bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mental health care clusters and payment by results: considerations for social inclusion and recovery
Authors: Clark Michael
Published: November 2014

Purpose

This paper aims to critically examine the emerging policy agenda of payment by results (PbR) and care clusters in order to identify how to engage with it to ensure it is supportive of social inclusion and recovery.

Design/methodology/approach

Care clusters and PbR for mental health care are critically examined.

Findings

There is scope in the ongoing development of care clusters and associated pathways to continue the progressive developments towards recovery and social inclusion in the commissioning and delivery of mental health care, but they need to be nurtured and actively pursued.

Practical implications

The care clusters and developments building on them provide scope for supporting social inclusion and recovery practice, but also some risks; hence, those with an interest in furthering such practice need to engage now locally and nationally with care clusters developments.

Originality/value

PbR is being pursued as a policy for commissioning mental health care in England, based on a model of care clusters. This paper discusses the move to PbR and its possible implications for the recovery and social inclusion agenda.
Restructuring in the Toyotakeiretsuduring the Asian financial crash
Authors: Mehri Darius
Published: November 2014

Purpose

The economic downturn in Japan in the 1990s and the Asian economic crash of 1997 led to widespread restructuring of corporate organizations in Japan. This paper aims to use ethnographic fieldwork, in‐depth interviews and historical documents to examine how this played out inside one company, Toyota, when management implemented a restructuring plan to improve the profitability of one of its group companies during the period of 1996 to 1999. It also aims to discuss the restructuring policies within the framework of how Toyota responded to the economic crisis during a time of deregulation and liberal market reforms resulting from the decade of economic malaise that began in the early 1990s. A hallmark of the current debate on analyzing Japanese organizations is to what extent Japan is converging on the American model of capitalism.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on fieldwork drawn from three years as a participant observer where the author worked as a production engineer together with interviews with those he worked alongside and documentary analysis.

Findings

The paper argues that the company responded to the economic crisis of the 1990s by implementing liberal market reforms but changes in the 1990s and during the Asian crash reveal that Toyota used liberal market policies as restructuring “tools” within the context of the unique institutions of Japanese welfare corporatism.

Originality/value

The strength of this paper is that it provides an insider's perspective on restructuring in a Toyota company. Conceptually the paper improves our understanding of how institutional structures contribute to shaping the restructuring in Japanese organizations.
Automation of forging by means of robots
Authors: Franchetti I. , Vicentini P. , De Togni L. , Magarini ‐.
Published: November 2014

The work places in the forging factories are known to be particularly tiresome for the operators who have to work there. The noise, the heat, the weight of the parts to be handled, the place unctuosity are all elements which make the work hard and uncomfortable with a bad environment for the operators; and all this results in low productivity.
Export Assistance Needs of US Wineries
Authors: Castaldi Richard M. , Silverman Murray , Sengupta Sanjit
Published: November 2014

In the Spring of 2000, questionnaires regarding the export assistance needs of all 1012 wineries in California. Oregon Washington and Idaho were mailed. These surveys one for current exporters and one for non‐exporters were based upon over 25 in‐depth interviews with wine industry executives and export service providers. Each questionnaire included a section specifically designed to identify and prioritise the assistance needs of exporters and non‐exporters. The robust 24% return rate enhances the validity of the survey results. Among current exporters information regarding competitors, consumers and distributors specific export markets represent five of the six most highly valued assistance needs. Assistance in finding distributors and agents are especially important to inexperienced exporters and those dissatisfied with their current export programme. Non‐exporters place priority on training and assistance in understanding the fundamentals of developing a successful winery export programme. Finally, both exporters and non‐exporters give high priority to learning about the export experiences of other wineries which they feel will help improve their own international trade endeavours.
The Roberts Committee
Authors: L.R.
Published: November 2014

The two letters that follow from correspondents with exceptional experience of library conditions and the structure of local government will serve to indicate the tension that has been aroused in library circles by the new White Paper issued by the Ministry of Education.
The McColvin Report: a Symposium
Authors: L.R.
Published: November 2014

WE have much pleasure in publishing comments on the Report prepared by Mr. L. R. McColvin, Hon. Secretary of the Library Association, on the library position in Britain. We think our readers will agree that the contributors to the symposium are sufficiently objective in outlook to have given us a fair evaluation of the survey. In the past, criticism of such reports has been largely destructive; but it is exceedingly easy to criticise a work of the kind. On the other hand, only the first‐class thinker has the constructive mind, and it is constructive thinking that is required and that has been most lacking in assessing earlier reports. It is to be hoped that Mr. McColvin's survey and his recommendations will be considered in the light of the future, and that the liberal outlook which should be inherent in librarianship will assert itself.
Using Canonical Correlation to Identify Arbitrage Pricing Theory Factors
Authors: McGowan Carl B. , Dobson William
Published: November 2014

