bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Bacterial Signatures in Thrombus Aspirates of Patients With Myocardial Infarction
Authors: Pessi Tanja , Karhunen Vesa , Karjalainen Pasi P. , Ylitalo Antti , Airaksinen Juhani K. , Niemi Matti , Pietila Mikko , Lounatmaa Kari , Haapaniemi Teppo , Lehtimäki Terho , Laaksonen Reijo , Karhunen Pekka J. , Mikkelsson Jussi 
Published: February 2013

Background—
Infectious agents, especially bacteria and their components originating from the oral cavity or respiratory tract, have been suggested to contribute to inflammation in the coronary plaque, leading to rupture and the subsequent development of coronary thrombus. We aimed to measure bacterial DNA in thrombus aspirates of patients with ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction and to check for a possible association between bacteria findings and oral pathology in the same cohort.

Methods and Results—

Thrombus aspirates and arterial blood from patients with ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (n=101; 76% male; mean age, 63.3 years) were analyzed with real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction with specific primers and probes to detect bacterial DNA from several oral species and
Chlamydia pneumoniae.
The median value for the total amount of bacterial DNA in thrombi was 16 times higher than that found in their blood samples. Bacterial DNA typical for endodontic infection, mainly oral viridans streptococci, was measured in 78.2% of thrombi, and periodontal pathogens were measured in 34.7%. Bacteria-like structures were detected by transmission electron microscopy in all 9 thrombus samples analyzed; whole bacteria were detected in 3 of 9 cases. Monocyte/macrophage markers for bacteria recognition (CD14) and inflammation (CD68) were detected in thrombi (8 of 8) by immunohistochemistry. Among the subgroup of 30 patients with myocardial infarction examined by panoramic tomography, a significant association between the presence of periapical abscesses and oral viridans streptococci DNA–positive thrombi was found (odds ratio, 13.2; 95% confidence interval, 2.11–82.5;
P
=0.004).

Conclusions—
Dental infection and oral bacteria, especially viridans streptococci, may be associated with the development of acute coronary thrombosis.
Regulation of Conflict of Laws in the United Arab Emirates
Authors: Elhawary Ahmed Mohmed 
Published: February 2013

Abstract
This article aims at giving an outline of the regulation of conflict of laws contained in the Emirati Code of Civil Transactions, while adopting a comparative approach to Private international law rules in other Arab as well as Western countries. The article is divided into two main parts. The first consists of an overview of the regulation of conflict of laws in the UAE, addressing the origins, method and scope of the regulation. The second contains an analysis of the conflict of law provisions in the Emirati law, addressing the conceptual approach, general rules and special rules of conflict of laws.
Triple Ṭalāq in One Session: An Analysis of the Opinions of Classical, Medieval, and Modern Muslim Jurists under Islamic Law
Authors: Munir Muhammad 
Published: February 2013

Abstract
This work analyzes one of the hottest and most tricky issues of the Muslim Family Law, i.e., whether in cases of divorce (ṭalāq), three repudiations spoken in one session equal one or three repudiations. There had been no disagreement regarding this issue among the four Sunni Schools of Jurisprudence until the end of the 7th century Hijrah when Ibn Taimiyah and Ibn al-Qayim challenged the position of the ğamhūr (majority of Islamic scholars). Before them only the Shīʿa and the Ẓāhirites had treated three pronouncements in one session as one. The ğamhūr has given very strong arguments in support of their point of view, whereas Ibn Taimiyah and Ibn al-Qayim have advanced very weak arguments in support of their view. The Shīʿa Imāmiyah School of Thought holds two opinions. According to one view, three ṭalāqs in one session amount to one, while the second point of view holds that three repudiations in one session do not amount to any ṭalāq.
A Critique of Intellectual Property Research
Authors: Nesheiwat Faris K. 
Published: February 2013

