bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Metabolomic biomarkers correlating with hepatic lipidosis in dairy cows
Authors: Imhasly Sandro , Naegeli Hanspeter , Baumann Sven , von Bergen Martin , Luch Andreas , Jungnickel Harald , Potratz Sarah , Gerspach Christian
Published: June 2014

Background

Hepatic lipidosis or fatty liver disease is a major metabolic disorder of high-producing dairy cows that compromises animal performance and, hence, causes heavy economic losses worldwide. This syndrome, occurring during the critical transition from gestation to early lactation, leads to an impaired health status, decreased milk yield, reduced fertility and shortened lifetime. Because the prevailing clinical chemistry parameters indicate advanced liver damage independently of the underlying disease, currently, hepatic lipidosis can only be ascertained by liver biopsy. We hypothesized that the condition of fatty liver disease may be accompanied by an altered profile of endogenous metabolites in the blood of affected animals.

Results

To identify potential small-molecule biomarkers as a novel diagnostic alternative, the serum samples of diseased dairy cows were subjected to a targeted metabolomics screen by triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. A subsequent multivariate test involving principal component and linear discriminant analyses yielded 29 metabolites (amino acids, phosphatidylcholines and sphingomyelines) that, in conjunction, were able to distinguish between dairy cows with no hepatic lipidosis and those displaying different stages of the disorder.

Conclusions

This proof-of-concept study indicates that metabolomic profiles, including both amino acids and lipids, distinguish hepatic lipidosis from other peripartal disorders and, hence, provide a promising new tool for the diagnosis of hepatic lipidosis. By generating insights into the molecular pathogenesis of hepatic lipidosis, metabolomics studies may also facilitate the prevention of this syndrome.
Effect of myrtle fruit syrup on abnormal uterine bleeding: a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study
Authors: Qaraaty Marzieh , Kamali Seyed Hamid , Dabaghian Fataneh Hashem , Zafarghandi Nafiseh , Mokaberinejad Roshanak , Mobli Masumeh , Amin Gholamreza , Naseri Mohsen , Kamalinejad Mohammad , Amin Mohsen , Ghaseminejad Azizeh , HosseiniKhabiri Seyedeh jihan , Talei Daryush
Published: June 2014

Background

Myrtle (Myrtus communis L.) has been used in the Iranian Traditional Medicine as a treatment for abnormal uterine bleeding-menometrorrhagia. The main aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of myrtle fruit syrup on abnormal uterine bleeding-menometrorrhagia.

Methods

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study was conducted on 30 women suffering from abnormal uterine bleeding-menometrorrhagia. Treatment comprised of giving 15 ml oral myrtle syrup daily (5 ml three times a day) for 7 days starting from the onset of bleeding. The myrtle syrup along with placebo was repeated for 3 consecutive menstrual periods. Menstrual duration and number of used pads were recorded by the Pictorial Blood loss Assessment Chart at the end of each menstrual period. The quality of life was also evaluated using the menorrhagia questionnaire.

Results

The mean number of bleeding days significantly declined from 10.6 ± 2.7 days to 8.2 ± 1.9 days after 3 months treatment with the syrup (p = 0.01) and consequently the participants in the intervention group used fewer pads after 3 months (16.4 ± 10.7) compared with the number of pads used at the beginning of the treatment (22.7 ± 12.0, p = 0.01). Bleeding days and number of pads used by the participants in the placebo group did not change significantly. Also significant changes of quality of life scores were observed in the intervention group after 3 months compared to the baseline.

Conclusion

Myrtle syrup is introduced as a potential remedy for abnormal uterine bleeding-menometrorrhagia.
The Software Ontology (SWO): a resource for reproducibility in biomedical data analysis, curation and digital preservation
Authors: Malone James , Brown Andy , Lister Allyson L , Ison Jon , Hull Duncan , Parkinson Helen , Stevens Robert
Published: June 2014

Motivation

Biomedical ontologists to date have concentrated on ontological descriptions of biomedical entities such as gene products and their attributes, phenotypes and so on. Recently, effort has diversified to descriptions of the laboratory investigations by which these entities were produced. However, much biological insight is gained from the analysis of the data produced from these investigations, and there is a lack of adequate descriptions of the wide range of software that are central to bioinformatics. We need to describe how data are analyzed for discovery, audit trails, provenance and reproducibility.