This paper presents a new research design to test the efficacy of the Arbitrage Pricing Theory of Ross [1976], similar to that applied by Christofi, Christofi and Philippatos [1993]. In particular, we use a combination of factor analysis and canonical correlation to test the underlying relationships between APT factors developed using factor analysis and unanticipated changes in five macro‐economic variables that have been shown to be related to stock returns. The results of this paper indicate that the first factor of industry returns is strongly related to the S&P 500 while the remaining four factors are highly correlated with the term structure of interest rates, the rate of inflation, the default premium, and the industrial production, respectively.
Bank CEO Salaries: The Relation Between Performance, Ownership Concentration, and CEO Tenure
Authors: Rao Vadhindran K. , McIntyre James E.
Published: November 2014

We examine whether Douglas and Santerre's (1990) substitutes hypothesis obtains for bank holding companies (BHCs); i.e. whether degree of ownership concentration and salary incentives are alternative methods of aligning BHC CEO incentives with those of shareholders. Also examined is the relation between CEO salary and bonus and CEO tenure. Using a sample of 95 BHC drawn from the 1990 Forbes magazine compensation survey, we regress CEO salary and bonus against ROE, stock return, two measures of ownership concentration, and a CEO tenure variable. Our results 1) support the substitutes hypothesis as applied to BHCs, and, 2) find a negative relation between CEO salary and bonus and CEO tenure.
Telspar: A Viewdata system for independent grocers
Authors: Bamfield Joshua
Published: November 2014

Telspar Viewdata provides members of the Spar independent voluntary grocery group with a two‐way exchange of information — at least as far as those served by wholesaler James Hall are concerned. It provides the retailer with an electronic ordering facility, with a personal printed stocklist, with a separate pricing facility, and with management reports on gross margin and stock control. The author claims that it takes computing “away from the hands of the experts and puts it in the hands of the branch manager or shop owner.”
SWITZERLAND
Authors: Smith Bryan
Published: November 2014

Despite some bad years in the 70s, the Swiss continue to remain relatively affluent in comparison with some of their western European neighbours. The retail sector still has problems, with retail sales down 4.3 per cent in 1982, though there has been some recovery this year. In this article Bryan Smith, who lives and works in Zurich, describes the achievements of three of the largest retail organisations in Switzerland — Migros, the Coops, and Denner; and then turns his attention to some of the larger regional shopping centres.
Governance and Competitive Advantage
Authors: Johnson Lewis D. , Neave Edwin H.
Published: November 2014

This paper uses a transactions economics theory of financial governance to reconcile and integrate the evidence on inter‐ and intra‐country differences in corporate finance and corporate governance. We argue that one reason for the competitive advantage demonstrated by Japan in recent years is Japan's greater use of high capability financial governance and its consequent reduction of risks that would otherwise be borne.
Branching Restrictions and Banking Offices
Authors: Dwyer Gerald P.
Published: November 2014

The available evidence is partly consistent and partly inconsistent with a negative association of branching restrictions and the number of banking offices. In this paper, I present evidence that the failure to consistently find such a negative association of branching restrictions and banking offices is quite robust. I suggest that the endogeneity of the banking restrictions and regulators' unmodeled behavior are the basic source of the inconsistency. I conclude that there is no evidence that suggests substantial changes in the number of banking offices with the introduction of interstate branching.
HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE AUTOMATED OFFICE: NATIONAL POLICY, ORGANIZATIONAL INITIATIVES AND INDIVIDUAL CHOICES
Authors: Amick Benjamin C.
Published: November 2014

“U.S. industry is under seige. Our competitiveness is at stake and AT&T is not finished with cost reductions. It's a moving target. We'll continue to be very, very aggressive but not do something in the short run that will hurt us in the long run.”
A SCIENTIFIC THEORY OF CLASSIFICATION AND INDEXING: FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Authors: FARRADANE J.E.L.
Published: November 2014

The principles of the author's theory of classification are summarized, and the necessity of expressing true relations between concepts in a classification is stressed. The logical faults in existing classifications (especially U.D.C., Bliss, and Colon) are discussed in comparison. The psychological and logical bases of the author's theory are considered in greater detail than before, especially as regards the derivation of the operators. In this connexion a change has been found necessary in the writing of the reaction operator, being A/—B, for B acts on A (instead of A—/B). Four new operators are introduced, being ‘dimensional’ (time and space, &c.), ‘comparison’, ‘association’, and ‘concurrence’, the last three on a basis of learning theory and work on conditioned responses in psychology. Examples are given of their uses. Operators represent logical relations, and their meanings, in everyday language, are discussed. The selection of a preferred order for the construction of a classification is shown to be possible on a logical basis, being the fully deductive order. The problem of notation is then dealt with in detail. It is shown that a fully elastic ‘deductive’ notation, allowing extrapolation and interpolation in all ways, not achieved in other classifications, is possible, but still does not meet the requirements of inductive classification. A notation is developed which provides arbitrary symbols for isolates, connected by operator symbols, and this is shown to be the only solution which meets all the requirements for expressing an inductive classification according to the author's theory.
AUTOMATA AND INFORMATION
Authors: FAIRTHORNE R.A.
Published: November 2014