Abstract
This article is first of its kind in that it provides a survey of intellectual property (IP) literature and suggestions for future research on IP issues for Arab countries using Jordan as a case study. A review of IP literature, which identifies how international scholars perceived the effect of harmonised IP standards on access to common knowledge, is followed by a review of literature pertaining to Jordan. Areas of controversy and questions are identified. Finally, an outline of outstanding questions and gaps in the existing IP literature on Jordan is offered as a template for the creation of future research objectives.
Imposing Zakāt on Legal Entities and its Applications in Islamic Financial Institutions
Authors: Noor Azman Mohd , Haron Muhamad Nasir 
Published: February 2013

Abstract
Zakāt (obligation to donate a certain proportion of wealth each year to charitable causes) is imposed on particular assets owned by Muslims. However, as there has been a tremendous development in trade locally and globally, and with the growth of Islamic banking and finance and the increased demand for Sharīʿah-compliant services and supplies, a number of contemporary Muslim scholars have suggested that zakāt be imposed on legal entities. This implies that the calculation is based on the company’s net asset value. Based on this proposition, one need not know the identities of the shareholders: i.e., whether they are government-linked companies, foreign parent companies, individual proprietors, Muslims or non-Muslims. This article aims to examine the validity of imposing zakāt on legal entities from the Sharīʿah’s perspective.
Two Surprising Aspects of Islamic Saudi Liberalism in Public and Private Law
Authors: Koraytem Tabet 
Published: February 2013

Abstract
Saudi Arabia is often defined as a country where the rule of law is challenged by archaism with reference to Islamic criminal punishments or by anarchy with reference to its pluralism combining Western and Islamic laws (and sometimes tribal customs). Both opinions are wrong thanks to two fundamental rules of Ḥanbalism (the Kingdom’s Islamic School of Law). The first rule says: “No obedience to a creature in the disobedience of the Creator”, and the second says: “The Rule in profane activities (muʿāmalāt) is lawfulness until one indication from the Sharīʿah Guides [i.e., Qurʾān and the Prophet’s sayings or Ḥadīth] dismisses it from [the application of] this Rule”. Thanks to these rules and the way in which they have been developed in public and private law, we will see that Saudi law finally appears less contradictory than laws in other Arab countries, and therefore less challenging to the rule of law.
Orographic Influences on a Great Salt Lake–Effect Snowstorm
Authors: Alcott Trevor I. , Steenburgh W. James 
Published: February 2013

Abstract
Although several mountain ranges surround the Great Salt Lake (GSL) of northern Utah, the extent to which orography modifies GSL-effect precipitation remains largely unknown. Here the authors use observational and numerical modeling approaches to examine the influence of orography on the GSL-effect snowstorm of 27 October 2010, which generated 6–10 mm of precipitation (snow-water equivalent) in the Salt Lake Valley and up to 30 cm of snow in the Wasatch Mountains. The authors find that the primary orographic influences on the event are 1) foehnlike flow over the upstream orography that warms and dries the incipient low-level air mass and reduces precipitation coverage and intensity; 2) orographically forced convergence that extends downstream from the upstream orography, is enhanced by blocking windward of the Promontory Mountains, and affects the structure and evolution of the lake-effect precipitation band; and 3) blocking by the Wasatch and Oquirrh Mountains, which funnels the flow into the Salt Lake Valley, reinforces the thermally driven convergence generated by the GSL, and strongly enhances precipitation. The latter represents a synergistic interaction between lake and downstream orographic processes that is crucial for precipitation development, with a dramatic decrease in precipitation intensity and coverage evident in simulations in which either the lake or the orography are removed. These results help elucidate the spectrum of lake–orographic processes that contribute to lake-effect events and may be broadly applicable to other regions where lake effect precipitation occurs in proximity to complex terrain.
Ethnic differences in parental attitudes and beliefs about being overweight in childhood
Authors: Trigwell J , Watson PM , Murphy RC , Stratton G , Cable NT 
Published: February 2013

