bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Is obesity a possible modifier of periodontal disease as a chronic inflammatory process? A case–control study
Authors: Buduneli N. , Bıyıkoğlu B. , İlgenli T. , Buduneli E. , Nalbantsoy A. , Saraç F. , Kinane D. F. 
Published: August 2013

Background and ObjectiveThis cross‐sectional case–control study was conducted to provide a comparative evaluation of clinical periodontal measurements, together with serum levels of certain bioactive peptides and inflammatory cytokines, in relation to obesity. For this purpose, clinical periodontal measurements and the levels of serum leptin, adiponectin, interleukin‐6 (IL‐6), C‐reactive protein and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule‐1 of obese female individuals and their nonobese counterparts were compared.Material and MethodsSixty obese (body mass index (BMI) > 30) and 31 nonobese (BMI < 30) female subjects were recruited for the present study. Before any periodontal intervention, serum samples were obtained and full‐mouth clinical periodontal measurements were recorded at six sites per tooth. ELISA was used for the biochemical analysis. Data were tested statistically.ResultsClinical attachment level was significantly higher in the obese group compared with the nonobese control group (p < 0.05). Serum levels of leptin and IL‐6 were significantly higher in the obese group (p < 0.05). BMI correlated with the serum levels of inflammatory molecules (p < 0.05), but not with clinical periodontal parameters, in the obese group.ConclusionIn conclusion, obesity does not seem to have a prominent effect on clinical periodontal parameters but it does have many correlations with circulating inflammatory molecules. As suggested in the literature, increased levels of leptin and IL‐6 in the obese group might be one explanation for a possible relationship between obesity and periodontal disease. A prospective study is warranted to clarify, in greater detail, the effects of obesity on periodontal health.
Efficacy and safety of telaprevir (TVR) triple therapy in a ‘real‐life’ cohort of 102 patients with HCV genotype 1: interim analysis after 24 weeks of treatment
Authors: Werner C. R. , Franz C. , Egetemeyr D. P. , Janke‐Maier P. , Malek N. P. , Lauer U. M. , Berg C. P. 
Published: August 2013

SummarySince 2011, telaprevir (TVR)‐based triple therapy is the new treatment standard for hepatitis C genotype 1 virus infection. The aim of our retrospective interim analysis encompassing the first 24 weeks on TVR‐based triple therapy was to assess ‘real‐life’ antiviral efficacy and side effects in a large single‐centre cohort, both in comparison with the data obtained in large prospective clinical trials. In total, we treated 102 patients: 24 treatment‐naïve patients, 58 patients pretreated with PEG‐IFN/RBV (thereof: 28 with nonresponse, 25 with relapse, five unknown) and 20 patients who previously had received nonpegylated interferon. 74 of 102 patients were assigned with HCV genotype 1b; 34 of 102 patients were treated in the context of liver cirrhosis. 72 of 102 patients have reached treatment week 24 (mean treatment duration 31 weeks). In the ITT analysis, overall response rates were at: week 4: 66%; week 12: 85%; and week 24: 78%. So far, 24 patients discontinued treatment prematurely, of those, 10 patients were due to virological failure. Haematological side effects were frequent (40% anaemia), as were ‘flu‐like’ symptoms (94%), rash (65%) and pruritus (79%). According to our interim ITT analysis encompassing up to 24 weeks of TVR‐based triple therapy, our ‘real‐life’ antiviral effects are comparable to the results of large multicentric clinical trials. However, TVR‐based triple therapy exhibited a high frequency of side effects requiring multiple therapeutic interventions. Notably, in our ‘real‐life’ cohort, no lethal case was observed so far.
Interferon‐lambda4 genetic polymorphism is associated with the therapy response for hepatitis C virus recurrence after a living donor liver transplant
Authors: Konishi H. , Motomura T. , Matsumoto Y. , Harimoto N. , Ikegami T. , Yoshizumi T. , Soejima Y. , Shirabe K. , Fukuhara T. , Maehara Y. 
Published: August 2013

