: October 2011

Impact of coastal inundation on ecology and agricultural land use case study in central Java, Indonesia

Focusing on the regional scale, this study provides information concerning the existing ecological problems associated with coastal inundation in the northern part of coastal area in Central Java Province, Indonesia. The objectives of this paper are to map the coastal inundation, to investigate the impact of coastal inundation on coastal environment and ecology, and to assess the impact of inundation on agricultural land use. An integration of techniques, namely neighborhood analysis, iteration operation, and superimposed analysis method has been applied to generate the digital map and to analyze the impact of inundation. Fieldwork measurement has been done using cross-profiling in order to observe the impact of inundation on the coastal ecosystem. Based on the scenario of 100 cm and 150 cm of inundation, the affected area is about 15 207.6 Ha and 16 687.31 Ha, respectively. Fishpond, dry farming and paddy field are the most affected agricultural areas due to coastal inundation.
Geomorphological processes in channel heads initiated by groundwater outflows (The Parsęta catchment, north-western Poland)
Authors: Mazurek Małgorzata
Published: October 2011

Geomorphological processes in channel heads initiated by groundwater outflows (The Parsęta catchment, north-western Poland)

Channel initiation is caused by a combination of various hydrogeomorphic processes. In the humid temperate zone of the Polish Plain, in areas with permeable deposits, seepage erosion is the primary mechanism of stream channel initiation. In the 24 channel heads selected in the southern part of the Parsęta catchment (NW Poland), the zones of occurrence of the following processes were identified: (1) seepage erosion; (2) falls, dry ravel events and slides; (3) creep, solifluction, surface runoff and erosion; (4) channel processes; and (5) landforms created under the impact of plants and animals. The co-occurrence of various morphogenetic processes produces variations in the accumulation conditions, and as a result, a diversity of deposits. Channel heads morphology shows the effect of the topography of the zero-discharge catchment, the type and magnitude of groundwater outflows, the variability of the geological structure, and the possibility of material being removed from the alcoves.
Morphology of the immature stages of Thryogenes festucae (Herbst, 1795) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)
Authors: Gosik Rafał
Published: October 2011

Morphology of the immature stages of Thryogenes festucae (Herbst, 1795) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

The article contains the first detailed and illustrated description of the larva and pupa of Thryogenes festucae (Herbst, 1795). Diagnostic characters of immature stages, keys for determinations, and notes on the life-cycle and ecology of this species are also presented.
Hoplandrothrips famelicus (Priesner, 1926) (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae) - a thrips new to the Polish fauna
Authors: Kucharczyk Halina , Sałapa Dorota , Grochowska Maria
Published: October 2011

Hoplandrothrips famelicus (Priesner, 1926) (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae) - a thrips new to the Polish fauna

Hoplandrothrips famelicus (Priesner, 1926) is recorded for the first time in Poland and the third time in Europe. Adult females and males have been found in galls of Lipara Meigen, 1830 on Phragmites australis. The diagnostic characters, distribution and biology of this species are presented and discussed.
Quantifying Strain on Posterior Shoulder Tissues During 5 Simulated Clinical Tests : A Cadaver Study
Authors: Borstad John D. , Dashottar Amitabh
Published: October 2011

Study Design

Controlled laboratory study using a repeated-measures approach.

Objective

To quantify the amount of strain on cadaver posterior shoulder tissues during simulated clinical tests across different tissue conditions.

Background

Several clinical tests are used to quantify posterior glenohumeral joint (GHJ) tissue tightness; however, the ability of these tests to directly assess the flexibility or tightness of the posterior capsule has not been evaluated.

Methods

The middle and lower regions of the posterior shoulder tissues were instrumented with strain gauges on 8 cadaver shoulder specimens. Strain was quantified on the posterior shoulder muscles, on the native posterior GHJ capsule (baseline condition), and on the posterior GHJ capsule after it was experimentally contracted using thermal energy. Five simulated clinical tests were compared across each of the 3 conditions: humerus cross-body adduction, and GHJ internal rotation with the humerus positioned in 4 combinations of plane and elevation angle. Repeated-measures analyses of variance were used to compare strain measured during the 5 simulated clinical tests across the 3 conditions, and to evaluate the change in strain after contracting the posterior capsule.

