bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Wenckebach Block due to Hyperkalemia: A Case Report
Authors: Sohoni Aparajita , Perez Berenice , Singh Amandeep
Published: January 2011

Hyperkalemia is a commonly encountered electrolyte abnormality that can significantly alter normal cardiac conduction. Potentially lethal dysrhythmias associated with hyperkalemia include complete heart block and Mobitz Type II second-degree AV block. We report a unique case of Mobitz Type 1 second-degree atrioventricular (AV) block, known commonly as Wenckebach, due to hyperkalemia. The patient's symptoms and electrocardiogram (ECG) evidence of Wenckebach block resolved with lowering of serum potassium levels, with subsequent ECG showing first-degree AV block. This paper highlights an infrequently reported dysrhythmia associated with hyperkalemia that emergency physicians should be familiar with.
A Stabilized Mixed Finite Element Method for Single‐Phase Compressible Flow
Authors: Zhang Liyun , Chen Zhangxin
Published: January 2011

We present and study a stabilized mixed finite element
method for single‐phase compressible flow through porous media. This
method is based on a pressure projection stabilization method for multiple‐dimensional incompressible flow problems by using the lowest equal‐order
pair for velocity and pressure (i.e., the P1 − P1 pair). An optimal error estimate in divergence norm for the velocity and suboptimal error estimates
in the L2‐norm for both velocity and pressure are obtained. Numerical
results are given in support of the developed theory.
Evaluation of Glycemic and Lipid Profile of Offspring of Diabetic Wistar Rats Treated withMalpighia emarginataJuice
Authors: Barbalho Sandra M. , Damasceno Débora C. , Spada Ana Paula Machado , Palhares Miréia , Martuchi Karla Aparecida , Oshiiwa Marie , Sazaki Viviane , Silva Vanessa Sellis da
Published: January 2011

Knowing that maternal diabetes is related to hyperglycemia and fetal hyperinsulinemia, which affect the lipid metabolism, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects ofMalpighia emarginata(acerola) juice on the glycemic and lipid profile of offspring of diabetic and nondiabetic Wistar rats. The adult offspring of non-diabetic dams and of dams with severe streptozotocin-induced diabetes were divided into groups: G1, offspring (of control dams) treated with water, G2, offspring (of diabetic dams) treated with water, G3, male offspring (of control dams) treated with acerola juice, and G4, male offspring (of diabetic dams) treated with acerola juice. The offspring of diabetic dams treated with acerola juice showed significantly decreased levels of glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, and increased HDL-c. The use of acerola juice is a potential strategy to aid in the prevention of DM and dyslipidemia and its complications or to act as an auxiliary in the treatment of these diseases.
Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion Model in Rodents: Methods and Potential Pitfalls
Authors: Liu Fudong , McCullough Louise D.
Published: January 2011

A variety of animal models have been developed for modeling ischemic stroke. The middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model has been utilized extensively, especially in rodents. While the MCAO model provides stroke researchers with an excellent platform to investigate the disease, controversial or even paradoxical results are occasionally seen in the literature utilizing this model. Various factors exert important effects on the outcome in this stroke model, including the age and sex of the animal examined. This paper discusses emerging information on the effects of age and sex on ischemic outcomes after MCAO, with an emphasis on mouse models of stroke.
Algorithms of Common Solutions to Generalized Mixed Equilibrium Problems and a System of Quasivariational Inclusions for Two Difference Nonlinear Operators in Banach Spaces
Authors: Onjai-uea Nawitcha , Kumam Poom
Published: January 2011

We consider a new iterative algorithm for finding a common element of the set of generalized mixed equilibrium problems, the set of solutions of a system of quasivariational inclusions for two difference inverse strongly accretive operators, and common set of fixed points for strict pseudo-contraction mappings in Banach spaces. Furthermore, strong convergence theorems of this method were established under suitable assumptions imposed on the algorithm parameters. The results obtained in this paper improve and extend some results in the literature.
Identification of Peroxiredoxin-1 as a Novel Biomarker of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
Authors: Martinez-Pinna Roxana , Ramos-Mozo Priscila , Madrigal-Matute Julio , Blanco-Colio Luis M. , Lopez Juan A. , Calvo Enrique , Camafeita Emilio , Lindholt Jes S. , Meilhac Olivier , Delbosc Sandrine , Michel Jean-Baptiste , de Ceniga Melina Vega , Egido Jesus , Martin-Ventura Jose L.
Published: January 2011

Objective—

In the search of novel biomarkers of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) progression, proteins released by intraluminal thrombus (ILT) were analyzed by a differential proteomic approach.

Methods and Results—

Different layers (luminal/abluminal) of the ILT of AAA were incubated, and the proteins released were analyzed by 2-dimensional difference in-gel electrophoresis. Several differentially expressed proteins involved in main AAA pathological mechanisms (proteolysis, oxidative stress, and thrombosis) were identified by mass spectrometry. Among the proteins identified, peroxiredoxin-1 (PRX-1) was more released by the luminal layer compared with the abluminal layer of the ILT, which was further validated by Western blot, ELISA, and immunohistochemistry. We demonstrated increased PRX-1 serum levels in AAA patients compared with healthy subjects and also positive correlation among PRX-1 and AAA diameter, plasmin-antiplasmin, and myeloperoxidase levels. Finally, a prospective study revealed a positive correlation between PRX-1 serum levels and AAA expansion rate. Moreover, the combination of PRX-1 and AAA size had significantly additive value in predicting growth.

