bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mechanical unloading reverses transverse tubule remodelling and normalizes local Ca2+‐induced Ca2+release in a rodent model of heart failure
Authors: Ibrahim Michael , Navaratnarajah Manoraj , Siedlecka Urszula , Rao Christopher , Dias Priyanthi , Moshkov Alexey V. , Gorelik Julia , Yacoub Magdi H. , Terracciano Cesare M. 
Published: April 2012

AimsCa2+‐induced Ca2+ release (CICR) is critical for contraction in cardiomyocytes. The transverse (t)‐tubule system guarantees the proximity of the triggers for Ca2+ release [L‐type Ca2+ channel, dihydropyridine receptors (DHPRs)] and the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release channels [ryanodine receptors (RyRs)]. Transverse tubule disruption occurs early in heart failure (HF). Clinical studies of left ventricular assist devices in HF indicate that mechanical unloading induces reverse remodelling. We hypothesize that unloading of failing hearts normalizes t‐tubule structure and improves CICR.Methods and resultsHeart failure was induced in Lewis rats by left coronary artery ligation for 12 weeks; sham‐operated animals were used as controls. Failing hearts were mechanically unloaded for 4 weeks by heterotopic abdominal heart transplantation (HF‐UN). HF reduced the t‐tubule density measured by di‐8‐ANEPPS staining in isolated left ventricular myocytes, and this was reversed by unloading. The deterioration in the regularity of the t‐tubule system in HF was also reversed in HF‐UN. Scanning ion conductance microscopy showed the reappearance of normal surface striations in HF‐UN. Electron microscopy revealed recovery of normal t‐tubule microarchitecture in HF‐UN. L‐type Ca2+ current density, measured using whole‐cell patch clamping, was reduced in HF but unaffected by unloading. The variance of the time‐to‐peak of the Ca2+ transient, an index of CICR dyssynchrony, was increased in HF and normalized by unloading. The increased Ca2+ spark frequency observed in HF was reduced in HF‐UN. These results could be explained by the recoupling of orphaned RyRs in HF, as indicated by immunofluorescence.ConclusionsOur data show that mechanical unloading of the failing heart reverses the pathological remodelling of the t‐tubule system and improves CICR.
Hydraulic limits preceding mortality in a piñon–juniper woodland under experimental drought
Authors: PLAUT JENNIFER A. , YEPEZ ENRICO A. , HILL JUDSON , PANGLE ROBERT , SPERRY JOHN S. , POCKMAN WILLIAM T. , MCDOWELL NATE G. 
Published: April 2012

ABSTRACTDrought‐related tree mortality occurs globally and may increase in the future, but we lack sufficient mechanistic understanding to accurately predict it. Here we present the first field assessment of the physiological mechanisms leading to mortality in an ecosystem‐scale rainfall manipulation of a piñon–juniper (Pinus edulis–Juniperus monosperma) woodland. We measured transpiration (E) and modelled the transpiration rate initiating hydraulic failure (Ecrit). We predicted that isohydric piñon would experience mortality after prolonged periods of severely limited gas exchange as required to avoid hydraulic failure; anisohydric juniper would also avoid hydraulic failure, but sustain gas exchange due to its greater cavitation resistance. After 1 year of treatment, 67% of droughted mature piñon died with concomitant infestation by bark beetles (Ips confusus) and bluestain fungus (Ophiostoma spp.); no mortality occurred in juniper or in control piñon. As predicted, both species avoided hydraulic failure, but safety margins from Ecrit were much smaller in piñon, especially droughted piñon, which also experienced chronically low hydraulic conductance. The defining characteristic of trees that died was a 7 month period of near‐zero gas exchange, versus 2 months for surviving piñon. Hydraulic limits to gas exchange, not hydraulic failure per se, promoted drought‐related mortality in piñon pine.
Changes to financial incentives in English dentistry 2006–2009: a qualitative study
Authors: Mcdonald Ruth , Cheraghi‐Sohi Sudeh , Sanders Caroline , Tickle Martin 
Published: April 2012

