bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A clinicopathological study of primary central nervous system lymphomas & their association with Epstein-Barr virus
Authors: Sharma Mehar Chand , Gupta Rakesh Kumar , Kaushal Seema , Suri Vaishali , Sarkar Chitra , Singh Manmohan , Kale S.S. , Sahoo Ranjit K. , Kumar Lalit , Raina Vinod
Published: August 2016

Background & objectives:

Primary central nervous system lymphomas (PCNSLs) are relatively uncommon, accounting for 2-3 per cent of primary brain tumours. Majority of these are diffuse large B cell lymphomas (DLBCL) occurring both in immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients. We undertook this study to classify PCNSL into germinal centre (GC) and non-germinal centre (NGC) type based on Hans classification and to find the role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in pathogenesis both by conventional immunohistochemistry (IHC) and chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH).

Methods:

The consecutive cases of PCNSL during a 10 years period were analysed by IHC for CD45, CD20, CD3, B-cell lymphoma 2 and 6 (Bcl-2 and Bcl-6), B-cell specific octamer binding protein-1 (BOB-1), multiple myeloma oncogene-1 (MUM-1), EBV latent-membrane protein 1 (LMP-1), cyclin-D1, CD10, CD5 and CD23, as well as by CISH for EBV.

Results:

During a period of 10 years, 65 PCNSL were diagnosed which comprised 0.69 per cent (65/9476) of all intracranial tumours. The mean age of presentation was 49 yr with sex ratio (M:F) of 1.4:1. Most common location was supratentorial region with predominant involvement of frontal lobe. Single lesions were seen in 38 (58.4%) and multifocal lesions in 27 (41.5%) patients. None of the patients were immunocompromised. All cases were B cell immunophenotype and were DLBCL except one case of follicular lymphoma. According to Hans classification, majority of them were NGC (n=51, 79.6%) and 13 (20.3%) were GC type. Bcl-2 expression was noted in 34 (52.3%) tumours. EBV was positive in three (4.6%) cases; two were detected both by IHC and CISH and one case by CISH only.

Interpretation & conclusions:

In Indian population, PCNSL occurs mainly in immunocompetent patients, and a decade earlier than in western population. Immunophenotyping revealed that all cases were DLBCL with predominance of NGC type. No prognostic difference was seen between GC and NGC DLBCL. Association of EBV was rare and this virus was possibly not involved in the pathogenesis of PCNSL in immunocompetent individuals. CISH was an easy, economical and less cumbersome method for detection of EBV in PCNSL.
Dual hit lipopolysaccharide & oleic acid combination induced rat model of acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome
Authors: Hagawane T.N. , Gaikwad R.V. , Kshirsagar N.A.
Published: August 2016

Background & objectives:

Despite advances in therapy and overall medical care, acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) management remains a problem. Hence the objective of this study was to develop a rat model that mimics human ALI/ARDS.

Methods:

Four groups of Wistar rats, 48 per group were treated with (i) intratracheal (IT) lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (5 mg/kg) dissolved in normal saline (NS), (ii) intravenous (iv) oleic acid (OA) (250 μl/kg) suspension in bovine serum albumin (BSA), (iii) dual hit: IT LPS (2 mg/kg) dissolved in NS and iv OA (100 μl/kg) and (iv) control group: IT NS and iv BSA. From each group at set periods of time various investigations like chest X-rays, respiratory rate (RR), tidal volume (TV), total cell count, differential cell count, total protein count and cytokine levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), lung wet/dry weight ratio and histopathological examination were done.

Results:

It was noted that the respiratory rate, and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels were significantly higher at 4 h in the dual hit group as compared to LPS, OA and control groups. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were significantly higher in the dual hit group as compared to LPS at 8 and 24 h, OA at 8 h and control (at all time intervals) group. IL-1β levels were significantly higher in LPS and dual hit groups at all time intervals, but not in OA and control groups. The injury induced in dual hit group was earlier and more sustained as compared to LPS and OA alone.

Interpretation & conclusions:

The lung pathology and changes in respiration functions produced by the dual hit model were closer to the diagnostic criteria of ALI/ARDS in terms of clinical manifestations and pulmonary injury and the injury persisted longer as compared to LPS and OA single hit model. Therefore, the ARDS model produced by the dual hit method was closer to the diagnostic criteria of ARDS in terms of clinical manifestations and pulmonary injury.
Subinhibitory concentration of ciprofloxacin targets quorum sensing system of Pseudomonas aeruginosa causing inhibition of biofilm formation & reduction of virulence
Authors: Gupta Parul , Chhibber Sanjay , Harjai Kusum
Published: August 2016

Background & objectives:

Biofilms formed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa lead to persistent infections. Use of antibiotics for the treatment of biofilm induced infection poses a threat towards development of resistance. Therefore, the research is directed towards exploring the property of antibiotics which may alter the virulence of an organism besides altering its growth. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of subinhibitory concentration of ciprofloxacin (CIP) in inhibiting biofilm formation and virulence of P. aeruginosa.