In 1713 a lad called Humphrey Potter joined with string the valves of a steam pump so that the pump turned the steam on and off by itself. He had made the first working‐class automaton or robot. Till then steam had been used just to push with; you had to turn it on and off yourself, just as you had to tell a horse when to go or stop. Till then, also, automata had been purely aristocratic; just things to look at.
CATALOGUING RULES AND PRACTICE: CHANGES AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON, IN ANTICIPATION OF A REVISED CODE
Authors: TOOTH A.E.
Published: November 2014

The changes in cataloguing rules and practice that were put into operation in the Library of University College, London, in the summer of 1955 cannot in the nature of things compare in scope or elaboration with the new scheme of classification, the main features of which were described by Mr. Garside in Vol. 10, No. 4 of this journal. Nevertheless they represent the beginnings of a desirable complement on the cataloguing side to the massive improvements in the arrangement of books inaugurated by the adoption of the new scheme. They are designed to facilitate the finding of books in the catalogue as the classification does on the shelves. Incidentally, they will considerably reduce the need for adding the fourth, alphabetical element of the classmark to the cards. Like the classification, they represent an economy in administration in the long, if not always immediately in the short run.
THE TOKYO SEMINAR ON THE INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE OF PUBLICATIONS
Authors: SIDDIQ KHAN M.
Published: November 2014

The Seminar for the International Exchange of Publications in the Indo‐Pacific Area, inspired by Unesco and sponsored by the National Diet Library of Japan, was held at Tokyo from 4 November to 11 November, 1957. There were no less than thirty‐two participants, delegates, and observers, from the following countries: Australia, Cambodia, Ceylon, Chile, the Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Laos, Malaya, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the United States of Soviet Russia. Almost all the participating countries deputed librarians of standing to represent them. Among them were Mr. Foster E. Mohrhardt, Director of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Library, Mr. Jennings Wood, Assistant Chief Director, Exchange and Gifts Division of the Library of Congress, Mr. Boris Kanevsky, Chief Librarian, Dept. of International Exchange of Publications of the Lenin State Library, Dr. H. L. White, Librarian, Commonwealth National Library, Canberra, and Dr. Armando Sandoval, Director, Centro de Documentacion Cientifica y Technica de Mexico.
A NATIONAL LOAN POLICY FOR SCIENTIFIC SERIALS
Authors: URQUHART D.J. , BUNN R.M.
Published: November 2014

Elsewhere a survey has been reported of the use of the serials in the Science Museum Library. In brief this showed that where the Science Museum Library's copy of a serial was frequently used, this serial was widely held, and that the converse was true. In fact it appears that the use of the Science Museum's copy of a periodical is a rough measure of the national loan use of library copies.
A NEW LOOK AT REFERENCE SCATTERING
Authors: COLE P.F.
Published: November 2014

It was first observed by Bradford that, for a large collection of journal references on a given subject, most of the articles are derived from a small proportion of the total titles. Bradford listed the journals concerned in order of decreasing productivity and, by plotting the logarithms of the cumulative totals of titles against the cumulative totals of relevant articles produced, he obtained a straight line. (Similar results have been obtained by many later workers. The pattern is illustrated by Table 1 which shows the distribution of references among journal titles obtained by the author during a study of literature usage in the petroleum industry.) On the basis of these results Bradford then formulated a simple mathematical model to describe reference scattering. Vickery later pointed out that this ‘law of scattering’ predicted not a straight line but a curve. Kendall has now provided a more refined statistical explanation of the straight line observed by Bradford.
Breaking the Billion Dollar Barrier — Learning the Lessons of BNL, Daiwa, Barings and BCCI
Authors: Baxter Thomas C.
Published: November 2014

Corruption in banking — the topic of this paper, is at the very heart of such practices as money laundering. To illustrate this point, examined below are four specific cases, encountered by the author as an official of the US Federal Reserve. These cases are Banco Nazionale de Lavoro (BNL), The Daiwa Bank, Barings Bank and, of course, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI).
World Competitiveness: The Practical Test of U.S. Economic Policy
Authors: Welch John F.
Published: November 2014

What do we need to assure U.S. competitiveness? Participants in the current debate on that question tend to talk as though the economic policies and world competitiveness of U.S. industry were somehow separate when, in fact, world competitiveness is where the economic policies of the nation finally get tested. The crying need is to tie economic policy to business competitiveness, and not treat them like strangers.
REPOSITIONING WITH TECHNOLOGY: MAKING IT WORK
Authors: Sommers William P. , Nemec Joseph , Harris John M.
Published: November 2014

Technology, recognized as a key element of corporate success for high‐growth sectors, can also help companies in mature industries. Advanced technology can be used to help companies with aging product lines shift or reposition themselves into industrial sectors with faster growth and greater profits.
The Revival in Reverse Manufacturing
Authors: Wheeler William A.
Published: November 2014

