bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Flii neutralizing antibodies improve wound healing in porcine preclinical studies
Authors: Jackson Jessica E. , Kopecki Zlatko , Adams Damian H. , Cowin Allison J. 
Published: June 2012

AbstractWound healing is an important area of widely unmet medical need, with millions of procedures carried out worldwide which could potentially benefit from a product to improve the wound repair process. Our studies investigating the actin‐remodeling protein Flightless I (Flii) show it to be an important regulator of wound healing. Flii‐deficient mice have enhanced wound healing in comparison to Flii overexpressing mice which have impaired wound healing. For the first time, we show that a Flightless I neutralizing monoclonal antibody (FnAb) therapy is effective in a large animal model of wound repair. Porcine 5 cm incisional and 6.25 cm2 excisional wounds were treated with FnAb at the time of wounding and for two subsequent days. The wounds were dressed in Tegaderm dressings and left to heal by secondary intention for 7 and 35 days, respectively. At the relevant end points, the wounds were excised and processed for histological analysis. Parameters of wound area, collagen deposition, and scar appearance were analyzed. The results show that treatment with FnAb accelerates reepithelialization and improves the macroscopic appearance of early scars. FnAbs have the potential to enhance wound repair and reduce scar formation.
The Impact of Introducing Insurance Guaranty Schemes on Pricing and Capital Structure
Authors: Schmeiser Hato , Wagner Joël 
Published: June 2012

AbstractThe introduction of an insurance guaranty scheme can have significant influence on the pricing and capital structures in a competitive market. The aim of this article is to study this effect on competitive equity–premium combinations while considering a framework with policyholders and equity holders where guaranty fund charges are volume‐based, as levied in existing schemes. Several settings with regard to the origin of the fund contributions are assessed and the immediate effects on the incentives of the policyholders and equity holders are analyzed through a one‐period contingent claim approach. One result is that introducing a guaranty scheme in a market with competitive conditions entails a shift of equity capital towards minimum solvency requirements. Hence, adverse incentives may arise with regard to the overall security level of the industry.
Pharmacologic Preconditioning Therapy Prior to Atrial Septal Defect Closure in Patients at High Risk for Acute Pulmonary Edema
Authors: GRUNER CHRISTIANE , AKKAYA ERSAN , KRETSCHMAR OLIVER , ROFFI MARCO , CORTI ROBERTO , JENNI ROLF , EBERLI FRANZ R. 
Published: June 2012

Objectives:
The aim of this study was to assess whether transient atrial septal defect (ASD) occlusion and, if required, vasodilator therapy would improve the safety of percutaneous ASD closure in high‐risk subsets.
Background:
While percutaneous ASD closure is generally considered a low risk intervention, hypertensive and elderly patients may develop pulmonary edema following the procedure because of underlying left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction.
Methods:
Fifty‐two consecutive patients who underwent successful percutaneous ASD closures were enrolled into a single‐center prospective registry. Patients with arterial hypertension and/or >60 years of age (n = 15) were considered at risk for periprocedural pulmonary edema. Those patients were tested for an increase of LV filling pressures during transient ASD occlusion and, if this was the case, treated according to a prespecified algorithm. Clinical and echocardiography data were collected in‐hospital and at 6 months follow‐up.
Results:
Shunt size was comparable in high and standard‐risk patients (Qp:Qs 2.1 ± 0.8 vs. 2.1 ± 0.7, P = 0.82). High‐risk patients had more often pulmonary hypertension (58% vs. 14%, P < 0.05) and were more frequently symptomatic. Among them, 4/15 (27%) demonstrated a significant rise of left‐sided filling pressures during transient ASD balloon occlusion and underwent pharmacologic preconditioning prior to ASD closure. None of them developed periprocedural pulmonary edema. At follow‐up, patients were less symptomatic (Pre: NYHA II n = 15, NYHA III n = 9; Post: NYHA II n = 15, NYHA III n = 0; P = 0.02) and right ventricular size decreased from 23 ± 5 cm2 to 17 ± 5 cm2, P < 0.05.
Conclusion:
Transient ASD occlusion and, if required, pharmacologic preconditioning prior to percutaneous closure may prevent periprocedural pulmonary edema in high‐risk patients. (J Interven Cardiol 2012;25:505–512)
Cell Phones to Collect Pregnancy Data From Remote Areas in Liberia
Authors: Lori Jody R. , Munro Michelle L. , Boyd Carol J. , Andreatta Pamela 
Published: June 2012