Methods:

Antibiofilm potential of subinhibitory concentration of CIP was evaluated in terms of log reduction, biofilm forming capacity and coverslip assay. P. aeruginosa isolates (grown in the presence and absence of sub-MIC of CIP) were also evaluated for inhibition in motility, virulence factor production and quorum sensing (QS) signal production.

Results:

Sub-minimum inhibitory concentration (sub-MIC) of CIP significantly reduced the motility of P. aeruginosa stand and strain and clinical isolates and affected biofilm forming capacity. Production of protease, elastase, siderophore, alginate, and rhamnolipid was also significantly reduced by CIP.

Interpretation & conclusions:

Reduction in virulence factors and biofilm formation was due to inhibition of QS mechanism which was indicated by reduced production of QS signal molecules by P. aeruginosa in presence of subinhibitory concentration of CIP.
Isolation & characterization of Brucella melitensis isolated from patients suspected for human brucellosis in India
Authors: Barua Anita , Kumar Ashu , Thavaselvam Duraipandian , Mangalgi Smita , Prakash Archana , Tiwari Sapana , Arora Sonia , Sathyaseelan Kannusamy
Published: August 2016

Background & objectives:

Brucellosis is endemic in the southern part of India. A combination of biochemical, serological and molecular methods is required for identification and biotyping of Brucella. The present study describes the isolation and biochemical, molecular characterization of Brucella melitensis from patients suspected for human brucellosis.

Methods:

The blood samples were collected from febrile patients suspected to have brucellosis. A total of 18 isolates were obtained from 102 blood samples subjected to culture. The characterization of these 18 isolates was done by growth on Brucella specific medium, biochemical reactions, CO2 requirement, H2S production, agglutination with A and M mono-specific antiserum, dye sensitivity to basic fuchsin and thionin. Further, molecular characterization of the isolates was done by amplification of B. melitensis species specific IS711 repetitive DNA fragment and 16S (rRNA) sequence analysis. PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of omp2 locus and IS711 gene was also done for molecular characterization.

Results:

All 102 suspected samples were subjected to bacteria isolation and of these, 18 isolates could be recovered on blood culture. The biochemical, PCR and PCR-RFLP and 16s rRNA sequencing revealed that all isolates were of B. melitensis and matched exactly with reference strain B. melitensis 16M.

Interpretation & conclusions:

The present study showed an overall isolation rate of 17.64 per cent for B. melitensis. There is a need to establish facilities for isolation and characterization of Brucella species for effective clinical management of the disease among patients as well as surveillance and control of infection in domestic animals. Further studies are needed from different geographical areas of the country with different level of endemicity to plan and execute control strategies against human brucellosis.
Resetting Human Naïve Pluripotency
Authors: Xiao Jifang , Mai Daniel H. , Xie Liangqi
Published: August 2016

The rodent naive pluripotent state is believed to represent the preimplantation inner cell mass state of the developing blastocyst and can derive self-renewing pluripotent embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in vitro. Nevertheless, human ESCs exhibit epigenetic, metabolic, and transcriptomic characteristics more akin to primed pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) derived from the postimplantation epiblast. Understanding the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that constrain human ESCs in the primed state is crucial for the human naive pluripotent state resetting and numerous applications in regenerative medicine. In this review, we begin by defining the naive and primed states in the murine model and compare the epigenetic characteristics of those states to the human PSCs. We also examine the various reprogramming schemes to derive the human naive pluripotent state. Finally, we discuss future perspectives of studying and deriving the human naive PSCs in the context of cellular engineering and regenerative medicine.
The Carathéodory Reflection Principle and Osgood–Carathéodory Theorem on Riemann Surfaces
Authors: Gauthier Paul M. , Sharifi Fatemeh
Published: July 2016

The Osgood–Carathéodory theorem asserts that conformal mappings between Jordan domains extend to homeomorphisms between their closures. For multiply-connected domains on Riemann surfaces, similar results can be reduced to the simply-connected case, but we find it simpler to deduce such results using a direct analogue of the Carathéodory reflection principle.
A Homological Property and Arens Regularity of Locally Compact Quantum Groups
Authors: Reza Ghanei Mohammad , Nasr-Isfahani Rasoul , Nemati Mehdi
Published: July 2016

We characterize two important notions of amenability and compactness of a locally compact quantum group G in terms of certain homological properties. For this, we show that G is character amenable if and only if it is both amenable and co-amenable. We ûnally apply our results to Arens regularity problems of the quantum group algebra L1(G). In particular, we improve an interesting result by Hu, Neufang, and Ruan.
Large gain in air quality compared to an alternative anthropogenic emissions scenario
Authors: Daskalakis Nikos , Tsigaridis Kostas , Myriokefalitakis Stelios , Fanourgakis George S. , Kanakidou Maria
Published: August 2016