Conclusion—

Several proteins associated with AAA pathogenesis have been identified by a proteomic approach in ILT-conditioned medium. Among them, PRX-1 serum levels are increased in AAA patients and correlate with AAA size and growth rate, suggesting the potential use of PRX-1 as a biomarker for AAA evolution.
Primary Monocytes Regulate Endothelial Cell Survival Through Secretion of Angiopoietin-1 and Activation of Endothelial Tie2
Authors: Schubert Shai Y. , Benarroch Alejandro , Monter-Solans Juan , Edelman Elazer R.
Published: January 2011

Objective—

Monocyte recruitment and interaction with the endothelium is imperative to vascular recovery. Tie2 plays a key role in endothelial health and vascular remodeling. We studied monocyte-mediated Tie2/angiopoietin signaling following interaction of primary monocytes with endothelial cells and its role in endothelial cell survival.

Methods and Results—

The direct interaction of primary monocytes with subconfluent endothelial cells resulted in transient secretion of angiopoietin-1 from monocytes and the activation of endothelial Tie2. This effect was abolished by preactivation of monocytes with tumor necrosis factor-α. Although primary monocytes contained high levels of both angiopoietin 1 and 2, endothelial cells contained primarily angiopoietin 2. Seeding of monocytes on serum-starved endothelial cells reduced caspase-3 activity by 46±5.1%, and 52±5.8% after tumor necrosis factor-α treatment and decreased detected single-stranded DNA levels by 41±4.2% and 40±3.5%, respectively. This protective effect of monocytes on endothelial cells was reversed by Tie2 silencing with specific short interfering RNA. The antiapoptotic effect of monocytes was further supported by the activation of cell survival signaling pathways involving phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, STAT3, and AKT.

Conclusion—

Monocytes and endothelial cells form a unique Tie2/angiopoietin-1 signaling system that affects endothelial cell survival and may play critical a role in vascular remodeling and homeostasis.
Leading and Trailing Anvil Clouds of West African Squall Lines
Authors: Cetrone Jasmine , Houze Robert A.
Published: January 2011

The anvil clouds of tropical squall-line systems over West Africa have been examined using cloud radar data and divided into those that appear ahead of the leading convective line and those on the trailing side of the system. The leading anvils are generally higher in altitude than the trailing anvil, likely because the hydrometeors in the leading anvil are directly connected to the convective updraft, while the trailing anvil generally extends out of the lower-topped stratiform precipitation region. When the anvils are subdivided into thick, medium, and thin portions, the thick leading anvil is seen to have systematically higher reflectivity than the thick trailing anvil, suggesting that the leading anvil contains numerous larger ice particles owing to its direct connection to the convective region. As the leading anvil ages and thins, it retains its top. The leading anvil appears to add hydrometeors at the highest altitudes, while the trailing anvil is able to moisten a deep layer of the atmosphere.
Turbulent Airflow at Young Sea States with Frequent Wave Breaking Events: Large-Eddy Simulation
Authors: Suzuki Nobuhiro , Hara Tetsu , Sullivan Peter P.
Published: January 2011

A neutrally stratified turbulent airflow over a very young sea surface at a high-wind condition was investigated using large-eddy simulations. In such a state, the dominant drag at the sea surface occurs over breaking waves, and the relationship between the dominant drag and local instantaneous surface wind is highly stochastic and anisotropic. To model such a relationship, a bottom boundary stress parameterization was proposed for the very young sea surface resolving individual breakers. This parameterization was compared to the commonly used parameterization for isotropic surfaces. Over both the young sea and isotropic surfaces, the main near-surface turbulence structure was wall-attached, large-scale, quasi-streamwise vortices. Over the young sea surface, these vortices were more intense, and the near-surface mean velocity gradient was smaller. This is because the isotropic surface weakens the swirling motions of the vortices by spanwise drag. In contrast, the young sea surface exerts little spanwise drag and develops more intense vortices, resulting in greater turbulence and mixing. The vigorous turbulence decreases the mean velocity gradient in the roughness sublayer below the logarithmic layer. Thus, the enhancement of the air–sea momentum flux (drag coefficient) due to breaking waves is caused not only by the streamwise form drag over individual breakers but also by the enhanced vortices. Furthermore, contrary to an assumption used in existing wave boundary layer models, the wave effect may extend as high as 10–20 times the breaking wave height.
The Development of Arctic Air Masses in Northwest Canada and Their Behavior in a Warming Climate
Authors: Turner Jessica K. , Gyakum John R.
Published: January 2011

Surface observations, soundings, and a thermodynamic budget are used to investigate the formation process of 93 arctic airmass events. The events involve very cold surface temperatures—an average of −42.8°C at Norman Wells, a centrally located station in the formation region—and cooling in the 1000–500-hPa layer. A multistage process for their formation in northwestern Canada is proposed. This process is contrary to the classical conceptualization of extremely shallow, surface formations.