SummaryThe standard therapy against hepatitis C virus (HCV) recurrence postliver transplantation includes interferon (IFN)α and ribavirin. IFNL4 ss469415590 polymorphism has been reported as a novel predictor of the response to IFN therapy for chronic HCV infection. We examined the impact of IFNL4 polymorphism on the responsiveness to IFN therapy after liver transplantation. Tissue specimens were collected from 80 HCV‐infected recipients and 78 liver donors, and their IFNL4 ss469415590 genotype, hepatic IFNL4 and interferon‐stimulated genes' mRNA expression levels were examined. The association of the polymorphism and expression levels in terms of the IFN therapy response to HCV recurrence was analysed. Most individuals who had rs8099917 risk alleles also had ss469415590 risk alleles (R2 = 0.9). Sustained virological response (SVR) rates were higher in both liver graft recipients and transplants with ss469415590 TT/TT alleles than in those with the risk ΔG allele (P = 0.003 and P = 0.005, respectively). In recipients with ss469415590 TT/TT, IFNL4 TT mRNA levels showed no significant differences between livers of patients who responded to therapy and those who did not (P = 0.4). In recipients with the risk ΔG allele, IFNL4 ΔG mRNA expression levels were significantly lower in SVR patients than in non‐SVR patients (P = 0.02). Hepatic interferon stimulable genes and IFNL4 mRNA expression were correlated. Our findings suggest that analysing the ss469415590 genotype and IFNL4 ΔG expression provides a novel prediction strategy for the possible response to IFN therapy after liver transplantation.
Minimum alveolar concentration of desflurane with caudal analgesia for laryngeal mask airway removal in anesthetized children
Authors: Makkar Jeetinder K. , Ghai Babita , Wig Jyotsna 
Published: August 2013

SummaryBackgroundRegional blocks have been shown to decrease the requirement of anesthetic agents. This study was conducted to determine the optimal endtidal concentrations of desflurane for removal of Laryngeal mask airway in children in presence of caudal block.MethodsTwenty‐two children of ASA status I between the age group of 2–10 year undergoing infraumbilical surgery were enrolled in the study. General anesthesia was induced with sevoflurane and oxygen given via mask and laryngeal mask airway inserted. Caudal injection of bupivacaine 0.25%, 1 ml·kg−1 was administered according to Armitage regimen. Desflurane was used for maintenance of anesthesia. Predecided endtidal concentration of desflurane was maintained for 10 min at the end of surgery and laryngeal mask airway removed. Target concentration in the next patient was thereafter determined by the Dixon up–down method (with 0.5% as a step size). 5% endtidal concentration was kept as the starting concentration. If removal of laryngeal mask airway was not associated with any coughing, teeth clenching, gross purposeful movement, breath holding or laryngospasm, during or within 1 min after removal, it was considered as successful.ResultsIn the presence of caudal analgesia, endtidal concentration of desflurane required for successful laryngeal mask airway removal in 50% (ED50) children was 3.39 ± 0.38% by Dixon's method.ConclusionLaryngeal mask airway can be successfully removed in 50% of anesthetized children without coughing, moving, or any other airway complications at an endtidal desflurane concentration of 3.4% in the presence of caudal analgesia.
Varieties of Expressivism
Authors: Bar‐On Dorit , Sias James 
Published: August 2013

AbstractAfter offering a characterization of what unites versions of ‘expressivism’, we highlight a number of dimensions along which expressivist views should be distinguished. We then separate four theses often associated with expressivism – a positive expressivist thesis, a positive constitutivist thesis, a negative ontological thesis, and a negative semantic thesis – and describe how traditional expressivists have attempted to incorporate them. We argue that expressivism in its traditional form may be fatally flawed, but that expressivists nonetheless have the resources for preserving what is essential to their view. These resources comprise a re‐configuring of expressivism, the result of which is the view we call ‘neo‐expressivism’. After illustrating how the neo‐expressivist model works in the case of avowals and ethical claims, we explain how it avoids the problems of traditional expressivism.
Linguistic Intuitions
Authors: Maynes Jeffrey , Gross Steven 
Published: August 2013