Abstract. During the last 30 years, significant effort has been made to improve air quality through legislation for emissions reduction. Global three-dimensional chemistry-transport simulations of atmospheric composition over the past 3 decades have been performed to estimate what the air quality levels would have been under a scenario of stagnation of anthropogenic emissions per capita as in 1980, accounting for the population increase (BA1980) or using the standard practice of neglecting it (AE1980), and how they compare to the historical changes in air quality levels. The simulations are based on assimilated meteorology to account for the year-to-year observed climate variability and on different scenarios of anthropogenic emissions of pollutants. The ACCMIP historical emissions dataset is used as the starting point. Our sensitivity simulations provide clear indications that air quality legislation and technology developments have limited the rapid increase of air pollutants. The achieved reductions in concentrations of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, black carbon, and sulfate aerosols are found to be significant when comparing to both BA1980 and AE1980 simulations that neglect any measures applied for the protection of the environment. We also show the potentially large tropospheric air quality benefit from the development of cleaner technology used by the growing global population. These 30-year hindcast sensitivity simulations demonstrate that the actual benefit in air quality due to air pollution legislation and technological advances is higher than the gain calculated by a simple comparison against a constant anthropogenic emissions simulation, as is usually done. Our results also indicate that over China and India the beneficial technological advances for the air quality may have been masked by the explosive increase in local population and the disproportional increase in energy demand partially due to the globalization of the economy.
Evolution of the eastward shift in the quasi-stationary minimum of the
Antarctic total ozone column
Authors: Grytsai Asen , Milinevsky Gennadi , Klekociuk Andrew , Evtushevsky Oleksandr
Published: August 2016

Abstract. The quasi-stationary pattern of the Antarctic total ozone has changed during the last four decades, demonstrating an eastward shift in the zonal ozone minimum. In this work, the association between the longitudinal shift of the zonal ozone minimum and changes in meteorological fields in austral spring (September–November) for 1979–2014 is analyzed. Regressive, correlative and anomaly composite analyses are applied to reanalysis data. Patterns of the Southern Annular Mode and quasi-stationary zonal waves 1 and 3 in the meteorological fields show relationships with interannual variability in the longitude of the zonal ozone minimum. On decadal time scales, consistent longitudinal shifts of the zonal ozone minimum and zonal wave 3 pattern in the middle troposphere temperature at the southern mid-latitudes are shown. As known, Antarctic ozone depletion in spring is strongly projected on the Southern Annular Mode in summer and impacts tropospheric climate. The results of this study suggest that changes in zonal ozone asymmetry accompanying the ozone depletion could be associated with regional climate changes in the Southern Hemisphere in spring.
Controls on the distribution of cosmogenic 10Be across shore
platforms
Authors: Hurst Martin D. , Rood Dylan H. , Ellis Michael A.
Published: August 2016

Abstract. Quantifying rates of erosion on cliffed coasts across a range of timescales is vital for understanding the drivers and processes of coastal change and for assessing risks posed by future cliff retreat. Historical records cover at best the last 150 years; Cosmogenic radionuclides, such as 10Be could allow us to look further into past to assess coastal change at millenial timescales. CRNs accumulate in-situ near the Earth surface and have been used extensively to quantify erosion rates, burial dates and surface exposure ages in terrestrial landscapes over the last three decades. More recently, applications in rocky coast settings have quantified the timing of mass wasting events, determined long-term-averaged rates of cliff retreat and revealed the exposure history of shore platforms. In this contribution, we developed and explored a numerical model for the accumulation of 10Be on eroding shore platforms. In a series of numerical experiments, we investigated the influence of topographic and water shielding, dynamic platform erosion processes, the presence and variation in beach cover, and heterogeneous distribution of erosion on the distribution of 10Be across shore platforms. Results demonstrate that, taking into account relative sea level change and tides, the concentration of 10Be is sensitive to rates of cliff retreat. Factors such as topographic shielding and beach cover, act to reduce 10Be concentrations on the platform, and may result in overestimation of cliff retreat rates if not accounted for. The shape of the distribution of 10Be across a shore platform can potentially reveal whether cliff retreat rates are declining or accelerating through time. Measurement of 10Be in shore platforms has great potential to allow us to quantify long-term rates of cliff retreat and platform erosion.
Application of ground-penetrating radar technique to evaluate the waterfront location in hardened concrete
Authors: Rodríguez-Abad Isabel , Klysz Gilles , Martínez-Sala Rosa , Balayssac Jean Paul , Mené-Aparicio Jesús
Published: August 2016

Abstract. The long term performance of concrete structures is directly tied to two factors: concrete durability and strength. When assessing the durability of concrete structures, the study of the water penetration is paramount, because almost all reactions like corrosion, alkali-silica, sulfate, etc., which produce their deterioration, require the presence of water. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) has shown to be very sensitive to water variations. On this basis, the objective of this experimental study is, firstly, to analyze the correlation between the water penetration depth in concrete samples and the GPR wave parameters. To do this, the samples were immersed into water for different time intervals and the wave parameters were obtained from signals registered when the antenna was placed on the immersed surface of the samples. Secondly, a procedure has been developed to be able to determine, from those signals, the reliability in the detection and location of waterfront depths. The results have revealed that GPR may have an enormous potential in this field, because excellent agreements were found between the correlated variables. In addition, when comparing the waterfront depths calculated from GPR measurements and those visually registered after breaking the samples, we observed that they totally agreed when the waterfront was more than 4 cm depth.
Recent seismic activity at Cephalonia (Greece): a study through
candidate electromagnetic precursors in terms of non-linear
dynamics
Authors: Potirakis Stelios M. , Contoyiannis Yiannis , Melis Nikolaos S. , Kopanas John , Antonopoulos George , Balasis Georgios , Kontoes Charalampos , Nomicos Constantinos , Eftaxias Konstantinos
Published: August 2016