In the first stage of formation, snow falls into a layer of unsaturated air in the lee of the Rocky Mountains, causing sublimational cooling and moistening the subcloud layer. Simultaneously, the midtroposphere is cooled by cloud-top radiation emissions. In the second stage, snowfall abates, the air column dries, and clear-sky surface radiational cooling predominates, augmented by the high emissivity of fresh snow cover. The surface temperature falls very rapidly, up to a maximum of 18°C day−1 in one event. In the final stage, after near-surface temperatures fall below the frost point, ice crystals and, nearer the surface, ice fog form. At the end of formation, there is cold-air damming, with a cold pool and anticyclone in the lee of the Rockies, lower pressure in the Gulf of Alaska, and an intense baroclinic zone oriented northwest to southeast along the mountains.

There have been secular changes in the characteristics of the arctic air masses over the period 1948–2008. The surface temperature during the events has become warmer, and the air masses are deeper and moister. The 1000-hPa diabatic cooling during events, which includes latent heat and radiative processes, has decreased by 2.2°C day−1.
Transnationalism in the Aftermath of the Haiti Earthquake: Reinforcing Ties and Second-Generation Identity
Authors: Lundy Garvey
Published: January 2011

This article examines, first, the response of the Haitian Diaspora to the earthquake of January 12, 2010. This research operates within the theoretical framework of transnationalism, and Haitians living outside their country of origin are shown to make use of political, economic, and communication ties to assist loved ones back home and to begin the process of rebuilding their nation. Transnational ties facilitated by corporate entities, the state, and individuals are viewed as essential elements in forging what is often referred to as long-distance nationalism. Second, the article investigates the impact of the earthquake on the identity of members of the second generation—a group susceptible to the vicissitudes of the public portrayal of Haiti in the popular media and the historical context of Haitian immigrant reception. Results indicate that Haitian identity among the second generation is resilient and, indeed, the earthquake did not diminish identification with Haiti but rather increased it.
Developing Collective Classroom Efficacy: The Teacher’s Role as Community Organizer
Authors: Putney LeAnn G. , Broughton Suzanne H.
Published: January 2011

Collective efficacy reveals how well group members relate to one another while working toward common goals. It also reveals group resilience and the willingness of group members to continue working through difficult situations. The purpose of this study is to explore collective efficacy at the classroom level, using Vygotsky’s view of individual and collective development to examine how it could be developed and facilitated by fifth-grade classroom participants. By examining collective efficacy in this way, the authors offer a sense of what teachers can do to promote collective classroom efficacy through their instructional practice. Results indicate that the sense of collective classroom efficacy developed by the fifth graders was initiated and nurtured by the teacher in the role of classroom community organizer.
Information for Decision Making by Patients With Early-Stage Prostate Cancer
Authors: Feldman-Stewart Deb , Capirci Carlo , Brennenstuhl Sarah , Tong Christine , Abacioglu Ufuk , Gawkowska-Suwinska Marzena , van Gils Francis , Heyda Alicja , Igdem Sefik , Macias Victor , Grillo Isabel Monteiro , Moynihan Clare , Pijls-Johannesma Madelon , Parker Chris , Pimentel Nuno , Wördehoff Herbert
Published: January 2011

Purpose: To describe decisional roles of patients with early-stage prostate cancer in 9 countries and to compare the information they rated important for decision making (DM). Method: A survey of recently treated patients was conducted in Canada, Italy, England, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Netherlands, Spain, and Turkey. Participants indicated their decisional role in their actual decision and the role they would prefer now. Each participant also rated (essential/desired/no opinion/avoid) the importance of obtaining answers, between diagnosis and treatment decision, to each of 92 questions. For each essential/desired question, participants specified all purposes for that information (to help them: understand/decide/plan/not sure/other). Results: A total of 659 patients participated with country-specific response rates between 58%-77%. Between 83%-96% of each country’s participants recalled actually taking an active decisional role and, in most countries, that increased slightly if they were to make the decision today; there were no significant differences among countries. There was a small reliable difference in the mean number of questions rated essential for DM across countries. More striking, however, was the wide variability within each country: no question was rated essential for DM by even 50% of its participants but almost every question was rated essential by some. Conclusions: Almost all participants from each country want to participate in their treatment decisions. Although there are country-specific differences in the amount of information required, wide variation within each country suggests that information that patients feel is essential or desired for DM should be addressed on an individual basis in all countries.
Development of Conical Soluble Phosphate Glass Fibers for Directional Tissue Growth
Authors: Alekseeva Tijna , Abou Neel Ensanya A , Knowles Jonathan C. , Brown Robert A.
Published: January 2011