AbstractLinguists often advert to what are sometimes calledlinguistic intuitions. These intuitions and the uses to which they are put give rise to a variety of philosophically interesting questions: Whatarelinguistic intuitions – for example, what kind of attitude or mental state is involved? Why do they have evidential force and how might this force be underwritten by their causal etiology? What light might their causal etiology shed on questions of cognitive architecture – for example, as a case study of how consciously inaccessible subpersonal processes give rise to conscious states, or as a candidate example of cognitive penetrability? What methodological issues arise concerning how linguistic intuitions are gathered and interpreted – for example, might some subjects' intuitions be more reliable than others? And what bearing might all this have on philosophers'ownappeals to intuitions? This paper surveys and critically discusses leading answers to these questions. In particular, we defend a ‘mentalist’ conception of linguistics and the role of linguistic intuitions therein.
Thick Concepts
Authors: Roberts Debbie 
Published: August 2013

AbstractIn ethics, aesthetics and increasingly in epistemology, a distinction is drawn between thick and thin evaluative concepts. A common characterisation of the distinction is that thin concepts have only evaluative content, whereas thick concepts combine evaluative and descriptive content. Because of this combination, it is again commonly thought that thick concepts have various distinctive powers including the power to undermine the distinction between fact and value. This paper discusses the accuracy of this view of the thick concepts debate, as well as assessing the prospects for a thick concepts argument against the fact value distinction, while introducing the three main philosophical positions on the nature of thick concepts.
The Significance of Cognitive Phenomenology
Authors: Smithies Declan 
Published: August 2013

AbstractThis is the second in a series of two articles that serve as an introduction to recent debates about cognitive phenomenology. Cognitive phenomenology can be defined as the experience that is associated with cognitive activities, such as thinking, reasoning, and understanding. What is at issue in contemporary debates is not the existence of cognitive phenomenology, so defined, but rather its nature and theoretical role. The first article examines questions about the nature of cognitive phenomenology, while the second article explores the philosophical implications of these questions for the role of consciousness in theories of intentionality, introspective self‐knowledge, and knowledge of the external world.
Recent Work on Molinism
Authors: Perszyk Ken 
Published: August 2013

AbstractMolinism is named after Luis de Molina (1535–1600). Molina and his fellow Jesuits became entangled in a fierce debate over issues involving the doctrine of divine providence, which is a picture of how God runs the world. Molinism reemerged in the 1970s after Alvin Plantinga unwittingly assumed it in his Free Will Defense against the ‘Logical’ Argument from Evil. Molinism has been the subject of vigorous debate in analytic philosophy of religion ever since. The main aim of this essay is to survey the main contours of this debate. We will visit some ‘old’ battlefields and current hot spots in the ongoing Molinism Wars.
Religion and Politics in Heian‐Period Japan
Authors: Blair Heather 
Published: August 2013

AbstractThe religious culture of Japan's Heian period (794–1185), like that of other times and places, was structured by power differentials; it can therefore fruitfully be understood as political. Combining kami worship (popularly known as Shinto), esoteric and exoteric Buddhism, spirit possession, and local traditions, as well as moral and ritual practices derived from Confucianism and Daoism, Heian religious life was characterized by multiple religious affiliations and a syncretic outlook. From the era of the statutory (ritsuryō) state, through the court‐centered polity (ōchō kokka), to the Fujiwara regency (sekkan seiji) and rule by retired emperors (insei), religion proved indispensible to sovereignty, political authority, and power relations. Rhetoric of the ideal Buddhist monarch shaped political ideology, while rites of kami worship portrayed the emperor as a sacral king. Gender politics structured differences in men and women's religious practice and expression at the same time that patronage and pilgrimage served as important means for lay people to legitimate themselves and compete politically. By amassing landholdings in the form of manorial estates (shōen), religious institutions came to exercise juridical and economic control of extensive natural and human resources. Known as “power blocs,” institutions of this type shared in rights and functions conventionally viewed as being proper to the state.
What Have Religious Groups Done After 3.11? Part 1: A Brief Survey of Religious Mobilization after the Great East Japan Earthquake Disasters
Authors: McLaughlin Levi 
Published: August 2013

AbstractThis article serves two principal purposes: 1) to survey the many rescue, relief, and reconstruction initiatives undertaken by Buddhist, Shinto, Christian, and New Religious organizations in the two years since the March 2011 disasters that devastated northeast Japan, and 2) to introduce electronic and print resources to readers interested in learning more about specific religious disaster response campaigns. The pragmatic aid efforts carried out by religions contrast with moralistic interpretations offered by public figures, and they indicate that many religious groups regard their disaster aid not as temporary relief but instead as opportunities to begin positive new engagements with the Japanese public.
Breaking the sound barrier: oral health education for children with hearing impairment
Authors: Shetty Vabitha , Kumar Jithendra , Hegde Amitha 
Published: August 2013

