bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy in liver cirrhosis patients: An Egyptian experience
Authors: Gerges Shawkat S. , Seleem Mohamed I. , Ahmed Ashraf E. , Eldin Sameh S. , El‐Atrebi Kamal A. , Abdel Baky Amin M. , Halim Ghada W. 
Published: October 2011

Aim:  Cirrhosis represents a common histological pathway for a wide variety of chronic liver diseases. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the most important cause of liver cirrhosis in Egypt. Although cirrhosis has been regarded as a relative contraindication for laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) as a result of bleeding complications and subsequent liver failure, several reports support the safety of LC in selected patients. This was a prospective study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of LC in cirrhotic patients.Methods:  A total of 177 hepatitis C positive patients with chronic calculus cholecystitis who here scheduled for LC between January 2010 and March 2011 were included in the present study. LC was carried out on patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Two risk stratification‐schemes were used to estimate the perioperative risk of patients with cirrhosis; the Child–Turcotte–Pugh (CTP) score and the Model for End‐stage Liver Disease (MELD) score.Results:  All patients were HCV‐positive patients with Child class A cirrhosis and MELD score ≤ 9. Mean surgical time was 55 min. Surgical difficulty varied between average in 64%, moderate in 28% and extensive in 8%, where 3.4% required conversion to open cholecystectomy. Postoperative follow up of all patients was a multidisciplinary approach by both surgeons and hepatologists. All patients showed sound recovery confirmed by abdominal sonar to exclude intra‐abdominal collections, and application of both CTP and MELD scores, where all patients kept a Child class A score and MELD score ≤ 9.Conclusion:  LC is a safe procedure for hepatitis C‐positive cirrhotic patients when established risk stratifications systems, such as CTP and MELD scores, are used for evaluation.
Trends in the aetiology of middle third facial injuries in southwest Nigeria
Authors: Udeabor S.E. , Akinmoladun V.I. , Fasola O.A. , Obiechina A.E. 
Published: October 2011

AbstractAim:  To study the trends in aetiologies of middle third facial injuries in South West Nigeria.Material and methods:  A prospective analysis of 101 patients with varying degrees of injuries to the midfacial region presenting to the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.Results:  A male to female ratio of 5.3:1 was observed from the study and the 20‐ to 29‐year age group had the highest middle third facial injury rate of 44.6%. Road traffic accident was the leading cause of middle third facial injuries, accounting for 92 (91.1%) out of the 101 patients seen. However, motorbike‐related accidents accounted for 45.5% of all the causes of injuries, making it the single most important factor in the aetiology of middle third facial injuries in the present study. Abrasion and contusion were the commonest soft tissue injuries to the midface (40.1% and 33.7%, respectively), whereas zygomatic complex fractures occurred most (46.0%) amid the hard tissue injuries.Conclusions:  Motorbike‐related road traffic accidents was the leading cause of middle third facial injuries in the current study, as opposed to motor vehicular accidents, which were reported to be the leading aetiological factor in a previous study conducted at the same centre.
Extranodal non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma in the malar region – a case report
Authors: Naveen Shankar V. , Ashwini N.S. , Kumar G. 
Published: October 2011

AbstractThe incidence of extranodal non‐Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) in Asian subcontinent is very low. Extranodal NHL in the malar region are uncommon, and the incidence of these lesions in such site is unknown. Here is a case of slowly enlarging mass from the soft tissue over the right malar region, radiographically appeared to have involved maxillary sinus and histopathologically diagnosed as round cell tumour. Immunohistochemistry analysis was suggestive of diffused large B‐cell lymphoma. Definitive diagnosis by immunohistochemistry is a must for accurate diagnosis, treatment and better outcome for such lesions.
DNA barcoding of Caenogastropoda along coast of China based on the COI gene
Authors: SUN YAN , LI QI , KONG LINGFENG , ZHENG XIAODONG 
Published: October 2011