One of the challenges of tissue engineering is the regulation of vascularization and innervations of the implant by the host. Here, we propose that using soluble phosphate glass (SPG) fibers, incorporated in dense collagen constructs will allow us to control the rate and direction of tissue ingrowth. The idea here was to generate channels with tailored direction using conical phosphate glass fibers. The changing surface area-to-mass ratio of conical fibers will make them to dissolve faster from their narrow ends opening up channels in that direction ahead of any ingrowing cells. In this study, we show that SPG fibers can be manipulated to produce conical shape fibers using graded dissolution. Our result shows that 40 µm fibers of composition ratio 0.5 (P2O5):0.25 (CaO):0.25 (Na2O) and dissolution time of 8–10 h have a mean reduction in fiber diameter of 8.85 ± 2.8 µm over 19.5 mm fiber length, i.e., a mean rate of 0.5 µm/mm ( n = 20) change. These conically shaped fibers can also be manipulated and potentially used to promote uniaxial cell–tissue ingrowth for improved innervations and vascularization of tissue engineered constructs.
The palaeoenvironmental study of the Alimini Piccolo lake enables a reconstruction of Holocene sea-level changes in southeast Italy
Authors: Primavera Milena , Simone Oronzo , Fiorentino Girolamo , Caldara Massimo
Published: January 2011

Based on multiproxy investigations of a 250 cm long sediment core (ALI1), a reconstruction of palaeoenvironmental dynamics for the Alimini Piccolo lake (south Adriatic coast of Apulia, Italy), is proposed. Our results indicate that shortly before 5500 cal. yr BP a marsh environment established. From 5400 cal. BP the marsh progressively became a lagoon and did not change until 3320 cal. BP, when Alimini Piccolo evolved into a shallow, sheltered, freshwater basin. Around 1400 cal. yr BP the basin became again a lagoon. Changes of the deposition environments and the chronological framework defined in the ALI1 sequence allowed speculation about local relative sea-level motions through the mid—late Holocene. Using proxy-data (molluscs, foraminifers, ostracods and plant macro-remains) as environment and bathymetry indicators, we reconstruct the elevation of the basin bottom (above or below sea level) through time. Plant macro-fossils have proved to be an especially reliable source of data for sea-level reconstruction. The resulting relative sea-level curve is characterised by a slow rise between 5500 and 3900 cal. yr BP, a drop culminating around 2500 cal. yr BP and a new, steeper rise continued to the present position. Our model differs from other curves (tectonically and isostatically corrected) proposed for a number of Mediterranean coastal sites where Holocene sea-level changes have been described with a continuously rising curve, steep before 7000—6000 yr BP, more gradual between 6000 yr BP and the present. On the other hand, our reconstruction seems to agree with evidence on sea-level position during the Roman age, found in several Apulian sites (Salento coastland) by means of geomorphological and archaeological investigations.
India’s Soft Power
Authors: Wagner Christian
Published: January 2011

India seems to qualify as a soft power by default with her democratic tradition, Mahatma Gandhi with his concept of non-violence and peaceful conflict mediation as national hero and Bollywood as a quasiglobal dream fabric. The high economic growth rates since the liberalisation in 1991 have increased India’s international attractiveness. India uses her soft power capacities mainly for image building rather than as an instrument to exert influence. India can therefore be qualified as a defensive soft power that puts a stronger emphasis on its capacities rather than the capabilities. In contrast to the United States (US), the European Union (EU) and China, Indian foreign policy makers do not perceive their own political model as an attraction for others. It is regarded as an asset that is promoted to increase India’s attractiveness for foreign investors. Using the soft power capacities as a strategy would also require a domestic debate how to strike a balance between national interests, on the one hand, and political norms and values, on the other hand.
India’s Look East Policy
Authors: Das Samir Kumar
Published: January 2011

This article seeks to find out how the new policy thinking, namely, the ‘Look East’ apparently intended to deliver India’s Northeast from its presently landlocked and peripheral status produces new geopolitical imaginaries that are not necessarily bound by the limits set forth by it. The article is more about the gaze that India’s ‘Look East’ casts particularly on the Northeast and how it constitutes and imagines into existence a space that extends beyond the region.

The new geopolitical imagination set off by the new policy thinking envisages a space that apparently refuses to be bound by the present geography of the Northeast as much as it promises to spread across the international borders to the countries of Southeast Asia through such frontline states as Myanmar and Bangladesh. I propose to call this imagined space—the extended Northeast—and argue that the way the space is imagined in official circles sets in motion many new imaginaries. The extended Northeast as being officially imagined now has therefore a mnemonic effect insofar as it offers a significant cue to the alternative modalities of imagining the Northeast.
Youth Worx
Authors: Hopkins Liza
Published: January 2011

