bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Diagnostic Accuracy of 3.0 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging for the Detection of Articular Cartilage Lesions of the Talus
Authors: Gatlin Coley C. , Matheny Lauren M. , Ho Charles P. , Johnson Nicholas S. , Clanton Thomas O. 
Published: September 2014

Background: Talar chondral defects can be a source of persistent ankle pain and disability. If untreated, there is an increased risk of osteoarthritis. The purpose of our study was to determine diagnostic accuracy of 3T MRI in detecting Outerbridge grades 3 and 4 articular cartilage lesions of the talus in a clinical setting, utilizing a standardized clinical MRI protocol. Methods: Patients who had a 3T ankle MRI and subsequent ankle surgery, by a single surgeon, were included in this study. MRI exams were performed 180 days or less before surgery. Seventy-nine ankles in 78 patients (mean age of 42.3 years) were included in this study. Mean body mass index was 26.3. A standard clinical MRI exam was performed on a 3T MRI scanner. Mean days from MRI to surgery was 39 days. All MRI exams were read and findings recorded by a musculoskeletal radiologist. Arthroscopic examination was performed by a single orthopaedic surgeon. Detailed arthroscopic findings and demographic data were collected prospectively and stored in a data registry. Of the 78 patients, 31 (39.2%) reported previous ankle surgery. Pain was the primary reason for seeking medical attention as reported by 95% of patients, followed by instability in 44% and loss of function with 42%. Results: Prevalence of Outerbridge grade 3 and 4 talar articular cartilage defects identified at arthroscopy was 17.7%. The 3T MRI demonstrated a sensitivity of 0.714, specificity of 0.738, positive predictive value of 0.370, and negative predictive value of 0.923. Conclusion: Sensitivity and specificity levels were acceptable for detection of grades 3 and 4 articular cartilage defects of the talar dome using 3T MRI. The high negative predictive value may be beneficial in preoperative planning. While these values are acceptable, a high index of suspicion should be maintained in the appropriate clinical setting. Level of Evidence: Level II, diagnostic study.
Temporary sympathectomy in chronic refractory angina: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
Authors: Denby Christine , Groves David G , Eleuteri Antonio , Tsang Hoo kee , Leach Austin , Hammond Clare , Bridson John D , Fisher Michael , Elt Matthew , Laflin Robert , Fisher Anthony C 
Published: September 2014

Background: Temporary sympathectomy by injection of bupivacaine at the site of the left stellate ganglion is used in the management of refractory angina at several UK centres. Although patients frequently report significant reduction in symptoms, efficacy has not been established by double-blind, randomised placebo-controlled trial (RCT). Objective: To investigate the efficacy of the procedure for the first time by a double-blind RCT. Methods: Consecutive patients referred to the authors’ National Health Service (NHS) angina centre who were candidates for temporary sympathectomy were invited to participate in a trial. A total of 65 patients were randomised to receive either bupivacaine or saline injections. Identical syringes were prepared remotely, blinding patients and staff from randomisation. Cardiac autonomic function was measured 3 hours pre- and post-injection using new heart rate variability (HRV) analyses. Angina episodes were recorded contemporaneously by patients in study diaries in the 7-day periods pre- and post-injection. Results: In 51 patients suitable for analysis, no significant differences between the active and placebo groups were found in patient-recorded frequency or intensity of angina episodes pre- and post-injection. However, across both groups combined, a significant difference was found in the frequency of angina episodes pre- and post-injection. Conclusion: The reduction in frequency of angina episodes produced by this procedure may not be due to drug pharmacology. It may be a placebo response or due to the mechanical effects of the injection of fluid. There is a need for further work using a larger patient cohort considering both mechanical and psychological factors.
Gabapentin Reverses Central Hypersensitivity and Suppresses Medial Prefrontal Cortical Glucose Metabolism in Rats with Neuropathic Pain
Authors: Lin Hsiao-Chun , Huang Yu-Hsin , Chao Tzu-Hao Harry , Lin Wen-Ying , Sun Wei-Zen , Yen Chen-Tung 
Published: September 2014