A growing number of companies are jumping on the “green” bandwagon, flocking to develop environmental policies and strategies. This desire is part of the new attitude companies have adopted to meet today's changing business climate. While they will no doubt do themselves—and the environment—some good, with the proper focus, they might help both a lot more.
Corporate Policy
Authors: Sirkin Harold L. , Stalk George
Published: November 2014

In life, some would say, compromises are inevitable. As consumers, for instance, either we pay top dollar for a tailor‐made suit or we buy off‐the‐rack; either we limit our choices to the particular cars on a dealer's lot or wait for weeks in order to get exactly the model and color we want; either we purchase the flexibility of full‐fare tickets or accept restrictions in order to get a bargain fare.
Recent progress on urethane resins
Authors: Americus
Published: November 2014

An important development in the urethane coating area is the use of polyisocyanates, in combination with hydroxylated acrylic resins, to provide room‐temperature‐curing coatings. These new formulations, according to Klein and Elms [Journal of Paint Technology, 43, November (1971) p. 68], demonstrate lightfastness, good outdoor durability and solvent resistance when the acrylic resin is coreacted with an aliphatic polyisocyanate. The acrylic resins are copolymers which contain either the hydroxypropyl or hydroxybutyl ester of acrylic or methacrylic acid as one component. Hydroxypropyl acrylate acetoacetate extends the potlife of this two‐component coating. The authors describe work in which glass transition temperature is used as a means for selecting the correct hydroxylated acrylic resins for use in the system. If the glass transition temperature is between 22 and 54°C, a flexible coating with good impact resistance results, but the system requires baking. At a glass transition temperature of 54° and a hydroxyl value of 26, a composition results which dries rapidly at ambient temperatures and which provides good hardness and mar resistance. The coreactant in this instance is an aliphatic diisocyanate composition based on hexamethylene diisocyanate.
Coatings update: Alkyd resin Technology
Authors: Americus
Published: November 2014

Alkyd resins are—and undoubtedly will continue to be—the mainstay of the protective coatings industry. In 1970 one estimate indicated that 680 million pounds of alkyd resins with a value of 180 million dollars were utilised by the paint industry. Thus alkyd resin usage was far ahead of the next contender, vinyl resins. These, which find important application in water‐based paints were utilised to the extent of 300 million pounds worth about ninety million dollars. Altogether 1.67 billion pounds of synthetic resins were utilised and these were worth 530 million dollars. Thus alkyd resins accounted for about 41 per cent of the total synthetic resin volume and 34 per cent of the dollar value.
Aluminium flake pigment: Part 2
Authors: Smith C.A.
Published: November 2014

There are many pigment grades varying in manufacturing processes and product specifications. However, the most common denominator for which prices can be compared is the covering power or specific surface area of pigments. Pigments with higher surface area command a higher price, reflecting a longer milling time and increased production and labour costs.
Coatings update: new raw materials
Authors: Americus
Published: November 2014

Keeping pace with the new proprietary products offered each year are the new raw materials from which many of these are formulated.
Coatings update: trends in the coatings industry
Authors: Americus
Published: November 2014

The literature is filled with articles describing trends in ail industries, and the coatings industry does not escape such analysis. Indeed, much of what has been said in the introduction of this series relates to trends. Generally the profitability trend in the coatings industry as it does business in a world beclouded by petroleum and energy shortages and government regulations becomes less and less exciting. This means that so‐called strategic planning is of major importance.
Coatings update: heavy metal contamination in the paint industry, part 2
Authors: Americus
Published: November 2014

The Consumer Products Safety Commission in 1976 issued a report [Report PB‐257645 (1976)] with certain recommendations to help prevent lead poisoning in children. They surveyed two hundred studies related to lead poisoning in humans and animals with the objective of establishing a safe level of lead in paint. They concluded that blood lead concentrations of thirty micrograms per decilitre produce the first metabolic effects in children and that absorption of 4.5 milligrams per kilogram per day is associated with blood lead concentrations of 20 micrograms per decilitre. This lead to the conclusion that lead should not be added to paint and that a safe level of lead in paint is considered to be 0.06% by dry weight. The report also discussed the removal of old lead paint and made recommendations as to how this should be done so that both the workmen and the occupants of an area would be safe.
Coatings update:
Authors: Americus
Published: November 2014

It is an interesting point that the United States is no longer an industrialised economy. Economies are characterised traditionally by what people do in them. If most of the people raise food, then the economy is called agrarian or agricultural. The United States certainly started out as an agrarian economy and continued that way for many years. Eventually, however, agriculture became highly sophisticated. The net result of this sophistication was that it did not take very many people to grow all the food needed in the United States; and today well under five per cent of the population in the United States grows all the food we need as well as a twenty plus per cent excess which is exported. What happened to all the farmers? They went to work in industry which started to develop rapidly after the Civil War. Very soon the United States became an industrialised economy because most of the labourers who had once been farmers were employed in factories.
Coatings update: specialty coatings
Authors: Americus
Published: November 2014