The YouthWorx project is a recently established initiative in inner urban Melbourne that enables ‘at risk’ and marginalized young people to participate in community radio and in multimedia production. YouthWorx seeks to offer direct pathways from youth arts to skill-building, and to entice disaffected young people into more socially productive pathways, through the provision of high-quality media and multimedia training. Yet the effectiveness of media education in creating active participants in democratic society is difficult to assess. This article examines some of the broader thinking behind the linkage of youth, media, identity and citizenship, and considers the difficulties of implementing a workable evaluation of causal links between those disparate fields. It also reports on the findings of the media ethnography component of the initiative, as we track the first cohort of young people through the training program.
High-avidity cytotoxic T lymphocytes specific for a new PRAME-derived peptide can target leukemic and leukemic-precursor cells
Authors: Quintarelli Concetta , Dotti Gianpietro , Hasan Sayyeda T. , De Angelis Biagio , Hoyos Valentina , Errichiello Santa , Mims Martha , Luciano Luigia , Shafer Jessica , Leen Ann M. , Heslop Helen E. , Rooney Cliona M. , Pane Fabrizio , Brenner Malcolm K. , Savoldo Barbara
Published: January 2011

The cancer testis antigen (CTA) preferentially expressed antigen of melanoma (PRAME) is overexpressed by many hematologic malignancies, but is absent on normal tissues, including hematopoietic progenitor cells, and may therefore be an appropriate candidate for T cell–mediated immunotherapy. Because it is likely that an effective antitumor response will require high-avidity, PRAME-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), we attempted to generate such CTLs using professional and artificial antigen-presenting cells loaded with a peptide library spanning the entire PRAME protein and consisting of 125 synthetic pentadecapeptides overlapping by 11 amino acids. We successfully generated polyclonal, PRAME-specific CTL lines and elicited high-avidity CTLs, with a high proportion of cells recognizing a previously uninvestigated HLA-A*02–restricted epitope, P435-9mer (NLTHVLYPV). These PRAME-CTLs could be generated both from normal donors and from subjects with PRAME+ hematologic malignancies. The cytotoxic activity of our PRAME-specific CTLs was directed not only against leukemic blasts, but also against leukemic progenitor cells as assessed by colony-forming–inhibition assays, which have been implicated in leukemia relapse. These PRAME-directed CTLs did not affect normal hematopoietic progenitors, indicating that this approach may be of value for immunotherapy of PRAME+ hematologic malignancies.
GV-sheaves, Fourier-Mukai transform, and generic vanishing
Authors: Pareschi Giuseppe , Popa Mihnea
Published: January 2011

We prove a formal criterion for generic vanishing, in the sense originated by Green and Lazarsfeld and pursued further by Hacon, but in the context of an arbitrary Fourier-Mukai correspondence. For smooth projective varieties we apply this to deduce a Kodaira-type generic vanishing theorem for adjoint bundles associated to nef line bundles, and in fact a more general generic Nadel-type vanishing theorem for multiplier ideal sheaves. Still in the context of the Picard variety, the same method gives various other generic vanishing results, by reduction to standard vanishing theorems. We further use our criterion in order to address some examples related to generic vanishing on higher rank moduli spaces.
Subelliptic estimates for quadratic differential operators
Authors: Pravda-Starov Karel
Published: January 2011

We prove global subelliptic estimates for quadratic differential operators. Quadratic differential operators are operators defined in the Weyl quantization by complex-valued quadratic symbols. In a previous joint work with M. Hitrik, we pointed out the existence of a particular linear subvector space in the phase space intrinsically associated to their Weyl symbols, called singular space, which rules spectral properties of non-elliptic quadratic operators. The purpose of the present paper is to prove that quadratic operators whose singular spaces are reduced to zero, are subelliptic with a loss of "derivatives" depending directly on particular algebraic properties of the Hamilton maps of their Weyl symbols. More generally, when singular spaces are symplectic spaces, we prove that quadratic operators are subelliptic in any direction of the symplectic orthogonal complements of their singular spaces.
Referential CPs and DPs: An operator movement account
Authors: Haegeman Liliane , Ürögdi Barbara
Published: January 2011

The empirical focus of this paper is the syntax and semantics of embedded clauses, and in particular, finite object clauses that are weak islands for extraction and incompatible with main clause phenomena (MCP). Such CPs (which subsume factive complements) have been shown to have referential properties both distributionally and in terms of their semantics (de Cuba & Ürögdi, Eliminating factivity from syntax: Sentential complements in Hungarian, John Benjamins, 2009a). By analogy with proposals for the derivation of adverbial clauses (Haegeman, Main clause phenomena and intervention, Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, 2009a, English Language and Linguistics 13: 385– 408, b, The internal syntax of adverbial clauses, 2010), this paper develops a movement derivation for such referential embedded clauses. The paper updates a tradition of work on ‘reduced’ or ‘impoverished’ complement clauses and shows that their referential property can be made to follow from event relativization, which in turn accounts for the constraints on the syntax of their left periphery. Looking at the feature make-up of the operator enables us to make fine-grained predictions with respect to the availability of various MCP in these clauses. Pursuing insights due to Campbell (Studia Linguistica 50: 161–188, 1996), Aboh (The morphosyntax of complement-head sequences. Clause structure and word order patterns in Kwa, Oxford University Press, 2004: 84–90), it is proposed that both referential DPs and referential clauses (RCP) are derived by operator movement. The paper thus offers further evidence for the CP/DP parallelism.
„Streck dich nicht mit einer Verheirateten zum Weingelage hin“ (Sir 9,9a) Edition von P.Vindob. K. 9670
Authors: Förster Hans
Published: January 2011

