bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Administration of testosterone to elderly hypogonadal men with Crohn's disease improves their Crohn's Disease Activity Index: a pilot study
Authors: Haider Ahmad , Kurtz Winfried , Giltay Erik J. , Gooren Louis J. , Saad Farid
Published: August 2010

Background: Both elevated and depressed testosterone (T) levels have been reported in Crohn's disease (CD). In this pilot study, effects of T administration on CD were assessed.

Materials and methods: A total of 13 men with CD, aged 45–67 years, had subnormal plasma T (mean±SD=9.0±1.4 nmol/L) (reference >12.0); they were compared to a group of 110 men of similar age with sexual and urological problems whose plasma T was also subnormal: 10.4±1.4 nmol/L (p=0.02). All received treatment with parenteral T undecanoate for 24 months. The Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI) was assessed as an indicator of the severity of the disease every 3 months. Levels of T and C-reactive protein (CRP) were compared between the 13 men with CD and the other men in this study. Values of CDAI and CRP were followed-up.

Results: CRP levels were 22.7 mg/dL (95% confidence interval of the mean: 14.9–34.3) in the 13 men with CD vs. 3.5 (2.9–4.1) in 107 control men (p=0.001). Upon normalization of serum T, there was a significant decline of CDAI (from 243±19 to 89±9), CRP levels from 22.7±8.1 to 6.9±2.9 mg/dL, and white blood cell count. Hemoglobin/hematocrit increased significantly.

Conclusions: Upon normalization of plasma T the CDAI and CRP levels decreased in hypogonadal patients with CD. The mechanism of this improvement could be through immunosuppressive effects of T, reducing chronic inflammation of the intestinal wall in CD.
Comparison of oral versus transdermal testosterone supplementation in hypogonadal men
Authors: Raynaud Jean-Pierre , Colle Michel , Pujos-Gautraud Michèle , Lemaire Antoine , Auzerie Jack , Gardette Jean
Published: August 2010

Objective: To compare mean serum total testosterone, bioavailable-testosterone, and dihydrotestosterone levels between transdermal testosterone and oral testosterone undecanoate treatment.

Methods: Multicentre, randomized, cross-over study; 44 men >18 years, testosterone ≤2.5 ng/mL. Two patches (Testopatch®) every other day in the morning or two capsules Pantestone®40 mg bid in each 22-day period. Hormone serum levels of four blood samples over the first and last 48 h of each treatment period.

Results: Mean age 49 years. Mean testosterone before inclusion 1.99 ng/mL. Mean testosterone serum levels over the last 48 h of Testopatch treatment were superior to Pantestone (4.64 vs. 2.58 ng/mL, p<0.001). Testosterone trough levels at the end of each treatment period were significantly higher for Testopatch (3.15 vs. 2.45 ng/mL, p<0.01). Bioavailable-testosterone levels over the first and last 48 h of treatment were significantly greater with Testopatch than with Pantestone (p=0.001 and p<0.01). Dihydrotestosterone levels over the first and last 48 h of treatment (0.71 vs. 1.05 ng/mL and 0.68 vs. 0.89 ng/mL) as well as at trough (0.59 vs. 0.96 ng/mL) were significantly lower with Testopatch than with Pantestone (p<0.001, p<0.05, and p<0.001). SHBG levels decreased by Pantestone but not by Testopatch (p<0.001).

Conclusions: Testopatch was superior to Pantestone to increase testosterone and bioavailable-testosterone levels in hypogonadal men from the first days and throughout the three weeks of treatment. Pantestone increased dihydrotestosterone to a larger extent and decreased SHBG.
A Review of ASHRAE Standard 160—Criteria for Moisture Control Design Analysis in Buildings
Authors: TenWolde Anton
Published: August 2010

Many of our current recommendations for moisture and condensation control are not based on quantitative analysis under a consistent set of design assumptions, even though a growing number of computer tools are beginning to make such analysis practical. To address this issue, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) published ASHRAE Standard 160, “Criteria for Moisture-Control Design Analysis in Buildings,” in January 2009. The standard provides performance-based procedures and criteria for moisture design analysis for buildings. It sets criteria for moisture design loads, moisture analysis methods, and satisfactory building performance. The standard can be used for the design analysis of the building envelope or to help guide specifications for HVAC equipment and controls. Eventually, it should form the basis for prescriptive moisture design rules based on a uniform set of design assumptions and loads. It is intended to help reduce building failures in service, provide consistency in design approach and recommendations, offer more flexibility in design for moisture control and better ability to incorporate new materials, and provide greater transparency by requiring reporting of design assumptions. This paper describes the rationale behind this standard, what is in it, its potential uses, and areas of uncertainties. A standing ASHRAE Standard Project Committee has now been formed to update the standard. The paper discusses some of the main changes that are likely to occur in the next update.
Enhanced Performance in Vapor O-Methylation of Hydroxybenzene Over a Noval Kind of Mesoporous Rare Earth Phosphate
Authors: Zhang Zhen , Liu Qingbo , Yang Xiangguang , Zhang Xiangping , Zhang Suojiang
Published: August 2010