Objective: This study examined the relationship between ethnic background and parental views of healthy body size, concerns surrounding overweight and attitudes to perceived causes of overweight in childhood. Method: A self-report questionnaire was designed to explore parental attitudes towards childhood weight. Sampling deliberately over-represented the views of parents from minority ethnic groups. Eight-hundred-and-eight parents of school-aged children completed the questionnaire. Parental data from Asian British, Black African, Black Somali, Chinese, South Asian, White British and Yemeni groups were included in the analysis. Results: Data showed that ethnic background was significantly associated with parental beliefs that overweight children will grow out of being overweight (X2[12, n = 773] = 59.25, p < 0.001) and that overweight children can still be healthy (X2[12, n = 780] = 25.17, p < 0.05). In both cases, agreement with the statements was highest among Black Somali parents. While the majority of parents believed that both dietary behaviours and physical activity played a role in the development of overweight in childhood, Yemeni parents were more likely to attribute overweight in childhood to dietary but not physical activity causes. Conclusion: Ethnic differences in parental perceptions of weight in childhood must be considered in the design of, and recruitment to, childhood obesity interventions aimed at minority ethnic groups.
Education in the wake of healthcare reform: Increasing primary care usage by individuals currently reliant upon emergency departments for care
Authors: Tannebaum Michael , Wilkin Holley A , Keys Jobia 
Published: February 2013

Background: The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was introduced, in part, to increase access to primary care, which has been shown to provide patients with myriad health benefits. Objective: To increase primary care usage by understanding the beliefs about primary and emergency care most salient to those whose healthcare-seeking practices may be impacted by the ACA. Methods: Community forum and focus group discussions were held with residents of a low-income community who are affected by health disparities, are heavily reliant on emergency care for their medical needs, and whose primary healthcare options should expand under the provisions of the ACA. Results: Explored within a theory of planned behaviour framework, results suggest residents’ attitudes toward primary and emergency care are predicated on beliefs about costs, wait times, and the ability to access care locally. Conclusion: In light of findings about the determinants that drive healthcare-seeking intentions and ultimately behaviours, we recommend educational strategies that health promoters can adopt to encourage populations that are newly insured and traditionally reliant on emergency services to pursue routine primary care.
Training medical students about hazardous drinking using simple assessment techniques
Authors: Hidalgo Jesús López-Torres , Pretel Fernando Andrés , Bravo Beatriz Navarro , Rabadan Francisco Escobar , Serrano Selva Juan Pedro , Latorre Postigo Jose Miguel , Martínez Ignacio Párraga 
Published: February 2013

Objective: To examine the ability of medical students to identify hazardous drinkersing using screening tools recommended in clinical practice. Design: Observational cross-sectional study. Setting: Faculty of Medicine of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. Method: The medical students learnt to use Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and Systematic Interview of Alcohol Consumption (SIAC) questionnaires. After training with these instruments, the medical students anonymously assessed their own alcohol consumption. Results: The medical students easily learnt to assess alcohol consumption using both instruments, as alcohol consumption was quantified correctly in 95.8% of cases. The questions asked by the students were referred to the questionnaires scoring procedure, quantification of the grams of alcohol consumed and conversion of grams of alcohol into standard drink units (SDUs). In total, 50.9% of men and 48.1% of women fulfilled criteria of excess alcohol consumption, and the global percentage of these drinkers corresponded to 49.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 42.4%–56.6%). Alcohol consumption of at least 28 SDUs/week in men and 17 SDUs/week in women was detected in 16.8% of participants. Conclusion: Because of the simplicity of the instruments used to detect hazardous drinking, these can be learnt from the very first stages of medical training, thus encouraging students to initiate clinical prevention tasks, and increase their awareness of both their own and others’ hazardous behaviour.
Compatibilization of NBR/SBR blends using amphiphilic montmorillonites
Authors: Essawy Hisham A , Khalil Ahmed M , Tawfik Magda E , El-Sabbagh Salwa H 
Published: February 2013

