bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Financial Expertise of the Board, Risk Taking, and Performance: Evidence from Bank Holding Companies
Authors: Minton Bernadette A. , Taillard Jérôme P. , Williamson Rohan
Published: May 2014

Financial expertise among independent directors of U.S. banks is positively associated with balance-sheet and market-based measures of risk in the run-up to the 2007–2008 financial crisis. While financial expertise is weakly associated with better performance before the crisis, it is strongly related to lower performance during the crisis. Overall, the results are consistent with independent directors with financial expertise supporting increased risk taking prior to the crisis. Despite being consistent with shareholder value maximization ex ante, these actions become detrimental during the crisis. These results are not driven by powerful chief executive officers who select independent financial experts to rubber stamp strategies that satisfy their risk appetite.
Auto-localization system for indoor mobile robot using RFID fusion
Authors: Abdelgawad A.
Published: May 2014

Autonomous mobile robots need accurate localization techniques to perform assigned task. Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFID) has become one of the main means to construct a real-time localization system. Localization techniques in RFID rely on accurate estimation of the read range between the reader and the tags. This paper proposes an auto-localization system for indoor mobile robot using passive RFID. The proposed system reads any three different RFID tags which have a known location. The current location can be estimated using the Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) scheme. In order to improve the system accuracy, the proposed system fuses the TDOA scheme for the three tags. A Kalman filter is used to minimize the estimated error and predict the next location. The simulation results validate the proposed framework.
Ohio University's New Series of Edited Transcriptions of Oral Materials
Authors: Doxsee Gifford B.
Published: May 2014

Africanists doing field research that includes the recording of interviews and oral traditions have increasingly noted the importance of bringing such materials into print at reasonable prices. Though Indiana University has maintained an archive for such recorded oral materials for several years, access to and the use of these recordings have been difficult at best for most students of Africa.

In an effort to meet the perceived need for the publication of edited transcriptions of recorded interviews from African field research, the Ohio University Center for International Studies is launching this year a new sub-series within its established Africa Series of Papers in International Studies. The published oral materials from the African field will be advertised as a distinct sub-series, but they will appear in the same format as the existing monograph series and will be numbered sequentially among the monographs.

Scholars and students of Africa who have recorded oral materials which they would like published are invited to submit edited transcriptions for consideration and possible publication in the new sub-series. Typescripts should range in length between 125 and 250 pages, double-spaced, and should be as carefully edited and made ready for publication as possible before submission.

Each manuscript of edited transcriptions should be a self-contained and independent contribution, fully able to be understood by readers without the need for consulting other references. To this end, it is requested that each potential contributor organize, edit, and supplement the data gathered in the field in ways that will optimize their usefulness.

Each contribution should contain an introduction explaining the circumstances in which the research was conducted, unusual problems encountered together with the methods by which these were overcome, and special research techniques that would assist future scholars.
Cor triatriatum or divided atriums: which approach provides the better understanding?
Authors: Bharucha Tara , Spicer Diane E. , Mohun Timothy J. , Black David , Henry G. William , Anderson Robert H.
Published: May 2014

It is frequent, in the current era, to encounter congenital cardiac malformations described in terms of “cor triatriatum”. But can hearts be truly found with three atrial chambers? The morphological method, emphasised by Van Praagh et al, states that structures within the heart should be defined on the basis of their most constant components. In the atrial chambers, it is the appendages that are the most constant components, and to the best of our knowledge, hearts can only possess two appendages, which can be of either right or left morphology. The hearts described on the basis of “cor triatriatum”, nonetheless, can also be analysed on the basis of division of either the morphologically right or the morphologically left atriums. In this review, we provide a description of cardiac embryology, showing how each of the atrial chambers possesses part of the embryological body, along with an appendage, a vestibule, a venous component, and a septum that separates them. We then show how it is, indeed, the case that the hearts described in terms of “cor triatriatum” can be readily understood on the basis of division of these atrial components. In the right atrium, it is the venous valves that divide the chamber. In the left atrium, it is harder to provide an explanation for the shelf that produces atrial division. We also contrast the classic examples of the divided atrial chambers with the vestibular shelf that produces supravalvar stenosis in the morphologically left atrium, showing that this form of obstruction needs to be distinguished from the fibrous shelves producing intravalvar obstruction.
The Preference of Models over Laws of Nature in Chemistry
Authors: Schummer Joachim
Published: May 2014

Although the notion of God as the legislator of nature was already known in the Jewish-Christian tradition, the modern concept of laws of nature was established only in the seventeenth-century mechanical philosophy of nature, particularly by Descartes and Newton, and remained largely confined to that tradition before it became seriously questioned in quantum mechanics. After a brief historical survey, I first discuss various examples of so-called laws of nature in chemistry and physical chemistry proposed in the nineteenth century to conclude that none of them really correspond to the original concept, but that they rather comprise a variety of epistemologically different statements. More recent philosophical approaches to extend the concept of laws, so as to cover chemical cases, all result in inacceptable consequences. The deeper reason of the comparatively little importance of natural laws, I finally argue, is that chemistry as the original epitome of the experimental or Baconian science has largely followed methodological pluralism in which a variety of models to be chosen from for pragmatic reasons are preferred over universal laws of nature as in mathematical physics.
General Laws and Centripetal Science
Authors: Jagers op Akkerhuis Gerard A.J.M.
Published: May 2014

