bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Application of mathematical models of system uncertainty to evaluate the utility of assay calibration protocols
Authors: Ramamohan Varun , Abbott Jim , Klee George G. , Yih Yuehwern
Published: June 2012

Background: Laboratory protocols used to calibrate commercial clinical chemistry systems affect test result quality. Mathematical models of system uncertainty can be developed using performance parameters provided by the manufacturer for various subsystems. These models can be used to evaluate protocols for specific laboratory operations.

Methods: A mathematical model was developed to estimate the uncertainty inherent in the Roche Diagnostics P-Modular system, and included uncertainties associated with the sample and reagent pipettes, spectrometer and the calibration process. The model was then used to evaluate various alternate calibration protocols: calibration based on mean of replicate measurements (n=1–6) and calibration based on conditional acceptance when the following quality control specimen was within one standard deviation of target. The effect of calibrator concentrations on assay measurement uncertainty was also studied, and calibrator concentrations that minimize uncertainty at a specific concentration were identified.

Results: The simulation model produced uncertainty estimates of 3.5% for the serum cholesterol assay and identified sample pipette (40%) and spectrometer (21%) as the largest contributors to measurement uncertainty. Each additional replicate calibrator measurements result in diminishing reductions in measurement uncertainty, with maximum reductions (19%) achieved with five replicate measurements. The conditional acceptance of calibration only when the control was within 1s resulted in an 18% reduction.

Conclusions: The model can be used to evaluate the utility of laboratory protocols and establish realistic assay performance targets. The model also can help instrument manufacturers and laboratorians identify major contributors to assay measurement uncertainty, which helps improve performance in future assay systems.
The evolution of risk factors for respiratory syncytial virus-related hospitalisation in infants born at 32–35 weeks’ gestational age: time-based analysis using data from the FLIP-2 study
Authors: Carbonell Xavier , Fullarton John R. , Gooch Katherine L. , Figueras-Aloy Jose
Published: June 2012

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine whether the risk for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-related hospitalisation changes through the first year of life in infants of 32–35 weeks’ gestational age (wGA).

Methods: Risk factors from the FLIP-2 study (190 cases/4566 age-matched controls) were included in a Cox regression analysis wherein time slices were taken at 1-month intervals from birth.

Results: Half of all RSV hospitalisations occurred in the first 68 days after birth, with 56% occurring within 90 days. The time taken for 50% of hospitalisations to occur was 148 days for those born outside the RSV season and 58 days for those born within the season. By 90 days old, 84% of infants born in the season and 20% of those born outside the season were hospitalised. In both groups, hospitalisations occurred ≥5 months after birth. Male sex, smoking whilst pregnant, month of birth, duration of breastfeeding, number of siblings at school, and number of smokers in household all contributed to the risk of RSV hospitalisation beyond the age of 90 days.

Conclusions: The risk of RSV hospitalisation appears to persist to at least 5–6 months old in 32–35 wGA infants, which has implications for the optimal management of disease prevention.
Carboxyhemoglobin levels in umbilical cord blood of women with pre-eclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction
Authors: Yusuf Kamran , Kamaluddeen Majeeda , Wilson R. Douglas , Akierman Albert
Published: June 2012

Objective: Pre-eclampsia (PE) and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) are associated with abnormal placentation. Heme oxygenase (HO) and carbon monoxide (CO) are involved in normal placental development and function and vasomotor control in the placenta. The objective of our study was to measure CO levels, as assessed by carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) levels in the umbilical cord arterial blood of women with PE, normotensive IUGR (<10th percentile for birth weight), and normotensive pregnancies with appropriate-for-gestational age (AGA) infants.

Design and methods: We prospectively analyzed COHb levels in the umbilical arterial blood of women with PE, normotensive IUGR, and normotensive AGA pregnancies. Exclusion criteria included cigarette smoke exposure, hemolytic disorders, a positive direct anti-globulin test, chronic hypertension, fever, and any significant medical illness. COHb levels were measured using the ABL 725 blood gas analyzer.

Results: There were 41 women in the normotensive AGA group, 42 in the PE group, and 36 in the normotensive IUGR group. Maternal age, mode of delivery, gravidity, parity, and gender of the infants were similar in the three groups. Gestational age and birth weight were significantly higher in the normotensive AGA group compared with the other two groups. COHb levels were significantly lower in the PE group compared with the normotensive AGA group (0.38±0.06% vs. 0.77±0.11%, P<0.05). COHb levels, although lower in the normotensive IUGR group compared with the normotensive AGA group, did not reach statistical significance.