Sodium-montmorillonite (Mont-0) was partially/completely cation exchanged with appropriate amounts of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide to yield amphiphilic montmorillonites bearing different ratios of both hydrophilic and lipophilic segments. The lipophilicity/hydrophilicity range extended progressively up to the highly hydrophobic form (Mont-100), where all of the sodium cation content was replaced by the cetyltrimethylammonium cation. The produced amphiphilic forms can be arranged in the order of Mont-0 > Mont-25 > Mont-50 > Mont-75 > Mont-100, according to the decrease in hydrophilicity. Subsequently, the different montmorillonites were employed as reinforcing agents for acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber/styrene-butadiene rubber (50/50) rubber blend, which is known to be physically incompatible. We found from our previous reports that the mechanical properties of blends comprising a fixed loading of each montmorillonite form (20 phr) displayed remarkable improvements up to different levels indicating different compatibility influences between the rubber components by the inserted clays. In the current report, these results are intensively studied using dynamic mechanical thermal analysis and complemented by differential scanning calorimetry. Additionally, the network characteristics of the vulcanized rubber networks were determined for the neat blends (in absence of any clay) as well as for reinforced blends with different clay forms. Based on the obtained data, it could be concluded that the montmorillonite forms can bind both phases of the blend through interfacial interactions at the boundaries between the blend components but with different potentials. This effect was associated in the mean time by the hindrance of phase separation thus enhancing the compatibility. These findings were further supported using scanning electron microscopy, which confirmed that the compatibilization effect may have been achieved through lowering of the interfacial tension between the components.
Shape Fidelity of Native and Engineered Human Nasal Septal Cartilage
Authors: Reuther Marsha S. , Briggs Kristen K. , Neuman Monica K. , Masuda Koichi , Sah Robert L. , Watson Deborah 
Published: February 2013

ObjectiveTo test engineered and native septal cartilage for resistance to deformation and remodeling under sustained bending loads and to determine the effect of bending loads on the biochemical properties of constructs.Study DesignProspective, basic science.SettingLaboratory.Subjects and MethodsHuman septal chondrocytes from 6 donors were used to create 12‐mm constructs. These were cultured for 10 weeks and subjected to bending for 6 days. Free‐swelling controls and native tissue from 6 donors were used for comparison. Shape retention, photo documentation, live‐dead staining, and biochemical properties were measured.ResultsLive‐dead staining showed no difference in cell survival between loaded constructs and free‐swelling controls. The immediate shape retention of the constructs was 39.0% versus 24.4% for native tissue (P =. 13). After 2 and 24 hours of relaxation, the constructs possessed similar shape retention to native tissue (26.9% and 16.4%; P =. 126; 21.7% and 14.4%; P =. 153). There was no significant change in construct shape retention from immediately after release to 2 hours of relaxation (39.0% and 26.9%, respectively; P =. 238). In addition, the retention did not change significantly between 2 and 24 hours of relaxation (26.9% and 21.7%; P =. 48). There was no significant difference in biochemical properties between loaded constructs and controls.ConclusionThe shape retention properties of human septal neocartilage constructs are comparable to human native septal cartilage. In addition, mechanical loading of neocartilage constructs does not adversely affect cell viability or biochemical properties. This study demonstrates that neocartilage constructs possess adequate shape fidelity for use as septal cartilage graft material.
Mapping of Cartilage Depth in the Knee and Elbow for Use in Osteochondral Autograft Procedures
Authors: Schub David L. , Frisch Nicholas C. , Bachmann Keith R. , Winalski Carl , Saluan Paul M. 
Published: February 2013