The large number of discoveries in the last few decades has caused a scientific crisis that is characterised by overspecialisation and compartmentalisation. To deal with this crisis, scientists look for integrating approaches, such as general laws and unifying theories. Representing what can be considered a general form law, the operator hierarchy is used here as a bridge between existing integrating approaches, including: a cosmic timeline, hierarchy and ontology, a periodic table of periodic tables, the unification of evolutionary processes, a general evolution concept, and general aspects of thermodynamics. At the end of the paper an inventory of unifying concepts is presented in the form of a cross table. The study ends with a discussion of major integrating principles in science.
Natural Law and Universality in the Philosophy of Biology
Authors: Reutlinger Alexander
Published: May 2014

Several philosophers of biology have argued for the claim that the generalizations of biology are historical and contingent.1–5This claim divides into the following sub-claims, each of which I will contest: first, biological generalizations are restricted to a particular space-time region. I argue that biological generalizations are universal with respect to space and time. Secondly, biological generalizations are restricted to specific kinds of entities, i.e. these generalizations do not quantify over an unrestricted domain. I will challenge this second claim by providing an interpretation of biological generalizations that do quantify over an unrestricted domain of objects. Thirdly, biological generalizations are contingent in the sense that their truth depends on special (physically contingent) initial and background conditions. I will argue that the contingent character of biological generalizations does not diminish their explanatory power nor is it the case that this sort of contingency is exclusively characteristic of biological generalizations.
The Critique of European Nihilism. Interpretation, Responsibility, and Action
Authors: Wittrock Jon , Andrén Mats
Published: May 2014

The concept of ‘nihilism’ is ambiguous and has had and continues to be attached to several different usages. This special Focus primarily looks at the ways in which ‘nihilism’, in and following the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, has been understood as specifically tied to a crisis of European culture or civilisation, and has come to be politicised in conjunction with the National Socialist and Fascist movements in Germany and Italy during the twentieth century. Specifically, the individual articles deal with the connection between an understanding of nihilism and what it entails for the question concerning political responsibility. This introductory article presents this thematic, introduces the other contributions, and attempts to situate these debates on nihilism in the context of processes of secularisation. The article retrieves three major themes in relation to the critiques surveyed in this special Focus: nihilism as a crisis of beliefs and values, as an appropriation of religious elements into ideological grand narratives, and as the unshackling of an instrumental approach towards reality, and argues that all of them remain relevant to contemporary debates.
The ‘Theological Nihilism’ of Friedrich Gogarten. On a Context in Karl Löwith’s Critique of Carl Schmitt
Authors: Falk Hjalmar
Published: May 2014

This essay discusses the philosopher Karl Löwith’s critique of the jurist Carl Schmitt and the theologian Friedrich Gogarten. My aim is twofold: first, I want to reconstruct Löwith’s thesis in his 1935 article on Schmitt’s ‘occasional decisionism’ (updated to include a critique of Gogarten in 1960), together with a reading of some central texts by Schmitt and Gogarten; second, I want to raise some critical points regarding Löwith’s claims through these readings. While I agree with Löwith that aspects of Schmitt’s and Gogarten’s thought helped hastening the nihilistic tendencies they themselves claimed to counter, I believe that his diagnosis of their decisionism as nihilism misses important nuances in their work, nuances crucial to the problematization, historicization and philosophical analysis of nihilism. Ultimately, I find that the main point of contestation between Löwith and Schmitt/Gogarten is not whether the latter two affirm modern meaninglessness, but rather whether history can and should be invested with meaning in the first place.
Apolitìaand Tradition in Julius Evola as Reaction to Nihilism
Authors: Wolff Elisabetta Cassina
Published: May 2014

This article deals with the figure of Julius Evola, philosopher and well-known freelance political commentator both during and after Italy’s Fascist dictatorship. My analysis of his intellectual production and political role in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s is a case study that focuses on both continuity and discontinuity of ideological issues in the crucial historical period between the Fascist regime and the establishment of neo-fascism in post-war Italy. Special attention will be paid to unchanging elements in Evola’s philosophy, such as criticism of modern society, rejection of faith in progress, reference to traditional values as reaction to nihilism and belief in the existence of a spiritual hierarchy. A central issue is the ideological influence that Evola exercised on a young generation of neo-fascists in Italy after the Second World War, based on the intention of offering them new rules of conduct in a post-nihilist world. It is exactly this phenomenon that enables us to put in question the declaredapolitìaof Evola.
The Sense and Nonsense of the EU Integration Debate
Authors: Scholten Miroslava , Scholten Daniel
Published: May 2014

The current financial crisis in the Eurozone has put the debate on EU integration back on the table. Yet, how does the debate on EU integration, particularly the arguments and ideals used in it, actually influence the process of EU integration? This article wishes to provide some food for thought by arguing the debate’s irrelevance in furthering or hindering the EU integration process. It does so by discussing the role of the debate’s arguments in shaping EU integration and by comparing the EU debate with the one had by the founding fathers of the US. The article shows the debate is beside the point largely because most steps in EU integration are driven by circumstances, events, or national interests, that even when one argument seems decisive it is likely to be elevated over others by circumstances, and that none of the debate’s arguments hold an intrinsic value over others.
Number of Siblings and Participation in Voluntary Associations
Authors: Yucel Deniz
Published: May 2014