Abstract. The preparation process of two recent earthquakes (EQs) that occurred in Cephalonia (Kefalonia), Greece, ((38.22° N, 20.53° E), 26 January 2014, Mw = 6.0, depth  ∼  20 km) and ((38.25° N, 20.39° E), 3 February 2014, Mw = 5.9, depth  ∼  10 km), respectively, is studied in terms of the critical dynamics revealed in observables of the involved non-linear processes. Specifically, we show, by means of the method of critical fluctuations (MCF), that signatures of critical, as well as tricritical, dynamics were embedded in the fracture-induced electromagnetic emissions (EMEs) recorded by two stations in locations near the epicentres of these two EQs. It is worth noting that both the MHz EMEs recorded by the telemetric stations on the island of Cephalonia and the neighbouring island of Zante (Zakynthos) reached a simultaneously critical condition a few days before the occurrence of each earthquake. The critical characteristics embedded in the EME signals were further verified using the natural time (NT) method. Moreover, we show, in terms of the NT method, that the foreshock seismic activity also presented critical characteristics before each event. Importantly, the revealed critical process seems to be focused on the area corresponding to the western Cephalonia zone, following the seismotectonic and hazard zoning of the Ionian Islands area near Cephalonia.
A stable Faroe Bank Channel overflow 1995–2015
Authors: Hansen Bogi , Húsgarð Larsen Karin Margretha , Hátún Hjálmar , Østerhus Svein
Published: August 2016

Abstract. The Faroe Bank Channel is the deepest passage across the Greenland-Scotland Ridge (GSR), and through it, there is a continuous deep flow of cold and dense water passing from the Arctic Mediterranean into the North Atlantic and further to the rest of the World oceans. This FBC-overflow is part of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which has recently been suggested to have weakened. From November 1995 to May 2015, the FBC-overflow has been monitored by a continuous ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) mooring, which has been deployed in the middle of this narrow channel. Combined with regular hydrography cruises and several short-term mooring experiments, this allows us to construct time series of volume transport and to follow changes in the hydrographic properties and density of the FBC-overflow. The mean kinematic overflow, derived from the velocity field solely, was found to be (2.2 ± 0.2) Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3 s−1) with a slight, but not statistically significant, positive trend. The coldest part, and probably the bulk, of the FBC-overflow warmed by a bit more than 0.1 °C, especially after 2002. This warming was, however, accompanied by increasing salinities, which seem to have compensated for the temperature-induced density decrease. Thus, the FBC-overflow has remained stable in volume transport as well as density during the two decades from 1995 to 2015. This is consistent with reported observations from the other main overflow branch, the Denmark Strait overflow, and the three Atlantic inflow branches to the Arctic Mediterranean that feed the overflows. If the AMOC has weakened during the last two decades, it is not likely to have been due to its northernmost extension – the exchanges across the Greenland-Scotland Ridge.
Civic Sights: Theorizing Deliberative and Photographic Publicity in the Visual Public Sphere
Authors: Cram E. , Loehwing Melanie , Lucaites John Louis
Published: August 2016

Foundational theories of the public sphere prioritize civic speech while distrusting forms of visuality. As a corrective to this model of the public sphere, rhetorical theorists have recently emphasized visuality as a constitutive mode of contemporary public culture, but they nevertheless tend to prioritize the civic actor over the civic spectator. A productive alternative would begin to distinguish an emerging shift from “deliberative publicity” to “photographic publicity.” The bourgeois public sphere innovated verbal communicative practices that produced a specifically deliberative publicity, enabling one resolution to the core political problems of an earlier (feudal) era. Likewise, contemporary publics utilize emerging digital technologies to produce a specifically photographic publicity, allowing them to address fundamental limitations of the bourgeois public sphere. Photographic publicity helps us rethink the problem of the public sphere in terms of theatricality and civic spectatorship.
Metonymies of Mind: Ralph Waldo Emerson, William James, and the Rhetoric of Liberal Education
Authors: Meehan Sean Ross
Published: August 2016

Critics in both philosophy and literary studies have rightly emphasized a “poetics of transition” relating the thought of Ralph Waldo Emerson to that of William James. However, less attention has been given to the ways that Emerson's philosophy of rhetoric correlates with James's rhetorical perspectives on psychology and philosophy. Fundamentally rhetorical interests in the contiguous circumstances and contingent reception of thinking link James to Emerson beyond matters of poetics and style. This article correlates Emerson's understanding of a rhetoric of metonymy as the basis of thinking with the principle of contiguity crucial to James's philosophy of mind. This relation between rhetoric and philosophy reiterates a rhetoric of mind that both Emerson and James associate with the older liberal education of the college just at the point that this curriculum is displaced by the professional, specialized disciplines of the emerging university in late nineteenth-century America.
How Pure Should Justice Be? Reflections on G. A. Cohen's Rhetorical Rescue
Authors: Rondel David
Published: August 2016