Conclusion: Our data suggests the HO-CO system may have a role in the pathogenesis of PE. We also, for the first time, provide information on umbilical arterial COHb levels in normotensive IUGR pregnancies.
Der Fuß auf dem Hochseil
Authors: Schmidt Sandra
Published: June 2012

Das rechte Setzen des Fußes ist für den klassischen Hochseilartisten eine Frage des Überlebens. Fraglich ist, weshalb dieses rechte Setzen der Füße Zuschauer, Akteure, Kunst und Literatur fasziniert. Historische Belege und literarische Aufnahmen des Motivs finden sich von mittelalterlichen Messen und frühneuzeitlichen Festen bis hin zu Zirkusbeschreibungen des 18. und Stadtjubiläen des 20. Jhs, von Goethe bis zu Paul Auster. Aktuell nimmt der französische Artist und Autor Philippe Petit eine Sonderstellung ein. Die mögliche Zuordnung der Praxis zu einem Genre sowie Momente, die Faszination oder Ablehnung derselben hervorrufen können, werden in einem ersten Versuch beschrieben.
Japan: The Body and its Feet
Authors: Ackermann Peter
Published: June 2012

This paper aims to gain a deeper understanding of the cultural values attributed to feet in Japan and to find out what we can learn through close observation not only of feet in particular but of the relationship between feet and the body, and, by extension, between parts and a whole. Japanese language materials on the foot both in book form as well as on the internet are discussed, providing insights particularly into questions of training and healing. This first level of approach is expanded in an account of a field study, looking at Buddhist temples and shrines of deities people turn to when they need to focus on the feet.
Der bedeckte und der entblößte Fuß. Das Voranschreiten über die Erde und durch die Zeiten
Authors: Sorgo Gabriele
Published: June 2012

Dieser Beitrag untersucht die Symbolik des nackten Fußes und der Schuhe im europäischen Raum in der Mythologie, im Kult, in der Magie und in der Kunst von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Der Fuß und seine Bedeckung, so zeigen Metaphern und Praktiken, standen in den Mythologien oft in Zusammenhang mit der Bewegung der Sonne. In diesem Themenkreis verwurzelt ist außerdem der Fortgang des Lebens, der auf die Fruchtbarkeit der Erde und der Menschen angewiesen ist, daher die sexuelle Symbolik der Füße und Schuhe.
Der Fuß des Dionysos – eine „griechische Frage“
Authors: Schlesier Renate
Published: June 2012

The article focuses on a cultic hymn to Dionysos, transmitted in no. 36 of Plutarch’s Greek Questions. I read this unique testimony, as others have done, mainly against the background of Pausanias’ Description of Greece, books 5 und 6. But my results differ from former treatments and are especially the following: 1) Plutarch’s assertion that “the women of Elis” sing the hymn to Dionysos is to be understood literally; as in Pausanias, the women of Elis are not identical with the Elean college of the Sixteen Women. 2) The topographical reference in the hymn (“temple by the sea”) has to be taken seriously; the conjecture “temple of the Eleans” is not justified. 3) The women of Elis invoke Dionysos to make his epiphany as hero among them “with ox-foot”, and not “with bull-foot”; the invocation “noble bull”, at the end of the hymn, points to a cultic restitution of the god and has sexual implications.
Fuß-Karrieren. Der Schuh von Baudelaire bis Warhol
Authors: Capeloa Gil Isabel
Published: June 2012

Der Artikel setzt sich mit den Schuhen als grundlegende Merkmale einer fetischistischen Auffassung der Moderne. Angesichts des Werks Charles Baudelaires,der Dichter den literarischen Fetischismus zum Merkmal der diskursiven „Erfindung der Moderne“ machte, wird nun gezeigt wie die Schuh-Karriere in seiner Dichtung ein repräsentatives Beispiel der fetischistischen Rhetorik im Herzen der Selbstbezeichnung der modernen Kultur ist.  Diese periphäre Objekte der menschlichen Kulturexistenz haben eine priviligierte Rolle für die Heraufstellung der Individualität errungen, so dass sie zur annankastischen Gebilde des Kulturprozesses geworden sind.
Der Fuß als Maßstab
Authors: Zirfas Jörg
Published: June 2012

Der Fuß ist maßtechnisch betrachtet ein seltsames Körperteil. Er gewinnt seine Bedeutung als Rechenmaschine als komplementäres Gegenstück zur Hand und seine Bedeutung als Längenmaß als dividierte Elle. In der Moderne büßt er dann seine rechnerische Maßgeblichkeit fast durch den Meter ein. Wenn er noch als Maßstab fungiert, so teilt er sich in den maßgeblichen numerologischen und arithmetischen Realitäten seine Bedeutung mit anderen Körperteilen oder Maßeinheiten. Doch fiktiv spielt der Fuß in einigen Maßzusammenhängen zwar eine unscheinbare, aber doch interessante Rolle. Denn immerhin fliegt fast die gesamte Menschheit zurzeit mit den Füßen.
Total beta activity, 137Cs and 90Sr in surface air in northern Finland in 1963
Authors: Salminen-Paatero Susanna , Paatero J.
Published: June 2012