As technology becomes more complex, the need for coatings for specialised functions continues to increase. The electronics industry, for example, makes demands on the coating industry for both conductive and insulative coatings. Highly temperature‐resistant coatings played a key role in the aerospace industry. Fire retardant coatings contribute to consumer safety, and coatings for plastics serve a number of protective and decorative functions. The list could be extended appreciably. Some of its newer components will be described here.
Coatings update: Maintenance coatings
Authors: Americus
Published: November 2014

The most important problem the maintenance paint industry is confronted with yearly is corrosion. Maintenance painting is that part of the industry which provides room temperature cure paints with corrosion protection. These paints are used on metal, wood, and other substrates in plants, factories, pipelines, etc. where corrosion is apt to occur. Paints that serve in the maintenance area are sophisticated coatings based on vinyls, epoxys, urethanes, zinc rich materials and a host of other vehicles each of which plays a special role in protecting a substrate and in fighting corrosion.
Letter from America USA
Authors: Paintman
Published: November 2014

The Arizona Chemical division of International Paper's plant in Panama City, Florida, recently added an additional £8m of capacity to the company's tackifying resin production. Enough room at the site exists to double initial capacity.
Stress Management in the Process of Occupational Stress Reduction
Authors: Murphy Lawrence R. , Hurrell Joseph J.
Published: November 2014

A growing number of studies have demonstrated the efficacy of worksite stress management training for reducing worker psychophysiological arousal and subjective reports of anxiety, depression, and somatic complaints. The role of stress management in the larger context of occupational stress reduction, however, has not been addressed. An application of stress management as one component of an organisational stressor reduction programme is described. Other components in the process which have been completed include the formation of a stress reduction committee and conduct of a stress assessment survey. Future plans include the formulation and implementation of recommendations for reducing organisational stress and repeated evaluations of their efficacy. The purpose is to depict element of the overall process and to report progress to date in this effort.
Tort Liability, the First Amendment, Equal Access, and Commercialization of Electronic Networks
Authors: Perritt Henry H.
Published: November 2014

America's movement to a digital network infrastructure may be threatened by the unavailability of high‐speed network channels to some sources of information. One reason for unavailability is fear by network intermediaries that they face legal liability for carrying harmful messages. Yet changing the law to require network intermediaries to provide equal access to their services raises First Amendment questions.
Bibliographic Data Elements for Computer Programs
Authors: Rush James E. , Tannehill Robert S.
Published: November 2014

No comprehensive set of data elements for describing computer software has previously been developed. Applications determine the need for specific data elements. This article presents a comprehensive profile of data elements, and identifies their probable application in library catalogs, bibliographic references, program documentation, program front matter, program packaging, software catalogs and eye‐legible labels. The data elements are correlated with existing MARC tags, providing compatibility with current usage.
FIBRE LUBRICANTS IN THE WOOLLEN INDUSTRY
Authors: KEMMEK
Published: November 2014

MANY baffling moves in international politics have been directly or indirectly connected with the struggle for oil. Likewise, in the woollen industry, some of the traditional struggles between dyers, scourers, and millers can be traced to the same source, because in most cases of uneven and streaky dyed pieces, the dyer blames the scourer for failing to scour out the oil.
The compensation/responsibility relationship
Authors: Pekar Peter P.
Published: November 2014

IN 1981 we began surveying U.S. companies in the $800 million to $20 billion annual sales range to obtain a sophisticated job description of the top corporate planning positions. The real aim of the survey was simple: to establish a role model for the corporate planner of the 1980s. To define this model, the survey sought to determine as precisely as possible:
Government foresight: An investment for the future
Authors: Gore Albert
Published: November 2014

The federal government is the only entity I know of that thinks it's wise to spend tomorrow's money today to solve the problems of yesterday. We end up with the worst of both worlds—crisis management for today, and massive federal debts that we'll have to service in the future. What we should be doing is trying to figure out what problems and opportunities lie ahead—to bring foresight into the governmental process.
Books and Bookmen
Authors: Ivanhoe
Published: November 2014

It seems to be the fate of fine social conceptions to be controlled sooner or later by officials whose sense of their importance is in inverse ratio to their ability to exploit the conceptions with enthusiasm and in happy constructive manner. We have seen that to occur in all sorts of organisations founded by people who deeply felt and clearly willed. Something of this kind would appear to have happened or to be happening to the British Broadcasting Corporation, which, since the war, has become as close a corporation as the most narrow‐minded body of bureaucrats might desire.
Consecutive oral administration of Bifidobacterium longum MM‐2 improves the defense system against influenza virus infection by enhancing natural killer cell activity in a murine model
Authors: Kawahara Tomohiro , Takahashi Tadanobu , Oishi Kenta , Tanaka Hiromu , Masuda Midori , Takahashi Shunsaku , Takano Maiko , Kawakami Tatsuya , Fukushima Keijo , Kanazawa Hiroaki , Suzuki Takashi
Published: November 2014