In this article I argue for two closely related conclusions: one concerned more narrowly with the internal consistency of G. A. Cohen's theorizing about justice and the unique rhetoric in which it is couched, the other connected to a more sweeping set of recommendations about how theorizing on justice is most promisingly undertaken. First, drawing on a famous insight of G. E. Moore, I argue that although the (Platonic) purity of Cohenian justice provides Cohen a platform from which to put some extremely challenging criticisms to Rawls and Rawlsian liberals, at the same time it generates a sort of self-referential paradox for many of the theses about the concept of justice to which Cohen himself is committed. I go on to conclude, using Rawls's theory of justice as a model, that it would serve political philosophy well to conceive of justice with less purity than Cohen conceives of it.
VARIAÇÃO HORÁRIA E SAZONAL DA RADIAÇÃO SOLAR INCIDIDA E REFLETIDA E SUAS RELAÇÕES COM VARIÁVEIS MICROMETEOROLÓGICAS NO PANTANAL NORTE MATO-GROSSENSE
Authors: Novais Jonathan Willian Zangeski , Sanches Luciana , Machado Nadja Gomes , Silva Ludymilla Barboza da , Aquino Aryadne Márcia , Rodrigues Thiago Rangel
Published: August 2016

Este trabalho analisou a variação horária e sazonal da radiação global incidentee refletida pelo solo e albedo, em uma floresta com dominância de Vochysiadivergens Pohl no Pantanal Mato-Grossense em 2012. Essa área apresentoucaracterística particular, tendo diferenças no decorrer do ano, estando orasaturada de umidade apresentando lâmina de água, ora com serrapilheira.O maior albedo ocorreu em setembro, período de seca, apresentandovalor médio de 0,39. Esse valor contrasta com o valor médio do períododa cheia, 0,09. Foi aplicado o método de correlação de Spearman com ointuito de entender o grau de dependência entre as variáveis, encontrandoalta correlação positiva entre albedo e radiação global refletida, e correlaçãomoderada negativa entre o ângulo zenital e radiação global incidente sobreo solo. Foi encontrada correlação moderada negativa entre lâmina de água eradiação global refletida pelo solo e albedo.
LEISHMANIOSE VISCERAL E ASPECTOS SOCIOAMBIENTAIS: RELATOS SOBRE A DOENÇA EM ÁREA PERIURBANA DA REGIÃO METROPOLITANA DE NATAL (RN), BRASIL
Authors: Alves Maria de Lima , Azevedo Paulo Roberto Medeiros de , Ximenes Maria de Fátima Freire de Melo
Published: August 2016

Aspectos socioeconômicos, ambientais e culturais que caracterizam ascomunidades influenciam diretamente na saúde dos indivíduos. O objetivodo estudo consistiu em analisar o conhecimento dos indivíduos sobre osfatores associados aos riscos de transmissão da leishmaniose visceral nacomunidade Guanduba, município de São Gonçalo do Amarante (RN).A metodologia envolveu a aplicação de 111 questionários, com famíliasda comunidade, abordando aspectos socioeconômicos, epidemiológicos,sanitários e ambientais associados à transmissão da doença. Os resultadosrevelam que as características ambientais presentes na comunidadefavorecem a transmissão da leishmaniose visceral (LV), em que 21% dosparticipantes não possuem educação formal e 97% não sabem comose prevenir da doença. Portanto, o conhecimento que os indivíduos dacomunidade Guanduba possuem acerca da LV é insuficiente para suaprevenção. A necessidade de compreender como os sujeitos organizam suasvivências e saberes é imprescindível para o planejamento e a consolidaçãode ações de promoção da saúde humana e ambiental.
CAS-aided visualization in LATEX documents for mathematical education
Authors: Kaneko Masataka , Abe Takayuki , Fukazawa Kenji , Sekiguchi Masayoshi , Tadokoro Yuuki , Yamashita Satoshi , Takato Setsuo
Published: August 2016

We have been developing KETpic as a macro package of a CAS for drawing fine LATEX-pictures, and we use it efficiently in mathematical education. Printed materials for mathematics classes are prepared under several constraints, such as "without animation", "mass printings", "monochrome", and "without halftone shadings". Because of these constraints, visualization in mathematical education tends to be unsatisfactory. Taking full advantages of LATEX and CAS, KETpic enables us to provide teaching materials with figures which are effective for mathematical education. The effects are summarized as follows:
(1) The plottings of KETpic are accurate due to CAS, and enable students to deduce mathematical laws.
(2) KETpic can provide adequate pictures for students' various interest. For example, when some students who understand a matter try to modify it, KETpic can give them appropriate and experimental figures.
(3) Even though CAS can draw 3D-figures beautifully and automatically, it is expensive for mass printings and the figures are sometimes not easy to understand. Oppositely, 3D-graphics by KETpic are monochrome, but are richly expressive.
In this paper, we give various examples of LATEX-pictures which we drew by using KETpic. For instance, the picture which is used in order to explain the convergence theorem of Fourier series makes it easier for students to understand the idea that function series converge to another function. Also the picture of skeleton is endowed with clear perspective. KETpic gives us great potential for the teaching of combinatorial mathematics. Through these examples, we claim that KETpic should have great possibilities of rich mathematical expressions under the constraints above mentioned.
An idea which yields a lot of elementary inequalities
Authors: Szalay István
Published: August 2016