Air filter samples collected at Sodankylä (67º22´ N, 26º39´ E) were analyzed to determine concentrations of 137Cs and 90Sr in surface air in northern Finland in 1963. Previously, activity concentrations of Pu isotopes have been determined from the same filters. Activity concentrations of 137Cs and 90Sr in surface air were <50 μBq/m3–13800 ± 2700 μBq/m3 and <10 μBq/m3–5340 ± 290 μBq/m3, respectively. Air concentrations of 137Cs and 90Sr varied seasonally with a maximum in spring due to the springtime enhanced transportation of air masses with radioactive aerosols from the stratosphere to the troposphere. Activity ratios 90Sr/239+240Pu and 90Sr/137Cs were 6.9 ± 0.8–75 ± 5 and 0.08 ± 0.03–1.46 ± 0.51, respectively. The median value for the 90Sr/137Cs ratio (0.508) indicates contamination from global nuclear test fallout. An air mass back trajectory analysis suggests that no direct transport of radioactivity from the Novaya Zemlya test site to northern Finland occurred in 1963.
Application of the k0method in neutron activation analysis and in prompt gamma activation analysis
Authors: Révay Zs. , Kennedy G.
Published: June 2012

The k0method is a highly successful standardization method developed for Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA), later also introduced in Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis (PGAA). After the careful calibration of the irradiation and counting facilities, the k0method makes the use of elemental standards unnecessary. Masses of the components are determined relative to the flux monitor, or, in the case of PGAA, to other known components of the sample. The development of the method is summarized in this review together with the description of methods implemented at different laboratories. The activities carried out in the laboratories of the authors are described as examples for the successful implementation of the k0approach to activation analysis.
Characterization of high active waste (155 GWd/Te) arising from fast reactor fuel reprocessing
Authors: Venkatesan K. A. , Kumaresan R. , Antony M. P. , Kumar T. , Srinivasan T. G. , Vasudeva Rao P. R.
Published: June 2012

A typical high active waste (HAW) arising from reprocessing of the nuclear fuel –(U0.3Pu0.7)C irradiated to the burn-up of 155 GWd/Te in a Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) was characterized by various analytical techniques. The target element was separated from other interferences or pre-concentrated by a suitable technique such as solvent extraction, chromatographic methods etc. The results obtained from various techniques are compared. The implications of the estimated composition in handling, treatment and disposal of HAW are discussed.
Polish mieć and the semantic map of interpretive deontics
Authors: Holvoet Axel
Published: June 2012

The notion of interpretive deontics, based on that of interpretive use as defined by Sperber and Wilson (1986), was introduced in Holvoet and Konickaja (2011). The present article builds further on the results presented there. Starting out from the interpretive deontic uses of the Polish modal verb mieć and establishing their connection with other uses of this verb, the author attempts to give a more complete picture of conceptual relations in the domain of deontic modality than was available until now. The investigation is based on the semantic map method.
Bewerten in reaktiven Sprachhandlungen: Zur argumentativen Funktion von Evaluativa in tschechischen Parlamentsdebatten
Authors: Woldt Claudia
Published: June 2012

The article analyses the correlation of argumentation schemes, evaluation and normes of meta-communicative communication in parliamentary debates. On the basis of selected discussions of the Czech Poslanecká sněmovna is to develop a typology of meta-communicative normes. Speakers refer on these normes in trying to comment (to criticize) the opinion of political opponents with the objective to persuade the (non present) voting public. In addition to discourse-specific institutional rules there are normes of argumentation to play a decisive role in persuasion of the addressee(s). Furthermore speakers refer to rules of social behaviour, such as asking for correct comportment (listening, let the speaker finish etc.).
Auf dem Weg zur nationalen Idylle der Tschechen: František Ladislav Čelakovský und seine „Selanky“
Authors: Ibler Reinhard
Published: June 2012

F. L. Čelakovský was one of the major poets of early Czech National Revival (národní obrození). He became famous for his books of adaptions of Russian and Czech folk poetry, „Ohlas písní ruských“ (1829; Echoes of Russian Songs) and „Ohlas písní èeských“ (1839; Echoes of Czech Songs). Less known are his „Selanky“ (Idylls), a group of poems that were written and partially published in the 1820s. As will be shown the texts as a whole represent the transition from traditional idyllic genre (following Geßner) to the modernized type of a national idyll which, on its part, was one of the main impulses for the general ,idyllization‘ of Czech culture in the further development of obrození.
Unsichtbarer Kulturtransfer: M. Ju. Lermontovs „Maskarad“ (1835) englisch (1973)
Authors: Schultze Brigitte
Published: June 2012

M. Ju. Lermontov’s dramatic works, having been underestimated for a long time anyway, especially in the English speaking countries, are standing in the shadow of the prose writing and poetry. Even relevant bibliographies and encyclopediae do not offer an English translation of the canonic, 1835, version of „Maskarad“. For a number of years already, the „Theatre Communication Group“ in New York has been announcing a translation. Hardly noticed by academic research, in 1973 the journal Russian Literature Triquarterly (which has ceased publication in the meantime) published a prose translation of „Maskarad“ done by Roger W. Phillips. This – considering the specific conditions of the language pair Russian-English – rather precise tranlation envisages readers of the text, it could, however, easily be adapted for theatrical use. The hermeneutic gain of comparative translation analysis is considerable, it even calls the attention to certain deficiencies in research. One can only hope contributions to the Lermontov jubilee (2014) will take up further questions concerning Lermontov’s person and works, i.e. questions which have been neglected so far.
Buchbesprechungen
Authors: Jachnow Helmut
Published: June 2012

Bott, Marie-Luise, Mittelalterforschung oder moderne Philologie? Romanistik, Anglistik, Slavistik 1867–1918, in: Tenorth, H.-M. (Hrsg.), Geschichte der Universität unter den Linden (GUL) 1810–2010, Berlin 2010, Bd. 4, 339-392.