While demographers have long been concerned with population increases, recent significant declines in fertility also warrant concern. So far, however, most researchers have focused on the causes of lower fertility rather than its consequences. This study makes a theoretical contribution by proposing a new conceptual framework, which suggests that growing up with fewer siblings is associated with more participation in voluntary associations. Using General Social Survey (GSS) from the US, the relationship between sibship size and participation in voluntary associations is empirically tested. It is found that there is a negative relationship between sibship size and participation in voluntary associations among American adults who have at least four siblings. These findings have implications for researchers who seek a better understanding of the consequences of declining sibship size, not only in the US but also in Europe. Specifically, these results have implications for several countries in Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe, regions that have experienced ‘the lowest-low fertility’ in the last two decades.
Cultural Studies as Performative Research in a Digital Age
Authors: Stockman Caroline , Truyen Fred
Published: May 2014

This paper aims to explore the nature of digital culture research, and the fitting methodology. Although it is still felt to be a novelty, it is not so different from the more general domain of Cultural Studies. The aim of research for both domains is meaning, or the challenge to understand the dynamics of the encoding and decoding process. Both domains endorse a wide variety of subjects, although typically the concrete methodology of Cultural Studies still remains restricted to qualitative approaches. The question of quantitative data and their analysis is highlighted in digital culture, and we should consider both its opportunities and limitations for the research at hand. In our reflection, Cultural Studies research emerges as a performative enterprise, and this is one of its unique distinctions as a research domain.
Construction of a Utopian West: The Russian Nineteenth-Century Intelligentsia
Authors: Shlapentokh Dmitry
Published: May 2014

A person’s image of a foreign country is often not related to an actual encounter, but limited and one-sided based on the environment of the person’s native land. Consider, for example, the Russian elite perception of the West in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Peter the Great’s reign shook Russia’s traditional society and led to the spread of promiscuity and general immorality. Consequently, for many Russians, whether or not they traveled, the West, epitomized by France, was a place of erotic pleasures and easygoing life. By the beginning of the nineteenth century some members of the Russian elite started to question the political system of their native land. For some of them, like Peter Chaadaev, the West stood as a symbol of the ideal political institutions and Russia for the dead end of history.
‘Doctor, Doctor. . .’ entrepreneurial diagnosis and market making
Authors: GODLEY ANDREW C. , CASSON MARK C.
Published: May 2014

Doctor-patient jokes are universally popular because of the information asymmetries within the diagnostic relationship. We contend that entrepreneurial diagnosis is present in markets where consumers are unable to diagnose their own problems and, instead, rely on the entrepreneur to diagnose them. Although it is widely recognized that consumers face information asymmetries over price comparison and quality assessment, little attention has been given to information asymmetries regarding individual customers’ needs. This has led to the economic contribution of the diagnostic entrepreneur being overlooked. Entrepreneurial diagnosis is a cognitive skill possessed by the entrepreneur. It is a subset of entrepreneurial judgment and can be modeled. The model shows that in order to exploit opportunities it is often necessary for entrepreneurs to invest in market-making activities, such as customer-focused diagnostic services, backed up by credible reputations for competence and integrity. While diagnostic entrepreneurship is particularly important in knowledge-intensive service industries (such as medicine) it is important in all industries whenever radical product innovation occurs (e.g. modern computers and phones). Successful commercialization of innovation often requires, not only new technology, but diagnostic entrepreneurship too.
Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from the Insect Limestone (Bembridge Marls, Late Eocene) of the Isle of Wight, southern England
Authors: Selden Paul A.
Published: May 2014

The arachnids from the late Eocene Insect Limestone of the Isle of Wight are reviewed. Only spiders (Araneae) have been recorded, of which several dozen are known, mostly juveniles. Nearly all are araneomorphs; the putative mygalomorph Eoatypus woodwardii McCook, 1888 was removed from that infraorder by Selden (2001), but new specimens, yet to be described, could belong in this group. Among the adult specimens, which are thus identifiable to family level, most belong to the argyronetid water-spider Vectaraneus yulei Selden, 2001; some resemble araneids, and a small number can be referred to other families. New morphological information on the holotype of Vectaraneus is presented, and three other specimens are described in more detail here, in Segestriidae, Araneidae and Salticidae. Segestriids are nocturnal sedentary hunters living in tubular retreats in rock or bark crevices. Araneids are the archetypal weavers of orb webs. Salticids are the familiar jumping spiders; the one described here is an ant mimic. Their presence suggests a drier habitat was present somewhere in the source environment for the fossil biota, and they were probably inhabitants of the raised hammocks suggested for the Insect Bed palaeoenvironment.
Ultra-wideband (UWB) eight-way ring-cavity power divider
Authors: Hu Shunyong , Song Kaijun , Fan Yong
Published: May 2014