Background: Gabapentin (GBP) is known to suppress neuropathic hypersensitivity of primary afferents and the spinal cord dorsal horn. However, its supra-spinal action sites are unclear. We identify the brain regions where GBP changes the brain glucose metabolic rate at the effective dose that alleviates mechanical allodynia using 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scanning. Results: Comparing the PET imaging data before and after the GBP treatment, the spared nerve injury-induced increases of glucose metabolism in the thalamus and cerebellar vermis were reversed, and a significant decrease occurred in glucose metabolism in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), including the anterior cingulate cortex. GBP treatment also reversed post-SNI connectivity increases between limbic cortices and thalamus. Conclusions: Our results indicate that GBP analgesic effect may be mediated by reversing central hypersensitivity, and suppressing mPFC, a crucial part of the cortical representation of pain, in the brain.
Standardized method for solubility and storage of capsaicin-based solutions for cough induction
Authors: Costanzo Michael T , Yost Richard A , Davenport Paul W 
Published: September 2014

Abstract

Background
Preparation of inhaled capsaicin solutions for cough induction varies greatly from one lab to another, which creates inconsistencies between tussigenic challenge results. The addition of Tween to these capsaicin solutions provides increased solubility and stability; however, the foul taste of Tween makes inhaling the solution for any prolonged period of time unpleasant. We sought to create a standard method for preparing soluble and stable capsaicin-based solutions (in 10% ethanol/water), without the addition of Tween.

Methods
Capsaicin solutions were created at concentrations ranging from 0 to 500 μM in a variety of solvent systems, with and without Tween. Samples were stored in four different environments (-20°C, 3°C, and room temperature, protected from light; and room temperature, exposed to light) to test stability. Detection of capsaicin was carried out by UV absorption. A Grubb’s test was performed on all data to remove statistical outliers.

Results
Similar capsaicin concentrations were seen for solutions prepared with or without Tween (Tween provided a slight increase in solubility), with neither solvent system providing complete solubility. Of the four environments tested, storing capsaicin solutions at 3°C while protected from light afforded the greatest stability, for a minimum of 30 weeks.

Conclusion
We recommend the use of a 10% ethanol/water solvent system without Tween in the preparation of capsaicin solutions for tussigenic challenges. While this solvent system does not provide complete solubility, we have detailed a method for capsaicin solution preparation that will account for this loss of solubility, while maintaining a solution that is Tween-free and safe for human inhalation.
Collage as subjective experience: Transitioning, relinquishing, becoming
Authors: Bell Alison F. 
Published: September 2014

Abstract
Through reflexivity and its intrinsic multiple interpretations of the ‘image’, collage allows one to find the words to express subjective experience. By a practicing artist searching for a method of enquiry through creative practice that seamlessly merges the making and the textual, this article will outline the narrative of a synthesis of the thinking through making and ongoing reflexivity where collage is used as a form of methodology within a practice based Ph.D.
Peacebuilding in Timor-Leste: The risk of unsustainability
Authors: Lopes Paula Duarte 
Published: September 2014

Abstract
Although it is currently recognized that peacebuilding and development aid constitute interlinked dynamics, it is still open to debate if they should be addressed sequentially or simultaneously. This article discusses this relation in terms of UN (United Nations) peace missions. The UN has adopted an inclusive narrative regarding development and peace; however, UN peace missions still reveal an exclusive approach. Timor-Leste demonstrates how this discrepancy between discourse and practice has the potential to undermine both efforts.
Document: Fact and fiction
Authors: Petrovsky Helen 
Published: September 2014

Abstract
In turning to photography the paper explores ways of conveying historical truth. It seems that contemporary art places itself at the very limit of representation in an attempt to remain faithful to historical eventuality. In fact, one is reminded of the type of historical occurrence which can be grasped only through ‘as-if presentations’, to remember the Kantian term. ‘Fiction’, therefore, is no longer opposed to ‘truth’, but becomes its conductor and ally.
Photography at a crossroads: Studio as genealogy, dispositif, spur
Authors: Steiner Shepherd 
Published: September 2014