Dieselbe, Von der Kulturkunde zum „Kriegseinsatz“? Parallelentwicklungen und Divergenzen der Berliner Neuphilologien 1920–1945, in: GUL, Berlin 2010, Bd. 5, 495–520.

Dieselbe, Die Haltung der Berliner Universität im Nationalsozialismus. Max Vasmers Rückschau 1948. Berlin 2009 (202 S.).

Dieselbe, Zentralstaatlich gelenkte Erneuerung der Philologie in der DDR: Anglistik, Romanistik und Slavistik an der Humboldt-Universität, in: GUL, Berlin 2010, Bd. 6, 461–508.
Buchbesprechung
Authors: Kośny Witold
Published: June 2012

Fischer, Christine; Steltner, Ulrich, Polnische Dramen in Deutschland. Übersetzungen und Aufführungen als deutsch-deutsche Rezeptionsgeschichte 1945–1995. Köln; Weimar; Wien: Böhlau Verlag, 2011. 297 S. (Bausteine zur slavischen Philologie und Kulturgeschichte, NF. Reihe A: Slavistische Forschungen; 71) ISBN 978-3-412-20669-7
Identity and Genre inGamelan Gong Kebyar:An Analytical Study ofGabor
Authors: Roeder John , Tenzer Michael
Published: June 2012

Gabor is a piece for Balinese gamelan gong kebyar that deploys concurrent textural layers moving at different speeds, organized around a slow melody measured by recurring patterns of gong strokes. The melody, drumming, gong patterns, layer figuration, and tempo vary throughout the work, creating not only sectional articulations but also moments that Balinese find deeply expressive. Specialized ethnomusicological studies that analyze music such as this aim to link emic perception and terminology to those of outsiders. But by prioritizing the views of “others,” such analysis rarely achieves the depth and particularity toward which theorists strive in their unselfconscious, value-invested approaches to individual Western works.

This essay is a collaboration between an ethnomusicologist and a music theorist in search of ways to achieve richer analyses of non-Western music. We first address methodological issues that pertain to Gabor: what its essential features are, how they can be appropriately represented, and what theories those representations entail. The ontology of a Balinese “composition” is negotiable at multiple levels that bear crucially on what insider and outsider analyses deem structurally essential. We begin our study by comparing insider and outsider transcriptions, candidly assessing the possibilities and paradoxes they present. We then apply cross-cultural listening strategies, involving basic perceptions of tempo, interval repetition, and pitch focus, correlating our findings with insider perspectives. By integrating these and other analytical observations, we obtain a specific and broadly accessible appreciation of Gabor and of the possibilities of its kebyar style.
The performance of gender as reflected in American evidence rules
Authors: Ainsworth Janet
Published: June 2012

The rules of evidence govern the admissibility of evidence in trials and determine the scope of meaning to be accorded to that evidence. This paper examines two American evidence rules and suggests that both rules incorporate ‘masculine’ norms of language usage. The evidence rule defining adoptive admissions provides that, when a person is confronted with an accusation of wrong-doing and fails to assertively deny it, the allegation is deemed to be admitted through silence. This rule presumes that one’s natural reaction upon an accusation would invariably be an explicit denial, such that silence can be fairly taken as a confession. Thus, this rule privileges assertive and confrontational modes of speech—all coded as ‘masculine’—and ignores the ways in which power asymmetries impact responses to accusation. Likewise, the evidence rule construing apology as an admission of fault denigrates expressions of emotional solidarity—coded as ‘feminine’—in favor of a presumption that penalizes those who say ‘sorry’ by presuming it means ‘I’m sorry I did something wrong’ rather than ‘I’m sorry that something bad has happened to you.’ Evidence rules such as these both channel and constrain the legal interpretation of language in ways that sustain gendered hierarchies of legal power.
Prosodic imitation in classroom interaction
Authors: Tainio Liisa
Published: June 2012

This article presents an analysis of how Finnish teenagers use prosodic imitation in their classroom interaction. The data consists of video recordings (14 lessons) of naturally occurring classroom interaction in junior secondary schools (students aged 13-15). The study is conducted by applying conversation analysis (CA). The prosodic imitation I explore involves the turns-at-talk that orient prosodically to the preceding turns in terms of, for example, intonation, pitch, volume, rhythm, or voice quality (Szczepek Reed 2008). When imitating, the participants usually also recycle some of the verbal elements (words or a syntactic construction) in their source turns. I argue that while prosodic imitation is in many respects a gendered practice, in addition to earlier studies that report boys silencing girls by imitating them (Gordon et al. 1999, Palmu 2003), I show that students use prosodic imitation to various interactional purposes. It is suggested that the prevalent function of prosodic imitation is to express alignment with the preceding turn/speaker, and the students, especially the girls, make most use of this imitation in the negotiations concerning institutional and gender asymmetries. Prosodic imitation is thereby one means for students to playfully deconstruct the institutionally organized interactional setting, and hence one of the instruments they use to empower themselves in interaction.
The ‘placenta’ of the nation
Authors: Ellece Sibonile Edith
Published: June 2012