AbstractDNA barcoding provides an efficient method for species‐level identifications. In this study, we have amplified partial sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene from 110 specimens of 45 species of Caenogastropoda collected from the coast along China to evaluate whether DNA barcodes can distinguish these species accurately. The average Kimura 2‐parameter (K2P) distances within species, genera and families were 0.44%, 13.96% and 22.27%, respectively. Both the neighbour‐joining tree and the Bayesian tree showed a clear discrimination of all the species in our study with highly supported clades. These results proved that the species of Caenogastropoda can be efficiently and accurately identified by DNA barcoding based on the COI gene.
Bonding quality of contemporary dental cements to sandblasted esthetic crown copings*
Authors: Abdelaziz Khalid M. , Al‐Qahtani Nasser M. , Al‐Shehri Abdulrahman S. , Abdelmoneam Adel M. 
Published: October 2011

AbstractAim:  To evaluate the shear bond strength of current luting cements to sandblasted crown‐coping substrates.Methods:  Specimens of nickel‐chromium, pressable glass ceramic, and zirconia crown‐coping substrates were sandblasted in three groups (n = 30 each) with 50 (group 1), 110 (group 2), and 250 μm (group 3) alumina particles at a pressure of 250 kPa. Cylinders of glass ionomer, universal resin, and self‐adhesive resin cements were then built up on the sandblasted substrate surfaces of each group (n = 10). All bonded specimens were stressed to evaluate the cement–substrate shear bond strength. Both the mode and incidence of bond failure were also considered.Results:  No difference was noticed between all test groups in terms of cement–substrate bond strength. In comparison to self‐adhesive type, the universal resin cement provided lower bond strengths to both metal and glass–ceramic substrates in group 1. The self‐adhesive resin cement provided the highest bond strengths to the zirconia substrates in groups 2 and 3. The adhesive type of bond failure was common in the metal and zirconia substrates in all groups.Conclusions:  Cement–substrate bonding quality is not affected by the size of sandblasting particles. Resin cements bond better to different coping substrates. Self‐adhesive resin cement is the best choice to bond zirconia‐based substrates.
Automated intraoperative calibration for prostate cancer brachytherapy
Authors: Kuiran Chen Thomas , Heffter Tamas , Lasso Andras , Pinter Csaba , Abolmaesumi Purang , Burdette E. Clif , Fichtinger Gabor 
Published: October 2011

Purpose:Prostate cancer brachytherapy relies on an accurate spatial registration between the implant needles and the TRUS image, called “calibration”. The authors propose a new device and a fast, automatic method to calibrate the brachytherapy system in the operating room, with instant error feedback.Methods:A device was CAD‐designed and precision‐engineered, which mechanically couples a calibration phantom with an exact replica of the standard brachytherapy template. From real‐time TRUS images acquired from the calibration device and processed by the calibration system, the coordinate transformation between the brachytherapy template and the TRUS images was computed automatically. The system instantly generated a report of the target reconstruction accuracy based on the current calibration outcome.Results:Four types of validation tests were conducted. First, 50 independent, real‐time calibration trials yielded an average of 0.57 ± 0.13 mm line reconstruction error (LRE) relative to ground truth. Second, the averaged LRE was 0.37 ± 0.25 mm relative to ground truth in tests with six different commercial TRUS scanners operating at similar imaging settings. Furthermore, testing with five different commercial stepper systems yielded an average of 0.29 ± 0.16 mm LRE relative to ground truth. Finally, the system achieved an average of 0.56 ± 0.27 mm target registration error (TRE) relative to ground truth in needle insertion tests through the template in a water tank.Conclusions:The proposed automatic, intraoperative calibration system for prostate cancer brachytherapy has achieved high accuracy, precision, and robustness.
Suitability of miniature inductively coupled RF coils as MR‐visible markers for clinical purposes
Authors: Garnov Nikita , Thörmer Gregor , Trampel Robert , Gründer Wilfried , Kahn Thomas , Moche Michael , Busse Harald 
Published: October 2011