Results

The Software Ontology (SWO) is a description of software used to store, manage and analyze data. Input to the SWO has come from beyond the life sciences, but its main focus is the life sciences. We used agile techniques to gather input for the SWO and keep engagement with our users. The result is an ontology that meets the needs of a broad range of users by describing software, its information processing tasks, data inputs and outputs, data formats versions and so on. Recently, the SWO has incorporated EDAM, a vocabulary for describing data and related concepts in bioinformatics. The SWO is currently being used to describe software used in multiple biomedical applications.

Conclusion

The SWO is another element of the biomedical ontology landscape that is necessary for the description of biomedical entities and how they were discovered. An ontology of software used to analyze data produced by investigations in the life sciences can be made in such a way that it covers the important features requested and prioritized by its users. The SWO thus fits into the landscape of biomedical ontologies and is produced using techniques designed to keep it in line with user’s needs.

Availability

The Software Ontology is available under an Apache 2.0 license at http://theswo.sourceforge.net/; the Software Ontology blog can be read at http://softwareontology.wordpress.com.
Anemia and red blood cell transfusion in critically ill cardiac patients
Authors: Du Pont-Thibodeau Geneviève , Harrington Karen , Lacroix Jacques
Published: June 2014

Anemia and red blood cell (RBC) transfusion occur frequently in hospitalized patients with cardiac disease. In this narrative review, we report the epidemiology of anemia and RBC transfusion in hospitalized adults and children (excluding premature neonates) with cardiac disease, and on the outcome of anemic and transfused cardiac patients. Both anemia and RBC transfusion are common in cardiac patients, and both are associated with mortality. RBC transfusion is the only way to rapidly treat severe anemia, but is not completely safe. In addition to hemoglobin (Hb) concentration, the determinant(s) that should drive a practitioner to prescribe a RBC transfusion to cardiac patients are currently unclear. In stable acyanotic cardiac patients, Hb level above 70 g/L in children and above 70 to 80 g/L in adults appears safe. In cyanotic children, Hb level above 90 g/L appears safe. The appropriate threshold Hb level for unstable cardiac patients and for children younger than 28 days is unknown. The optimal transfusion strategy in cardiac patients is not well characterized. The threshold at which the risk of anemia outweighs the risk of transfusion is not known. More studies are needed to determine when RBC transfusion is indicated in hospitalized patients with cardiac disease.
Metabolism of amino acids differs in the brains of Djungarian hamster (P. sungorus) and Roborovskii hamster (P. roborovskii)
Authors: Ikeda Hiromi , Kawase Takahiro , Nagasawa Mao , Chowdhury Vishwajit Sur , Yasuo Shinobu , Furuse Mitsuhiro
Published: June 2014

Djungarian hamster (P. sungorus) and Roborovskii hamster (P. roborovskii) belong to the same genus of phodopus. Roborovskii hamster shows high locomotor activity and low level of dopamine (DA) in the brain. Administration of L-tyrosine, a precursor of DA, decreases locomotor activity in Roborovskii hamsters. However, the amino acid metabolism in relation to the hyperactivity is not yet well known. In the present study, L- and D-amino acid concentrations in the brain, liver, and plasma in Djungarian and Roborovskii hamsters were investigated during day and night times to explain the possible difference in hyperactivity between them. Most of the examined amino acids were higher in the night time when hamsters are active compared to those in day time. L- and D-tyrosine concentrations were higher in the liver of Roborovskii hamsters than in Djungarian hamsters. Furthermore, brain concentration of D-tyrosine was higher in the Roborovskii than in Djungarian hamsters, but no significant difference was observed for L-tyrosine concentrations between the two species. These results suggest that the conversion of L-tyrosine to D-tyrosine in the brain of Roborovskii hamster may be higher than in Djungarian hamster, which may cause low DA concentration and hyperactivity in Roborovskii hamster. On the other hand, L- and D-serine, which are known as sedative factors, were lower in Roborovskii hamsters than Djungarian hamster. These results suggest that species-specific regulation in amino acid metabolism may contribute to hyperactivity in Roborovskii hamsters.
Development and Validation of a Rubric for Diagnosing Students’ Experimental Design Knowledge and Difficulties
Authors: Dasgupta Annwesa P. , Anderson Trevor R. , Pelaez Nancy
Published: June 2014

