Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Isolated Areas (isolated + area)
Selected AbstractsGeographical patterns of human diet derived from stable-isotope analysis of fingernailsAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 1 2006Gabriela B. Nardoto Abstract Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of human fingernails were measured in 490 individuals in the western US and 273 individuals in southeastern Brazil living in urban areas, and 53 individuals living in a moderately isolated area in the central Amazon region of Brazil and consuming mostly locally grown foods. In addition, we measured the carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of common food items to assess the extent to which these isotopic signatures remain distinct for people eating both omnivorous and vegetarian diets and living in different parts of the world, and the extent to which dietary information can be interpreted from these analyses. Fingernail ,13C values (mean ± standard deviation) were ,15.4 ± 1.0 and ,18.8 ± 0.8, and ,15N values were 10.4 ± 0.7 and 9.4 ± 0.6, for southeastern Brazil and western US populations, respectively. Despite opportunities for a "global supermarket" effect to swamp out carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in these two urbanized regions of the world, differences in the fingernail isotope ratios between southeastern Brazil and western US populations persisted, and appeared to be more associated with regional agricultural and animal production practices. Omnivores and vegetarians from Brazil and the US were isotopically distinct, both within and between regions. In a comparison of fingernails of individuals from an urban city and isolated communities in the Amazonian region, the urban region was similar to southeastern Brazil, whereas individuals from isolated nonurban communities showed distinctive isotopic values consistent with their diets and with the isotopic values of local foods. Although there is a tendency for a "global supermarket" diet, carbon and nitrogen isotopes of human fingernails hold dietary information directly related to both food sources and dietary practices in a region. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Characterization of thyroglobulin epitopes in Sardinian adults and juveniles with Hashimoto's thyroiditis: evidence against a major effect of age and genetic background on B-cell epitopesCLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY, Issue 1 2010Francesco Latrofa Summary Background, Using recombinant human monoclonal thyroglobulin antibodies expressed as Fab molecules (TgAb-Fab), we have recently confirmed the restriction of Tg epitopes in Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT). Objective, To investigate Tg epitopes of serum TgAb in HT adults and HT juveniles from a geographically isolated area (Sardinia). Design and Patients, Serum TgAb of 39 Sardinian HT adults, 53 Sardinian HT juveniles and 45 non-Sardinian HT adults were evaluated. The binding of serum TgAb to Tg in ELISA was inhibited by four recombinant human TgAb-Fab, identifying Tg epitopic regions A,D. The percentage of Tg binding inhibition was calculated comparing the binding of serum TgAb in presence of each TgAb-Fab with that in its absence. Results, In the whole cohort of 137 patients, A region TgAb-Fab induced the highest levels of inhibition (55·3 ± 17·8%) (mean ± SD). Lower levels of inhibition were induced by TgAb-Fab of regions B (27·8 ± 25·8%), C (26·8 ± 24·6%) and D (17·5 ± 18·4%). In Sardinian HT adults inhibition by TgAb-Fab of regions A, B and C were comparable to Sardinian HT juveniles; the marginal D region TgAb-Fab induced a slightly higher inhibition (22·1 vs. 13·8%; P = 0·034) in the former than in the latter group. In Sardinian and non-Sardinian HT adults inhibitions by the four TgAb-Fab were similar. Conclusions, In HT, the Tg epitope pattern of serum TgAb was similar in juveniles and adults from a geographically restricted area and in two adult populations from different geographical areas. Thus, in HT, neither age nor genetic background appear to influence B-cell epitopes. [source] Integrated local correlation: A new measure of local coherence in fMRI dataHUMAN BRAIN MAPPING, Issue 1 2009Gopikrishna Deshpande Abstract This article introduces the measure of integrated local correlation (ILC) for assessing local coherence in the brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data and characterizes the measure in terms of reproducibility, the effect of physiological noise, and the dependence on image resolution. The coupling of local neuronal processes influences coherence in a voxel's neighborhood. ILC is defined, for each voxel, as the integration of its spatial correlation function. This integrated measure does not require the specification of a neighborhood and, as demonstrated by experimental data, is effectively independent of image resolution. Respiratory and cardiac fluctuations do not considerably alter the ILC value except in isolated areas in and surrounding large vessels. With resting-state fMRI data, ILC was demonstrated to be tissue-specific, higher in gray matter than white matter, and reproducible across consecutive runs in healthy individuals. Within the gray matter, ILC was found to be higher in the default mode network, particularly the posterior and anterior cingulate cortices. Comparing ILC maps obtained from resting state and continuous motor task data, we observed reduced local coherence in the default mode network during the task. Finally, we compared ILC and regional homogeneity by examining their ability to discriminate between gray and white matters in resting state data and found ILC to be more sensitive. Hum Brain Mapp 2009. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] The Evolution of the Community Health Nurse Practitioner in KoreaPUBLIC HEALTH NURSING, Issue 3 2004Ho Soon Michelle Cho Ph.D. Abstract Community health nursing in Korea has undergone dramatic changes since 1980. These changes arose through the efforts of Mo Im Kim, an internationally known leader in Korean nursing, and colleagues who successfully worked to establish a national community health nurse practitioner program. This article will review these changes with the aim of describing the evolutionary process that culminated in a community health care system that is meeting the needs of Korean citizens who live in rural and isolated areas. The authors believe that the evolution of the community health nurse practitioner in Korea provides a paradigm that can serve as a model for other countries. Health care in Korea is organized differently than that in the United States. However, the plan, process, and political activism can be used for community and public health nursing change in the United States. The information contained in this article is based upon interviews with Mo Im Kim and 20 of her colleagues and associates. Interviewees were selected using a "snowball" sampling technique. Additional data were derived from various professional and personal documents of these individuals. The first author conducted the interviews in both Korea and in the United States. [source] Morphological variation in Gallotia atlantica from the volcanic island of Lanzarote: subspecies designations and recent lava flowsBIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 3 2005PAUL BLOOR A detailed uni- and multivariate analysis of within-island geographical variation in scalation and body dimensions of the lacertid lizard, Gallotia atlantica, from Lanzarote (and two neighbouring offshore islets) was carried out. Two main morphological groupings were detected: four populations clustered within a putative malpaís group, i.e. from relatively recent volcanic lava fields (seven populations were sampled from these areas), while the other 19 populations (including the three remaining malpaís populations, and those from the offshore islets of Montaña Clara and Alegranza) also clustered together. Thus, while there is a tendency for occupation of malpaís areas to be related to morphological variation, this model does have some inconsistencies. The differentiated malpaís group comprises populations from two geographically isolated areas, one from the central-western part of the island (Timanfaya) and the other from the north (Malpaís de la Corona). The divergence of these populations is considered to have arisen recently, rather than their being relicts of an ancient, formerly widespread, lineage. The morphological variation partially supports the previous use of two different subspecies to describe the within-island variation. However, if such a scheme were applied then one of the subspecies would need to encompass populations from the geographically separated southern Timanfaya and Malpaís de la Corona areas, as opposed to just the latter. We reject previous observations that either malpaís individuals in general, or those corresponding to the north-eastern subspecies, are larger than individuals from other areas. The pattern of morphological variation of G. atlantica within Lanzarote is less pronounced but shows some similarities with patterns of morphological variation in lizards from neighbouring islands. © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2005, 85, 395,406. [source] Back-scattered electron imaging and elemental microanalysis of retrieved bone tissue following maxillary sinus floor augmentation with calcium sulphateCLINICAL ORAL IMPLANTS RESEARCH, Issue 8 2008Nicola Slater Abstract Objectives: To investigate the presence and composition of residual bone graft substitute material in bone biopsies from the maxillary sinus of human subjects, following augmentation with calcium sulphate (CaS). Material and methods: Bone cores were harvested from the maxillary sinus of patients who had undergone a sinus lift procedure using CaS G170 granules 4 months after the initial surgery. Samples from seven patients, which contained residual biomaterial particles, were examined by field emission scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy was used to determine the composition of the remaining bone graft substitute material. Results: Residual graft material occurred in isolated areas surrounded by bone and consisted of individual particles up to 1 mm in length and smaller spherical granules. On the basis of 187 separate point analyses, the residual material was divided into three categories (A, B and C) consisting of: A, mainly CaS (S/P atomic% ratio ,2.41); B, a heterogeneous mixture of CaS and calcium phosphate (S/P=0.11,2.4) and C, mainly calcium phosphate (S/P,0.11; C), which had a mean Ca : P ratio of 1.63±0.2, consistent with Ca-deficient hydroxyapatite. Linescans and elemental maps showed that type C material was present in areas which appeared dense and surrounded, or were adjacent to, more granular CaS-containing material, and also occurred as spherical particles. The latter could be disintegrating calcium phosphate in the final stages of the resorption process. Conclusions: CaS resorption in the human maxillary sinus is accompanied by CaP precipitation which may contribute to its biocompatibility and rapid replacement by bone. [source] | |||||||||||||