AbstractPurpose: To report findings on knowledge and skill acquisition following a 3‐day training session in the use of short message service (SMS) texting with non‐ and low‐literacy traditional midwives.Design: A pre‐ and post‐test study design was used to assess knowledge and skill acquisition with 99 traditional midwives on the use of SMS texting for real‐time, remote data collection in rural Liberia, West Africa.Methods: Paired sample t‐tests were conducted to establish if overall mean scores varied significantly from pre‐test to immediate post‐test. Analysis of variance was used to compare means across groups. The nonparametric McNemar's test was used to determine significant differences between the pre‐test and post‐test values of each individual step involved in SMS texting. Pearson's chi‐square test of independence was used to examine the association between ownership of cell phones within a family and achievement of the seven tasks.Findings: The mean increase in cell phone knowledge scores was 3.67, with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 3.39 to 3.95. Participants with a cell phone in the family did significantly better on three of the seven tasks in the pre‐test: “turns cell on without help” (χ2(1) = 9.15, p= .003); “identifies cell phone coverage” (χ2(1) = 5.37, p= .024); and “identifies cell phone is charged” (χ2(1) = 4.40, p= .042).Conclusions: A 3‐day cell phone training session with low‐ and nonliterate traditional midwives in rural Liberia improved their ability to use mobile technology for SMS texting.Clinical Relevance: Mobile technology can improve data collection accessibility and be used for numerous health care and public health issues. Cell phone accessibility holds great promise for collecting health data in low‐resource areas of the world.Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 2012; 00:0, 1–8.
Between the Dock and a Hard Place: Hazards and Opportunities of Legal Pluralism for Indigenous Women in Ecuador
Authors: Picq Manuela Lavinas 
Published: June 2012

AbstractThis article examines the challenges and opportunities of indigenous justice for women in Ecuador. The legal recognition of indigenous justice is a major component of democratization in the region. Yet it also raises the risk of institutionalizing detrimental gender biases within indigenous forms of law. Taking the Remache case as a point of departure, this article identifies some of the fault lines in legal pluralism and women's conflicted relationship with it. Rather than rejecting customary law, however, women advocate for their rights within it—lobbying for gender parity within indigenous justice in the 2008 Constitutional Assembly. As women's support for indigenous justice relocates legal authority, it also challenges conventional practices of state sovereignty. To understand the attractiveness of legal pluralism for women and its impact on the state, this study explores the confines of feminist alliances, the accessibility of indigenous justice, and its implications for state sovereignty.
Pluralism and the Churching of Latin America
Authors: Stark Rodney , Smith Buster G. 
Published: June 2012

AbstractReliable data on Protestant and Catholic membership in 18 Latin American nations show that Protestants have recruited a larger percentage of the population in many nations than previously estimated. Analysis of these data shows that, as predicted by the theory of religious economies, the Catholic Church has been invigorated by the Protestant challenge: Catholic mass attendance has risen to unprecedented levels, and is highest in nations where Protestants have made the greatest gains.
Keeping Up with the Souzas: Social Influence and Electoral Change in a Weak Party System, Brazil 2002–2006
Authors: Ames Barry , García-Sánchez Miguel , Smith Amy Erica 
Published: June 2012

AbstractDespite weak partisanship and considerable political change in the wake of the 2002 election, three-quarters of Brazilian voters supported a presidential candidate in 2006 from the same party they had backed in 2002. This article assesses the factors causing both electoral stability and electoral change with a transition model, a model testing whether the effects of respondents' evaluative criteria depend on their initial vote choices. Social context—personal discussion networks, neighborhood influences, and the interactions of social networks and municipal context—is the major force promoting stability and change, while the impact of partisanship is limited to a small share of voters.
The Concertación's Defeat in Chile's 2009–2010 Presidential Elections
Authors: Quiroga Mauricio Morales 
Published: June 2012