The aim of the article is to show how studies in higher mathematics can be applied in everyday teaching practice to construct new problems for their pupils. In higher mathematics it is known that the set of real numbers with the addition and multiplication (shortly: (R,+,x)) is an ordered field. Considering a strictly monotonic increasing and continuous function σ with domain ...
By this idea, using different kinds of functions σ we show a lot of different elementary inequalities.
A geometric application to the third-order recurrence relations for sequences
Authors: Agut Calin M. , Agut Ioana E.
Published: August 2016

Using a third-order linear homogeneous recurrence relation with constant coefficients, it is found a limit-point of a sequence of affixes in plane. Starting from a classic geometric problem, an application is so created and few more nice properties are found and described.
Facilitating class attendance to improve student achievements
Authors: Sun Ye , Chen Weifeng
Published: August 2016

Many studies have revealed that attendance is strongly associated with students' achievements, and have proposed different strategies to improve students' attendance. However, there are few studies investigating how to efficiently take students' attendance – the key component to improve students' attendance. Taking attendance manually is inefficient since it will consume part of the limited class time. This paper describes the design and the implementation of an online attendance system that is currently used in classes at West Virginia University and California University of Pennsylvania. Examples of the system are provided online. Implementation codes of the system are shared, which can be used to teach computer science courses such as Web Programming or Client-Server Script Languages.
The sum of the same powers of the first n positive integers and the Bernoulli numbers
Authors: Molnár István
Published: August 2016

The first part of this paper presents a method to calculate the sum of the same powers of the first n positive integers which is non-recursive and easy to express algorithmically. The application is demonstrated through several problems, for example by calculating the sum of arithmetic progression of degree p. The second part of the paper shows that the discussed procedure can also be used to calculate the Bernoulli numbers, and then, with the help of a known theorem, a link is established between the sum of the same powers of the first n positive integers and the Bernoulli numbers.
Teaching integral transforms in secondary schools
Authors: Király Sándor
Published: August 2016

Today, Hungarian students in the secondary schools do not know the idea of complex numbers, and they can not integrate except those ones who learn mathematics in advance level. Without this knowledge we can teach Fourier transform for students. Why should we teach Fourier transform (FT) or Wavelet transform (WT) for them? To teach image file formats like JPEG, (JPEG2000) we need to talk about integral transforms. For students who are good in computer programming, writing the program of 1D FT or 2D FT is a nice task. In this article we demonstrate how we can teach Fourier and Wavelet transform for students in secondary school.
A proposed application of Monte Carlo method in teaching probability
Authors: Kolková Mária , Pócsová Jana , Šveda Dušan
Published: August 2016

Pupils' misconception of probability often results from lack of experience. Combining the concept of probability and statistics, the proposed application is intended for the teachers of mathematics at an elementary school. By reformulating the task in the form of an adventure, pupils examine a mathematical problem, which is too difficult for them to solve by combinatorial method. By recommending the simulation of the problem, we have sought to provide pupils with valuable experience of experimenting, recording and evaluating data.
Classical theorems on hyperbolic triangles from a projective point of view
Authors: Szilasi Zoltán
Published: August 2016

Using the Cayley-Klein model of hyperbolic geometry and the tools of projective geometry, we present elementary proofs for the hyperbolic versions of some classical theorems on triangles. We show, in particular, that hyperbolic triangles have no Euler line.
Efficient language teaching software in a multimedia context
Authors: Nagy László T. , Stóka Ágnes
Published: August 2016

In this article I deal with the efficiency of multimedia teaching programs, analyzing possibilities for their improvement in the field of language teaching. This research has been carried out with the use of the latest technologies, language teaching software, internet based language teaching applications, digital dictionaries, online content, and the latest results from the field of computational linguistics. The goal of my research is to create a general model that serves and supports various kinds of approaches to improving efficiency; I cannot attempt to present a complete, detailed analytical review due to the complexity and size of this topic. However, my opinion is that by considering and understanding the theoretical aspects of the subject, and supported by certain important ideas, we will be able to achieve remarkable improvements in the field of learning efficiency and knowledge retention in the language teaching and learning process that might lead to outstanding results.
Katalin Juhász (1952-2012)
Authors: Editors The
Published: August 2016