Results

There was a statistically significant interaction between tests and conditions for the middle region of the posterior shoulder. In the experimentally contracted condition, strain was greater when GHJ internal rotation was added to humerus flexion than when GHJ internal rotation was added to humerus abduction. There was a statistically significant main effect of tests at the lower region of the posterior shoulder, with internal rotation in abduction and internal rotation in the GHJ resting position demonstrating greater strain than cross-body adduction. The percent change in strain between the baseline and contracted capsule conditions did not reach statistical significance at either region.

Conclusion

Strain on an experimentally contracted posterior GHJ capsule is highest when tested with a combination of GHJ internal rotation and humerus flexion. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2011;41(2):90–99, Epub 10 November 2010. doi:10.2519/jospt.2011.3357
The Online Construction of Personal Identity Through Trust and Privacy
Authors: Durante Massimo
Published: October 2011

Constructing a personal identity is an activity much more complex than elaborating a series of online profiles, which are only digital hints of the Self. The construction of our personal identity is a context-mediated activity. Our hypothesis is that young people are enabled, as digital natives and social network users, to co-construct the “context of communication” in which their narrative identities will be interpreted and understood. In particular, the aim of this paper is to show that such “context of communication”, which can be seen as the hermeneutical counterpart of the “networked publics” elaborated by Danah Boyd, emerges out of the tension between trust and privacy. In other terms, it is, on the one hand, the outcome of a web of trustful relations and, on the other, the framework in which the informational norms regulating teens’ expectations of privacy protection are set and evaluated. However, these expectations can be frustrated, since the information produced in such contexts can be disembedded and re-contextualized across time. The general and widespread use of information technology is, in fact, challenging our traditional way of thinking about the world and our identities in terms of stable and durable structures; they are reconstituted, instead, into novel forms.
Fabrication of κ-Carrageenan Fibers by Wet Spinning: Spinning Parameters
Authors: Kong Lingyan , Ziegler Gregory R.
Published: October 2011

This study demonstrates the fabrication of κ-carrageenan fibers by a wet-spinning method and discusses three important spinning parameters: coagulation bath composition, spinning rate and post-spinning mechanical drawing. The as-spun fiber diameter decreased with KCl and ethanol concentration in the coagulation bath. In general, the ultimate tensile stress and elongation at break both increased for KCl concentration from 0.1 to 0.5 M with and without ethanol, with no significant change above 0.5 M. Spinning rate affected the dope flow and thus the polymer orientation (apparent viscosity) and fiber morphology. At spinning rates between 0.25 mL/min and 0.33 mL/min, the fiber diameter reached a minimum and the fiber surface was smooth. Both an increase and decrease from this spinning rate range increased the fiber diameter and roughness of the fiber surface. Post-spinning drawing of the fiber resulted in even smaller fiber diameter.
Pharmacological and Biological Antiviral Therapeutics for Cardiac Coxsackievirus Infections
Authors: Fechner Henry , Pinkert Sandra , Geisler Anja , Poller Wolfgang , Kurreck Jens
Published: October 2011

Subtype B coxsackieviruses (CVB) represent the most commonly identified infectious agents associated with acute and chronic myocarditis, with CVB3 being the most common variant. Damage to the heart is induced both directly by virally mediated cell destruction and indirectly due to the immune and autoimmune processes reacting to virus infection. This review addresses antiviral therapeutics for cardiac coxsackievirus infections discovered over the last 25 years. One group represents pharmacologically active low molecular weight substances that inhibit virus uptake by binding to the virus capsid (e.g., pleconaril) or inactivate viral proteins (e.g., NO-metoprolol and ribavirin) or inhibit cellular proteins which are essential for viral replication (e.g., ubiquitination inhibitors). A second important group of substances are interferons. They have antiviral but also immunomodulating activities. The third and most recently discovered group includes biological and cellular therapeutics. Soluble receptor analogues (e.g., sCAR-Fc) bind to the virus capsid and block virus uptake. Small interfering RNAs, short hairpin RNAs and antisense oligonucleotides bind to and led to degradation of the viral RNA genome or cellular RNAs, thereby preventing their translation and viral replication. Most recently mesenchymal stem cell transplantation has been shown to possess antiviral activity in CVB3 infections. Taken together, a number of antiviral therapeutics has been developed for the treatment of myocardial CVB infection in recent years. In addition to low molecular weight inhibitors, biological therapeutics have become promising anti-viral agents.