AbstractObjectivesTo explore the views of NHS dentists in England regarding reforms, which changed their incentive and payment structure.MethodsSemi‐structured interviews with 35 dentists, digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using a constant comparative method.ResultsDentists reported changing their behaviour in response to incentives in ways that were likely to have adverse impacts on patients. There was also a loss of trust in NHS paymasters, as well as a loss of faith in the ability to provide high quality care in NHS dentistry.ConclusionsResponses suggest that many dentists were quick to change behaviour following the introduction of a revised contractual structure in 2006. The coalition government in the UK has stated its intention to introduce a new NHS dental contract. Our data suggest that part of the process of changing behaviours, norms and attitudes will require the rebuilding of trust in the NHS amongst NHS dentists, as opposed to merely redesigning incentive structures, though the two are related.
Grazing networks provide useful functional connectivity for plants in fragmented systems
Authors: Auffret Alistair G. , Schmucki Reto , Reimark Josefin , Cousins Sara A.O. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractQuestionTo what extent does the movement of animals between fragmented habitat patches provide functional connectivity via endozoochorous seed dispersal?LocationThe Stockholm archipelago, Sweden.MethodsWe followed all movements of livestock between islands during one grazing season. After each movement, manure was collected and its seed content assessed through seedling emergence. Seedling data were then compared to vegetation surveys from the grazed islands with regard to functional traits.ResultsLight‐ and nitrogen‐demanding locally abundant species, and those with relatively small and persistent seeds were more likely to be moved between islands. For quantitative traits, only a subset of the available trait ranges were dispersed, with extreme values left behind. Species apparently specialized to other means of dispersal emerged from the manure samples. Neither dispersed traits nor seed density changed with timing of movement, but seed richness and diversity both increased throughout the season. The subsets of endozoochorously‐dispersed species in the established vegetation were more similar than non‐dispersed subsets between islands linked by livestock.ConclusionsGrazing networks contribute to the connectivity of the core species in the system, and could provide useful tools for grassland management in fragmented landscapes.
T‐RFLP‐based differences in oral microbial communities as risk factor for development of oral diseases under stress
Authors: Horz H.‐P. , Ten Haaf A. , Kessler O. , Said Yekta S. , Seyfarth I. , Hettlich M. , Lampert F. , Küpper T. , Conrads G. 
Published: April 2012

SummaryThe human oral microbiome is comprised of approximately 800 different bacterial species many of which are as yet uncultivated. Their dynamics and variability in relation to health and disease are still poorly understood. Here we tested the hypothesis that the emergence of stress‐induced periodontal diseases is predictable based on the composition of the initial microbiota. As a model, we analysed 58 individuals performing a challenging expedition (exposure to various stress‐factors due to changes in diet, hygiene, temperature, physical and mental stress) in remote regions of the Himalayans (Annapurna Himal). Plaque samples were taken at start (Bhulbule) and destination (3000 meter difference in altitude) seven days later (Manang). Twenty‐eight individuals remained symptom‐free (Group I) while 30 participants developed periodontal problems, mostly gingivitis (Group II). The microbiota was monitored via T‐RFLP‐analysis of amplified 16S rRNA genes directly from the plaque samples. Based on the Additive‐Main‐Effects‐Multiplicative‐Interactions‐model (AMMI) using the T‐Rex software variation from T‐RF main effects was at least 95%, indicating that most variation was due to inherent differences in microbial communities among individuals. However, an interaction signal up to 3% was consistently observed between groups I and II but not between the two time points of sampling regardless of selected analytical parameters. The data, supported by heterogeneity, diversity and similarity indices indicated marked differences between groups I and II already prior the onset of clinical symptoms. These differences may provide the basis for using ecological parameters of oral microbial communities as early diagnostic marker for the onset of oral disorders and infections.
Safety and efficacy of paclitaxel liposome for elderly patients with advanced non‐small cell lung cancer: A multi‐center prospective study
Authors: Ding Zhen‐Yu , Zhou Lin , Liu Yong‐Mei , Lu You 
Published: April 2012