In this article, a parchment preserving a fragment of a Coptic homily is published. The fragment presents an interesting account of the temptation of a man by his business partner's wife. The scene is modelled on the story of the temptation of Joseph by Potiphar's wife. She is alone at home when he arrives. She offers him food and wine. During the meal she gets drunk and wants to sleep with her husband's business partner. The man rejects her proposition. The story describes her wish to sleep with him, which arose under the influence of alcohol, as a temptation under the influence of the devil. However, the story has a curious twist. Both the woman and the man argue in favour of their respective behaviours. The woman says that she wants to conceive a child with this man as she has been married for a long time and still has not conceived a child. Thus, the topic of childlessness and its tragedy in the ancient world is introduced. Curiously, the man, who does not want to commit adultery with the woman, does not argue that adulterous behaviour would be immoral. Instead, he states that he has signed an agreement with the husband in the sanctuary of the archangel Gabriel and that this makes it impossible for him to do as the woman wishes. He fears for his life should he behave in this way, since it would break the contract. This superstition of a divine punishment for breaking an oath is also known from other homilies, as well as from the oaths contained in numerous contracts which include the punishment of “Ananias and Sapphira”. Thus, the contract between him and his business partner seems to be more than a normal contract of a simple business transaction, such as the sale of property, since it also includes adulterous behaviour. She tries to draw him to herself. In the ensuing struggle the woman is struck by the man and falls dead to the ground. A prayer to the archangel Gabriel, who is asked to remedy somehow this precarious situation, and the promise never to touch wine again if the angel graciously helps, concludes what remains of the story on the parchment. Thus, this homily is either a homily glorifying the archangel Gabriel or a homily in honour of this honest man.
Der frühchristliche Märtyrer und der stoische Weise. Eine topologische Untersuchung
Authors: Trelenberg Jörg
Published: January 2011

Early Christian martyrology presents its protagonists almost uniformly as heroic figures: They hold on to their beliefs, they neglect physical pain and they are not afraid of death. Thus a Christian martyr stays calm and tempered even if subjected to severe distress and masters every situation with dignity. Another idealized character is the stoic sage. Similarly, he keeps his “stoic” countenance: he will not accept alterations of his emotional status and instead welcomes whichever fate he meets, since in his view following and accomplishing one's divine destiny outranks saving one's own life. The attribution of similar qualities and character traits to the vir sapiens of stoic philosophy on the one hand and to the martyr of the Christian church on the other, as seen in many literary representations, inevitably raises the question of (literary) interdependence. The answer to this question has to be multifaceted: Early Christian martyrology includes examples of direct influence of Stoicism (a), of indirect adoption of motifs taken over from Stoicism via Jewish martyr literature (b) or via philosophical syncretism in the Roman Principate (c); in addition to these, one has to assume the possibility of independent creation (d).
Alium sub meo nomine: Augustine between His Own Self-Fashioning and His Later Reception
Authors: Pollmann Karla
Published: January 2011

Wie andere Autoren vor und nach ihm war Augustinus von Hippo sich sehr bewusst, wie unterschiedlich seine Person und sein Werk von anderen rezipiert werden könnten. Daher versuchte er, sowohl die Rezeption seines Lebens, durch das Verfassen seiner Confessiones, als auch die Rezeption seiner Werke, durch das Abfassen der Retractationes, zu kontrollieren. Dieser Aufsatz analysiert die verschiedenen Methoden, mit denen Augustinus besonders Letzteres zu erreichen versuchte. In einem zweiten Teil demonstriert dieser Aufsatz dann an zwei Einzelfällen (Beda Venerabilis und Johannes Scotus Eriugena), inwieweit dieses Ansinnen Augustins tatsächlich erfolgreich war.
Serious Games – zwischen Anwendungssoftware und Videospiel (?)
Authors: Müller Cornelius
Published: January 2011

Der folgende Artikel erörtert die These, dass mögliche Handlungsfelder der Mensch-Computer-Interaktion im Entwicklungsprozess von Serious Games auch daraus resultieren, dass in dieser Art Videospiel die Grenzen von Anwendungssoftware und Videospiel verschwimmen.
Wissenschaftskommunikation und Social Media: Grenzaufbruch und Vertrauensmerkmale
Authors: Schmirmund Jan
Published: January 2011

Der vorliegende Beitrag befasst sich mit dem, durch Social Media induzierten, Aufbruch der Grenzen zwischen interner und externer Wissenschaftskommunikation und beschreibt die Kontextualisierung von Social Media Formaten in die Wissenschaftskommunikation durch Setzen von Vertrauensmerkmalen. Der Beitrag kommt zu dem Schluss, dass durch vermehrten Einsatz von Social Media, bisher klare Grenzen zwischen interner und externer Wissenschaftskommunikation verschwimmen und aufgrund fehlender Formalisierungen von in Social Media veröffentlichten Beiträgen, ein Problem der Kontextualisierung in den Bereich seriöser Wissenschaft auftritt. Es ist zu beobachten, dass diesem Problem durch das Setzen von Vertrauen erzeugenden Merkmalen entgegengewirkt wird.
Spectroscopic Studies on the Interaction of Synthetic Food Colorants with Bovine Serum Albumin
Authors: Liu Bao-Sheng , Wang Jing , Xue Chun-Li , Yang Chao , Lü Yun-Kai
Published: January 2011