This paper explores the construction of motherhood in Tswana marriage ceremonies, especially in Patlo or marriage negotiations. The data used comprise a chant known as Rutu (from the repeated use of the lexical item) from a wedding in Kopong in southern Botswana, and interviews of participants in the weddings studied as part of a larger project on marriage discourses (Ellece 2007). The paper uses Critical Discourse Analysis as an overarching framework. At the micro-level, the paper combines content analysis of narratives of motherhood and lexical choices in the ‘Rutu’ chant. It also examines the re-contextualization of the discourses articulated in this ceremony by the interviewees. The main argument of the paper is that, in Botswana, motherhood is constructed as a compulsory and indispensable aspect of feminine identity, crucial for success in marriage.
Top‐down control of epifauna by fishes enhances seagrass production
Authors: Lewis Levi S. , Anderson Todd W.
Published: June 2012

Predators can influence the structure and function of ecosystems by altering the composition or behavior of herbivore communities. Overexploitation of predators, therefore, may lead to habitat loss by altering important top‐down interactions that facilitate habitat‐forming species. In seagrass beds, top‐down control of algal growth by mesograzers appears to facilitate seagrass production. The indirect consequences of higher‐order trophic interactions, however, remain unclear. Although predators may limit the beneficial effects of algal mesograzers, it is also possible that they limit the abundance of invertebrates that consume and foul seagrasses. We used experimental enclosure and exclosure cages to explore the direct and indirect effects of microcarnivorous fishes on epifaunal invertebrates, epiphytic loads, and seagrass growth in a natural eelgrass (Zostera marina) bed in San Diego Bay, California, USA. Contrary to expectations, when fishes were excluded, invertebrate abundance increased by 300–1000%, fouling on eelgrass leaves increased by 600%, and eelgrass production declined by 50%. Despite high densities of predators in enclosures, subsequent effects did not differ from ambient conditions. When predators were excluded, however, abundances of epifauna (including tube‐building crustaceans and an eelgrass‐grazing limpet) increased dramatically, resulting in reduced seagrass production. Our results are supported by several studies of eelgrass communities in the northeastern Pacific, characterized by coastal upwelling, inverse estuaries, and a voracious seagrass‐consuming limpet. These strong, positive, indirect effects of microcarnivores on seagrass production contrast with the beneficial mesograzer paradigm, highlighting the need for hypotheses to be tested across a variety of ecosystems with varying biophysical characteristics.
A comprehensive index to assess the sustainability of water and sanitation management systems
Authors: Iribarnegaray M. A. , Copa F. R. , Gatto D'Andrea M. L. , Arredondo M. F. , Cabral J. D. , Correa J. J. , Liberal V. I. , Seghezzo L.
Published: June 2012

A comprehensive sustainability index for the assessment of water and sanitation management systems (WSMS) is presented. The index was based on a conceptual framework that perceives sustainability as a combination of territorial, temporal, and personal aspects. A set of sustainability indicators was selected in agreement within this framework, and the ‘Water and Sanitation Sustainability Index’ (WASSI) was built. The WASSI was used to assess the sustainability of the WSMS of the city of Salta, Argentina. Indicators were calculated from information gathered by several means including literature reviews, questionnaires, visits, and participatory workshops. The index was sensitive to detect variations between different aspects of the local WSMS. It was also relatively independent to the quantity and quality of the information available. The WASSI could be a useful tool to assess and improve sustainability of water and sanitation throughout the management systems.
Removal of cyanobacteria by slow sand filtration for drinking water
Authors: Pereira Silvano Porto , Martins Fabiana de Cerqueira , Gomes Lenora Nunes Ludolf , Sales Manoel do Vale , De Pádua Valter Lúcio
Published: June 2012

Potential problems arising from the presence of cyanobacteria in water intended for human consumption have been reported by several researchers. Regarding water treatment plants, intact cells of cyanobacteria should be removed to avoid the release of cyanotoxins due to cell lysis. Water treatment techniques with different degrees of complexity can be employed but, whenever possible, the method of easiest installation, operation and maintenance should be selected, especially for non-industrialized countries and rural communities. In this context, research was carried out to evaluate the efficiency of slow sand filtration to treat water from Gavião reservoir in the city of Pacatuba, Ceara, Brazil, which has exhibited phytoplankton density of approximately 105 cells/mL with a prevalence of cyanobacteria representing over 90% of total cells. The results have demonstrated that slow sand filtration can be used to achieve water purification that meets federal standards. However, it was established that filtration through beds of gravel (prefilter) before the slow sand filtration is essential. The removal of phytoplankton reached values of approximately 97% and the filter run duration was more than 70 days. Furthermore, the slow sand filter was very efficient in removing total coliforms, with removal of up to 99.98%.
Water meanings, sanitation practices and hygiene behaviours in the cultural mirror: a perspective from Nigeria
Authors: Akpabio Emmanuel M.
Published: June 2012