Katalin Juhász was born in 1952, in Tarnaméra (Hungary), where she also completed her primary school studies. She finished Erzsébet Szilágyi Highschool, Eger, in 1971 and she graduated in mathematics from Lajos Kossuth University (KLTE), Debrecen, in 1976. That year she married a physicist and together they brought up their son.
Comparing the IT skills and the programming knowledge of Hungarian students specialized in informatics with Romanian students attending a science course or a mathematics-informatics course
Authors: Kiss Gábor
Published: August 2016

The goal of this research is an analysis of the IT skills and programming knowledge of Hungarian and Romanian students attending a Science course or a Mathematics-Informatics course. Analysed was how effectively can students from different grades answer questions dealing with different subjects. After having evaluated the test results correctness of the original presumption emerged. Significance level was 5% through the analysis. Significant divergency in knowledge of Hungarian students and Romanian students of Humanities (Profil Uman) was found in 11th and 12th grades too. Romanian students attending a science course (Profil Real) and a Mathematics-Informatics course scored higher in programming than their Hungarian counterparts specialized in Informatics in the 11th grade. After the evaluation a final conclusion can be made: Romanian students of the Real Profile have the same or more practice in programming than Hungarian students specialized in Informatics, though the latters have the same or better IT skills. Unfortunately, Hungarian teachers concentrate on word processing and spreadsheet calculation and teach programming just for the students specialized in Informatics, although algorithm thinking would be important for every student before finishing secondary school.
Motivating students with projects encompassing the whole duration of their studies
Authors: Pánovics János
Published: August 2016

Based on my ten years of teaching experience at the University of Debrecen, I can say that students majoring Software Information Technology BSc have to face a number of difficulties during their studies. I think these difficulties root from two main problems: students are unmotivated and cannot sense the coherence between the knowledge acquired in the various courses. This paper tries to give some alleviation to both of these problems by the idea of introducing some long-term projects to students, which they can work on throughout their studies, dealing with a particular aspect of the projects in each course.
Recalling calculus knowledge
Authors: Jukić Matić Ljerka
Published: August 2016

The main purpose of educational system is not only that the students perform well at the exam, but to remember the learnt material to some degree some time after the learning. This paper investigates students' retained knowledge, focusing mainly on topics concerning derivatives and differentiation, and examines the effect of re-learning in a short period of time. Results indicate that retained knowledge should be taken into consideration in instructional design and curriculum planning for the sequencing courses.
Key concepts in informatics
Authors: Gudenus László , Helfenbein Henrik , Zsakó László
Published: August 2016

"The system of key concepts contains the most important key concepts related to the development tasks of knowledge areas and their vertical hierarchy as well as the links of basic key concepts of different knowledge areas. When you try to identify the key concepts of a field of knowledge, you should ask the following questions: Which are the concepts that are the nodes of the concept net and can be related to many other concepts? Which are the concepts that necessarily keep re-appearing in different contexts when interpreting what you have learnt before? Which are the concepts that arrange specific facts in structures, which contribute to interpreting and apprehending new information and experience? Which are the concepts that – if you are unfamiliar with and unaware of – inhibits you in systematizing various items of knowledge or sensibly utilizing them?" [8] One of the most important of these concepts is the document.
Let's learn database programming in an active way
Authors: Vágner Anikó
Published: August 2016

This paper introduces how I applied the "learning by doing" method in the education of advanced knowledge of database systems in Software Engineering BSc program. The first goal of my method is to enable the students to use the PL/SQL and SQL as a skill, namely they get a practical competence which can be immediately used in business. In the laboratory the students independently practise the material learnt on the lecture. They get feedback for all their activities from the teacher. A software system helps administer the solutions, automatically verifies the syntax of them and helps the teacher to evaluate them. The paper summarises the results of three semesters. In the last year I compared the active learning method with the traditional method. I asked the students in a voluntary survey about the active learning method.
Report of conference XXXVIII. National Conference on Teaching Mathematics, Physics and Computer Sciences
Authors: Perjésiné Hámori Ildikó , Pethőné Vendel Terézia , Klincsik Mihály
Published: August 2016

The XXXVIII. National Conference on Teaching Mathematics, Physics and Computer Sciences (MAFIOK) was held in Pécs, Hungary between 25 and 27 August, 2014 at the Pollack Mihály Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology. It was organized by the Engineering Mathematics Department. The 65 participants – including 4 invited lecturers and 53 lecturers – came from 2 countries and represented 14 institutions of higher education.
A role of geometry in the frame of competencies attainment
Authors: Anić Ivan , Bokan Neda , Šukilović Tijana , Vukmirović Srdjan
Published: August 2016

We discuss aspects of the Education Reform from teaching to educational system. In this context we recognize some problems in recognition of some competencies that students need to achieve and we present how we have developed the measurement method of spatial abilities and problem solving competence. Especially, we investigate how students use spatial visualization abilities in solving various problems in other mathematical course. We have tested how students use their spatial abilities previously developed in geometry courses based on conceptual approach to solve a test based on procedural concept in Mathematical Analysis course.
The investigation of students' skills in the process of function concept creation
Authors: Szanyi Gyöngyi
Published: August 2016