The conjugation between bovine serum albumin (BSA) and three synthetic food colorants like tartrazine (TTZ), sunset yellow (SY) and erythrosine (ETS) was investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy in tris-HCl buffer solution of pH 7.40. The results indicated that TTZ, SY and ETS could form non-covalent compounds with BSA, which led to the static quenching of endogenous fluorescence of BSA. The binding ability followed the pattern: ETS > TTZ > SY. The values of Hill's coefficients were slightly more than 1 in all systems. Thermodynamic parameters indicated that hydrogen bond and Van der Waals played a major role in the binding of synthetic food colorants to BSA; besides, the competitive experiments suggested that the primary binding site for three synthetic food colorants was located at site I in sub-domain II A of BSA. According to Förster's non-radiative energy transfer theory, the binding distances (r) between synthetic food colorants and BSA were much smaller than 7ߙnm. Meanwhile, synthetic food colorants reduced the binding constants between ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (CPFX) and BSA, leading to the change of medicinal efficacy.
Effect of agro-ecosystem components on the population dynamics of European brown hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas)
Authors: Tarnawa Ákos , Klupács H. , Jolánkai M.
Published: January 2011

Most Hungarian ecosystems are agro-ecosystems dominated by crops. In these agroecosystems small game has a secondary, but nevertheless very important role. On the one hand, the wild fauna figures are an indicator of the sustainability of a system. On the other hand, game management and hunting are traditional activities. Hunting can be regarded as a special kind of agriculture and small game management takes place on agricultural land, so more should be known about the connection between ecosystem components, such as climatic factors, crops and small game populations, for example that of hare. Data on the land use in Hungary were collected between 1960 and 2006. The area and yield of 30 field crops and various meteorological parameters were examined, as well as hare populations. The results suggest that in general the magnitude of crop areas had a stronger effect than the yield, while weather parameters had the weakest impact on the hare population.
Integration of molecular genomic data into the Martonvásár breeding information system
Authors: Kuti C. , Láng L. , Gulyás G. , Karsai I. , Mészáros K. , Vida G. , Bedő Z.
Published: January 2011

In recent years an information system has been elaborated and constantly improved in Martonvásár, making it possible to handle the 3–4 million identification, observation, measurement, pedigree and other data generated for a total of almost 100,000 experimental plots each year. The extremely rapid development of biotechnology has made breeders interested in integrating molecular breeding methods into the conventional phenotype-pedigree system. The aim is to improve the competitiveness of breeding programmes through the intensive use of this new technology, with particular emphasis on determining how marker-assisted selection can be utilised. The present paper outlines not only a new data structure introduced to accommodate the new data elements of data categories such as gene sources, primer bank, primer combinations, markers, genes and alleles, but also data management tools and a standalone software interface to combine both molecular and phenotypic data. The integration of the molecular genomic data (GENETECH) with the information from the existing databases: pedigree (PEDIGREE), gene bank (GENEBANK) and germplasm exchange (GERMPEXCHG), ensures that biotechnological data generated at no little cost can be harnessed in ways that are important for breeders in decision-making. This is achieved through: (i) identification and centralization in uniform sources of the molecular data, and their matching with specific phenotypes, with special regard to those of importance for marker-assisted selection, (ii) integration and compliance with existing information system data, (iii) facilitation of decision-making based on the above (e.g. grouping of selection/crossing partners).
Effect of high temperature and drought on the composition of gluten proteins in Martonvásár wheat varieties
Authors: Balla K. , Rakszegi M. , Bencze S. , Karsai I. , Veisz O.
Published: January 2011

Finding and improving wheat cultivars with good adaptability to abiotic stress is an important objective in breeding programmes. An experiment was set up in the climate chamber of the Martonvásár phytotron to test the effect of heat and drought stress on two winter wheat varieties and one variety of durum. Wheat plants exposed to 35°C and drought during grain filling exhibited altered agronomic and grain quality characteristics. Drought was found to have a much greater influence on yield and quality than heat stress. Reductions in the unextractable polymeric protein fraction and the glutenin-to-gliadin ratio indicated poorer grain yield quality as a result of drought, despite higher protein content. Quality deterioration was observed after drought, while heat stress had no noticeable influence on the protein quality of the three wheat genotypes, measured using size exclusion high performance liquid chromatography (SE-HPLC). The durum variety had a better ratio of protein components and a significantly higher Zeleny value when exposed to heat stress, although it had the lowest grain yield and grain/straw ratio.The most significant negative correlation was observed between the Zeleny value and the unextractable polymeric protein (UPP%) fraction after heat treatment and between the relative protein content and the albumin+globulin % (AG%) in the case of drought. These correlations testify that these parameters play an important role in determining the baking quality of wheat flour.
Effect of farmyard manure and mineral fertiliser on the growth of maize (Zea mays L.) in a long-term experiment II. Using the hunt-parsons program for plant growth analysis
Authors: Micskei G. , Jócsák I. , Berzsenyi Z.
Published: January 2011