AbstractBackground:  Lung cancer in elderly patients poses an increasingly challenge for oncologists. The optimal treatment needs to be explored. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the novel form of paclitaxel liposome for elderly patients with non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Methods:  This multi‐center prospective trial recruited patients aged at least 70 years with advanced or recurrent NSCLC. Eligibility criteria included presence of measurable lesions, an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0–2, as well as adequate organ function. Patients received paclitaxel liposome at the escalating dose of 135 mg/m2, 150 mg/m2 and 175 mg/m2 every three weeks.Results:  Forty‐two patients were enrolled with a median age of 73 years (range 70–81). No complete response was observed. Partial response was obtained in 6.7%, 14.2% and 7.7% of patients, and 13.3%, 42.9% and 38.5% had stable disease from the three dose groups. In these groups, 26.7%, 21.4% and 25% of patients experienced grade 3–4 neutropenia. Time to progression was 1.2 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1–1.3 months), 1.2 months (95% CI, 0.9–1.3 months) and 1.9 months (95% CI, 1.4–2.3 months), respectively. Overall survival in the dose group of 135 mg/m2 was 4.9 months (95%CI, 1.0–11.5 months) and was not reached in the other two groups.Conclusions:  Paclitaxel liposome administered at the dose of 150 mg/m2 every three weeks was the safest and most effective of the three dose levels. However, the treatment achieved only mild effects. It was unnecessary to conduct further phase III randomized trials on this topic.
Why does Aristotle Think that Ethical Virtue is Required for Practical Wisdom?
Authors: Coope Ursula 
Published: April 2012

AbstractIn this paper, I ask why Aristotle thinks that ethical virtue (rather than mere self-control) is required for practical wisdom. I argue that a satisfactory answer will need to explain why being prone to bad appetites implies a failing of therationalpart of the soul. I go on to claim that the self-controlled person does suffer from such a rational failing: a failure to take a specifically rational kind of pleasure in fine action. However, this still leaves a problem: could there not be someone who (unlike the self-controlled person) took the right kind of pleasure in fine action, but who failed to be virtuous on account of bad appetites? If so, would such a person be practically wise but not virtuous? I end with some suggestions about how Aristotle might answer this.
"Modernity", "Tradition", and the Battleground of Gender in Early 20th-Century Damascus
Authors: Gelvin James L. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractIn early 20th-century Damascus, a group of religious scholars who called themselves mutadayyinūn (the "very pious") and who claimed to represent an Islamic "orthodoxy" launched a journal, al-Haqā'iq, to expose the crimes of the mutafarnijūn (the "overly Frankified") and to agitate for a return to "true Islam". According to the mutadayyinūn, the mutafarnijūn were introducing into the Ottoman Empire practices borrowed from the West and were thus abetting a Western conspiracy against the empire and Islam. Among the practices the mutadayyinūn found particularly irksome were those that threatened "traditional" and "scripturally-dictated" customs relating to gender, such as veiling and the seclusion of women. What becomes clear through an analysis of the debate, the reasons for its prominence on the pages of al-Haqā'iq, and the method and style of argumentation adopted by the mutadayyinūn, however, is that despite their claim to be the upholders of tradition, the mutadayyinūn relied on the same epistemic assumptions as those they castigated. Thus, unbeknownst to them, they were engaged in the process of inventing a religio-political synthesis coherent with contemporary social and political structures and institutions. The traces of this religio-political synthesis, later adopted or reinvented by others, remains embedded within the structures and institutions of the contemporary Syrian state.
Participation of Non-State Actors in ICJ Proceedings
Authors: Ronen Yaël 
Published: April 2012

Abstract
This article examines the participation in ICJ proceedings of non-state actors, and particularly non-state territorial entities and NGOs, from both a doctrinal and a practical perspective. An evaluation of the practice of the ICJ against the framework of its Statute sheds light on the ICJ’s openness to the expanding variety of actors in the international arena, as well as on the characteristics of such actors that inform the Court’s policy. The study reveals remarkable flexibility on the part of the ICJ in allowing participation of NSAs in advisory opinions involving territorial entities aspiring to statehood or of otherwise indeterminate territorial status, but resistance insofar as concerns other participation of NSAs. The article proposes a framework for understanding the practice of the ICJ, based on the nature of the NSA, the content of the dispute, and the procedural requirements of justice.
On Balancing Foreign Investment Interests with Public Interests in Recent Arbitration Case Law in the Public Utilities Sector
Authors: Tanzi Attila 
Published: April 2012