It is essential to teach students about experimental design, as this facilitates their deeper understanding of how most biological knowledge was generated and gives them tools to perform their own investigations. Despite the importance of this area, surprisingly little is known about what students actually learn from designing biological experiments. In this paper, we describe a rubric for experimental design (RED) that can be used to measure knowledge of and diagnose difficulties with experimental design. The development and validation of the RED was informed by a literature review and empirical analysis of undergraduate biology students’ responses to three published assessments. Five areas of difficulty with experimental design were identified: the variable properties of an experimental subject; the manipulated variables; measurement of outcomes; accounting for variability; and the scope of inference appropriate for experimental findings. Our findings revealed that some difficulties, documented some 50 yr ago, still exist among our undergraduate students, while others remain poorly investigated. The RED shows great promise for diagnosing students’ experimental design knowledge in lecture settings, laboratory courses, research internships, and course-based undergraduate research experiences. It also shows potential for guiding the development and selection of assessment and instructional activities that foster experimental design.
BioCore Guide: A Tool for Interpreting the Core Concepts of Vision and Change for Biology Majors
Authors: Brownell Sara E. , Freeman Scott , Wenderoth Mary Pat , Crowe Alison J.
Published: June 2014

Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education outlined five core concepts intended to guide undergraduate biology education: 1) evolution; 2) structure and function; 3) information flow, exchange, and storage; 4) pathways and transformations of energy and matter; and 5) systems. We have taken these general recommendations and created a Vision and Change BioCore Guide—a set of general principles and specific statements that expand upon the core concepts, creating a framework that biology departments can use to align with the goals of Vision and Change. We used a grassroots approach to generate the BioCore Guide, beginning with faculty ideas as the basis for an iterative process that incorporated feedback from more than 240 biologists and biology educators at a diverse range of academic institutions throughout the United States. The final validation step in this process demonstrated strong national consensus, with more than 90% of respondents agreeing with the importance and scientific accuracy of the statements. It is our hope that the BioCore Guide will serve as an agent of change for biology departments as we move toward transforming undergraduate biology education.
Misconceptions Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Authors: Leonard Mary J. , Kalinowski Steven T. , Andrews Tessa C.
Published: June 2014

A recent essay in CBE—Life Sciences Education criticized biology education researchers’ use of the term misconceptions and recommended that, in order to be up-to-date with education research, biology education researchers should use alternative terms for students’ incorrect ideas in science. We counter that criticism by reviewing the continued use and the meaning of misconceptions in education research today, and describe two key debates that account for the controversy surrounding the term. We then identify and describe two areas of research that have real implications for tomorrow's biology education research and biology instruction: 1) hypotheses about the structure of student knowledge (coherent vs. fragmented) that gives rise to misconceptions; and 2) the “warming trend” that considers the effects of students’ motivation, beliefs about the nature of knowledge and learning (their epistemic beliefs), and learning strategies (their cognitive and metacognitive skills) on their ability to change their misconceptions in science. We conclude with a description of proposed future work in biology education research related to misconceptions.
Alterations in cortical and extrastriatal subcortical dopamine function in schizophrenia: systematic review and meta-analysis of imaging studies
Authors: Kambeitz Joseph , Abi-Dargham Anissa , Kapur Shitij , Howes Oliver D.
Published: June 2014

Background

The hypothesis that cortical dopaminergic alterations underlie aspects of schizophrenia has been highly influential.