A novel compact ultra-wideband (UWB) eight-way ring-cavity power divider is presented in this paper. To broaden the bandwidth of the power divider/combiner, the stepped-impedance technology is used to realize the impedance match. The network of this eight-way ring-cavity power divider has been analyzed. The measured results reasonably agree with the simulated ones. The measured return loss is greater than 10 dB from 5.2 to 18.6 GHz. The average insertion loss, amplitude imbalance, and phase imbalance are around 9.4 dB (including the 9-dB power-dividing insertion loss), ±0.7 dB, ±6°, respectively, across the entire operating frequency range.
India Before and After theRight of PassageCase
Authors: SINGH Prabhakar
Published: May 2014

TheRight of Passagecase flagged off India's adversarial tryst with international law, in which Portugal had argued for the validity of a 1779 treaty signed with the Marathas. India had denied its existence and interpretation. Within the UN Charter, India's subsequent assimilation of Goa constituted illegal invasion, with which the Indian Supreme Court disagreed. Subsequently, Britain deployed its colonialde juredistinction by refusing to recognize India's control of Goa. However, for Nehru, Goa was “a symbol of decadent colonialism trying to hold on”. TheRight of Passagecase profoundly shaped India's post-colonial foreign policy by coupling India's body politic with its judiciary. Since then, theLotuscase continues to enamour the Indian government. This paper considers the views of the Indian government, judiciary, and publicists to examine whether India has been able to advance a specific approach to international law.
Distinct and complementary roles for Aspergillus fumigatus‐specific Tr1 and Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in humans and mice
Authors: Bedke Tanja , Iannitti Rossana G , De Luca Antonella , Giovannini Gloria , Fallarino Francesca , Berges Carsten , Latgé Jean‐Paul , Einsele Hermann , Romani Luigina , Topp Max S
Published: May 2014

Unlike induced Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Foxp3+ iTreg) that have been shown to play an essential role in the development of protective immunity to the ubiquitous mold Aspergillus fumigatus, type‐(1)‐regulatory T cells (Tr1) cells have, thus far, not been implicated in this process. Here, we evaluated the role of Tr1 cells specific for an epitope derived from the cell wall glucanase Crf‐1 of A. fumigatus (Crf‐1/p41) in antifungal immunity. We identified Crf‐1/p41‐specific latent‐associated peptide+ Tr1 cells in healthy humans and mice after vaccination with Crf‐1/p41+zymosan. These cells produced high amounts of interleukin (IL)‐10 and suppressed the expansion of antigen‐specific T cells in vitro and in vivo. In mice, in vivo differentiation of Tr1 cells was dependent on the presence of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, c‐Maf and IL‐27. Moreover, in comparison to Tr1 cells, Foxp3+ iTreg that recognize the same epitope were induced in an interferon gamma‐type inflammatory environment and more potently suppressed innate immune cell activities. Overall, our data show that Tr1 cells are involved in the maintenance of antifungal immune homeostasis, and most likely play a distinct, yet complementary, role compared with Foxp3+ iTreg.
Effect of nickel on catalytic behaviour of bimetallic Cu–Ni catalyst supported on mesoporous alumina for the hydrogenolysis of glycerol to 1,2-propanediol
Authors: Yun Yang Sik , Park Dae Sung , Yi Jongheop
Published: May 2014

The nickel supplies the hydrogen via aqueous-phase reforming for the catalytic hydrogenolysis of glycerol.
Tuning coordination modes of pyridine/thioether Schiff base (NNS) ligands to mononuclear manganese carbonyls
Authors: Lumsden Simone E. A. , Durgaprasad Gummadi , Thomas Muthiah Keren A. , Rose Michael J.
Published: May 2014

Manganese carbonyls are ligated by pyridine/thioether Schiff base (NNS) ligands. Coordination of the thioether-S donor to the Mn(i) center is determined by subtle steric changes at the ligand periphery.
Structural and thermodynamic similarities of phases in the Li–Tt (Tt = Si, Ge) systems: redetermination of the lithium-rich side of the Li–Ge phase diagram and crystal structures of Li17Si4.0−xGexforx= 2.3, 3.1, 3.5, and 4 as well as Li4.1Ge
Authors: Zeilinger Michael , Fässler Thomas F.
Published: May 2014

Li17Ge4was established as the lithium-richest and Li4.10Ge as a high-temperature phase in the revised Li-rich section of the Li–Ge phase diagram (>79 at% Li).
An efficient dye-sensitized BiOCl photocatalyst for air and water purification under visible light irradiation
Authors: Li Guisheng , Jiang Bo , Xiao Shuning , Lian Zichao , Zhang Dieqing , Yu Jimmy C. , Li Hexing
Published: May 2014

An RhB–BiOCl system was proved effective for treating both air and water pollutants under visible light irradiation.
Antigenic peptide molecular recognition by the DRB1–DQB1 haplotype modulates multiple sclerosis susceptibility
Authors: Kumar Amit , Melis Paola , Genna Vito , Cocco Eleonora , Marrosu Maria Giovanna , Pieroni Enrico
Published: May 2014

DRB1–DQB1 binding affinities in peptide molecular recognition process. (A) In protective haplotype DRB1 allele displays a preferential affinity for MBP peptide, while (B) in predisposing haplotype DQB1 allele displays a preferential affinity for EBNA1 peptide.
A role for hydrogen bonding in DNA recognition by the non-classical CCHHC type zinc finger, NZF-1
Authors: Besold Angelique N. , Amick Deborah L. , Michel Sarah L. J.
Published: May 2014