AbstractThe Concertación lost the recent presidential elections in Chile after 20 years in office. This article proposes three explanations for this result. First, the Concertación's candidate selection process through primaries was exclusionary, without opening up participation to all potential applicants. This combined with a deep erosion of the coalition, reflected in the resignation of deputies and senators from parties that compose it. The process was accelerated with the emergence of an independent candidate, formerly from the Concertación. Second, the candidate from the right increased his vote in the poorest sectors and expanded the right's constituency to middle-class segments, traditional Concertación electoral strongholds. Third, the right achieved greater electoral consistency than the Concertación by reducing the number of voters who split their tickets. Its presidential candidate obtained almost the same percentage as its list of deputies.
Haiti's Post-Earthquake Transformation: What of Agriculture and Rural Development?
Authors: Shamsie Yasmine 
Published: June 2012

AbstractThis article examines post-earthquake aid to agriculture and food security in Haiti. It argues that the much-heralded increase in assistance to rural development is likely to fall short of expectations because it comes with a superficial rebranding of a not very useful approach. Macroeconomic policy content remains largely nonnegotiable, full trade liberalization is still favored, and a reliance on free market forces that tend to favor relatively well off, export-oriented farmers still lingers. Furthermore, conflicting approaches to addressing food insecurity highlight an already severe democratic deficit. It appears that the contours of agricultural and food security policy, and hence the destinies of rural Haitians, stand to be shaped from the outside yet again. While new aid resources may offer some modest relief, they hold out only limited opportunities for addressing the profound deprivations and disparities that afflict the rural hinterland.
Fabrication of Transparent Alumina by Rapid Vacuum Pressureless Sintering Technology
Authors: Zhang Xiao , Liang Sen , Zhang Pei , Zhao Ting , Bai Yu , Bao Chong‐Gao , Yang Jian‐Feng , Qiao Guan‐Jun 
Published: June 2012

Transparent alumina with high transmission has been first successfully prepared by rapid vacuum pressureless sintering processing at lower sintering temperature and reduced soaking time, compared with conventional pressureless sintering. The alumina sintered at 1670°C for 5 min has a residual porosity of 0.002% and a real in‐line transmission of 64% for a wavelength of 1100 nm. We show that soaking time has an effect on the densification and transparency of alumina sintered at 1650°C. With increasing sintering temperature and soaking time, densification and grain growth occurred, and above 20 min, grain size increases slowly. The real in‐line transmission of alumina increased with the densification and decreased with pore size growth. The light transmission and absorption were greatly affected by the grain size and pore defects.
Dielectric and Relaxor Properties of Ba9MNb14O45 Ceramics
Authors: Ovchar Oleg , Durilin Dmitrii , Belous Anatolii , Jančar Boštjan , Kolodiazhnyi Taras 
Published: June 2012

The ceramics with two types of nominal compositions including (6:1:4.5) Ba6M2+Nb9O29.5 and (9:1:7) Ba9M2+Nb14O45 (M = Mg, Co, Zn) have been synthesized and studied with regard to their phase composition and dielectric properties. The materials with Ba6M2+Nb9O29.5 nominal compositions corresponded to the two‐phase region containing 9:1:7 tetragonal tungsten bronze‐type (TTB) phase and the 3:1:1 perovskite Ba(M2+1/3Nb2/3)O3. In contrast, 9:1:7 TTB ceramics were near single phase. All of the studied 9:1:7 TTB phases exhibited high values of dielectric permittivity (ε = 800–1100) together with strong frequency dispersion. The observed dispersion of permittivity was accompanied by the monotonic rise of dielectric loss. The dielectric spectra of 9:1:7 TTBs demonstrated a typical relaxor behavior. At low temperatures (100–300 K), two relaxation modes have been found in the tan δ (T) dependencies, which can be associated with two different types of structural disorder in the TTB crystal lattice.
Elastic Properties of Tricalcium Aluminate from High‐Pressure Experiments and First‐Principles Calculations
Authors: Moon Juhyuk , Yoon Seyoon , Wentzcovitch Renata M. , Clark Simon M. , Monteiro Paulo J.M. 
Published: June 2012