Background: Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) of the elbow is a problematic condition that affects a fair number of young athletes. One treatment option is the use of osteochondral autografts, which are commonly taken from donor sites on the less weightbearing surfaces of the knee. Purpose: To use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess the cartilage depths of sites in the knee and elbow that are commonly used as donor and recipient sites to optimize depth matching for osteochondral autograft procedures. Study Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Methods: All knee and elbow MRI scans acquired from 3-T machines in patients aged 16 to 25 years within a single hospital system were reviewed. Studies were excluded if there had been previous surgery on the joint or if there were significant chondral defects in the areas to be measured. All cartilage depth measurements were independently performed by 3 different physicians to the nearest 0.01 mm. At the elbow, 6 locations on the capitellum and 2 on the trochlea were chosen. At the knee, 4 locations along the anterior-lateral femoral condyle, 5 surrounding the intercondylar notch, and 1 on both the medial- and lateral-posterior femoral condyles were chosen. Results: There were 111 knee MRI (74 male, 37 female) and 94 elbow MRI (85 male, 9 female) scans that met all inclusion criteria. The average cartilage depths from each investigator were then averaged to provide an overall mean depth at each location. All average cartilage depths within the knee were thicker than those in the elbow, where the averaged mean thickness of all the 8 measured sites was 1.27 mm (range, 0.78-1.63 mm). Within the knee, the thinnest areas of cartilage, and therefore closest matches, were discovered at the posterior pole of the medial femoral condyle (mean ± SD, 1.95 ± 0.46 mm) and at the distal-most anterior-lateral femoral condyle (1.85 ± 0.46 mm). The average variance between the mean cartilage depths measured by each investigator for each location was 0.12 mm in the elbow and 0.22 mm in the knee. Conclusion: Average cartilage depths in the knee were thicker than those in the elbow at all sites measured. The thinnest areas in the knee were the posterior aspect of the medial femoral condyle and the distal-most aspect of the anterior-lateral femoral condyle. Clinical Relevance: This study provides the surgeon with meaningful data on average cartilage depths at common donor sites in the knee and recipient sites in the elbow.
Constituting balance between strength and toughness in nanocomposites based on PP/SEBS-g-MA blends
Authors: Ranjbar Mostafa , Arefazar Ahmad , Bakhshandeh Gholamreza 
Published: February 2013

In this article, polypropylene/styrene–ethylene–butylene–styrene grafted with maleic anhydride (PP/SEBS- g-MA) triblock copolymer blends and their samples containing various amounts of organo-modified montmorillonite (1–5 phr) are prepared through melt compounding in an internal mixer. X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are used to evaluate the dispersion of nanoclay particles in the blends. The measurements of mechanical and thermal properties of all the samples are carried out by means of standard methods. XRD and TEM results show existence of exfoliated and intercalated structures in the samples. Furthermore, the measurements of mechanical properties of the samples show that despite the decrease in tensile strength and Young’s modulus of PP in the presence of SEBS- g-MA as a toughening agent, addition of clay as the reinforcing filler improves these properties. So, a good balance between strength/stiffness and toughness/ductility is obtained with the addition of SEBS- g-MA and clay simultaneously and controlling their contents. Finally, thermal studies reveal that addition of clay has no significant influence on the structure and stability of the PP crystals formed.
Effect of woven flax structures on morphology and properties of reinforced modified polylactide composites
Authors: Siengchin Suchart , Dangtungee Rapeephun 
Published: February 2013

Composites composed of polylactide (PLA), modified PLA and woven flax fiber textiles (flax weave style of 2 × 2 twill and 4 × 4 hopsack) were produced by hot press technique. Two structurally different additives were used to modify PLA. The dispersion of the flax in the composites was studied by scanning electron microscopy and computed microtomography system (µCT). The PLA composites were subjected to water absorption and instrumented falling weight impact tests. The thermomechanical and creep properties of the composites were determined using thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic-mechanical thermal analysis and short-time creep tests. It was found that the modified PLA and its composite increased the impact resistance compared with the unmodified PLA. Incorporation of flax decreased resistance to thermal degradation and increased water uptake. The impact energy and stiffness value of PLA/flax composites were markedly higher than that of PLA but reflect the effects of composite structures and flax content. The storage modulus master curves were constructed by applying the time–temperature superposition principle. From the master curve data, the effect of modified PLA on the storage modulus was more pronounced in the low frequency range.