Neural Zinc Finger Factor-1 contains six Cys2His2Cys domains; the first histidine participates in a functionally important hydrogen bonding interaction.
Graphene levitons and anti-levitons in magnetic fields
Authors: Forrester Derek Michael , Kusmartsev Feodor V.
Published: May 2014

A leviton (top left) and levity vortex (top right) as they propagate into a graphene n–p junction. Bottom: a leviton–anti-leviton to the left and right of the potential step, respectively.
An in situ approach for facile fabrication of robust and scalable SERS substrates
Authors: Wang Yi-Chung , DuChene Joseph S. , Huo Fengwei , Wei Wei David
Published: May 2014

The widespread implementation of surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) techniques for chemical and biological detection requires an inexpensive, yet robust SERS substrate with high sensitivity and reproducibility.
19F NMR monitoring of the eukaryotic 20S proteasome chymotrypsin-like activity: an investigative tool for studying allosteric regulation
Authors: Keita M. , Kaffy J. , Troufflard C. , Morvan E. , Crousse B. , Ongeri S.
Published: May 2014

A novel bimodal fluorescent and fluorinated substrate of the chymotrypsin-like proteolytic activity has been developed.
A family of [Ni8] cages templated by μ6-peroxide from dioxygen activation
Authors: Perivolaris Alexandros , Stoumpos Constantinos C. , Karpinska Jolanta , Ryder Alan G. , Frost Jamie M. , Mason Kevin , Prescimone Alessandro , Slawin Alexandra M. Z. , Kessler Vadim G. , Mathieson Jennifer S. , Cronin Leroy , Brechin Euan K. , Papaefstathiou Giannis S.
Published: May 2014

[Ni8] cages templated by η3:η3:μ6-O22− from O2 activation: the ligand found oxidized within the cages.
Halophilic polysulfabetaines – synthesis and study of gelation and thermoresponsive behavior
Authors: Vasantha Vivek Arjunan , Jana Satyasankar , Parthiban Anbanandam , Vancso Julius G.
Published: May 2014

Polysulfabetaines (PSBs) derived from zwitterionic sulfates (contrary to commonly used polysulfobetaines which are derived from zwitterionic sulfonates) were synthesized for the first time.
Greener approach for the synthesis of substituted alkenes by direct coupling of alcohols with styrenes using recyclable Bronsted acidic [NMP]+HSO4− ionic liquid
Authors: Wagh Kishor V. , Bhanage Bhalchandra M.
Published: May 2014

A green protocol for the synthesis of substituted alkenes from alcohols and styrenes using recyclable [NMP]+HSO4− ionic liquid catalyst with higher atom efficiency has been developed.
Double-walled TiO2nanotubes prepared with NH4BF4based electrolyte and their photoelectrochemical performance
Authors: Li Hui , Xing Junheng , Xia Zhengbin , Chen Jiangqiong
Published: May 2014

Anodic DW-TiO2NTs and SW-TiO2NTs are prepared in NH4BF4based electrolyte and their formation can be tuned by voltages.
Template-free synthesis of Cu2O–Co3O4 core–shell composites and their application in gas sensing
Authors: Qu Fengdong , Wang Yongfan , Wang Ying , Zhou Jingran , Ruan Shengping
Published: May 2014

Cu2O–Co3O4 core–shell composites were prepared via a hydrothermal method.
Exploration of uracils: pot and step economic production of pyridine core containing templates by multicomponent aza-Diels–Alder reaction
Authors: Sarmah Manas M. , Prajapati Dipak
Published: May 2014

Substituted pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidines can be obtained with good yields via a multicomponent aza-Diels–Alder reaction from easily available starting materials. The diene behaviour of different uracil derivatives was also elaborately investigated to synthesize desired products.
Composite titanate cathode decorated with heterogeneous electrocatalytic sites towards efficient carbon dioxide electrolysis
Authors: Zhang Jun , Xie Kui , Zhang Yong , Yang Liming , Wu Guojian , Qin Qingqing , Li Yuanxin , Wu Yucheng
Published: May 2014

Significant improvement has been achieved with heterogeneous electrocatalytic sites towards efficient CO2 electrolysis.
Design of 3D 1,3,5,7-tetraphenyladamantane-based covalent organic frameworks as hydrogen storage materials
Authors: Li Xiao-Dong , Guo Jing-Hua , Zhang Hong , Cheng Xin-Lu , Liu Xiu-Ying
Published: May 2014

Four 1,3,5,7-tetraphenyladamantane-based covalent organic frameworks (adm-COFs) have been designed with ctn or bor net topology as hydrogen storage materials.
Fabrication and characterization of coil type transparent conductive oxide-less cylindrical dye-sensitized solar cells
Authors: Kapil Gaurav , Ohara Jin , Ogomi Yuhei , Pandey Shyam S. , Ma Tingli , Hayase Shuzi
Published: May 2014