The structure and elasticity of tricalcium aluminate (C3A) have been experimentally and theoretically studied. From high‐pressure X‐ray diffraction experiments, the bulk modulus of 102(6) and 110(3) GPa were obtained by fitting second‐ and third‐order finite strain equation of state, respectively. First‐principles calculations with a generalized gradient approximation gave an isotropic bulk modulus of 102.1 GPa and an isothermal bulk modulus of 106.0 GPa. The static calculations using the exchange‐correlation functional show an excellent agreement with the experimental measurements. Based on the agreement, accurate elastic constants and other elastic moduli were computed. The slight difference of behavior at high pressure can be explained by the infiltration of pressure‐transmitting silicone oil into structural holes in C3A. The computed elastic and mechanical properties will be useful in understanding structural and mechanical properties of cementitious materials, particularly with the increasing interest in the advanced applications at the nanoscale.
Radiographic and clinical outcomes of implants placed in ridge preserved sites: a 12‐month post‐loading follow‐up
Authors: Patel K. , Mardas N. , Donos N. 
Published: June 2012

AbstractObjectiveThe aim of this clinical study was to evaluate the interproximal radiographic bone levels and the survival/success rate of dental implants placed in alveolar ridges previously preserved with a synthetic bone substitute or a bovine xenograft.Material and methodsAlveolar ridge preservation was performed in 27 patients who were randomly assigned in two groups. In the test group (n = 14), the extraction socket was treated with a synthetic bone graft Straumann Bone Ceramic; SBC and a collagen barrier, whereas in the control group (n = 13) a deproteinized bovine bone mineral (DBBM) and the same collagen barrier were used. After 8 months of healing, titanium dental implants with a hydrophilic surface were placed in the preserved ridges. During surgery, 9/13 implants in the SBC group and 8/12 implants in the DBBM group presented with either dehiscence or fenestration defects and required additional bone augmentation. The implants were loaded at 4 months following placement and were followed up for 1 year post‐loading. Interproximal radiographic bone levels were evaluated in standardized periapical radiographs at loading and 1 year post‐loading. Probing pocket depth, gingival recession and bleeding upon probing were recorded at implants and neighbouring teeth. The success rate of the implants was evaluated according to criteria set by Albrektsson et al. (1986).ResultsThe survival rate of the implants in both groups was 100% at 1‐year post‐loading. No statistically significant differences in any of the clinical and radiographic measurements were detected between the two groups (P < 0.05). The success rate of the implants was 84.6% (11/13) in the SBC group and 83.3% (10/12) in the DBBM group.ConclusionEquivalent success and survival rates (as well as similar radiographic changes) of dental implants placed in alveolar ridges previously preserved with SBC or DBBM should be anticipated.
Age‐related changes of skin blood flow during postocclusive reactive hyperemia in human
Authors: Tikhonova Irina V. , Tankanag Arina V. , Chemeris Nikolay K. 
Published: June 2012

Background/PurposeThe objective was to study age‐related alterations in the time‐amplitude characteristics of the oscillatory components of peripheral blood flow in healthy humans during postocclusive reactive hyperemia.MethodsForearm blood skin perfusion was studied by the method of laser Doppler flowmetry in 120 healthy volunteers, who were divided into two age groups: young (19–30 years old; n = 82) and middle‐age (30–60 years old; n = 38). The forearm occlusion approach was used to reveal the reaction of the microvascular bed to transient ischemia. To estimate the age‐related changes of separate oscillatory components of LDF signals during postocclusive reactive hyperemia, we applied adaptive time‐amplitude wavelet analysis.ResultsA statistically significant increase in the skin blood perfusion after occlusion removal was revealed: 4‐fold in the 1st and 3.5‐fold in the 2nd group respectively. Both the amplitude of blood flow oscillations at rest and the postocclusive growth of the amplitude showed an age‐related decline in the frequency intervals associated with the myogenic (0.052–0.145 Hz), sympathetic (0.021–0.052 Hz) and endothelial (0.0095–0.021 Hz) activity.ConclusionThe time‐amplitude characteristics of the oscillatory components of peripheral blood flow depend on age, with the dependence becoming more evident after a transient ischemia.
Lesion classification using 3D skin surface tilt orientation
Authors: She Zhishun , Excell P. S. 
Published: June 2012