This paper focuses on water meanings, sanitation practices and hygiene behaviours from a cultural perspective in southern Nigeria. Attention was directed on how cultural understanding of water influences sanitation practices as well as the challenges such a relationship poses on public health and sanitation programmes in rural Nigeria. A wide range of meanings, beliefs, values and taboos surrounded local notions and ideas of water and sanitation which were noted to determine available responsive practices and norms. Socio-economic characteristics, physical location and cultural factors were used in explaining the degrees, scale and impact of observed practices and norms across space and time. The paper argues that it will make more practical sense if water and sanitation problems are addressed within the cultural foundation, to understand the realities of local circumstances of beliefs and values, than applying the logic of pure science. This is very important in designing interventions to reduce risks in deeply cultural communities.
A practical course on filter assessment for water treatment plant operators
Authors: van Staden S. J. , Haarhoff J.
Published: June 2012

Training of treatment plant operators in South Africa faces particular problems. First, the political changes in the past decade have led to a complete restructuring of local government. An integral part of the ongoing restructuring process is an aggressive programme for black economic empowerment. This brought many new faces into local government without the practical experience to which the water industry is accustomed, coupled with a massive displacement of technical skills from the sector. From 1989, the number of civil engineering professionals (engineers, technologists, technicians) has dwindled from 22/100,000 of the population to 3/100,000 of the population in 2007. Second, the Water Services Act (1997) of South Africa shifted the burden of water supply squarely onto the shoulders of district and local municipalities. The dilution of skills, coupled with increasing responsibility, makes it clear that the water sector in South Africa will have to train itself out of this predicament. As a result, the quality and focus of training programmes, especially at the operator level, is receiving renewed attention. This paper shares the experience of the development and refinement of a training course for filter assessment for operators over the past eight years.
European Union support for sanitation in sub-Saharan Africa: aid flows and effectiveness
Authors: Cotton A. , Valfrey-Visser B. , van Maanen P. , Scott R.
Published: June 2012

Within sub-Saharan Africa, 569 million people, amounting to 69% of the population, do not use improved sanitation. This study presents an overview of European Union (EU) donor support to sanitation in sub-Saharan Africa and proposes a method for investigating the effectiveness of national sanitation programmes through linking aid flows to sanitation outcomes in terms of trends in open defecation; this can be used to locate the relative performance of different countries. The work addresses key concerns of the African Ministers' Council on Water and the European donors around the need to increase support to sanitation. Results show that EU donors are the major source of external finance for sanitation in sub-Saharan Africa. Case studies from Mozambique, Uganda and Burkina Faso show that the majority of national planned expenditure on sanitation comes from donor sources, with EU donors being the substantive contributors. National policies on subsidy for sanitation and expenditure allocations vary extremely widely and do not necessarily align with sanitation outcomes. EU member states' donor policies on sanitation are consistent and well-aligned with those of the African Union; this is a major achievement for Europe and Africa. Inadequate national monitoring of sanitation expenditure remains a constraint to determining programme effectiveness.
Socialization of Turkish Children's Emotions: Do Different Emotions Elicit Different Responses?
Authors: Corapci Feyza , Aksan Nazan , Yagmurlu Bilge
Published: June 2012

This study addressed mothers' specific responses to children's expressions of sadness and anger. The first goal was to determine whether children's sadness and anger expressions elicited different maternal responses. The role of maternal education and child gender was also examined in sadness and anger socialization. Finally, the relations of sadness and anger socialization responses to children's adjustment were examined and the moderating role of children's emotionality in this relation was explored. Data on emotion socialization were obtained from 140 Turkish mothers of preschoolers based on their responses to hypothetical vignettes. Results showed that mothers were more likely to encourage the expression of sadness compared to anger. More educated mothers were less likely to punish and minimize their children's sadness but reported higher distress responses than less educated mothers. Sadness and anger socialization did not differ by child gender. Finally, low levels of emotional support to child anger were related to aggressive behaviors, but only among children with high emotional dysregulation.
Choreographies of Emotion: Sociological Stories behind Bedtime, Fairy Tales and Children's Books
Authors: Costa Rosalina Pisco
Published: June 2012

This article casts a sociological gaze on the ordinary and seemingly unimportant daily moment of bedtime, and the bedtime practices involving parents and children. As modern-day parents often accuse themselves of being ‘under pressure’ and having ‘time scarcity’ when trying to balance work and family demands, children's bedtime is more and more perceived as a family ritual that stops the accelerated pace of everyday life and allows for the parent–child relationship construction and enhancement. Drawing on both middle-class men's and women's accounts collected through qualitative episodic interviews, this article explores bedtime practices between parents and small children as arenas of emotion socialization. Findings suggest that children's bedtime tends to be valued as an expression of child centrality in contemporary family; nonetheless, the circumstances surrounding this moment as a ‘time for emotion’ are quite different and socially constructed vis-à-vis parents' participation in the labour market, gender dynamics and family configuration. These data unveil the ways in which children's bedtime is indexical of those shifting family forms and the multiple contexts within which they are embedded, and at the same time they call for a deeper dialogue between psychology and sociology when trying to understand those choreographies of emotion.