Function is a basic concept of mathematics, in particular, mathematical analysis. After an analysis of the function concept development process, I propose a model of rule following and rule recognition skills development that combines features of the van Hiele levels and the levels of language about function [11]. Using this model I investigate students' rule following and rule recognition skills from the viewpoint of the preparation for the function concept of sixth grade students (12-13 years old) in the Ukrainian and Hungarian education system.
Application of a color education software to improve color aptitude
Authors: Perge Erika
Published: August 2016

The ability to handle colors smoothly and consciously may be vital to professionals in various fields, including engineers specializing in architecture or design. Education in sciences related to colors and a developed color aptitude are essential. In our experience, many secondary school graduates in Hungary exhibit inadequate competence and need to be trained in both fields by college instructors, thereby laying the foundations for their future professional work. In our paper, we introduce a computer-based method to teach color theory using a self-developed interactive educational software. We also demonstrate the results of a test measuring the efficiency of the software. Our method was shown to be capable of familiarizing students with the basic fields of visual computing, e.g. graphics and image processing.
Quantum Gravity as Higher Dimensional Perspective
Authors: Langley Rob
Published: July 2016

Although highly predictive in their respective macroscopic and microscopic domains of applicability, General Relativity and quantum mechanics are mathematically incompatible, perhaps most markedly in assumptions in their formalisms concerning the nature of space and time. In perspective we already have a conceptual structure that links the local, macroscopic frame and the remote, apparently microscopic frame. A mathematical principle is invoked as a natural limit on D(n), so that effects which are clearly perspectival at D=3 become ‘more real’ (effectively observer-independent) with each D(n) increment. For instance, the apparently microscopic becomes the effectively microscopic and scale extremes are juxtaposed, so that black holes are local, macroscopic vanishing-points, in a similar way to that in which in projective geometry the point at infinity is incorporated into the foreground.  (In other words, a black hole is a blown-up ‘Planck-scale’ singularity.) Characteristics of the earthbound frame are applied to D>3, suggesting a physical basis for entanglement, and perspectival interpretations of quantum gravity, dimensional reduction and the information paradox.  We claim that the familiar processes whereby multiple physical states become describable by a single state in which composition information appears to be lost (e.g., ‘falling into a black hole’, the state of quantum linearity, and the state of freefall) are all examples of effective convergence of a space or n-surface to a single point of perspective.
The Path of the Shortest Time
Authors: Asadi-Zeydabadi Masoud , Zaidins Clyde
Published: July 2016

The principal of least action is one of the fundamental ideas in physics. The path of the shortest time of a particle in the presence of gravity is an example of this principal. In this paper some methods are introduced to teach the optimal path in introductory physics courses. The optimal path (path of the shortest time) is calculated for a few families of paths. Finally a numerical method according to Snell’s law in a discrete medium is used to find the general optimal path and is compared with the brachistochrone path.
The Relationship between Smallholder Irrigation and Household Food Availability and Dietary Diversity in Greater Tzaneen Municipality of Limpopo Province, South Africa
Authors: Moyo Thinah , Machethe Charles L.
Published: July 2016

Irrigation farming has the potential to address household food security challenges in developing countries. This paper examines household food availability, consumption and dietary diversity for irrigating and non-irrigating households in Greater Tzaneen municipality of Limpopo Province of South Africa. The paper uses primary data collected from 180 households comprising of irrigation scheme irrigators, independent (non-scheme) irrigators, and non-irrigating households. Data analysis employed descriptive analysis and analysis of variance to compare food security components of the different types of households. Results provide sufficient evidence that smallholder irrigation farming contributes significantly to household food security through improved food availability and dietary diversity. However, since most households are net food buyers, it is essential to have policies that are formulated with an understanding that household food security is not only a function of the food that farming households produce for their own consumption but more so a function of total household income. The results inform agrarian reform debates on whether South Africa should continue investing in smallholder irrigation farming for improved household welfare. An integration of smallholder irrigation farming in strategies for growing the rural economy and contributing to improved livelihoods and poverty reduction is, therefore, recommended.
Rural Tourism Sustainable Management and Destination Marketing Efforts: Key Factors from Communities’ Perspective
Authors: Chin Chee-Hua , Lo May-Chiun , Ramayah T.
Published: July 2016

Rural tourism is seen as a potential sector in promoting country to the world and at the same time generates incomes to local communities. However, due to the lucrative economic benefits, tourism destination’s sustainability and quality of services is often being ignored. Thus, this study highlights the importance of sustainable management and destination marketing efforts in rural tourism destinations with identified significant contributively factors from local communities’ perspective. A total of 168 respondents comprising of local communities from Kampung Telaga Air and Kampung Semadang, Kuching, Sarawak took part voluntarily in this study. To assess the developed model, SmartPLS 2.0 (M3) is applied based on path modelling and bootstrapping. Interestingly, the findings revealed that local communities believed factors like climate change, carrying capacity of a destination, and environmental education are significantly affect both tourism destination sustainable management and destination marketing efforts. Furthermore, community support is also found to be important too for tourism destination marketing efforts. Surprisingly, community support was found no relations with destination sustainable management from local communities’ point of view. This study further discussed on the implications of the findings, limitations, and direction for future research.