A novel coil based cylindrical architecture for TCO-less DSSC is reported. The steps of fabrication involved are relatively fast and easy for the mass production of DSSC. Advantages over the previous cylindrical architectures in many aspects are described. The effect of different metal wire characteristics on the solar cell performance is discussed in detail.
A dynamic synchrotron X-ray imaging study of effective temperature in a vibrated granular medium
Authors: Cao Yixin , Zhang Xiaodan , Kou Binquan , Li Xiangting , Xiao Xianghui , Fezzaa Kamel , Wang Yujie
Published: May 2014

A dynamic synchrotron X-ray imaging study reveals effective temperature in a vibrated granular medium, which controls the structural relaxation.
The coexisting phase behavior of thermo-responsive copolymer solutions
Authors: Feng Chao , Ren Chun-lai , Ma Yu-qiang
Published: May 2014

A theoretical predication of the micelle–vesicle coexistence in PEO-b-PNIPAm solutions.
Sustainable activated carbon fibers from liquefied wood with controllable porosity for high-performance supercapacitors
Authors: Jin Zhi , Yan Xiaodong , Yu Yunhua , Zhao Guangjie
Published: May 2014

The combination of the high micropore surface area and the controlled mesopore size and mesopore/micropore ratio is responsible for high specific capacitance and excellent rate capability.
Cellulose: from biocompatible to bioactive material
Authors: Credou Julie , Berthelot Thomas
Published: May 2014

The immobilization of biomolecules onto cellulose paper turns this environmentally friendly material into a platform for diagnostic devices.
Selective n-type doping in graphene via the aluminium nanoparticle decoration approach
Authors: Shi Xiaoling , Dong Guofa , Fang Ming , Wang Fengyun , Lin Hao , Yen Wen-Chun , Chan Kwok Sum , Chueh Yu-Lun , Ho Johnny C.
Published: May 2014

A simple and effective technique is presented to left shift the Dirac point of graphene transistors to induce n-type doping via the thermal decoration of Al nanoparticles. The versatility of this approach is illustrated by the fabrication of air-stable n-type doping in graphene devices with the improved on/off current ratio.
A novel ultrasound-sensitive mechanofluorochromic AIE-compound with remarkable blue-shifting and enhanced emission
Authors: Sun Huawei , Zhang Yi , Yan Wei , Chen Wenxin , Lan Qi , Liu Siwei , Jiang Long , Chi Zhenguo , Chen Xudong , Xu Jiarui
Published: May 2014

An ultrasonic-sensitive mechanofluorochromic AIE-compound has been synthesized, which shows remarkable blue-shifting, enhanced emission and the formation of perfect nano-sheets.
Characterization of human variants in obesity-related SIM1 protein identifies a hot-spot for dimerization with the partner protein ARNT2
Authors: Sullivan Adrienne E. , Raimondo Anne , Schwab Tanja A. , Bruning John B. , Froguel Philippe , Farooqi I. Sadaf , Peet Daniel J. , Whitelaw Murray L.
Published: May 2014

The bHLH (basic helix–loop–helix) PAS (Per/Arnt/Sim) transcription factor SIM1 (single-minded 1) is important for development and function of regions of the hypothalamus that regulate energy homoeostasis and the feeding response. Low-activity SIM1 variants have been identified in individuals with severe early-onset obesity, but the underlying molecular causes of impaired function are unknown. In the present study we assess a number of human SIM1 variants with reduced activity and determine that impaired function is frequently due to defects in dimerization with the essential partner protein ARNT2 (aryl hydrocarbon nuclear translocator 2). Equivalent variants generated in the highly related protein SIM2 (single-minded 2) produce near-identical impaired function and dimerization defects, indicating that these effects are not unique to the structure of SIM1. On the basis of these data, we predict that other select SIM1 and SIM2 variants reported in human genomic databases will also be deficient in activity, and identify two new low-activity SIM1 variants (V290E and V326F) present in the population. The cumulative data is used in homology modelling to make novel observations about the dimerization interface between the PAS domains of SIM1 and ARNT2, and to define a mutational ‘hot-spot’ in SIM1 that is critical for protein function.
The chain-flipping mechanism of ACP (acyl carrier protein)-dependent enzymes appears universal
Authors: Cronan John E.
Published: May 2014

ACPs (acyl carrier proteins) play essential roles in the synthesis of fatty acids, polyketides and non-ribosomal polypeptides. ACP function requires the modification of the protein by attachment of 4′-phosphopantetheine to a conserved serine residue. The phosphopantetheine thiol acts to tether the starting materials and intermediates as their thioesters. ACPs are small highly soluble proteins composed of four α-helices. The helices form a bundle that acts as a hydrophobic sleeve that sequesters the acyl chains and activated thioesters from solvent. However, in the synthesis of fatty acids and complex lipids the enzymes of the pathway must access the thioester and the proximal carbon atoms in order to perform the needed chemistry. How such access is provided without exposure of the acyl chains to solvent has been a longstanding question due to the lack of acyl-ACP–enzyme complexes, a situation generally attributed to the brevity of the interactions of acyl-ACPs with their cognate enzymes. As discussed in the present review the access question has now been answered by four recent crystal structures, each of which shows that the entire acyl chain plus the 4′-phosphopantetheine prosthetic group partitions from the ACP hydrophobic sleeve into a hydrophobic pocket or groove of the enzyme protein, a process termed chain flipping.
Head Shadow, Squelch, and Summation Effects With an Energetic or Informational Masker in Bilateral and Bimodal CI Users
Authors: Pyschny Verena , Landwehr Markus , Hahn Moritz , Lang-Roth Ruth , Walger Martin , Meister Hartmut
Published: May 2014

Purpose

The objective of the study was to investigate the influence of noise (energetic) and speech (energetic plus informational) maskers on the head shadow (HS), squelch (SQ), and binaural summation (SU) effect in bilateral and bimodal cochlear implant (CI) users.