Bifidobacterium, one of the major components of intestinal microflora, shows anti‐influenza virus (IFV) potential as a probiotic, partly through enhancement of innate immunity by modulation of the intestinal immune system. Bifidobacterium longum MM‐2 (MM‐2), a very safe bacterium in humans, was isolated from healthy humans and its protective effect against IFV infection in a murine model shown. In mice that were intranasally inoculated with IFV, oral administration of MM‐2 for 17 consecutive days improved clinical symptoms, reduced mortality, suppressed inflammation in the lower respiratory tract, and decreased virus titers, cell death, and pro‐inflammatory cytokines such as IL‐6 and TNF‐α in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. The anti‐IFV mechanism of MM‐2 involves innate immunity through significant increases in NK cell activities in the lungs and spleen and a significant increase in pulmonary gene expression of NK cell activators such as IFN‐γ, IL‐2, IL‐12 and IL‐18. Even in non‐infected mice, MM‐2 administration also induced significant enhancement of both IFN‐γ production by Peyer's patch cells (PPs) and splenetic NK cell activity. Oral administration of MM‐2 for 17 days activates systemic immunoreactivity in PPs, which contributes to innate immunity, including NK cell activation, resulting in an anti‐IFV effect. MM‐2 as a probiotic may function as a prophylactic agent in the management of an IFV epidemic.
Levonorgestrel decreases cilia beat frequency of human fallopian tubes and rat oviducts without changing morphological structure
Authors: Zhao Weihong , Zhu Qian , Yan Mingxing , Li Cheng , Yuan Jiangjing , Qin Guojuan , Zhang Jian
Published: November 2014

Levonorgestrel, a derivative of progesterone, effectively protects women against unwanted pregnancy as an emergency contraceptive. Previous studies have not been successful in determining the mechanism by which levonorgestrel acts. In the present study we analysed cilia beat action and cilia morphology following levonorgestrel exposure in vitro and in vivo using both light and electron microscopy. There was a significant decrease in the ciliary beat frequency (CBF) of human fallopian tubes between mucosal explants bathed in 5 μmol/L levonorgestrel and those bathed in medium alone (P < 0.05). There was a tendency for CBF to decrease more in the ampulla than in isthmus, but there were no differences between the proliferative and secretory phases. In rat oviducts, levonorgestrel produced a similar reduction in CBF (~ 10%) compared with the saline control group (P < 0.05). Histological and ultrastructural analysis demonstrated no changes in the percentage of ciliated cells or in the classic ‘9 + 2’ structure of cilia following levonorgestrel treatment in either system. Thus, levonorgestrel reduces CBF without damaging cilia morphology. Decreases in CBF may indicate a pathological role for levonorgestrel in the transportation of the ovum and zygote in the fallopian tube.
Color Separation in Forensic Image Processing Using Interactive Differential Evolution
Authors: Mushtaq Harris , Rahnamayan Shahryar , Siddiqi Areeb
Published: November 2014

Color separation is an image processing technique that has often been used in forensic applications to differentiate among variant colors and to remove unwanted image interference. This process can reveal important information such as covered text or fingerprints in forensic investigation procedures. However, several limitations prevent users from selecting the appropriate parameters pertaining to the desired and undesired colors. This study proposes the hybridization of an interactive differential evolution (IDE) and a color separation technique that no longer requires users to guess required control parameters. The IDE algorithm optimizes these parameters in an interactive manner by utilizing human visual judgment to uncover desired objects. A comprehensive experimental verification has been conducted on various sample test images, including heavily obscured texts, texts with subtle color variations, and fingerprint smudges. The advantage of IDE is apparent as it effectively optimizes the color separation parameters at a level indiscernible to the naked eyes.
Comparison of 3 Selective Media for Enumeration of Bacillus cereus in Several Food Matrixes
Authors: Chon Jung‐Whan , Song Kwang‐Young , Kim Hyunsook , Seo Kun‐Ho
Published: November 2014

In this study, we compared the inclusivity, exclusivity, recoverability, and selectivity of the 3 selective agars (mannitol yolk polymyxin B agar [MYPA], polymyxin pyruvate egg yolk mannitol bromothymol blue agar [PEMBA], and Brillance Bacillus cereus agar [BBC agar]) for Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) from pure culture and several food samples. BBC agar showed greater exclusivity and selectivity in pure culture and in foods with high background flora, respectively; however, all the tested media showed similar recoverability (P > 0.05) of B. cereus in pure culture and in most foods. Our results suggest that BBC agar could be useful to enumerate B. cereus from, in particular, food matrixes with high background competing micro flora.
Postprandial glucose, insulin and incretin responses to different carbohydrate tolerance tests
Authors: Deng Yuying , Zhang Yifei , Zheng Sheng , Hong Jie , Wang Chunling , Liu Ting , Sun Zhehao , Gu Weiqiong , Gu Yanyun , Shi Juan , Yao Shuangshuang , Wang Weiqing , Ning Guang
Published: November 2014

Background

Few studies have focused on postprandial incretin responses to different carbohydrate meals. Therefore, we designed a study to compare the different effects of two carbohydrates (75 g oral glucose, a monosaccharide and 100 g standard noodle, a polysaccharide, with 75 g carbohydrates equivalently) on postprandial glucose, insulin and incretin responses in different glucose tolerance groups.