Aims

To bring together and evaluate the imaging evidence for dopaminergic alterations in cortical and other extrastriatal regions in schizophrenia.

Method

Electronic databases were searched for in vivo molecular studies of extrastriatal dopaminergic function in schizophrenia. Twenty-three studies (278 patients and 265 controls) were identified. Clinicodemographic and imaging variables were extracted and effect sizes determined for the dopaminergic measures. There were sufficient data to permit meta-analyses for the temporal cortex, thalamus and substantia nigra but not for other regions.

Results

The meta-analysis of dopamine D2/D3 receptor availability found summary effect sizes of d =–0.32 (95% CI −0.68 to 0.03) for the thalamus, d =–0.23 (95% CI −0.54 to 0.07) for the temporal cortex and d = 0.04 (95% CI −0.92 to 0.99) for the substantia nigra. Confidence intervals were wide and all included no difference between groups. Evidence for other measures/regions is limited because of the small number of studies and in some instances inconsistent findings, although significant differences were reported for D2/D3 receptors in the cingulate and uncus, for D1 receptors in the prefrontal cortex and for dopamine transporter availability in the thalamus.

Conclusions

There is a relative paucity of direct evidence for cortical dopaminergic alterations in schizophrenia, and findings are inconclusive. This is surprising given the wide influence of the hypothesis. Large, well-controlled studies in drug-naive patients are warranted to definitively test this hypothesis.
Manual-assisted cognitive therapy for self-harm in personality disorder and substance misuse: a feasibility trial
Authors: Davidson Kate M. , Brown Tom M. , James Vairi , Kirk Jamie , Richardson Julie
Published: June 2014

Aims and method

To assess the feasibility of conducting a larger, definitive randomised controlled trial of manual-assisted cognitive therapy (MACT), a brief focused therapy to address self-harm and promote engagement in services. We established recruitment, randomisation and assessment of outcome within a sample of these complex patients admitted to a general hospital following self-harm. We assessed symptoms of depressed mood, anxiety and suicidality at baseline and at 3 months' follow-up.

Results

Twenty patients were randomised to the trial following an index episode of self-harm, and those allocated to MACT demonstrated improvement in anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation.

Clinical implications

It is feasible to recruit a sample of these complex patients to a randomised controlled trial of MACT following an index episode of self-harm. There is preliminary support that MACT could be an acceptable and effective intervention in patients with personality disorder and substance misuse.
Standardised patients with intellectual disabilities in training tomorrow's doctors
Authors: Thomas Bini , Courtenay Ken , Hassiotis Angela , Strydom Andre , Rantell Khadija
Published: June 2014

Aims and method

To develop a programme to help undergraduate medical students and postgraduate trainees to improve their skills in communicating with people with intellectual disabilities through teaching sessions that had input from simulated patients with intellectual disabilities. We conducted four sessions of training for 47 undergraduate 4th-year medical students. The training involved a multiprofessional taught session followed by a clinical scenario role-play with simulated patients who were people with intellectual disabilities. The training was assessed by completing the healthcare provider questionnaire before and after the training.

Results

There were improvements in the students' perceived skill, comfort and the type of clinical approach across all three scenarios.

Clinical implications

By involving people with intellectual disabilities in training medical students there has been a significant improvement in students' communication skills in areas of perceived skills, comfort and type of clinical approach which will raise the quality of care provided by them in the future.
Undertaking clinical audit, with reference to a Prescribing Observatory for Mental Health audit of lithium monitoring
Authors: Paton Carol , Barnes Thomas R. E.
Published: June 2014

Audit is an important tool for quality improvement. The collection of data on clinical performance against evidence-based and clinically relevant standards, which are considered by clinicians to be realistic in routine practice, can usefully prompt reflective practice and the implementation of change. Evidence of participation in clinical audit is required to achieve intended learning outcomes for trainees in psychiatry and revalidation for those who are members of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. This article addresses some of the practical steps involved in conducting an audit project, and, to illustrate key points, draws on lessons learnt from a national, audit-based, quality improvement programme of lithium prescribing and monitoring conducted through the Prescribing Observatory for Mental Health.
Prescribing for personality disorder: qualitative study of interviews with general and forensic consultant psychiatrists
Authors: Martean Lawrence , Evans Chris
Published: June 2014

Aims and method

To explore experiences of psychiatrists considering medication for patients with personality disorder by analysis of transcribed, semi-structured interviews with consultants.