Method

Speech recognition was measured in the presence of either a competing talker or modulated speech-shaped noise in 10 bimodal and 10 bilateral adult CI users. HS, SQ, and SU effects were calculated. The interfering signals were manipulated with respect to F0 to consider the influence of different speaker voices.

Results

The effects HS, SQ, and SU differed depending on the type of masker. A detailed analysis of errors was used to dissociate energetic and informational masking effects. The analysis showed a release from energetic than from informational masking.

Conclusion

Noise interferers are not sufficient to reflect difficulties experienced with speech understanding in noise for bilateral and bimodal CI users.
Perception of a Sung Vowel as a Function of Frequency-Modulation Rate and Excursion in Listeners With Normal Hearing and Hearing Impairment
Authors: Vatti Marianna , Santurette Sébastien , Pontoppidan Niels Henrik , Dau Torsten
Published: May 2014

Purpose

Frequency fluctuations in human voices can usually be described as coherent frequency modulation (FM). As listeners with hearing impairment (HI listeners) are typically less sensitive to FM than listeners with normal hearing (NH listeners), this study investigated whether hearing loss affects the perception of a sung vowel based on FM cues.

Method

Vibrato maps were obtained in 14 NH and 12 HI listeners with different degrees of musical experience. The FM rate and FM excursion of a synthesized vowel, to which coherent FM was applied, were adjusted until a singing voice emerged.

Results

In NH listeners, adding FM to the steady vowel components produced perception of a singing voice for FM rates between 4.1 and 7.5 Hz and FM excursions between 17 and 83 cents on average. In contrast, HI listeners showed substantially broader vibrato maps. Individual differences in map boundaries were, overall, not correlated with audibility or frequency selectivity at the vowel fundamental frequency, with no clear effect of musical experience.

Conclusion

Overall, it was shown that hearing loss affects the perception of a sung vowel based on FM-rate and FM-excursion cues, possibly due to deficits in FM detection or discrimination or to a degraded ability to follow the rate of frequency changes.
Implicit Memory Influences on Metamemory During Verbal Learning After Traumatic Brain Injury
Authors: Ramanathan Pradeep , Kennedy Mary R. T. , Marsolek Chad J.
Published: May 2014

Purpose

Prior research has shown that individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) may be overconfident in theirjudgments of learning(JOLs; online measures of self-monitoring of learning and memory). JOLs had been presumed to be driven by explicit processes, but recent research has also revealed implicit memory involvement. Given that implicit learning mechanisms are often intact in those with TBI, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether priming and antipriming of immediate and delayed JOLs in individuals with TBI might affect their overconfidence.

Method

A standard 3-field masked priming paradigm was combined with a paired-associate learning task with JOLs and administered to individuals with TBI and matched controls (18 per group). In each trial, a subliminal masked stimulus was immediately followed by supraliminal presentation of a word pair for study; participants also made immediate and delayed JOLs, with cued-recall testing 10 min after study and judgment.

Results

Antipriming significantly lowered JOLs and overconfidence for both groups, whereas delaying JOLs significantly improved recall for both groups.

Conclusions

The results suggest that JOLs may be influenced by subliminal implicit memory. Clinical implications include the possible use of antipriming to reduce overconfidence after brain injury and delaying JOLs to improve recall.
Typical and Delayed Lexical Development in Italian
Authors: Rescorla Leslie , Frigerio Alessandra , Sali Maria Enrica , Spataro Pietro , Longobardi Emiddia
Published: May 2014

Purpose

The Language Development Survey (LDS; Rescorla, 1989) was used to compare Italian and English lexical development. The authors addressed the issue of universal versus language-specific aspects of lexical development by testing language, age, and gender effects on vocabulary scores and by comparing vocabulary composition across languages. They addressed the issue of delay versus deviance by comparing vocabulary composition in late talkers and younger vocabulary-size-matched children.

Method

Participants were 398 Italian and 206 U.S. children ages 18–35 months.

Results

Vocabulary size did not differ significantly by language, and age and gender effects on vocabulary size were not moderated by language. The Italian–English
Q
correlation for percentage word use scores was .55, lower than the within-language concordance of .90 and above. Cross-linguistic concordance declined as age and vocabulary size increased. Many cross-linguistic word matches (63 words) were found among the top 100 words. Italian late talkers were similar to younger vocabulary-size-matched Italian children in vocabulary composition, consistent with findings for English, Greek, and Korean.