Mesoporous rare earth phosphates (MREPs) have been prepared by template method. The mesoporous structure of these materials has been characterized by XRD and TEM measurement. The catalytic performance of these materials in vapor O-methylation of hydroxybenzene has been investigated. These MREPs show higher performance in O-methylation of hydroxybenzene than the materials prepared without template. The excellent performance of these MREPs could be ascribed to their porous structure and much more amount of active sites.
Estimation of Lacking Standard Thermodynamic Data of Peroxodisulfates at 0–50 °C
Authors: Balej Jan
Published: August 2010

Estimated standard formation enthalpies and standard entropies of solid sodium and ammonium peroxodisulfate enabled to estimate standard Gibbs formation energies of these substances in the solid state at 25 °C. Their reliability was checked on the basis of the thermodynamic condition for the equilibrium between the solid substance and its saturated solution, in combination with estimated mean activity coefficients of the saturated solutions and with reliable data of standard Gibbs formation energies in the aqueous solutions. Using suitable estimation methods for the temperature dependence of the appropriate C°p data, the corresponding values Δf
H° and Δf
G° of sodium, potassium and ammonium peroxodisulfates in the standard solid and aqueous state at 0–50 °C have been derived.
Pressure Dependence of Iso-Propyl Nitrate Formation in the i-C3H7O2 + NO Reaction
Authors: Butkovskaya N. I. , Kukui A. , Le Bras G.
Published: August 2010

The branching ratio β = k1b/k1a for the formation of iso-propyl nitrate, i-C3H7ONO2, in the gas-phase reaction of i-C3H7O2 with NO, i-C3H7O2 + NO → i-C3H7O + NO2 (1a), i-C3H7O2 + NO → i-C3H7ONO2 (1b), was determined over the pressure range 55–500 Torr at 298 K using a high-pressure turbulent flow reactor coupled with a chemical ionization quadrupole mass-spectrometer. The β coefficient was found to increase linearly with pressure from about 0.6% at 55 Torr to about 3% at 500 Torr. The atmospheric implication of the results obtained is briefly discussed.
Heterogeneous Chemistry of Cl2O and HOCl on Frozen Natural Sea Salt, Recrystallized Sea Salt, KCl and NaCl Solutions at 200 and 215 K
Authors: Pratte Pascal , Rossi Michel J.
Published: August 2010

The HOCl heterogeneous reaction on frozen natural (NSS) and recrystallized (RSS) sea salt, KCl and NaCl solutions was studied using a low pressure flow reactor in order to measure the uptake coefficient γ and products of reaction. The HOCl sample used in these experiments always contained up to 25% Cl2O which was also studied separately as a pure gas in order to understand the heterogeneous chemistry of both gases. By performing HOCl uptake on frozen NSS solution at 200 K and a gas-phase residence time of (1.6±0.6) s we obtained a steady state uptake coefficient γHOCl on NSS = (2.5±0.7)×10-3 and γCl2O on NSS = (2.8±0.8)×10-3. On frozen KCl solution at 200 K we obtain γHOCl on KCl = (2.8±1.3)×10-3, identical to NSS, and γCl2O on KCl = (4.6±0.8)×10-4. The main product formed during the uptake on frozen NSS solution is Cl2 which is sustained for at least one hour. In contrast, only a transient Cl2 flow (pulse) decreasing on the time scale of 100 s was observed on frozen KCl (NaCl) solution. 25±10 % of the HOCl taken up on all chloride-containing frozen substrates at 200 K react to produce Cl2 at high HOCl concentration (4.5×1011 molecule cm-3) and at a residence time of 1.6 s in comparison with twice that for Cl2O. For smaller concentrations such as [HOCl] = 3.7×1010 molecule cm-3 and/or a shorter residence time (0.137±0.004s), HOCl uptake did not generate Cl2 in contrast to Cl2O. A single Br2 burst event was monitored when a Cl2O or HOCl/Cl2O mixture is taken up on fresh frozen NSS solution during the first uptake at 200 K. Further Cl2O or HOCl/Cl2O uptake on the same sample, even after annealing at 240 K does not show an additional Br2 pulse. This Br2 release may be significant in the autocatalytic ozone destruction mechanism in the troposphere during polar sunrise. Some of the atmospheric implications of the present results are highlighted with emphasis on the preequilibrium Cl2O(ads) + H2O(ice) ↔ 2 HOCl(ads) between adsorbed HOCl and Cl2O, with the latter being the gateway to reactive uptake of HOCl at low temperatures.
Atmospheric Heterogeneous Reactions of Benzo(a)pyrene
Authors: Cazaunau M. , Le Ménach K. , Budzinski H. , Villenave E.
Published: August 2010