Results

Themes show important relational processes in which not prescribing is expected to be experienced as uncaring rejection, and psychiatrists felt helpless and inadequate as doctors when unable to relieve symptoms by prescribing. Discontinuity in doctor–patient relationships compounds these problems.

Clinical implications

Problems arise from: (a) the psychopathology creating powerful relational effects in consultation; (b) the lack of effective treatments, both actual and secondary to under-resourcing and neglect of non-pharmaceutical interventions; and (c) the professionally constructed role of psychiatrists prioritising healing and cure through provision of technological interventions for specific diagnoses. There is a need for more treatments and services for patients with personality disorder; more support and training for psychiatrists in the relational complexities of prescribing; and a rethink of the trend for psychiatrists to be seen primarily as prescribers.
Orphan Nuclear Receptor Nur77 Mediates Fasting-Induced Hepatic Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Expression
Authors: Min Ae-Kyung , Bae Kwi-Hyun , Jung Yun-A , Choi Yeon-Kyung , Kim Mi-Jin , Kim Ji-Hyun , Jeon Jae-Han , Kim Jung-Guk , Lee In-Kyu , Park Keun-Gyu
Published: June 2014

The fasting-induced hepatic hormone, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), is a potential candidate for the treatment of metabolic syndromes. Although peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)α is known to play a major role in the induction of hepatic FGF21 expression, other fasting-induced transcription factors that induce FGF21 expression have not yet been fully studied. In the present study, we investigated whether the fasting-induced activation of the orphan nuclear receptor Nur77 increases hepatic FGF21 expression. We found that fasting induced hepatic Nur77 and FGF21 expression. Glucagon and forskolin increased Nur77 and FGF21 expression in vivo and in vitro, respectively, and adenovirus-mediated overexpression of Nur77 (Ad-Nur77) increased FGF21 expression in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, knockdown of endogenous Nur77 expression by siRNA-Nur77 abolished the effect of forskolin on FGF21 expression. The results of ChIP assays, EMSA, and mutagenesis analysis showed that Nur77 bound to the putative NBRE of the FGF21 promoter in cultured hepatocytes and fasting induced Nur77 binding to the FGF21 promoter in vivo. Knockdown of PPARα partially inhibited forskolin-induced FGF21 expression, suggesting PPARα involvement in glucagon-stimulated FGF21 expression. In addition, double knockdown of PPARα and Nur77 further diminished FGF21 expression in cultured hepatocytes. In conclusion, this study shows that Nur77 mediates fasting-induced hepatic FGF21 expression, and suggests an alternative mechanism via which hepatic FGF21 transcription is mediated under fasting conditions.
The People in the Modern Chinese Novel: Popular Democracy and World Literature
Authors: Wang Ban
Published: June 2014

During his tenure in the Lu Xun Academy in Yan'an, the center of the Chinese Revolution, the novelist Zhou Libo ran a seminar on world literature. While teaching masterpieces of European novelists, Zhou developed a theory of the novel that inherited themes of liberal humanism and appropriated them for a burgeoning revolutionary culture. In his teaching notes, Zhou upholds the people as the transformative engine for social progress: they are authors of their own culture, the political subjects of popular democracy, and in solidarity with the working classes of the world. This essay considers Zhou's fiction theory as a part of the transition from the old democratic revolution led by the Chinese bourgeoisie to the new democratic cultural initiative carried out by the enlightened intelligentsia and progressive working people.
Jumping Publics: Magdy El Shafee's Cairo Comics
Authors: Edwards Brian T.
Published: June 2014