Abstract
The article focuses on the work of Ian Wallace, Jeff Wall and Rodney Graham, in particular, a notion of the studio that provides both an anchor and departure for the work of all three. This genealogy turns primarily on Wallace’s photo-conceptual work from the 1970s, which establishes the space of the studio as an allegory of painting or the modernist tradition, and as the topological equivalent of the museum and street. Using Wallace’s model of post-studio practice as an analytic, the article unpacks the tensions of Wall’s notion of cinematography, highlighting his mounting hesitations with photography understood on the model of the studio system, as an inside/outside relationship and as the mimesis of painting. Finally, the article puts the notions of studio as genealogy and dispositif to work in order to understand the logic of Graham’s emphasis on the durational art of film.
Das Wort vom Kreuz- und das »Kruzifix-Urteil« des Bundesverfassungsgerichtes
Authors: Steinacker Peter 
Published: September 2014

Abstract
The term »Cross« constitutes the identity of all churches, even the protestant one. If this terrn »Cross« is no more comprehended, the church runs to a crisis of her social representation and her own constitution. The »Kruzifix-Urteil« confirms these signals of a crisis and announces a change in the BRD from a religiously neutral state to a layicistic state
»Homo oeconomicus«
Authors: Nutzinger Hans G. 
Published: September 2014

Abstract
Is it imaginable and convenient to apply the economic pattern of the so called »homo oeconomicus« on extraeconomical spheres? The author examines the question. The attraction of the pattern »homo oeconomicus« is the question of the logic of decision in situations of defiency (rational choice and expense-profit calculations). The author follows the key of the question at the reach and radius in differt spheres of application, for example the analysis of criminality and delinquency. Only in the extension of the social frame situation is an economic reductionism of the social reality and the mutiple ways of human acting avoidable
Hans Joachim Iwands Impulse zu einer christlichen Gesellschaftsethik
Authors: Hoffmann Martin 
Published: September 2014

Abstract
After Second World War Hans Joachim Iwand (1899- 1960) reacts upon the experiences during the time of Nazi-Germany with a conception, which deals in a new way with the questions of political ethics. In this conception Iwand criticized the bipolar and traditional pattem of »State and Church« and explores »Society« as a selfcontained and autonomaus theme for political ethics. It is remarkable to see, how lwands approach to »theologia crucis« and the notions of the term »consciene« are now transformed in an pneumaticological way, that opens the ethic for a conception of public responsibility
The Mise en Valeur of the Gold Mines in the Haut-Niger, 1918–1939
Authors: Luning Sabine , Jansen Jan , Panella Cristiana 
Published: September 2014

Abstract
Cet article porte sur l’orpaillage artisanal pratiqué dans les régions minières anciennes du Bouré et du Bambouk à travers la description des effets des politiques d’optimisation des pratiques d’exploitation aurifère précoloniales mises en place par l’administration coloniale française. Les rouages de l’alternance saisonnière entre agriculture et orpaillage dans la vie sociale de cette région ouest-africaine y sont décrits. L’on analyse ainsi les valeurs sociales et les dynamiques de mobilité imbriquées dans ces activités, avant d’interroger les valeurs et les choix des administrateurs coloniaux qui furent à l’origine de ces politiques économiques. En particulier, les auteurs tâchent à montrer d’une part le décalage d’attribution de valeur entre agriculture et orpaillage au sein des politiques économiques coloniales. D’autre part, ils montrent les démarches de restriction de la mobilité interne par l’administration française dans le but d’assurer les nouvelles mesures des politiques agricoles et minières. Tout en se greffant les politiques minières sur l’organisation sociale préexistante des placers, celles-ci enclenchèrent de représentations inédites d’autochtonie et d’appartenance dans le but d’accroître la production et d’imposer des taxes d’exploitation des placers.
William Faulkner’s “Speech Accepting the Nobel Prize in Literature”: A Language for Ameliorating Atomic Anxiety
Authors: LaVoie Mark 
Published: September 2014