This experimental study deals with heterogeneous reactions of benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) with ozone, nitrogen dioxide and hydroxyl radicals. BaP was adsorbed on silica particles chosen here as a model of mineral atmospheric particles. Compound extractions were assisted by focused microwave and analyses were performed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectroscopy in single ion monitoring mode. Pseudo-first order rate constants were obtained from the fit of experimental decays of particulate-BaP concentration versus reaction time. Second order rate constants were determined considering the different oxidant gaseous concentrations except for the case of hydroxyl radicals where only a pseudo-first order rate constant was proposed. Values obtained at room temperature are (2.1±0.5)×10−15 cm3 molecule−1 s−1 for (BaP + ozone), (5.8±1.4)×10−16 cm3 molecule−1 s−1 for (BaP + nitrogen dioxide) and (3.4±0.8)×10−2 s−1 for (BaP + OH) reactions. Products have only been investigated for the NO2 and the OH (in the presence of NOx) reactions. 1-, 3- and 6-nitrobenzo(a)pyrenes were detected as degradation products and quantified. Reaction rate constants for product formation are (3.7±0.9)×10−16 cm3 molecule−1 s−1 for 6-NBaP, (2.2±0.6)×10−17 cm3 molecule−1 s−1 for 1-NBaP and (5.3±1.3)×10−17 cm3 molecule−1 s−1 for 3-NBaP. 1-, 3- and 6-nitroBaP account respectively for approximately 5%, 12% and 83% of total nitrated species. If in the presence of only nitrogen dioxide, BaP was totally degraded within few minutes, only 20 to 25 % of the initial BaP led to nitrated compounds when reacting with OH (in the presence of NOx).
Interaction of NO2 with Soot: Oxidation and Gasification at Temperatures Between 300 and 670 K
Authors: Pashkova Aneta , Seisel Sabine
Published: August 2010

In this study the interaction of NO2 with ethylene soot particles has been studied in a temperature from 300 to 670 K and NO2 concentrations ranging from 5 · 1010 molecules cm−3 to 5 · 1012 molecules cm−3. The adsorption of NO2 takes place in the whole temperature range studied with a mean initial uptake coefficient of (5.9±1.0) · 10−2 independent of temperature and gas phase concentration. At low temperatures HONO and NO are formed as gas phase products. At higher temperatures NO and CO2 have been observed as gaseous products indicating the oxidation and gasification of soot. For the NO and CO2 forming reaction an activation energy of EA = (44.7±8.2) · kJ mol−1 has been determined.
Adiposity and insulin resistance correlate with telomere length in middle-aged Arabs: the influence of circulating adiponectin
Authors: Al-Attas Omar S , Al-Daghri Nasser M , Alokail Majed S , Alfadda Assim , Bamakhramah Ahmed , Sabico Shaun , Pritlove Dave , Harte Alison , Tripathi Gyanendra , McTernan Philip G , Kumar Sudhesh , Chrousos George
Published: August 2010

Objective

Studies in obesity have implicated adipocytokines in the development of insulin resistance, which in turn may lead to accelerated aging. In this study, we determined associations of chromosomal telomere length (TL) to markers of obesity and insulin resistance in middle-aged adult male and female Arabs with and without diabetes mellitus type 2 (DMT2).

Design and methods

One hundred and ninety-three non-diabetic and DMT2 subjects without complications (97 males and 96 females) participated in this cross-sectional study. Clinical data, as well as fasting blood samples, were collected. Serum glucose and lipid profile were determined using routine laboratory methods. Serum insulin, leptin, adiponectin, resistin, tumor necrosis factor-α, and PAI-1 were quantified using customized multiplex assay kits. High sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and angiotensin II (ANG II) were measured using ELISAs. Circulating leukocyte TL was examined by quantitative real-time PCR.

Results

Circulating chromosomal leukocyte TL had significant inverse associations with body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure, fasting insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), low-density lipoprotein (LDL)- and total cholesterol, ANG II and hsCRP levels. Adiponectin, BMI, systolic blood pressure, and LDL cholesterol predicted 47% of the variance in TL (P<0.0001). HOMA-IR was the most significant predictor for TL in males, explaining 35% of the variance (P=0.01). In females, adiponectin accounted for 28% of the variance in TL (P=0.01).

Conclusion

Obesity and insulin resistance are associated with chromosomal TL among adult Arabs. Evidence of causal relations needs further investigation. The positive association of adiponectin to TL has clinical implications as to the possible protective effects of this hormone from accelerated aging.
Genomic Admixture Analysis in European Populus spp. Reveals Unexpected Patterns of Reproductive Isolation and Mating
Authors: Lexer Christian , Joseph Jeffrey A , van Loo Marcela , Barbará Thelma , Heinze Berthold , Bartha Denes , Castiglione Stefano , Fay Michael F , Buerkle C Alex
Published: August 2010

Admixture between genetically divergent populations facilitates genomic studies of the mechanisms involved in adaptation, reproductive isolation, and speciation, including mapping of the loci involved in these phenomena. Little is known about how pre- and postzygotic barriers will affect the prospects of “admixture mapping” in wild species. We have studied 93 mapped genetic markers (microsatellites, indels, and sequence polymorphisms, ∼60,000 data points) to address this topic in hybrid zones of Populus alba and P. tremula, two widespread, ecologically important forest trees. Using genotype and linkage information and recently developed analytical tools we show that (1) reproductive isolation between these species is much stronger than previously assumed but this cannot prevent the introgression of neutral or advantageous alleles, (2) unexpected genotypic gaps exist between recombinant hybrids and their parental taxa, (3) these conspicuous genotypic patterns are due to assortative mating and strong postzygotic barriers, rather than recent population history. We discuss possible evolutionary trajectories of hybrid lineages between these species and outline strategies for admixture mapping in hybrid zones between highly divergent populations. Datasets such as this one are still rare in studies of natural hybrid zones but should soon become more common as high throughput genotyping and resequencing become feasible in nonmodel species.
Reducing Childhood Mortality From Diarrhea and Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in Brazil
Authors: Rasella Davide , Aquino Rosana , Barreto Mauricio L.
Published: August 2010

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the effects of the Family Health Program (FHP), a strategy for reorganization of primary health care in Brazil, on mortality of children younger than 5 years, particularly from diarrheal diseases and lower respiratory tract infections.