Purpose:MR‐visible markers have already been used for various purposes such as image registration, motion detection, and device tracking. Inductively coupled RF (ICRF) coils, in particular, provide a high contrast and do not require connecting wires to the scanner, which makes their application highly flexible and safe. This work aims to thoroughly characterize the MR signals of such ICRF markers under various conditions with a special emphasis on fully automatic detection.Methods:The small markers consisted of a solenoid coil that was wound around a glass tube containing the MR signal source and tuned to the resonance frequency of a 1.5 T MRI. Marker imaging was performed with a spoiled gradient echo sequence (FLASH) and a balanced steady‐state free precession (SSFP) sequence (TrueFISP) in three standard projections. The signal intensities of the markers were recorded for both pulse sequences, three source materials (tap water, distilled water, and contrast agent solution), different flip angles and coil alignments with respect to theB0 direction as well as for different marker positions in the entire imaging volume (field of view, FOV). Heating of the ICRF coils was measured during 10‐min RF expositions to three conventional pulse sequences. Clinical utility of the markers was assessed from their performance in computer‐aided detection and in defining double oblique scan planes.Results:For almost the entire FOV (±215 mm) and an estimated 82% of all possible RF coil alignments with respect toB0, the ICRF markers generated clearly visible MR signals and could be reliably localized over a large range of flip angles, in particular with the TrueFISP sequence (0.3°–4.0°). Generally, TrueFISP provided a higher marker contrast than FLASH. RF exposition caused a moderate heating (≤5 °C) of the ICRF coils only.Conclusions: Small ICRF coils, imaged at low flip angles with a balanced SSFP sequence showed an excellent performance under a variety of experimental conditions and therefore make for a reliable, compact, flexible, and relatively safe marker for clinical use.
Development of a human‐tissue‐like phantom for 3.0‐T MRI
Authors: Ikemoto Yusuke , Takao Wataru , Yoshitomi Keisuke , Ohno Seiichiro , Harimoto Takashi , Kanazawa Susumu , Shibuya Koichi , Kuroda Masahiro , Kato Hirokazu 
Published: October 2011

Purpose:A 3.0‐T MRI phantom having human‐tissue‐equivalent relaxation times was developed.Methods:The ingredients of the phantom are carrageenan (for gelatinization), GdCl3 (as a T1‐relaxation modifier), agarose (as a T2‐relaxation modifier), and NaN3 (as an antiseptic agent). Numerous samples with varying concentrations of GdCl3 and agarose were prepared, and T1 and T2 were measured using 3.0‐T MRI.Results:Relaxation times of the phantom samples ranged from 395 to 2601 ms for T1 values and 29 to 334 ms for T2 values. Based on the measured results, empirical formulae were devised to express the relationships between the concentrations of relaxation modifiers and relaxation times.Conclusions:Adjustment of GdCl3 and agarose concentrations allows arbitrary setting of relaxation times, and the creation of a phantom that can mimic relaxation times of human‐tissue. Carrageenan is considered the most suitable as a gelling agent for an MRI phantom, as it permits the relatively easy and inexpensive production of a large phantom such as for the human torso, and which can be easily shaped with a knife.
Serial Quantitative PCR Assay for Detection, Species Discrimination, and Quantification of Leishmania spp. in Human Samples
Authors: Weirather Jason L. , Jeronimo Selma M. B. , Gautam Shalini , Sundar Shyam , Kang Mitchell , Kurtz Melissa A. , Haque Rashidul , Schriefer Albert , Talhari Sinésio , Carvalho Edgar M. , Donelson John E. , Wilson Mary E. 
Published: October 2011

ABSTRACT

The
Leishmania
species cause a variety of human disease syndromes. Methods for diagnosis and species differentiation are insensitive and many require invasive sampling. Although quantitative PCR (qPCR) methods are reported for leishmania detection, no systematic method to quantify parasites and determine the species in clinical specimens is established. We developed a serial qPCR strategy to identify and rapidly differentiate
Leishmania
species and quantify parasites in clinical or environmental specimens. SYBR green qPCR is mainly employed, with corresponding TaqMan assays for validation. The screening primers recognize kinetoplast minicircle DNA of all
Leishmania
species. Species identification employs further qPCR set(s) individualized for geographic regions, combining species-discriminating probes with melt curve analysis. The assay was sufficient to detect
Leishmania
parasites, make species determinations, and quantify
Leishmania
spp. in sera, cutaneous biopsy specimens, or cultured isolates from subjects from Bangladesh or Brazil with different forms of leishmaniasis. The multicopy kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) probes were the most sensitive and useful for quantification based on promastigote standard curves. To test their validity for quantification, kDNA copy numbers were compared between
Leishmania
species, isolates, and life stages using qPCR. Maxicircle and minicircle copy numbers differed up to 6-fold between
Leishmania
species, but the differences were smaller between strains of the same species. Amastigote and promastigote leishmania life stages retained similar numbers of kDNA maxi- or minicircles. Thus, serial qPCR is useful for leishmania detection and species determination and for absolute quantification when compared to a standard curve from the same
Leishmania
species.
Upper Ordovician conodont biostratigraphy and the age of the Collingwood Member, southern Ontario, Canada1Earth Science Sector (ESS) Contribution 20100302.
Authors: Zhang Shunxin , Tarrant Glen A. , Barnes Christopher R. 
Published: October 2011