In a long-term continuous maize experiment set up in 1959, the functional method of growth analysis was applied to investigate the effect of various levels of farmyard manure and mineral fertilisation on the growth of maize (Zea mays L.) and on the dynamics of the growth parameters over a 3-year period (2005–2007). The experiment involved two nutrient levels (based on the active agent equivalence principle): Level l: the NPK equivalent of 35 t ha−1 farmyard manure (FYM), applied in the form of FYM, FYM + mineral fertiliser or mineral fertiliser; Level 2: the NPK equivalent of 70 t ha−1 farmyard manure (FYM), applied in the form of FYM, FYM + mineral fertiliser or mineral fertiliser. The computerised growth analysis program elaborated by Hunt and Parsons (1974) was used to describe the effect of FYM and mineral fertiliser and to evaluate the results. This program fits functions to calculate the absolute growth rate (AGR), the relative growth rate (RGR), the net assimilation rate (NAR) and the leaf area ratio (LAR).The Hunt-Parsons program fitted a third-degree function to the dynamics of total dry matter production and second- or third-degree functions to that of the leaf area growth. The highest mean values of AGR were obtained in treatments with the higher level of mineral fertiliser alone or mineral fertiliser + FYM when the weather was favourable (2.05–2.31 g plant−1 day−1), and in treatments with the lower quantity of mineral fertiliser alone or mineral fertiliser + FYM in the case of dry weather (1.73–1.74 g plant−1 day−1). In 2005 and 2006 the absolute growth rate gave a good characterisation of the various fertiliser effects, which exhibited high values with significant differences, while in 2007 lower AGR values were obtained and no fertiliser effects were observed. In the dry year (2007) the maximum values of NAR and LAR were higher in all the treatments than in the wetter years (except at the lower rate of mineral fertiliser alone). In the case of NAR, the results obtained with the functional method of growth analysis, based on function fitting, were easier to interpret than those obtained using the classical method.It was concluded from the results that in long-term experiments the use of the functional method of growth analysis gave a more precise evaluation of the effects of fertiliser treatments and the year on the growth of maize in the vegetative growth stage and on the mean and maximum values of growth parameters.
Determination of incompatibility (S) genotypes of sweet cherries in the Hungarian gene-bank by a PCR-based method
Authors: Békefi Z. , Vaughan S. , Tobutt K.
Published: January 2011

The sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) gene-bank collection in Hungary comprises mainly local cultivars. The incompatibility (S) genotypes of 48 accessions from the central region of Hungary were investigated by PCR amplification of the intron regions of the SRNase and SFB genes responsible for compatibility relationships in sweet cherry. The Sgenotypes of 38 accessions were completely determined; they showed various pairs of nine alleles and could be assigned to 15 of the existing incompatibility groups or, in the case of three accessions having the novel genotype S6S13, to the new incompatibility group XLII. For 10 accessions only one S-allele could be identified, as a single S-RNase product was generated and the intron region of the SFB gene of the second allele could not be amplified.
Effect of cadmium-contaminated soils on dry matter yield and mineral composition of raya (Brassica juncea) and spinach (Spinacia oleracea)
Authors: Sidhu V. , Khurana M.
Published: January 2011

Raya (Brassica juncea) and spinach (Spinacia oleracea), grown as leafy vegetables, are known to accumulate large amounts of heavy metals in their shoots and roots because of their high biomass and root proliferation. In a pot experiment, a sandy loam soil was polluted with cadmium (Cd) at rates of 0, 5, 10, 20, 40 and 80 mg kg−1soil to assess the accumulation pattern and its effect on the dry matter yield and mineral composition of these vegetables. There was a decrease in dry matter yield due to the phytotoxic effect of Cd. The rate of Cd application at which a significant decline in root and shoot dry matter yield occurred varied depending on the vegetable. It was 20 mg Cd kg−1soil in the shoots for both crops. However, the roots of raya were found to be more tolerant of Cd toxicity than those of spinach, as is evident from the fact that a significant decline in dry matter yield occurred at 20 and 10 mg Cd kg−1soil, respectively. Since no visual toxic symptoms were observed on the leaves of raya in any of the treatments, it is clear that the metal may accumulate in this vegetable without visual evidence of its presence. However, at application levels beyond 40 mg kg−1soil, toxicity symptoms, in the form of interveinal chlorosis of the leaf lamina followed by necrosis and leaf rolling, were clearly evident in the case of spinach. The reduction in root and shoot growth corresponded with the amounts of extractable Cd in the soils. The total content of Cd in the crops increased gradually as the rate of applied Cd rose and the roots accumulated much higher amounts than the shoots. The relationship of Cd with Zn and Fe was synergistic in both roots and shoots at the lower rates, but antagonistic at higher Cd application rates for both the crops, while in the case of Mn and Cu, the relationship was negative and antagonistic.