METHODS:

Mortality rates and the extent of FHP coverage from 2000 to 2005 was evaluated from the 2601 (of 5507) Brazilian municipalities with an adequate quality of vital information. A multivariable regression analysis for panel data was conducted by using a negative binomial model with fixed effects, adjusted for relevant demographic and socioeconomic covariates.

RESULTS:

A statistically significant negative association was observed between FHP coverage levels, classified as none (the reference category), low (<30%), intermediate (≥30% and <70%), or high (≥70%), and all analyzed mortality rates, with a reduction of 4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2%–6%), 9% (95% CI: 7%–12%), and 13% (95% CI: 10%–15%), respectively, on mortality rates or children younger than 5. The greatest effect was on postneonatal mortality. Reductions of 31% (95% CI: 20%–40%) and 19% (95% CI: 8%–28%) in mortality rates from diarrheal diseases and lower respiratory infections, respectively, were found in the group of municipalities with the highest FHP coverage.

CONCLUSIONS:

The FHP, one of the largest comprehensive primary health care programs in the world, was effective in reducing overall mortality of children younger than 5, and particularly deaths related to diarrheal diseases and lower respiratory tract infections.
DMSA Scan for Revealing Vesicoureteral Reflux in Young Children With Urinary Tract Infection
Authors: Fouzas Sotirios , Krikelli Erifyli , Vassilakos Pavlos , Gkentzi Despoina , Papanastasiou Dimitrios A. , Salakos Christos
Published: August 2010

OBJECTIVES:

The objective of this study was to assess the ability of acute dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) scintigraphy for revealing vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) in young children after a first febrile urinary tract infection (UTI).

METHODS:

Children aged ≤24 months and were admitted with a first febrile UTI during a 5-year period were evaluated. The ability of acute DMSA scintigraphy to reveal dilating (grades 3–5) or severe (grades 4–5) VUR was assessed by comparing DMSA scan findings with those of voiding cystourethrography.

RESULTS:

Of the 296 children included, 46 had dilating and 25 severe VUR. Abnormal DMSA scan results were associated with an odds ratio of 4.36 for dilating and 5.50 for severe VUR. For detecting dilating VUR, the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.68, the positive likelihood ratio (LR) was 2.00, and the negative LR was 0.46; for severe VUR, those values were 0.69, 2.10, and 0.38, respectively. Children with abnormal DMSA scan results combined with abnormal ultrasonography had an odds ratio of 3.60 for dilating and 6.32 for severe VUR. Despite normal findings on both investigations, 12 children had dilating and 4 severe VUR. For dilating VUR, the area under the (AUC) was 0.65, the positive LR was 1.70, and the negative LR was 0.47; for severe VUR, the values were 0.69, 1.90, and 0.29, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS:

Our data suggest that acute DMSA scintigraphy has limited overall ability in identifying VUR and should not be endorsed as replacement for voiding cystourethrography in the evaluation of young children with a first febrile UTI.
Frequency, not relative abundance, of temperate tree species varies along climate gradients in eastern North America
Authors: Canham Charles D. , Thomas R. Quinn
Published: August 2010

There have been many attempts to model the impacts of climate change on the distributions of temperate tree species, but empirical analyses of the effects of climate on the distribution and abundance of tree species have lagged far behind the models. Here, we used forest inventory data to characterize variation in adult tree abundance along climate gradients for the 24 most common tree species in the northeastern United States. The two components of our measure of species abundance—local frequency vs. relative abundance—showed dramatically different patterns of variation along gradients of mean annual temperature and precipitation. Local frequency (i.e., the percentage of plots in a given climate in which a species occurred) varied strongly for all 24 species, particularly as a function of temperature. Relative abundance when present in a plot, on the other hand, was effectively constant for most species right up to their estimated climatic range limits. Although the range limits for both temperature and precipitation were quite broad for all of the species, the range of climates within which a species was common (i.e., high frequency) was much narrower. Because frequency in sites within a given climate shows a strong sensitivity to temperature, at least, this suggests that the processes determining canopy tree recruitment on new sites also vary strongly with climate.
STIMULUS EFFECTS ON LOCAL PREFERENCE: STIMULUS—RESPONSE CONTINGENCIES, STIMULUS—FOOD PAIRING, AND STIMULUS—FOOD CORRELATION
Authors: Davison Michael , Baum William M.
Published: August 2010

Four pigeons were trained in a procedure in which concurrent‐schedule food ratios changed unpredictably across seven unsignaled components after 10 food deliveries. Additional green‐key stimulus presentations also occurred on the two alternatives, sometimes in the same ratio as the component food ratio, and sometimes in the inverse ratio. In eight experimental conditions, we varied the contingencies surrounding these additional stimuli: In two conditions, stimulus onset and offset were noncontingent; in another two, stimulus onset was noncontingent, and offset was response contingent. In four conditions, both stimulus onset and offset were contingent, and in two of these conditions the stimulus was simultaneously paired with food delivery. Sensitivity to component food ratios was significantly higher when stimulus onset was response contingent compared to when it was noncontingent. Choice changes following food delivery were similar in all eight conditions. Choice changes following stimuli were smaller than those following food, and directionally were completely determined by the food‐ratio:stimulus‐ratio correlation, not by the stimulus contingency nor by whether the stimulus was paired with food or not. These results support the idea that conditional reinforcers may best be viewed as signals for next‐food location rather than as stimuli that have acquired hedonic value, at least when the signals are differential with respect to future conditions.
Hydroxyapatite as an In‐Office Agent for Tooth Hypersensitivity: A Clinical and Scanning Electron Microscopic Study
Authors: Shetty Shreya , Kohad Ramesh , Yeltiwar Ramreddy
Published: August 2010

Background: Pain caused by hypersensitivity is very common and a variety of agents have been tried and tested to put an end to this ailment, but with limited or short‐term success. The search for an agent that would predictably and permanently occlude the tubules and blend with them has prompted the use of durapatite/hydroxyapatite (HAP), which is the principal inorganic constituent of the tooth.