Abstract
In 1950, William Faulkner delivered his “Speech Accepting the Nobel Prize in Literature.” The historic moment was one of high atomic anxiety as the unfriendly relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union intensified and the possibility of nuclear war and the end of humanity increased. Faulkner recognized the anxiety and, through his address, offered a language to help cope with the anxieties of the atomic age. This study examines how through the rhetorical strategies of kairos, decorum, and enactment, Faulkner recast humanism in an atomic age and presented the world with a way of living through atomic fear.
Toward Robust Public Engagement: The Value of Deliberative Discourse for Civil Communication
Authors: Waisanen Don 
Published: September 2014

Abstract
This article explores questions about “civility” in the 2012 election. Through an analysis of media discussions raising the term, four themes are constructed focusing on the limitations of civility discourse. While seeking to preserve the best that civil orientations afford, I argue that adding a deliberative approach to such discourse addresses moments when civil appeals appear to be most limited. This essay finds that working between civil and deliberative constructs provides an instructive perspective for understanding the workings of and possibilities for public discourse during situations when civility rhetoric is typically raised. Relative to civil communication—and associated concepts such as dialogue and advocacy—specific norms, benefits, examples, and implications of a deliberative rhetorical vision are charted for problem-solving, public policy contexts.
Regulation of LINE-1 in mammals
Authors: Bodak Maxime , Yu Jian , Ciaudo Constance 
Published: September 2014

AbstractTransposable elements (TEs) are mobile DNA elements that represent almost half of the human genome. Transposition of TEs has been implicated as a source of genome evolution and acquisition of new traits but also as an origin of diseases. The activity of these elements is therefore tightly regulated during the life cycle of each individual, and many recent discoveries involved the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms in their control. In this review, we present recent findings in this field of research, focusing on the case of one specific family of TEs: the long-interspersed nuclear elements-1 (LINE-1 or L1). LINE-1 elements are the most representative class of retrotransposons in mammalian genomes. We illustrate how these elements are conserved between mice and humans, and how they are regulated during the life cycle. Additionally, recent advances in genome-wide sequencing approaches allow us not only to better understand the regulation of LINE-1 but also highlight new issues specifically at the bioinformatics level. Therefore, we discuss the state of the art in analyzing such bioinformatics datasets to identify epigenetic regulators of repeated elements in the human genomes.
Predictive value for death and rehospitalization of 30-day postdischarge B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) in elderly patients with heart failure. Sub-analysis of Italian RED Study
Authors: Di Somma Salvatore , Marino Rossella , Zampini Giorgio , Magrini Laura , Ferri Enrico , Shah Kevin , Clopton Paul , Maisel Alan S. 
Published: September 2014

AbstractOur aim was to determine if, in elderly heart failure (eHF) patients, serial B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) assessments obtained during follow-up after hospital discharge could have prognostic utility for death and rehospitalizations. In eHF patients, BNP assessment at hospital discharge has been demonstrated to have a high prognostic value; however, its predictive role for future cardiovascular events in eHF patients, when assessed in the period after discharge, both for the correct timing and cut-off levels, has not been completely elucidated.This study is a monocentric subanalysis of the Italian RED (Rapid Emergency Department) study. We studied 180 consecutive patients admitted for acute HF through serial BNP assessments: at hospital arrival; at discharge; and at 30, 90, and 180 days follow-up outpatient visit.Both a BNP >400 pg/mL at 30 days after discharge and the percentage variation of BNP from discharge to 30 days (Δ%BNP), compared with a BNP at discharge >400 pg/mL, showed a higher area under the curve (AUC) and odds ratio (OR) in predicting events [AUC=0.842, p<0.0001; OR 7.9 (3.3–19.0), p<0.001 for 30 days BNP and AUC=0.851, p<0.0001; OR 9.5 (4.065–22.572), p<0.0001 for Δ%BNP compared with AUC=0.638, p<0.002; OR 2.4 (1.1–5.3), p=0.032 for BNP at discharge].In patients at a high risk for future events, BNP levels assessed 30 days after hospital discharge in the absence of signs and symptoms could be predictive of subsequent hospitalization and death. These patients should be considered for closer monitoring and treatment adjustment.
Physiosemiosis as an Influence of Signs
Authors: Deely John 
Published: September 2014