‘But the Emperor has nothing on at all!’, said a little child.

(Hans Christian Andersen, The Emperor's New Clothes, 1837)
Parents' Beliefs about Emotions and Children's Self-Construals in African American, European American, and Lumbee American Indian Families
Authors: Her PA , Dunsmore Julie C. , Stelter Rebecca L.
Published: June 2012

The authors investigated interrelations among parents' emotion-related beliefs and discourse and children's independent and interdependent self-construals within three ethnic groups in the United States. One hundred and thirteen nine to 10-year-old African American (AA), European American (EA), and Lumbee American Indian (LA) parent–child dyads participated. Parents self-reported beliefs about the value and danger of emotions. Dyads played a game involving discussion of family memories. Conversations were coded for emotion-related terms and for language use related to independence/interdependence. Children's self-descriptions were coded for independence and interdependence. A strength of the study was the use of both between-group and within-group analyses. LA children used more interdependent language than did AA or EA children. For all children, parents' belief that emotions can be dangerous was associated with less emphasis on both independence and interdependence in self-construals. For LA children, parents' stronger belief that negative emotions are valuable and greater use of negative emotion terms was associated with children's language use suggesting greater independence and less interdependence. Results suggest the importance of cultural context in emotion socialization processes.
A Case for Using Indigenous Children's Literature for Emotion Socialization in Schools
Authors: McNeil Barbara
Published: June 2012

Building on the work of developmental theorists, this article argues that school is a significant cultural site for emotion socialization and that the use of cultural texts such as children's picture books can play an important role in helping young children to identify and express emotions, and learn about their relational context. The author takes the perspective that teaching and learning about emotions are never neutral; they are complex, dialectical and are freighted by history, relations of power and influenced by factors such as race, class, gender, and language. As a way of countering social devaluation, exclusion and omission, the article makes a case for using children's texts that feature the cultural and family contexts of indigenous groups such as the Métis of Canada. It shows how culturally relevant and developmentally appropriate picture books that are rich with emotion-related themes and vocabulary can be used in schools to teach about the cultural and family contexts of emotion socialization.
Hiring Recent University Graduates into Internal Audit Positions: Insights from Practicing Internal Auditors
Authors: Clune Richard R. , Gramling Audrey A.
Published: June 2012

We survey practicing internal auditors on whether their organizations hire recent university graduates as entry-level internal audit staff and, if they do, what factors are important in their hiring decisions. Approximately 58 percent of the 273 respondents hire, or plan to hire, recent graduates into their internal audit functions. Important factors in the hiring decision include internal audit coursework, internship experience, demonstrated communication and leadership skills, an accounting degree, and a high GPA. The 42 percent of respondents that do not hire recent graduates indicated that the primary reason was a need for auditors with prior audit experience.
Rhetoric and reality of daily life in English care homes: the role of organised activities
Authors: Eyers Ingrid , Arber Sara , Luff Rebekah , Young Emma , Ellmers Theresa
Published: June 2012

In divergent ways, both government policy and care home practices influence the everyday life of older people living in English care homes. The rhetoric of choice for care home residents may be in conflict with the reality of government policy-driven service delivery. The aim of the article is to examine the role of organised activities in facilitating choice and active ageing among care home residents. Findings from a study of ten care homes in South East England exemplify the conflict between government policy rhetoric and the reality of care home life. The indication is that the formality of the ’’activities of daily living’’ support procedures restricts residents’ involvement in the organised social activities.Within the general provision of services, the organised ’’social activities’’ offered failed to meet the interest, cognitive and physical abilities of residents. The reality of ’’choice’’ is therefore questionable. Policy needs to support a transformation in the delivery of care to ensure it addresses the actual needs and expectations of older people experiencing care home life.
The fight-to-die: older people and death activism
Authors: Richards Naomi
Published: June 2012

This article explores the activities and convictions of older right-to-die activists who belong to a small but very active interest group based in Scotland, UK, called Friends at the End (FATE). The analysis presented here is based on knowledge gained through seventeen months of ethnographic research with the organisation. While FATE activists currently campaign for a legal right to a medically assisted death, many are also open to taking matters into their own hands, either by travelling to the Swiss organisation Dignitas or by opting for what is known as ’’self-deliverance’’. FATE members’ openness to different means of securing a hastened death contrasts sharply with the more limited demands of the UK’s main right-to-die organisation, Dignity in Dying, and highlights their specific orientation to freedom, which, it is argued here, results from the organisation’s older demographic.
Aagje Swinnen and John A. Stotesbury (eds.) (2012). Aging, Performance and Stardom: Doing Age on the Stage of Consumerist Culture. Berlin: LIT Verlag, 208 pp. ISBN 978 3 6439 0176 7 (paperback)
Authors: Lövgren Karin
Published: June 2012