Methods: A total of 486 hypersensitive teeth in 45 patients with hypersensitive symptoms confirmed by visual analog scale and verbal rating scale were divided into four groups. Two were treated with HAP in two forms (dry sol gel and liquid precipitate form), and the other two groups included a positive control group (distilled water) and a negative control group (no treatment). The responses were evaluated at 0 and 1 days, and 1, 2, 4, and 8 weeks, for all groups. Ten freshly extracted teeth were prepared and treated as mentioned previously and subjected to scanning electron microscopy to assess the tubule occlusion.

Results: HAP‐treated teeth showed statistically significant reduction in hypersensitive symptoms (P <0.001) compared to the other groups at the end of 1 day and 1, 2, and 4 weeks, but at the end of 8 weeks all four groups showed no statistical differences (P <0.5). The scanning electron microscopic study showed completely obliterated dentinal tubules in the HAP‐treated specimens, whereas the other groups showed predominantly open or partially occluded tubules.

Conclusions: HAP shows definite potential as an effective and permanent desensitizer when used as an in‐office procedure. However, further long‐term studies and comparative clinical trials with other popular desensitizing methods need to be carried out to prove its superiority.
Association Between Periodontal Disease and Osteoporosis in Postmenopausal Women in Jordan
Authors: Al Habashneh Rola , Alchalabi Haifa'a , Khader Yousef S. , Hazza'a A.M. , Odat Ziad , Johnson Georgia K.
Published: August 2010

Background: Some studies suggest that females with osteoporosis are at an increased risk of periodontal attachment loss and tooth loss; however, results have varied. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between periodontitis and osteoporosis among postmenopausal Jordanian women.

Methods: This cross‐sectional study includes 400 Jordanian postmenopausal women with a mean age of 62.5 years (SD ± 6.4 years). These subjects were recruited from patients who had received a routine dual‐energy x‐ray absorptiometry examination in the Radiology Department, King Abdullah Hospital, Jordan University of Science and Technology, between June 2008 and February 2009. The relationship between skeletal bone mineral density (BMD) and radiographic and clinical parameters of periodontal status, including the loss of alveolar crestal height (ACH), clinical attachment level, probing depth, and percentage of sites with bleeding on probing, was evaluated after controlling for known confounders.

Results: Bivariate analyses revealed no significant differences in the severity and extent of clinical attachment and ACH loss among women with normal BMD, osteopenia, and osteoporosis. However, in the multivariate analysis, women with osteoporosis were more likely to have severe ACH loss (odds ratio [OR]: 4.20; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.57 to 11.22) and periodontitis (OR: 2.45; 95% CI: 1.38 to 4.34).

Conclusion: Osteoporosis was significantly associated with severe alveolar crestal bone loss and the prevalence of periodontitis cases in postmenopausal Jordanian women.
Analysis of Complications Following Augmentation With Cancellous Block Allografts
Authors: Chaushu Gavriel , Mardinger Ofer , Peleg Michael , Ghelfan Oded , Nissan Joseph
Published: August 2010

Background: Bone grafting may be associated with soft and hard tissue complications. Recipient site complications encountered using cancellous block allografts for ridge augmentation are analyzed.

Methods: A total of 101 consecutive patients (62 females and 39 males; mean age 44 ± 17 years) were treated with implant‐supported restoration of 137 severe atrophic alveolar ridges augmented with cancellous bone‐block allografts. Alveolar ridge deficiency locations were classified as anterior maxilla (n = 58); posterior maxilla (n = 32 sinuses); posterior mandible (n = 32); and anterior mandible (n = 15). A total of 271 rough‐surface implants were placed. Recipient site complications associated with block grafting (infection, membrane exposure, incision line opening, perforation of mucosa over the grafted bone, partial graft failure, total graft failure, and implant failure) were recorded.

Results: Partial and total bone‐block graft failure occurred in 10 (7%) and 11 (8%) of 137 augmented sites, respectively. Implant failure rate was 12 (4.4%) of 271. Soft tissue complications included membrane exposure (42 [30.7%] of 137); incision line opening (41 [30%] of 137); and perforation of the mucosa over the grafted bone (19 [14%] of 137). Infection of the grafted site occurred in 18 (13%) of 137 bone blocks. Alveolar ridge deficiency location had a statistically significant effect on the outcome of recipient site complications. More complications were noted in the mandible compared to the maxilla. Age and gender had no statistically significant effect.