ABSTRACTIn our study, a visual oral health education (OHE) program was specially designed for children with hearing impairment. Its efficacy in improving their oral health status was evaluated after periods of reinforcement and nonreinforcement. One hundred and ten institutionalized children with moderate‐to‐severe hearing impairment aged 6–14 years were selected for the study. Oral health status was evaluated at the start of the study (pre‐OHE level) using the Modified Gingival Index (MGI) and the Turesky–Gilmore–Glickman modification of the Quigley Hein Plaque Index (MQPI). Salivary Streptococcus mutans levels of the children were also evaluated. Brushing skills were assessed using the Simmons index at the start of the study. Significant decreases were observed in the mean values of both the MGI and MQPI from the baseline up to the values obtained at the end of both periods of reinforcement and nonreinforcement. Significant reduction in S. mutans counts was observed, from Pre‐OHE levels up to the levels at the end of the period of nonreinforcement. Brushing skills of children improved significantly at the end of study, notably in areas where brushing was previously deemed unsatisfactory. The OHE program specially formulated for the hearing impaired children was effective in improving their oral health status significantly.
Assessment of prion reduction filters in decreasing infectivity of ultracentrifuged 263K scrapie‐infected brain homogenates in “spiked” human blood and red blood cells
Authors: Cardone Franco , Sowemimo‐Coker Samuel , Abdel‐Haq Hanin , Sbriccoli Marco , Graziano Silvia , Valanzano Angelina , Berardi Vito Angelo , Galeno Roberta , Puopolo Maria , Pocchiari Maurizio 
Published: August 2013

BackgroundThe safety of red blood cells (RBCs) is of concern because of the occurrence of four transfusion‐transmitted variant Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease (vCJD) cases in the United Kingdom. The absence of validated screening tests requires the use of procedures to remove prions from blood to minimize the risk of transmission. These procedures must be validated using infectious prions in a form that is as close as possible to one in blood.Study Design and MethodsUnits of human whole blood (WB) and RBCs were spiked with high‐speed supernatants of 263K scrapie‐infected hamster brain homogenates. Spiked samples were leukoreduced and then passed through prion‐removing filters (Pall Corporation). In another experiment, RBCs from 263K scrapie‐infected hamsters were treated as above, and residual infectivity was measured by bioassay.ResultsThe overall removal of infectivity by the filters from prion‐spiked WB and RBCs was approximately two orders of magnitude. No infectivity was detected in filtered hamster RBCs endogenously infected with scrapie.ConclusionThe use of prion‐removing filters may help to reduce the risk of transfusion‐transmitted vCJD. To avoid overestimation of prion removal efficiency in validation studies, it may be more appropriate to use supernates from ultracentrifugation of scrapie‐infected hamster brain homogenate rather than the current standard brain homogenates.
Character Table of a Borel Subgroup of the Ree Groups 2F4(q2)
Authors: Himstedt Frank , Huang Shih-Chang 
Published: August 2013

AbstractWe compute the conjugacy classes and character table of a Borel subgroup of the Ree groups 2F4(22n+1) for all n ≥ 1 and prove that these Borel subgroups are M-groups. We determine the degrees of the irreducible characters of the Sylow-2-subgroups of 2F4(22n+1) and show that the Isaacs–Malle–Navarro version of the McKay conjecture holds for 2F4(22n+1) in characteristic 2. For most of the calculations we use CHEVIE.
Algorithmic Recognition of Group Actions on Orbitals
Authors: Sharp Graham R. 
Published: August 2013

