The Ismenodora of Plutarch's Eroticus. (Has Western Culture "sexualized" -i. e. "masculinized"- Ethics?)

The aim of this article is to show, by means of an accurate philological analysis of Plautarch's Eroticus, how Western Ethics has been clearly sexualized. Indeed, the specific features of masculine bodies become the suitable ones to define what is really ethical, while the specific features of feminine bodies become in their turn the suitable ones to define what is by no means ethical.

Agency Fact Sheet, Department of Culture Affairs, FY2009

This document produced by the Iowa Department of Administrative Services has been developed to provide a multitude of information about executive branch agencies/department on a single sheet of paper. The facts provides general information, contact information, workforce data, leave and benefits information and affirmative action data.

Minimally invasive versus open transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion: evaluating initial experience.

The aim of this study was to compare our experience with minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MITLIF) and open midline transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF). A total of 36 patients suffering from isthmic spondylolisthesis or degenerative disc disease were operated with either a MITLIF (n = 18) or an open TLIF technique (n = 18) with an average follow-up of 22 and 24 months, respectively. Clinical outcome was assessed using the visual analogue scale (VAS) and the Oswestry disability index (ODI). There was no difference in length of surgery between the two groups. The MITLIF group resulted in a significant reduction of blood loss and had a shorter length of hospital stay. No difference was observed in postoperative pain, initial analgesia consumption, VAS or ODI between the groups. Three pseudarthroses were observed in the MITLIF group although this was not statistically significant. A steeper learning effect was observed for the MITLIF group.

Plasticity of protein expression during culture of fetal skin cells.

In order to gain insight into the biology of fetal skin during culture, cellular proteins were studied during four culture passages (P00, P01, P04 as well as P10) using high-resolution two-dimensional (2-D) gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry (MS). Bioinformatic analyses were focused on a region of each gel corresponding to pI between 4 and 8 and M(r) from 8000 to 35 000. In this area, 373 +/- 42 spots were detected (N = 18). Twenty-six spots presented an integrated intensity that increased in the higher passages, whereas five spots showed a progressively lower intensity in subsequent passaging. MS analysis was performed on spots that were unambiguously identified on preparative 2-D gels. Among the 26 spots showing an increased size between P00 and P10, 9 were identified, and corresponded to 3 proteins: (i) peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase A (P05092; cyclophilin A or cyclosporin A-binding protein), (ii) triosephosphate isomerase (P00938), and (iii) enoyl-CoA hydratase (P30084). Among these nine identified spots, three were absent at P00, but were present at P10. They corresponded to isoforms of peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase and triosephosphate isomerase, respectively. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analyses of the acidic isoforms of triosephosphate isomerase showed modifications of cysteine residues to cysteic acid. All these isoforms were clearly present in the skin cells of a 4-year-old child, as well as in skin cells from a 80-year-old man, at P00. These observations probably reflect either an oxidative stress related to cell culture, or, alternatively, maturation, differentiation and the aging of the cells.

Comparison between the use of open and walled platforms by juvenile blue foxes (Alopex lagopus)

Selostus: Näköesteen vaikutus sinikettujen hyllynkäyttöön

Classical anisotropies in models of open inflation

In the simplest model of open inflation there are two inflaton fields decoupled from each other. One of them, the tunneling field, produces a first stage of inflation which prepares the ground for the nucleation of a highly symmetric bubble. The other, a free field, drives a second period of slow-roll inflation inside the bubble. However, the second field also evolves during the first stage of inflation, which to some extent breaks the needed symmetry. We show that this generates large supercurvature anisotropies which, together with the results of Tanaka and Sasaki, rule out this class of simple models (unless, of course, Omega0 is sufficiently close to 1). The problem does not arise in modified models where the second field does not evolve in the first stage of inflation.

Open inflation and the singulary boundary

The singularity in the Hawking-Turok model of open inflation has some appealing properties, such as the fact that its action is integrable. Also, if one thinks of the singularity as the boundary of spacetime, then the Gibbons-Hawking term is nonvanishing and finite. Here, we consider a model where the gravitational and scalar fields are coupled to a dynamical membrane. The singular instanton can then be obtained as the limit of a family of no-boundary solutions where both the geometry and the scalar field are regular. Using this procedure, the contribution of the singularity to the Euclidean action is just 1/3 of the Gibbons-Hawking term. Unrelated to this issue, we also point out that the singularity acts as a reflecting boundary for scalar perturbations and gravity waves. Therefore, the quantization of cosmological perturbations seems to be well posed in this background.

Iowa History and Culture : A Bibliography of Materials Published Between 1952 and 1986, 1989

This bibliography was compiled by two reference librarians, Patricia Dawson and David Hudson with the goal of making it easier of tracking down material on Iowa history and culture. This supplements the Iowa History Reference Guide published in 1952 by William Petersen.