Abstract
This article addresses the relationship between the protection of foreign investment and the protection of public interests of host States, with special regard to the public utilities sector when privately operated by foreign investors. It primarily focuses on an assessment of the scope of the concept of public interest particularly in the light of the interpretative developments concerning national security and general well-being that may be affected by foreign investment. The article highlights the trend gradually emerging from the recent international investment arbitration case law towards the harmonization between foreign investment interests and local public interests. It considers the policy rationale behind such a trend, as well as the legal reasoning and principles, with special regard to due diligence and proportionality, which may possibly enhance it.
Francis Bacon: Constructing Natural Histories of the Invisible
Authors: Rusu Doina-Cristina 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThe natural histories contained in Francis Bacon's Historia naturalis et experimentalis seem to differ from the model presented in De augmentis scientiarum and the Descriptio globi intellectualis in that they are focused on the defining properties of matter, its primary schematisms and the spirits. In this respect, they are highly speculative. In this paper I aim to describe the Historia naturalis et experimentalis as a text about matter theory, the histories of which are ascending from what is most evident to the senses to what is least accessible to them. Moreover, the Latin natural histories are parts of a methodological procedure in which the provisional rules and axioms obtained in one history can be used as theoretical assumptions for another history, thereby permitting one to delve ever more profoundly into the structure of nature.
The Songs of the Taliban: Continuity of Form and Thought in an Ever-Changing Environment
Authors: Weinreich Matthias , Pelevin Mikhail 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThe second half of the 1990s saw the emergence of a new, distinctive type of Afghan poetry, the Taliban tarana performed in Pashto by one or more vocalists without instrumental accompaniment and characterised by the melodic modes of local folk music. Over the last fifteen years the tarana chants have gained wide distribution within Afghanistan and Pashto speaking parts of Pakistan, as well as among the Pashtun diaspora. Considering their unambiguous ideological status and their immense popularity within the country of origin they can be regarded as the signature tune of the Afghan insurgency. The present article, which focuses on the literary roots of these songs, attempts to demonstrate that their authors are following century old patterns of Pashto oral and written poetry while adopting traditional material to the needs and the milieu of contemporary Afghan society. The publication is supplemented by a transcription and English translation of five tarana chants.
Marginal Remarks on the History of Some Persian Words
Authors: Asatrian Garnik 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThe paper includes historical comments on several Persian words from classical texts and vernacular language, particularly the lexical group denoting 'mandrake', some other plant-names ('water-cress', 'fenugreek'), adjectives and social terms ('bald', 'prostitute', 'lame'), names of body-parts ('head', 'thigh'), traditional food, kinship terms ('firstling'), honorific titles ('lord; rich merchant', 'a name of God'), animal-names ('frog, toad'), etc.
BOUNDARIES AND AUDIENCES OF NATIONAL HISTORIES OF SCIENCE: INSIGHTS FROM THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF THE NETHERLANDS
Authors: HOMBURG ERNST 
Published: April 2012

Abstracttitle ABSTRACT /title The present paper traces the evolution of writing national-oriented histories of science and technology of the Netherlands. Several episodes are distinguished. A first wave of national histories of science and technology was written during the first decades of the 19th century. These histories had a wide scope, which included science, technology, the humanities and the arts. A second wave, which lasted from about 1865 to 1900, was strongly connected to the rise of the scientific professions. Its focus was on the sciences per se, and on the Dutch "Golden Age" of the 17th century. A third wave occurred during and shortly after the Second World War. Its focus was mainly on the "Second Golden Age" of Dutch science (1870-1910), and its major audience were young boys that were to be recruited to the sciences. The second part of the paper discusses the growing influence of "contextualization" in both the history of science and the history of technology from about 1975 onwards. As a result, local factors often received more attention in historical studies of science and technology than national influences. In 1985, Klaas van Berkel undertook a bold attempt to write a new synthesis of the history of Dutch science, but his approach was too strongly influenced by the three previous waves of national histories. From 1989 to 2003 two projects on the national history of technology resulted in 13 volumes on Dutch technology between 1800 and 1970. New research was initiated, and the issue of "national styles" in the development of technology received ample attention. In his conclusions the author points to lessons to be learned from economic history and the history of art, and he concludes with a plea for more historiographical discussion in the history of science and technology.
THE OLD GLOBES IN FRIULI-VENEZIA GIULIA (ITALY)
Authors: FRANCO LOREDANA 
Published: April 2012