The Upper Ordovician stratigraphy in southern Ontario represents the clastic foredeep associated with the Appalachian Taconic Orogeny transitioning northwest into coeval carbonate platform facies. Ten measured and sampled sections in both the Collingwood area and on Manitoulin Island, Lake Huron, provide two relatively complete composite sections (277 and 95 m, respectively) through the marine part of the sequence. A total of 100 2 kg samples collected for a conodont biostratigraphic study yielded 77 215 well-preserved specimens. Taxonomic study of the fauna, illustrated herein, identified 34 species representing 22 genera and three taxa in open nomenclature. Taxonomic revisions are made to five species of Pseudobelodina and one of Rhipidognathus ; a new species, Pseudobelodina microdentata , is established. The fauna primarily represents the Midcontinent Province with incursions from the North Atlantic Province primarily in the Collingwood area. Four conodont zones are recognized that help refine the ages for the Upper Ordovician upper Lindsay (Collingwood Member), Blue Mountain, Georgian Bay, and Queenston formations. In particular, the Collingwood Member of the Lindsay Formation, a regionally distributed organic-rich shale of hydrocarbon source rock potential, is demonstrated to lie within the Amorphognathus ordovicicus Zone of North Atlantic Province and the Oulodus robustus Zone of Midcontinent Province and to be early Richmondian age.
A Marxist Who Speaks About God: Reflections on Max Adler’s Religiosity and Jewish Sensitivity
Authors: Ridolfi Giorgio 
Published: October 2011

AbstractThis paper examines Max Adler’s philosophical thought, in order to elucidate how he was able to spot a religious meaning in the materialistic conception of history and to understand his connection to Judaism. The first part expounds on how the prominence of religious issues was perceived in the Marxist milieu; the second part analyzes Adler’s particular position, above all in harmony with Kantian philosophy; and the third part brings out the essential differences between Adler’s and Kant’s ideas on religion. Finally the paper shows how Adler’s hope in an ultramundane salvation of mankind separates his interpretation from Jewish messianism.
The Early Descendants of Avranches 238 (A) of Cicero’s De oratore 1)
Authors: Renting D.S.A. 
Published: October 2011

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to determine how the following manuscripts of Cicero’s De oratore relate to each other: Avranches 238 (A), Erlangen 380 (E), Leiden, Voss. Lat. O. 26 (F) and Vatican, Reg. lat. 1762 (K; a florilegium). In the first section it is shown, on the basis of conjunctive and separative errors, that E and F must have had a common exemplar (α). Next, I argue that E and F (and hence also α) are derived from A (Section 2). In Section 3 I turn to K and argue that K’s excerpts must have been taken from two different exemplars: §§ 429-41 from α, §§ 401-28 from some related manuscript, probably A itself. Section 4 is devoted to a few questions of secondary importance. Finally, I give a stemma.
Caenum aut caelum: M. Livius Drusus and the Land
Authors: Tweedie Fiona C. 
Published: October 2011

AbstractThis article explores the legislative programme of M. Livius Drusus in 91 BC with particular attention to his plans for land distribution. This aspect of his legislation is often overlooked. I will argue that it was central to his plans for the year and that it was of the greatest importance in determining the response of the Italian allies to his programme. Land had been a friction point in Rome’s relations with the allied communities since the activities of the Gracchan land commission and Drusus’ proposals to distribute land alarmed them. It was this, rather than his citizenship bill, that drew the protests of the Etruscans and Umbrians reported by Appian. Appreciating the diversity of interest groups affected by Drusus’ legislation allows for a much better understanding of his tribunate and its aftermath.
Avicenna’s Hermeneutics
Authors: Bäck Allan 
Published: October 2011