Conclusions

In both languages, the early lexicons of late talkers and typical talkers contained many of the same words, indicating considerable universality in young children's lexical development. These common words are therefore good targets for clinical intervention.
Routines, Artefacts and Technological Change: Investigating the Transformation of Criminal Justice in England and Wales
Authors: lannacci Federico
Published: May 2014

Organisational routines embed and are increasingly embedded within IT artefacts. In this paper, I challenge the conventional notion that warrants the primacy of human activities in the study of routines and bring artefacts in general and IT artefacts in particular to the very centre of my theorising. Through an in-depth case study of crown prosecutors’ work, I endeavour to explain the way legislative and IT artefacts are implicated in the transformation of police-prosecutor routines. I show that legislative artefacts play a constitutive role that generates a new role position and a new system of social practices while IT artefacts serve a regulative function that enforces a newly programmed sequence of steps onto pre-existing practices. I argue for the benefits of foregrounding legislative and IT artefacts to develop a nuanced account of organisational routines that responds to recent calls for research that contextualises the IT artefact outside single settings. I draw on the Transformational Model of Social Activity to unpack the causal linkages between legislative and IT artefacts. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Evaluation of Information System Investments: A Value Dials approach to closing the theory-practice gap
Authors: Frisk Jane Elisabeth , Bannister Frank , Lindgren Rikard
Published: May 2014

Failed or partially failed information systems (IS) investments continue to be a problem in both public and private sectors. Although there are many causes of such failure, lack of clarity about the goals and benefits expected and how they are to be realized is one of the major contributors. This is particularly so in the public sector where the purpose of IS investment is not to increase profits, but to accomplish social and political goals. One way of reducing failure and wastage rates is to have ex-ante evaluation. Over the past three decades IS research has proposed a plethora of new theoretical approaches to improving ex-ante evaluation, but with a few exceptions, these have had little impact on practice. This paper presents a way to address this gap between theory and practice. It proposes a way in which managers can improve IS investment evaluation by changing perspective from a focus on traditional analytic tools towards a design attitude that seeks to develop multi-criteria IS evaluation approach based on contextual experience and prior knowledge. The proposed approach enables organizations to design and develop a value case using value dials as a common language that defines what constitutes the value of particular IS investments for a specific context. To assess its effectiveness, this approach was applied using a multilevel dialogical action research project within a Swedish public organization. The findings show that managers in this organization significantly improved the effectiveness of their evaluation of IS investments.
Nonlocal symmetries of the Hirota-Satsuma coupled Korteweg-de Vries system and their applications: Exact interaction solutions and integrable hierarchy
Authors: Chen Junchao , Xin Xiangpeng , Chen Yong
Published: May 2014

The nonlocal symmetry is derived from the known Darboux transformation (DT) of the Hirota-Satsuma coupled Korteweg-de Vries (HS-cKdV) system, and infinitely many nonlocal symmetries are given by introducing the internal parameters. By extending the HS-cKdV system to an auxiliary system with five dependent variables, the prolongation is found to localize the so-called seed nonlocal symmetry related to the DT. By applying the general Lie point symmetry method to this enlarged system, we obtain two main results: a new type of finite symmetry transformation is derived, which is different from the initial DT and can generate new solutions from old ones; some novel exact interaction solutions among solitons and other complicated waves including periodic cnoidal waves and Painlevé waves are computed through similarity reductions. In addition, two kinds of new integrable models are proposed from the obtained nonlocal symmetry: the negative HS-cKdV hierarchy by introducing the internal parameters; the integrable models both in lower and higher dimensions by restricting the symmetry constraints.
The effect of cathode geometry on barium transport in hollow cathode plasmas
Authors: Polk James E. , Mikellides Ioannis G. , Capece Angela M. , Katz Ira
Published: May 2014

The effect of barium transport on the operation of dispenser hollow cathodes was investigated in numerical modeling of a cathode with two different orifice sizes. Despite large differences in cathode emitter temperature, emitted electron current density, internal xenon neutral and plasma densities, and size of the plasma-surface interaction region, the barium transport in the two geometries is qualitatively very similar. Barium is produced in the insert and flows to the surface through the porous structure. A buildup of neutral Ba pressure in the plasma over the emitter surface can suppress the reactions supplying the Ba, restricting the net production rate. Neutral Ba flows into the dense Xe plasma and has a high probability of being ionized at the periphery of this zone. The steady state neutral Ba density distribution is determined by a balance between pressure gradient forces and the drag force associated with collisions between neutral Ba and neutral Xe atoms. A small fraction of the neutral Ba is lost upstream. The majority of the neutral Ba is ionized in the high temperature Xe plasma and is pushed back to the emitter surface by the electric field. The steady state Ba+ ion density distribution results from a balance between electrostatic and pressure forces, neutral Xe drag and Xe+ ion drag with the dominant forces dependent on location in the discharge. These results indicate that hollow cathodes are very effective at recycling Ba within the discharge and therefore maintain a high coverage of Ba on the emitter surface, which reduces the work function and sustains high electron emission current densities at moderate temperatures. Barium recycling is more effective in the cathode with the smaller orifice because the Ba is ionized in the dense Xe plasma concentrated just upstream of the orifice and pushed back into the hollow cathode. Despite a lower emitter temperature, the large orifice cathode has a higher Ba loss rate through the orifice because the Xe plasma density peaks further upstream.