This essay proposes that “circulation” is a useful rubric for thinking about the twenty-first-century Egyptian novel and its relationship to democracy. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, a new generation of Cairo-based writers employed innovative forms and linguistic experimentation drawn from a global cultural palette while exploring domestic or local themes. Like their Egyptian literary forerunners, these young writers addressed social and political questions, but both the urban and the geopolitical context within which they worked had altered dramatically as a result of the impact of the digital revolution. Much of the new Egyptian literature employs or invokes American forms or is in dialogue with American literary genres, software, and popular culture, all made newly or more easily accessible via digital and Internet technologies. The ways in which foreign or outside forms are taken up in the work of these writers is, in turn, more complex than simple appropriation and requires developing a method for reading that takes circulation into account. By way of example, the second part of the essay focuses on the comics of Magdy el Shafee (1961–), whose 2008 work Metro is generally considered the first Egyptian graphic novel, and includes shorter discussion of fiction by Ahmed Alaidy (1974–) and literary nonfiction by Omar Taher (1974–). The essay argues that readers must take questions of circulation and the interplay of transnational and local publics into account in order to appreciate the changed contexts within which Egyptian literature operates in the twenty-first century.
Invoking Totalitarianism: Liberal Democracy versus the Global Jihad in Boualem Sansal's the German Mujahid
Authors: Rasberry Vaughn
Published: June 2014

In the years following the attacks of 9/11, the Cold War discourse of totalitarianism has resurfaced in connection with Islamist terrorism. Scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals across the ideological spectrum routinely characterize the global jihad as the “new totalitarian threat” for the twenty-first century, as evidenced by such proclamations as the 2006 Euston Manifesto (“For a Renewal of Progressive Politics”). This discourse employs different names—“Islamofascism,” “Islamic totalitarianism”—but each signifies a tentacular threat to liberal democracy across the globe. It is in this context that this essay reads a recent novel, The German Mujahid, published (originally in French under the title Le village de l'Allemand, ou Le journal des frères Schiller) in 2008 by Algerian author Boualem Sansal. Banned in Algeria but winner of the 2011 German Book Trade Peace Prize, The German Mujahid, I argue, reproduces this new iteration of Islamist totalitarianism in novel form, triangulating memory of the 1994 civil war in Algeria and memory of the Holocaust along with contemporary representations of radical Islam in Europe. Yet for a novel so concerned with history and memory, and with the complex interplay between Europe and North Africa, what is striking in The German Mujahid is the absence of any engagement with the French-Algerian war or even French colonialism in Algeria. Certainly there is no shortage of creative and scholarly works on the Algerian War, but the suppression or erasure in the novel of this formative moment signals, in my view, a retreat from the anticolonial ethos that this conflict mobilized globally.
Assessment of the Efficiency of Document Management in the Urgent Neurosurgery
Authors: Немков  , Nemkov A. , Витик  , Vitik A. , Зыков  , Zykov A.
Published: June 2014

Currently, the document processing associated with the provision of medical care to patients occupies a large part of the working time of a doctor, in particular in urgent care. Information system, allowing to combining the elements of document management in the urgent neurosurgery specific medical institution was created. The assessment of the usability of the software product and the effect of the use into practical public health services were realized. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the developed software product in conditions of emergency. The authors showed that the development and implementation of software product adapted to the specific health care can significantly reduce the time needed for the document processing that optimizes the work of the emergency services, ultimately improves the quality of medical care.
Russian Far East Regions’ Economic Development Stability
Authors: Басовский  , Basovskiy Leonid , Басовская  , Basovskaya Elena
Published: June 2014

A technique of regions’ economic development stability assessment has been

stated. The technique is based on diagnosing of economic growth stability loss

by an assessment of economic growth rate dispersion. The economic growth

instability risk is estimated by an indicator reflecting a relative variation of

economic growth rates. Regions of Far East Federal District: Republic of Sakha

(Yakutia), Kamchatka Krai, Primorsky Krai, Khabarovsk Krai, Amur Region,

Magadan Region, Jewish Autonomous Region, Chukotka Autonomous District,

Sakhalin Region have been investigated. Statistical data during 2000–2011 have

been used. It has been established that regions significantly differ ones from

others on the periods of sustainable and unstable development and economic

growth instability degree. It has been revealed that economy of most regions of

the Far East Federal District develops unstably. An exception is Primorsky Krai

which develops more stably.