AbstractAn algorithm is given tjat recognises (inO(lN2logN) time, whereNis the size of the input andlthe depth of a precalculated Schreier tree) when a transitive group, (G, Ω) is the action on one orbit of the action ofGon the set Γ(2) of ordered pairs of distinct elements of someG-set Γ (that us, Ωis isomorphic to an orbital of (G,Γ)). This may be adapted to list all essentially different such actions inO(lN4logN)time, whereNis the sum of sizes of the input and output. This will be a useful tool for reducing the degree of a permutation group as an aid to further study of the group.This algorithm is then extended to provide an algorithm that will (inO(lN3logN) time) recognise when a transiteve group is the action on one orbit of the action ofGon the set Γ{2}ofunorderd pairs of distinct elements of someG-set Γ. An algorithm for finding all essentially different such actions is also provided, running inO(lN4logN) time. (again,Nis the sum of the input and output sizes.) It is also indicated how these results may be applied to the more general problem of recognising when an intransitive group (G,Ω) is isomorphic to (G, Γ{2}) for someG-set Γ.All the algorithms are practical; most have been implementd in GAP, and the code is made available with this paper. In some cases the algorithms are considerably more practical than their asymptotic analyses would suggest.
Free Crossed Resolutions of Groups and Presentations of Modules of Identities among Relations
Authors: Brown Ronald , Salleh Abdul Razak 
Published: August 2013

AbstractThe paper gives formulae for a module presentation of the module of identities among relations for a presentation of a group, in terms of information on 0- and 1-combings of the Cayley graph. These formulae are seen as a special case of formulae for extending a partial free crossed resolution of a group, given a partial contracting homotopy of the universal cover of the partial resolution.
Three-Dimensional Presentations for the Groups of Order at Most 30
Authors: Ellis Graham , Kholodna Irina 
Published: August 2013

AbstractFor each group G of order up to 30 we compute a small 3-dimensional CW-space X with π1X≌ G and π2X = 0, and we quantify the ‘efficiency’ of X. Furthermore, we give a theoretical result for treating the case when G is a semi-direct product of two groups for which 3-presentations are known. We also describe the ZG-module structure on the second homotopy group π2X2 of the 2-skeleton of X. This module structure can in principle be used to determine the co-homology groups H2(G, A) and H3(G, A) with coefficients in a ZG-module A. Our computations, which involve the Todd–Coxeter procedure for coset enumeration and the LLL algorithm for finding bases of integer lattices, are rather naive in that the LLL algorithm is applied to matrices of dimension a multiple of |G|. Thus, in their present form, our techniques can be used only on small groups (say of order up to several hundred). They can in principle be used to construct (crossed) ZG-resolutions of Z, but again, only for small G. The paper is accompanied by two attachment files. The first of these is a summary of our computations in HTML format. The second contains various GAP programs used in the computations.
On the Computation of Certain Homotopical Functors
Authors: Ellis Graham 
Published: August 2013

AbstractThis paper provides details of aMagmacomputer program for calculating various homotopy-theoretic functors, defined on finitely presented groups. A copy of the program is included as an Add-On. The program can be used to compute: the nonabelian tensor product of two finite groups, the first homology of a finite group with coefficients in the arbirary finite module, the second integral homology of a finite group relative to its normal subgroup, the third homology of the finite p-group with coefficients inZp, Baer invariants of a finite group, and the capability and terminality of a finite group. Various other related constructions can also be computed.
Spectral Enclosures and Complex Resonances for General Self-Adjoint Operators
Authors: Davies E.B. 
Published: August 2013

AbstractThis paper considers a number of related problems concerning the computation of eigenvalues and complex resonances of a general self-adjoint operator H. The feature which ties the different sections together is that one restricts oneself to spectral properties of H which can be proved by using only vectors from a pre-assigned (possibly finite-dimensional) linear subspace L.
Algorithmic Recognition of Actions of 2-Homogeneous Groups on Pairs
Authors: Sharp Graham R. 
Published: August 2013

AbstractWe give an algorithm that takes as input a transitive permutation group (G, Ω) of degree n={m\choose 2}, and decides whether or not Ω is G-isomorphic to the action of G on the set of unordered pairs of some set Γ on which G acts 2-homogeneously. The algorithm is constructive: if a suitable action exists, then one such will be found, together with a suitable isomorphism. We give a deterministic O(sn logcn) implemention of the algorithm that assumes advance knowledge of the suborbits of (G, Ω). This leads to deterministic O(sn2) and Monte-Carlo O(sn logcn) implementations that do not make this assumption.