Abstract<title> RIASSUNTO </title>Questo scritto si propone un duplice scopo: 1 - Elencare e catalogare gli antichi globi esistenti in Friuli-Venezia Giulia; 2 - Richiamare l'attenzione sulla necessità di salvarli dai danni.
LE LETTERE DI GIUSEPPE PEANO NELLA CORRISPONDENZA DI ERNESTO CESÀRO
Authors: PALLADINO FRANCO 
Published: April 2012

Abstract<title> SUMMARY </title>We have gathered here twenty-six writings from the correspondence of Giuseppe Peano, as well as letters by Alexander Macfarlane and Alexander Ziwet.Peano's letters were addressed to Ernesto Cesaro, an important member of the great Italian school of mathematics founded in the second half of the Nineteenth century. In these writings, Peano discusses various topics: Infinitesimal calculus and Barycentric calculus, the «Rivista di Matematica» and the «Formulario» of which he was editor; didactics and a question about Actuarial mathematics. Some of the writings are confidential in nature: in one letter, Peano proposes exchanging his professorial chair with Cesaro's, and hence transferring from Turin to Naples.The letters written by Macfarlane and Ziwet were sent to Peano; they contain, at the request of Cesaro, information concerning university chairs and the cost of living in the United States.
« ET VIDI COELUM NOVUM ET TERRAM NOVAM »
Authors: TORRINI MAURIZIO 
Published: April 2012

Abstract<title> SUMMARY </title>Contemporary movements, united by their common rejection of traditional knowledge and by their common beginnings and development outside formal school boundaries, libertinism and the new science are often considered, evaluated and classified in the univocal light of modern thought introduced by Descartes. A comparison totally unfavourable to libertinism which did not benefit from the attempt made in some cases to assimilate it to the scientific revolution in the name of a common anti-dogmatic character. The movements were in fact distinct in their aims and motives and their occasional interaction must not make us forget the contemporary presence of different and often contrasting ideas at the dawn of modern thought. The aim of this paper is to overcome the historiographical approach which, by privileging a single access to modern thought, evaluates all the others according to the same measure.The paper, through an examination of the European discussion stimulated by Galileo's Sidereus nuncius, shows the philosophical consequences of the astronomical revolution and the series of projects, hopes and misunderstandings that marked its course. An event that did not encounter the indifference of libertines like Naude, who read in the celestial revolution confirmation of the crisis of terrestrial knowledge. In Italy the bond between libertine thought and the scientific revolution came tragically into being as from the condemnation of Galileo and found its consecration in the Neapolitan trial of the atheists at the end of the seventeenth century, thus reuniting in the name of a single orthodoxy, two different conceptions of nature and knowledge.
COMMISSION ON BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF THE HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Authors: MAZZOLINI RENATO G 
Published: April 2012

Abstract<title> RIASSUNTO </title>Il testo riproduce un rapporto della Commissione di bibliografia della International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science. Tale rapporto riguarda progetti di ricerca in corso durante il 1986 nella Germania Federale. Esso concerne esclusivamente progetti aventi per oggetto edizioni critiche, traduzioni, edizioni di epistolari, bibliografie e cataloghi di manoscritti o di letteratura scientifica del passato, tutti di interesse per la storia della scienza e della medicina.
INEDITI DI PIETRO MOSCATI. UN EPISODIO DEL DIBATTITO ITALIANO SULL'INSENSIBILITA DELLA DURA MADRE
Authors: MONTI MARIA TERESA 
Published: April 2012

Abstracttitle SUMMARY /title The two letters presented here were sent by Pietro Moscati to the surgeon Giambattista Verna, who passed them on to Albrecht von Haller. By referring a polemic episode related to the discussion upon the insensibility of the dura mater, this edition gives account of a moment of the debate in Italy upon the vires insitae in a living body, redefined by Haller, and reconstructs continuity between Moscati's juvenile observations and his later pro-Hallerian choices.