Conclusions: Failures caused by complications were rarely noted in association with cancellous block grafting. The incidence of complications in the mandible was significantly higher. Soft tissue complications do not necessarily result in total loss of cancellous block allograft.
N-nitrosamine formation during chlorination/chloramination of bromide-containing water
Authors: Chen Z. , Yang L. , Zhai X. , Zhao S. , Li A. , Shen J.
Published: August 2010

This study investigated the impact of bromide on the formation of N-nitrosamines during chlorination and chloramination, and tried to identify the reactive intermediates responsible for variations in the yield of N-nitrosamines. As an intermediate of the reaction between bromide and HOCl, bromine chloride (BrCl) may improve the yield of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) formation. But increasing the amount of bromide added would result in BrCl being converted into HOBr, which is a weaker oxidant than HOCl. This would result in less nitrite being formed, leading to a decreased yield of NDMA via the nitrosation pathway. When NH4+, was present with the bromide during chlorination, both the rate of formation and yield of N-nitrosamines were improved markedly by highly reactive bromamines. Interestingly, bromide had an inhibitory effect on NDMA formation during the chloramination process when tertiary alkylamines, such as 3-(Dimethylaminomethyl) indole (DMAI) and trimethylamine (TMA), were used as precursors. This phenomenon provides indirect evidence for the hypothesis that the pathway of NDMA formation using tertiary amines with DMA groups is different from that of NDMA formation using secondary alkylamines.
Do aluminium concentrations in drinking water inhibit cultivation of Escherichia coli?
Authors: Perez J. , Bérubé D. , Sattar S. A. , Unc A. , Springthorpe S.
Published: August 2010

In spite of reliance on Escherichia coli as an indicator of fecal pollution in water resources, including potable water, relatively little is known of its ecology and persistence. It is particularly important to be able to accurately detect E. coli presence and quantity in treated potable water because of potential human health effects from consumption of contaminated water. Presence of even a single E. coli in potable water can lead to significant consequences and costs for water utilities. Alum is frequently used as a coagulant in conventionally treated water, and is usually present in slight excess after treatment. We show here that E. coli can accumulate the Al3 +  ions present at natural levels in potable water and in so doing become uncultivable. Thus, E. coli, and perhaps a number of other bacteria, present in potable water could readily escape detection on laboratory culture media. Chelation with Tiron of the Al3 +  prior to exposure maintained the E. coli in a cultivable state. This phenomenon deserves further investigation in view of the reliance placed on E. coli as an indicator of fecal contamination.
Finger Motion Classification by Forearm Skin Surface Vibration Signals
Authors: Yu Wenwei , Kishi Toshiharu , Acharya U. Rajendra , Horiuchi Yuse , Gonzalez Jose
Published: August 2010

The development of prosthetic hand systems with both decoration and motion functionality for hand amputees has attracted wide research interests. Motion-related myoelectric potentials measured from the surface of upper part of forearms were mostly employed to construct the interface between amputees and prosthesis.

However, finger motions, which play a major role in dexterous hand activities, could not be recognized from surface EMG (Electromyogram) signals.

The basic idea of this study is to use motion-related surface vibration, to detect independent finger motions without using EMG signals. In this research, accelerometers were used in a finger tapping experiment to collect the finger motion related mechanical vibration patterns. Since the basic properties of the signals are unknown, a norm based, a correlation coefficient based, and a power spectrum based method were applied to the signals for feature extraction. The extracted features were then fed to back-propagation neural networks to classify for different finger motions.

The results showed that, the finger motion identification is possible by using the neural networks to recognize vibration patterns.
Classification of Upper Limb Motions from Around-Shoulder Muscle Activities: Hand Biofeedback
Authors: González Jose , Horiuchi Yuse , Yu Wenwei
Published: August 2010

Mining information from EMG signals to detect complex motion intention has attracted growing research attention, especially for upper-limb prosthetic hand applications. In most of the studies, recordings of forearm muscle activities were used as the signal sources, from which the intention of wrist and hand motions were detected using pattern recognition technology. However, most daily-life upper limb activities need coordination of the shoulder-arm-hand complex, therefore, relying only on the local information to recognize the body coordinated motion has many disadvantages because natural continuous arm-hand motions can’t be realized. Also, achieving a dynamical coupling between the user and the prosthesis will not be possible. This study objective was to investigate whether it is possible to associate the around-shoulder muscles’ Electromyogram (EMG) activities with the different hand grips and arm directions movements. Experiments were conducted to record the EMG of different arm and hand motions and the data were analyzed to decide the contribution of each sensor, in order to distinguish the arm-hand motions as a function of the reaching time. Results showed that it is possible to differentiate hand grips and arm position while doing a reaching and grasping task. Also, these results are of great importance as one step to achieve a close loop dynamical coupling between the user and the prosthesis.
The Nomadic Existence of the Eternal Improviser and Diasporic Co-Poiesis in the Era of Mega-Speed
Authors: Gurze'Ev Ilan
Published: August 2010