Not Available.
Fourth Order Diffusion Equations with Increasing Entropy
Authors: Tehseen Naghmana , Broadbridge Philip
Published: June 2012

The general quasi-linear autonomous fourth order diffusion equation ut = −[G(u)uxxx + h(u, ux, uxx)]x with positive variable diffusivity G(u) and lower-order flux component h is considered on the real line. A direct algorithm produces a general class of equations for which the Shannon entropy density obeys a reaction-diffusion equation with a positive irreducible source term. Such equations may have any positive twice-differentiable diffusivity function G(u). The forms of such equations are the indicators of more general conservation equations whose entropy equation may be expressed in an alternative reaction-diffusion form whose source term, although reducible, is positive.
Exact Solutions in Modified Gravity Models
Authors: Makarenko Andrey N. , Obukhov Valery V.
Published: June 2012

We review the exact solutions in modified gravity. It is one of the main problems of mathematical physics for the gravity theory. One can obtain an exact solution if the field equations reduce to a system of ordinary differential equations. In this paper we consider a number of exact solutions obtained by the method of separation of variables. Some applications to Cosmology and BH entropy are briefly mentioned.
On Space-Time Resolution of Inflow Representations for Wind Turbine Loads Analysis
Authors: Sim Chungwook , Basu Sukanta , Manuel Lance
Published: June 2012

Efficient spatial and temporal resolution of simulated inflow wind fields is important in order to represent wind turbine dynamics and derive load statistics for design. Using Fourier-based stochastic simulation of inflow turbulence, we first investigate loads for a utility-scale turbine in the neutral atmospheric boundary layer. Load statistics, spectra, and wavelet analysis representations for different space and time resolutions are compared. Next, large-eddy simulation (LES) is employed with space-time resolutions, justified on the basis of the earlier stochastic simulations, to again derive turbine loads. Extreme and fatigue loads from the two approaches used in inflow field generation are compared. On the basis of simulation studies carried out for three different wind speeds in the turbine’s operating range, it is shown that inflow turbulence described using 10-meter spatial resolution and 1 Hz temporal resolution is adequate for assessing turbine loads. Such studies on the investigation of adequate filtering or resolution of inflow wind fields help to establish efficient strategies for LES and other physical or stochastic simulation needed in turbine loads studies.
CFD Simulation of a Concrete Cubicle to Analyze the Thermal Effect of Phase Change Materials in Buildings
Authors: Gómez Miguel A. , Álvarez Feijoo Miguel A. , Comesaña Roberto , Eguía Pablo , Míguez José L. , Porteiro Jacobo
Published: June 2012

In this work, a CFD-based model is proposed to analyse the effect of phase change materials (PCMs) on the thermal behaviour of the walls of a cubicle exposed to the environment and on the resistance of the walls to climate changes. The effect of several days of exposure to the environment was simulated using the proposed method. The results of the simulation are compared with experimental data to contrast the models. The effects of exposure on the same days were simulated for several walls of a cubicle made of a mixture of concrete and PCM. The results show that the PCM stabilizes temperatures within the cubicle and decreases energy consumption of refrigeration systems.
Synthesis and Electrochemical Proprieties of Novel Unsymmetrical Bis-Tetrathiafulvalenes and Electrical Conductivity of Their Charge Transfer Complexes with Tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ)
Authors: Abbaz Tahar , Bendjeddou Amel , Gouasmia Abdelkrim , Regainia Zine , Villemin Didier
Published: June 2012

The synthesis and properties of a series of bis-tetrathiafulvalenes (bis-TTFs) containing nitrophenyl, aminophenyl or dimethylaminophenyl is reported. The synthesis was carried out by using routes involving Wittig-type, cross-coupling, reduction and alkylation reactions. The electron donor ability of these new compounds has been measured by cyclic voltammetry (CV). Charge transfer complexes with tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) were prepared by chemical redox reactions. The complexes have been proven to give conducting materials.
A Specific Oligodeoxynucleotide Promotes the Differentiation of Osteoblasts via ERK and p38 MAPK Pathways
Authors: Hou Xu , Shen Yuqin , Zhang Chao , Zhang Liru , Qin Yanyan , Yu Yongli , Wang Liying , Sun Xinhua
Published: June 2012

A specific oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN), ODN MT01, was found to have positive effects on the proliferation and activation of the osteoblast-like cell line MG 63. In this study, the detailed signaling pathways in which ODN MT01 promoted the differentiation of osteoblasts were systematically examined. ODN MT01 enhanced the expression of osteogenic marker genes, such as osteocalcin and type I collagen. Furthermore, ODN MT01 activated Runx2 phosphorylation via ERK1/2 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and p38 MAPK. Consistently, ODN MT01 induced up-regulation of osteocalcin, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and type I collagen, which was inhibited by pre-treatment with the ERK1/2 inhibitor U0126 and the p38 inhibitor SB203580. These results suggest that the ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK pathways, as well as Runx2 activation, are involved in ODN MT01-induced up-regulation of osteocalcin, type I collagen and the activity of ALP in MG 63 cells.