Methods

This study was an open‐label, randomized, two‐way crossover clinical trial. 240 participants were assigned to take two carbohydrates in a randomized order separated by a washout period of 5–7 days. The plasma glucose, insulin, c‐peptide, glucagon and active glucagon‐like peptide‐1 (AGLP‐1) were measured. The incremental area under curve above baseline from 0 to 120 min of insulin (iAUC0–120 min‐INS) and AGLP‐1(iAUC0–120 min‐AGLP‐1) was calculated.

Results

Compared with standard noodles, the plasma glucose and insulin after consumption of oral glucose were higher at 30 min (both P < 0.001) and 60 min (both P < 0.001), while lower at 180 min (both P < 0.001), but no differences were found at 120 min. The glucagon at 180 min was higher after consumption of oral glucose (P = 0.010). The AGLP‐1 response to oral glucose was higher at 30 min (P < 0.001), 60 min (P < 0.001) and 120 min (P = 0.022), but lower at 180 min (P = 0.027). In normal glucose tolerance (NGT), oral glucose elicited a higher insulin response to the corresponding AGLP‐1 (P < 0.001), which was represented by iAUC0–120 min‐INS /iAUC0–120 min‐AGLP‐1, while in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), standard noodles did (P = 0.001).

Conclusions

Monosaccharide potentiated more rapid and higher glycemic and insulin responses. Oral glucose of liquid state would elicit a more potent release of AGLP‐1. The incretin effect was amplified after consumption of standard noodles in T2DM.
Food Co‐ops and the Paradox of Exclusivity
Authors: Zitcer Andrew
Published: November 2014

Consumer food cooperatives constitute a vital part of the alternative food movement in the United States, alongside farmers' markets, community‐supported agriculture, community gardens and other initiatives. Like these efforts, food co‐ops seek to counter the dominance of industrial agriculture and the decimation of local economies. Yet food co‐ops wrestle with a paradox of exclusivity, whereby some practices and people are inadvertently left out in order to create conditions for a strong identification among others with particular ways of being and doing. This article explores the paradox of exclusivity through an in‐depth study of two food co‐ops in Philadelphia, PA. Exclusivity manifests itself in what the co‐ops sell, their business practices, and how they market themselves to potential members. Overcoming the paradox of exclusivity requires efforts towards affordability, accessibility and reflective practice in order for co‐ops to realize their transformative social and economic potential.
Trivariate Biharmonic B‐Splines
Authors: Hou Fei , Qin Hong , Hao Aimin
Published: November 2014

In this paper, we formulate a novel trivariate biharmonic B‐spline defined over bounded volumetric domain. The properties of bi‐Laplacian have been well investigated, but the straightforward generalization from bivariate case to trivariate one gives rise to unsatisfactory discretization, due to the dramatically uneven distribution of neighbouring knots in 3D. To ameliorate, our original idea is to extend the bivariate biharmonic B‐spline to the trivariate one with novel formulations based on quadratic programming, approximating the properties of localization and partition of unity. And we design a novel discrete biharmonic operator which is optimized more robustly for a specific set of functions for unevenly sampled knots compared with previous methods. Our experiments demonstrate that our 3D discrete biharmonic operators are robust for unevenly distributed knots and illustrate that our algorithm is superior to previous algorithms.
Gender‐Linked Stem Cell Alterations in Stroke and Postpartum Depression
Authors: Pabón Mibel M. , Ji Xun‐Ming , Fernandez Jamie Winderbaum , Borlongan Cesar V.
Published: November 2014

Stroke is a significant unmet clinical need. The current stroke treatment of tissue plasminogen activator is limited to the very acute 4.5 h after disease onset which benefits only less than 3% of ischemic stroke patients. Our overarching hypothesis advances the notion that gender, which has been established as a comorbidity factor of stroke, plays a key role in regenerative medicine, in particular stem cell therapy. We hypothesize that gender is a key factor in culture‐induced stemness of adult stem cells. Our goal is to provide new evidence supporting gender effects on stroke and stem cells for the purpose of enhancing our understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease and developing novel stem cell‐based therapeutics targeting gender‐relevant stress hormones as manifested in a stroke‐postpartum depression paradigm.
Therapeutic Effects of Fucoidan in 6‐Hydroxydopamine‐Lesioned Rat Model of Parkinson's disease: Role of NADPH oxidase‐1
Authors: Zhang Fei‐Long , He Yi , Zheng Yan , Zhang Wen‐Jing , Wang Qi , Jia Yan‐Jun , Song Hai‐Long , An Hai‐Ting , Zhang Hao‐Bo , Qian Yan‐Jing , Tong Yu‐Long , Dong Lin , Wang Xiao‐Min
Published: November 2014

Aims

To explore the effect of fucoidan treatment on oxidative stress‐mediated dopaminergic neuronal damage and its potential mechanisms.