The history of transcendence and nomadism in face of the call for ‘home-returning’ is marked figuratively by four milestones: (1) the ‘era’ of immanence and dwelling in total harmony as a manifestation of self-sustained holiness; (2) the ‘era’ of relating to holiness by mediation of God, especially in the monotheistic religions; (3) the ‘era’ of killing-God-each-moment-anew as a path for regaining contact with holiness in Enlightenment's progress and the deification of humanity; and (4) the ‘era’ of the exile of the killer of God and the forgetfulness of the holy imperative of the progressive deification of humanity and the sacred work of killing-God-each-moment-anew. These four milestones are paralleled by growing changes and speeding of (de)constructions as part of the de-positioning of the human as dweller of this world or, alternatively, as a genuine Diasporic nomad. The current change in the history of human's search for itself, its meaning and its telos is realized in an historical moment of change: from rapid changes into an arena of mega-speed, an era in which the sacred work of killing-God-each-moment-anew is replaced by the exile of the killer of God and the forgetfulness of the humanist's telos within the immanence of the present dull anti-metaphysical moment within which the relations between space and time are transformed; both the quest for redemption/home-returning and the call for revolutionary progress and human's self-edification are forgotten, ridiculed, deconstructed and swallowed into the postmodern-neo-liberal system. Linear time and the quest for transcendence are overwhelmed by punctual time, end of historical consciousness, quasinomadism and the possibility to solve all human responsibility and shortcomings by plugging in to the pleasure machine. In face of this reality Diasporic philosophy and its improvised co-poiesis become relevant for the possibility of counter-education.
Adorno and Horkheimer: Diasporic Philosophy, Negative Theology, and Counter-Education
Authors: Gur-Ze'Ev Ilan
Published: August 2010

The later Horkheimer presents mature Critical Theory as a Jewish Negative Theology. This change carries major educational implications hegemonic critical pedagogy has not yet dared to address until now and much less in the present era of the new anti-Semitism as the meta-narrative of the progressive circles. In Horkheimer's work the change from a Marxian Critical Theory to a Diasporic philosophy is paralleled by an articulation of Critical Theory as a new, Jewish, Negative Theology. Adorno's Negative Dialectics follows the same path, attempting to present ‘counter-education’ as a worthy addressing of the present absence of the quest for transcendence and meaning, and as a Diasporic form of awaiting as a self-education for the human stance of readiness to be called upon. The refusal to dwell in peace in the present order of things, the negation of the ‘facts' of the actuality, are but a manifestation of the rejection of metaphysical violence and of all kinds of ‘homes’, dogmas, and self-satisfaction in a world of pain, injustice, ugliness, and betrayed love. Since Adorno and Horkheimer refused a positive Utopia, their mature thought could not promise a better world as a justification for resistance to normalizing education and the quest for pleasure, ‘success’, and hegemony. Homelessness and the moral importance of suffering are here grounded ontologically and become a religious way of life. In this the Frankfurt School thinkers followed Benjamin's lead: it is a kind of religiosity which is Messianic without a Messiah. As a counter-education it holds out no promise of salvation or of redemption. But it might offer a Messianic moment, which will overcome the violence of the governing ‘now-time’ and open the gate to an alternative way of life. Adorno's and Horkheimer's later work offers a framework for counter-educational praxis whose religiosity is fertilized by the alarming resistance to educational optimism in light of an alternative, Diasporic co-poiesis and enduring responsible improvisation.
Judaism, Post-Colonialism and Diasporic Education in the Era of Globalization
Authors: Boyarin Daniel , Gur-Ze'Ev Ilan
Published: August 2010

Diaspora is a cultural situation in which a group of people have a dual cultural alliance, dual cultural allegiance – to a cultural or cultures in the place where they are and to a culture or cultures in another place to which they are related by etiological memory, other strategies to read the past like shared values, shared religion, and so on. So Diaspora is a very precise term to describe a particular kind of culture in synchronic time. It does not necessarily have to be based on a particular history. The sense of dual cultural allegiance and dual cultural alliance – before a person, yes, there was a language and history and praxis in the place where he or she is and also an alliance with others somewhere else. That particular dual cultural situation is what can be understood as Diaspora. It produces double consciousness, it is the first of the fruits: the ability to be critical. Critical not necessarily in a formal manner like the Frankfurt School but some sense of distance or some sense of reflection that comes between a human and his or her identity.
The Possibility of a New Critical Language from the Sources of Jewish Negative Theology
Authors: Gur-Ze'Ev Ilan , Boyarin Jonathan
Published: August 2010

A new critical language is possible yet its becoming is not guaranteed. Its roots and sources should be diverse, universal and Diasporic. Jewish negative theology is ultimately Diasporic and could become one of its edifying sources. Diaspora is not only an intellectual state, not necessarily collective but communal. One of the things that makes the notion most vital is the possibility and the cultural technology of generational continuity in the absence of a majority. It is true that there is always a danger of sentimentalism. A great deal of post-Enlightenment terror, both in the sense of individual terror, and eventually organized violence, has to do with the inability of an isolated organism that is aware of its own mortality to achieve some kind of equanimity with the fact of its own mortality. One of the key driving forces of the symbolic aspects of almost all human cultures until now has been to strengthen a real, not just a sentimental force, in structuring identificatory practices such that the organism does not, in the first instance, understand existence as starting with its birth and ending with its death, but almost in the first instance understands existence as being a continuity and a cycle, inflected by its own mortality. This mortality and the endurance of Life in face of the prospects of worthy life is the gate for a new understanding of transcendence, critique and emancipation. Today the most vital power of enriching the critical language is the new anti-Semitism. The prospects of an alternative revitalization of the critical language and the possibility of a language that challenges the exile of holiness and transcends critique is here addressed in light of the Jewish tradition.
Vignettes of Ambiguity
Authors: Göutz Ignacio L.
Published: August 2010