AbstractLike Plato, Aristotle uses dialectic to interpret and analyze ordinary discourse as well as to ascend to the first principles of philosophy and science. At the same time he says that it is intellect (noûs) that apprehends the first principle. With al-Fārābī and Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā), dialectic becomes relegated to dealing with ordinary language. For them demonstration in an ideal language from principles apprehended by the intellect suffices for the philosopher.
Praedicaturi supponimus. Is Gilbert of Poitiers’ approach to the problem of linguistic reference a pragmatic one?
Authors: Valente Luisa 
Published: October 2011

AbstractThe article investigates how the problem of (linguistic) reference is treated in Gilbert of Poitiers’ Commentaries on Boethius’ Opuscula sacra. In this text the terms supponere, suppositus,-a,-um, and suppositio mainly concern the act of a speaker (or of the author of a written text) that consists of referring—by choosing a name as subject term in a proposition—to one or more subsistent things as what the speech act (or the written text) is about. Supposition is for Gilbert an action performed by a speaker, not a property of terms, and his ‘contextual approach’ has a pragmatic touch: “we do not predicate in order to supposit as much as we supposit in order to predicate”. Language is considered by Gilbert as a system for communication between human beings, key notions are the ‘sense in the author’s mind’ (sensus mentis eius qui loquitur) and the ‘interpreter’s understanding’ (intelligentia lectoris). The phenomenon of ‘disciplinal’ discourse (“man is a species of individuals”) is treated by means of these hermeneutic notions and not by means of a special kind of supposition.
Pragmatics and Semantics in Thomas Aquinas
Authors: Amerini Fabrizio 
Published: October 2011

AbstractThomas Aquinas’s account of the semantics of names is based on two fundamental distinctions: the distinction between a name’s mode of signifying and the signified object, and that between the cause and the goal of a name’s signification, i.e. that from which a name was instituted to signify and that which a name actually signifies. Thomas endows names with a two-layer signification: names are introduced into language to designate primarily conceptions of extramental things and secondarily the particular extramental things referred to by such conceptions. On such a ‘conceptualistic’ account of names’ signification, Thomas recognizes that a generic acquaintance with external things is a sufficient condition for imposing names to signify things. Following this intuition, Thomas at times dwells on the role that pragmatic factors such as the common usage of names by a linguistic community (usus loquendi) and the speakers’ intention (intentio loquentium) play in explaining both the formation and semantic function of conventional language. This paper will focus on what Thomas had to say about such factors.
Wyclif on the Felicity (Conditions) of Marriage
Authors: Cesalli Laurent 
Published: October 2011

AbstractRegarding marriage, John Wyclif defends the following position: strictly speaking, no words or any kind of sensory signs would be needed, since the consensus of the spouses together with God’s approbation would suffice for the accomplishment of marriage. But if words do have to be pronounced, then the appropriate formula should not be in the present, but in the future. In the following, I shall discuss Wyclif’s arguments by comparing them with some other medieval positions, as well as with some elements of contemporary theories of speech acts. It will appear that in his analysis of the only sacrament which is a “social act” in the literal sense of the expression, Wyclif (i) clearly acknowledges the central role of individual intentions behind (linguistic) conventions, and (ii) carefully distinguishes between the different, chronologically disparate acts involved in marriage and their respective (semantic, psychological and factual) felicity conditions.
Contexts of Utterance and Evaluation in Peter of Mantua’s Obligationes
Authors: Strobino Riccardo 
Published: October 2011

AbstractIn this paper I will examine the relation between the theory of obligations and its use in sophismatic contexts through the lens of certain pragmatic concerns. In order to do this, I will take a sophism discussed by Peter of Mantua in his treatise on obligations as a case-study. I will first provide a brief outline of the structure of the treatise and then examine a concrete case that shows how the relationship between background assumptions (casus and context of utterance) and criteria of response seems to suggest a way to qualify the application of general rules (especially for irrelevant sentences) in certain limit-cases. By discussing Peter’s presentation of the sophism, I will also argue for a connection between Peter of Mantua’s text and Mesino de Codronchi’s Questiones on the De Interpretatione.