Methods

The effect of fucoidan was investigated in a 6‐hydroxydopamine (6‐OHDA) rat model of PD, an animal model considered appropriate for preclinical studies of PD therapy. The effects of fucoidan treatment on animal behavior and the survival ratio of dopaminergic neurons were investigated. We further observed the effect of fucoidan on microglia and the NADPH oxidases‐1 (Nox1), a family of enzymes generating reactive oxygen species (ROS).

Results

We found that chronic fucoidan administration mitigated the motor dysfunction induced by 6‐OHDA. Similarly, fucoidan reduced the loss of DA neurons in the SNc and DA fibers in the striatum in 6‐OHDA‐lesioned rats. Moreover, we found that fucoidan inhibited the 6‐OHDA‐stimulating expression of Nox1 in both tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)‐positive neurons and non‐TH‐positive neurons, prevented Nox1‐sensitive oxidative stress and cell damage in SNc neurons. Fucoidan also effectively inhibited nigral microglial activation.

Conclusion

These results support the beneficial effect of fucoidan in 6‐OHDA‐lesioned rat model of PD. Fucoidan may suppress the Nox1‐triggered oxidative stress in the SNc to protect DA neurons from 6‐OHDA‐induced toxicity and achieve its beneficial effect.
Structural and biochemical characterization of the dual substrate recognition of the (R)‐selective amine transaminase from Aspergillus fumigatus
Authors: Skalden Lilly , Thomsen Maren , Höhne Matthias , Bornscheuer Uwe T. , Hinrichs Winfried
Published: November 2014

Chiral amines are important precursors for the pharmaceutical and fine‐chemical industries. Because of this, the demand for enantiopure amines is currently increasing. Amine transaminases can produce a large spectrum of chiral amines in the (R)‐ or (S)‐configuration, depending on their substrate scope and stereo‐preference, by converting a prochiral ketone into the chiral amine while using alanine as the amine donor producing pyruvate as an α‐keto acid product. In order to guide the protein engineering of transaminases to improve substrate specificity and enantioselectivity, we carried out a crystal structure analysis at 1.6 Å resolution of the (R)‐amine transaminase from Aspergillus fumigatus with the bound inhibitor gabaculine. This revealed that Arg126 has an important role in the dual substrate recognition of this enzyme because mutating this residue to alanine reduced substantially the ability of the enzyme to use pyruvate as an amino acceptor.

Database

Coordinates and structure factors have been deposited with the Protein Data Bank under accession code 4UUG.
BRCA1, a ‘complex’ protein involved in the maintenance of genomic stability
Authors: Savage Kienan I. , Harkin D. Paul
Published: November 2014

BRCA1 is a major breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility gene, with mutations in this gene predisposing women to a very high risk of developing breast and ovarian tumours. BRCA1 primarily functions to maintain genomic stability via critical roles in DNA repair, cell cycle checkpoint control, transcriptional regulation, apoptosis and mRNA splicing. As a result, BRCA1 mutations often result in defective DNA repair, genomic instability and sensitivity to DNA damaging agents. BRCA1 carries out these different functions through its ability to interact, and form complexes with, a vast array of proteins involved in multiple cellular processes, all of which are considered to contribute to its function as a tumour suppressor. This review discusses and highlights recent research into the functions of BRCA1‐related protein complexes and their roles in maintaining genomic stability and tumour suppression.
Effects of Natura 2000 and habitat variables used for habitat assessment on beetle assemblages in European beech forests
Authors: Zehetmair Tobias , Müller Jörg , Zharov Alexey , Gruppe Axel
Published: November 2014

The Natura 2000 (N2000) network intends to conserve Europe's threatened habitats and species by selecting a complementary set of areas of various habitat types across geographical space to cover the range of diversity.

We studied beetles and habitat variables used for N2000 habitat assessment in 11 pairs of commercially exploited N2000 and non‐N2000 forest stands (80–120 years old) of one habitat type (9130Asperulo‐Fagetum) in three biogeographical regions (Atlantic, Continental, Mediterranean). We addressed three main questions: (i) Is beetle diversity affected by climatic, spatial and structural variables and how? (ii) Does N2000 status affect beetle diversity and habitat quality? (iii) Are the habitat variables used for N2000 habitat assessment decisive for beetle communities?

Climate and spatial variables had the largest impacts on beetle communities which supports the value of N2000 as a transnational network of protected areas over different climatic conditions. Forest structures had a minor cumulative impact on beetle assemblages. N2000 had no effects on beetle diversity or forest structures. We conclude that these commercially exploited N2000 stands do not presently represent better habitats relative to the commercially exploited non‐N2000 stands. However, significant effects on beetle communities were found for ‘beech proportion’, ‘tree species’, ‘forest layering’, ‘deadwood’ and ‘habitat trees’, which confirms the suitability of these parameters for habitat assessment in the N2000 process.

We conclude that additional efforts are required in N2000 areas (e.g. implementation of specific management plans) to develop and ensure an ecologically effective and sustainable network to preserve Europe's biodiversity.