This article is an exploration of ambiguity as it appears in various guises in philosophical, social, political, and educational situations. Among these situations is the experience of exile. The exploration is conducted by means of literary anecdotes and real-life instances, hence the use of vignettes. The suggestion is made that ambiguity can be conquered only in the concrete, through a life stamped by justice and solidarity with other fellow human beings.
Language, Identity, and Exile
Authors: Erdinast-Vulcan Daphna
Published: August 2010

The exilic mode of being, a living on boundary-lines, produces a constant relativization of one's home, one's culture, one's language, and one's self, through the acknowledgement of otherness. It is a homesickness without nostalgia, without the desire to return to the same, to be identical to oneself. The encounter with the other which produces a ‘transvaluation’ of one's own culture is also the ultimately ethical experience of reading oneself in quotation marks. Yeshurun's work – fragmented, broken – is exilic in its bifurcation, or multifurcation of consciousness, the superimposition of the language of ‘there’ over the language of ‘here’. His descriptions of Tel-Aviv, the white, modern, energetic emblem of the thrust to ‘make it new’ are oddly and imperfectly plastered over by images of dilapidated buildings, uprooted trees and rusty, dripping faucets. It is as though the poverty of a diasporic, displaced existence has crept in and coloured over the façade of the new which, torn from within, is already showing its fault-lines and cracks. Avot Yeshurun's longing for home does not yield to the consolations of kitsch or the retrospective colourings of an idealized ‘before’, and the anguish of guilt is its motor force. Yeshurun's hybrid poetry with its bricolage of linguistic fragments and shards finds its materials in the debris of a dead culture. Enacting the return of the culturally repressed, the ghostly return of the sacrificed mame-loshn with all the pain, the love, and perhaps the inevitability of the repression, it does not seek to go back, to offer a remedy, or mend the rift (more bottomless than the eponymous Syrian-African geological one) with the exilic home-language. Rather more modest and infinitely more difficult, it is the labour of mourning that it undertakes.
Wittgenstein as Exile: A Philosophical Topography
Authors: Peters Michael A.
Published: August 2010

Exilic thought is a kind of uprooted thought developed away from ‘home’ under conditions of displacement and uncertainty, often in a different mother tongue, language tradition and culture. Exilic thought is sometimes the self-imposed discipline of the ‘stranger’ who develops his or her identity as an ‘alien’ or immigrant against the conventions of a host culture and from the perspective of an outsider. The motif OF? the exile-stranger in a foreign land finding his or her way about for the first time is fable-ized in ancient accounts of ‘first contacts' and early cultural exchanges. ‘Exile’ often marks a complex ambivalence to one's own home culture and, therefore, also to questions of one's own national, cultural and personal identity. Exile is one of the central and most powerful motifs of the intellectual in the twentieth century: it describes a profound existential condition of cultural estrangement, and sometimes alienation, that defines identity in terms of migration, movement, departure, homelessness. It prefigures a notion of thought that is ‘nomadic’, formed in a different context, and laced with observations that at once make the familiar strange and the strange familiar. Exile was a condition that Wittgenstein thought necessary to a form of life as philosopher. This idea took on a particular hue when Wittgenstein ‘returned’ to philosophy (at least in a formal sense) to focus upon cultural questions. It is as though Wittgenstein's focus on cultural questions – on questions that stand at the heart of human culture – rather than questions of strict logic, required a simulation of the anthropologist's ‘observer-participant’ attitude and sense of detachment in order to analyze ‘language-games' and develop ‘perspicuous representations’.
Diaspora as Catastrophe, Diaspora as a Mission and the Post-Colonial Philosophy of Edward Said
Authors: Pappe Ilan
Published: August 2010

Edward Said the refugee could not easily allow himself to join in the celebration of demythologizing nationalism. His Palestinianism had to coexist, uncomfortably, with his universalism. Time made this necessary coexistence an asset, not a liability, and this in fact was his political legacy for the future: Jews and Palestinians would have to reconcile to a similar existence as does the national intellectual in exile. Like Said himself, future society in Palestine would have to live on the border between two and more cultures (including national ones), a society that would represent alternative narratives to reality – instead of or next to the master national narratives – as part of a process of restitution. Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari defined these as ‘deterrritorialized’ societies built on the collapse of master narratives. Said would probably have lived more comfortably with a less postmodernist approach to deterritorialization, such as the one offered by Henry Giroux in his pedagogic attempt to reconcile modernist and postmodernist critique as part of what he termed the pedagogy of ‘Border Crossing’: one could chart in post-conflictual Palestine a society in which identity is fragile, dynamic and moves easily between origins, spheres and languages.
3-Amino-6-ethoxy-4-phenyl-1H-pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine-2,5-dicarbonitrile
Authors: Koutentis Panayiotis A. , Michaelidou Sophia S.
Published: August 2010

(Z)-2-(4-Chloro-5H-1,2,3-dithiazol-5-ylideneamino)-6-ethoxy-4-phenylpyridine-3,5-dicarbonitrile 1, when treated with either triphenylphosphine (4 equiv.) or polymer bound triphenylphosphine (5 equiv.) in dichloromethane at room temperature for 3 days affords 3‑amino-6-ethoxy-4-phenyl-1H-pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine-2,5-dicarbonitrile 2 in 60–62% yields.