Background/purposeCurrent non‐invasive diagnostic procedures to detect skin cancer rely on two‐dimensional (2D) views of the skin surface. For example, the most commonly‐used ABCD features are extracted from the 2D images of skin lesion. However, because the skin surface is an object in three‐dimensional (3D) space, valuable additional information can be obtained from a perspective of 3D skin objects. The aim of this work is to discover the new diagnostic features by considering 3D views of skin artefacts.MethodsA surface tilt orientation parameter was proposed to quantify the skin and the lesion in 3D space. The skin pattern was first extracted from simply captured white light optical clinical (WLC) skin images by high‐pass filtering. Then the directions of the projected skin lines were determined by skin pattern analysis. Next the surface tilt orientations of skin and lesion were estimated using the shape from texture technique. Finally the difference of tilt orientation in the lesion and normal skin areas, combined with the ABCD features, was used as a lesion classifier.ResultsThe proposed method was validated by processing a set of images of malignant melanoma and benign naevi. The scatter plot of classification using the feature of surface tilt orientation alone showed the potential of the new 3D feature, enclosing an area of 0.78 under the ROC curve. The scatter plot of classification, combining the new feature with the ABCD features by use of Principal Component Analysis (PCA), demonstrated an excellent separation of benign and malignant lesions. An ROC plot for this case enclosed an area of 0.85. Compared with the ABCD analysis where the area under the ROC curve was 0.65, it indicated that the surface tilt orientation (3D information) was able to enhance the classification results significantly.ConclusionsThe initial classification results show that the surface tilt orientation has a potential to increase lesion classifier accuracy. Combined with the ABCD features, it is very promising to distinguish malignant melanoma from benign lesions.
Emergency presentation of emboli to multiple sites from an atrial myxoma
Authors: Nicholls Gordon Michael , Clearwater Garry 
Published: June 2012

AbstractA middle aged man presented to our ED with back pain and confusion, had evidence of acute arterial insufficiency to his lower limbs and myocardial infarction on initial ECG. His workup included an urgent CT, which revealed a filling defect in his dilated left atrium, renal and splenic infarcts, and an embolism in his left internal iliac artery. Urgent embolectomy and fasciotomy could not save his left lower limb, and emergency cardiac surgery was required to excise an atrial myxoma. A brief narrative review of the literature is also presented, with this case being unusual in causing such widespread concurrent multiple organ damage, including stroke and myocardial infarct.
Traumatic appendicitis in minor blunt abdominal injury
Authors: Paschos Konstantinos A , Boulas Konstantinos , Liapis Apostolos , Georgiou Eleftheria , Vrakas Xenos 
Published: June 2012

AbstractTrauma has been reported as a cause of appendicitis on several cases in the literature. The present study reports the relationship between blunt abdominal trauma (BAT) of injury severity score less than 4 and appendicitis. A 17‐year‐old girl developed appendicitis after a minor BAT. An ecchymosis at the right lower quadrant misled the diagnosis, which was made 1 day later. Laparotomy revealed an inflamed appendix, a few enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes, contusion, as well as punctuated bleeding sites of the caecum. Moreover, based on a brief literature review, the different pathophysiological mechanisms and the difficulties of diagnosis of this entity are discussed. It is suggested that appendicitis should be considered as a possibility in the setting of right lower quadrant pain following minor BAT, when there is clinical suspicion of an inflammatory process within the right iliac fossa.