Abstract
It took most of the 20th century fully to establish semiotics as a thematic study of the role and action of signs not only in human culture and life but also in the whole environment that human animals share with all the other life forms that make up the biosphere of planet earth. In the early 20th century investigators were inclined to restrict the action of signs to the realm of human culture and psychology, consistent with the ideas of modern philosophy that severely separates the world of humans from its surroundings supposed as “unknowable” in itself. This idealistic ne plus ultra was definitively transgressed and shattered by the collegial work of Thomas A. Sebeok, who not only established the framework for a “global semiotics” but also demonstrated unequivocally that the whole world of living things (the “biosphere”) cannot exist independently of the action of signs. As Sebeok put it, “semiosis is coextensive with life”. But there remains even so the further question: “Is life coextensive with semiosis?” For, from the demonstration that semiosis is essential for the existence of life, it does not follow that the existence of life is essential for there to be semiosis. It is this last proposition - wrongly taken by many (or most) proponents of biosemiotics today to be a logical consequent of the conclusion that life in its full extent depends upon semiosis - that I examine here: the probability that semiosis not only surrounds life but pre-existed living things, and indeed shaped the universe so as to make living things possible in the first place.
Non-equilibrium thermodynamics analysis of transcriptional regulation kinetics
Authors: Hernández-Lemus Enrique , Tovar Hugo , Mejía Carmen 
Published: September 2014

Abstract
Gene expression in eukaryotic cells is an extremely complex and interesting phenomenon whose dynamics are controlled
by a large number of subtle physicochemical processes commonly described by means of gene regulatory networks. Such networks consist in a series of coupled chemical reactions, conformational changes, and other biomolecular processes involving the interaction of the DNA molecule itself with a number of proteins usually called transcription factors as well as enzymes and other components. The kinetics behind the functioning of such gene regulatory networks are largely unknown, though its description in terms of non-equilibrium thermodynamics has been discussed recently. In this work we will derive general kinetic equations for a gene regulatory network from a non-equilibrium thermodynamical description and discuss its use in understanding the free energy constrains imposed in the network structure. We also will discuss explicit expressions for the kinetics of a simple model of gene regulation and show that the kinetic role of mRNA decay during the RNA synthesis stage (or transcription) is somehow limited due to the comparatively low values of decay rates. At the level discussed here, this implies a decoupling of the kinetics of mRNA synthesis and degradation a fact that may become quite useful when modeling gene regulatory networks from experimental data on whole genome gene expression.
The effect of lifestyle change and metformin therapy on serum arylesterase and paraoxonase activity in obese children
Authors: Çayır Atilla , Turan Mehmet İbrahim , Gurbuz Fatih , Kurt Nezahat , Yildirim Abdulkadir 
Published: September 2014

AbstractObesity is known to be associated with many diseases in the long and short terms. Elevated oxidative stress contributes to the development of such obesity-related diseases as dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus and hypertension. Levels of the endogenous antioxidants paraoxonase and arylesterase have been shown to decrease in such diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether or not changes in lifestyle and metformin therapy would affect serum paraoxonase and arylesterase levels.The study was performed with 25 overweight, 26 obese and 25 morbidly obese patients aged 6–15 years as well as 27 healthy children. Serum paraoxonase (PON1) and arylesterase (ARE) activity levels and total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density protein, high-density protein, very low-density protein, glucose, aspartate amino transferase and alanine amino transferase levels were measured. Enrolled patients were assessed at initial presentation and again at 6 months. No procedure was performed in the control group, while the overweight, obese and morbidly obese groups were recommended diet and exercise and given metformin therapy (insulin-resistant subjects only).Serum PON1 activity levels in patients with metabolic syndrome were significantly lower than those in individuals without metabolic syndrome (p<0.05), while lipid concentrations were significantly higher (p<0.05). Metabolic syndrome patients had higher serum glucose, total cholesterol, low-density protein, very low-density protein and triglyceride values compared to those of the control group but significantly lower high-density protein values (p<0.05). No difference was determined between the groups in terms of PON1 and ARE levels following diet and exercise and metformin therapy.Measurement of PON1 and ARE enzyme levels may be useful in monitoring the effectiveness of treatment aimed at reducing oxidative stress in obese children.