Economic development instability indicators significantly influence on a level of

investments into region economy. On a sample of regions the economic

development instability explains not less than 30% reduction of investment

level, that allows consider economic development instability impact on

investment climate in the region as significant.
Russian Federation and Colombia: the Economic Development 1990–2012 and Forecasts 2014–2015
Authors: Карденас Гарсия  , Kardenas Garsiya Fernando
Published: June 2014

Despite the distance that separates the Russian Federation of Colombia, the differences in the size of the surface, in the size of the population, in the language, in the social, cultural, political and economic evolution, these two nations maintain strong similarities in economic performance in recent years, moreover, agree favorable expectations of expansion in the short term, this in a context of uncertainty about the dynamic of recovery in the United States and the persistent crisis in the Euro zone. Other matches are presented in the challenges they have to face to continue in the right direction of convergence towards developed economies, this performance has been well received by economic agents who have found in these two countries, interesting destinations for investment and strengthen trade relations.
A survey of pre-school children who are often ill and the ways of their improvement
Authors: Воронцова  , Vorontsova Zoya , Кособуцкая  , Kosobutskaya S.
Published: June 2014

The study involved 38 children of sickly, acute respiratory infections with functional bowel disorders, also 35 children occasionally ill (the comparison group) and 20 sickly children (the control group) of the same age, the same epidemic season. All of the children were visited by organized groups. Clinical, immunological and microbiological features of the pre-school children were studied. The efficiency of the use of complex preparations Cycloferon tablets and probiotic drag Biovestin-lacto was evaluated. The disorders of the quantitative and qualitative composition of the microflora were found. The state of cellular and humoral immunity revealed pathology of all its units. The study of antibodies in saliva and coprofilia had deviation from the norm. The use of complex preparations had a favorable impact, namely: the number of violations significant degrees in cellular and humoral links of immunity in sickly children with intestinal dysbiosis decreased in 1,5-2 times; protective properties of local immunity of the mucous membranes increased; violated the large intestine microbiocenosis restored. The complex preparations has expressed prophylactic activity, which is manifested by the reduction in the incidence of acute respiratory infections in 2 times, complications 1.5 times, as well as the severity of the disease.
Processing of tomographic images by means of wavelet analysis
Authors: Любимова  , Lyubimova Mariya , Князева  , Knyazeva Tatyana
Published: June 2014

The paper is devoted to the problem of processing of tomographic images using wavelet analysis. The features of image processing techniques, indications were analyzed. Wavelets are a signal waveform of limited duration that has an average value of zero. Wavelets are comparable to a sine wave, and they are the basis of Fourier analysis. Wavelet analysis method allows to processing of tomographic images using a large time interval, where more accurate information about the low frequency region and shorter when information is needed on high frequency. The characteristic features of the settings wavelet transforms are described. Their bad choice reduces the reliability of detection of changes in the structure of signals when changing system state. The key stages of the reconstruction tomography images in DICOM format using the method of wavelet analysis were examined; algorithm of noise reduction was investigated. Practical area of application of wavelet analysis doesn´t limited to digital signal processing; it also covers physical experiments, numerical methods and other areas of physics and mathematics. By being able to analyze the non-stationary signals, wavelet analysis has become a powerful alternative Fourier transform in medical applications.
Pathomorphosis of pathogens perforating peritonitis in the children and age peculiarities of disease etiopathogenesis
Authors: Баранов  , Baranov D. , Птицын  , Ptitsyn V. , Гисак  , Gisak S. , Склярова  , Sklyarova Elena , Гаврилова  , Gavrilova M.
Published: June 2014

Diffuse purulent perforating peritonitis was diagnosed in 41 children aged from 6 hours to 14 years old, including up to 1 year - 15 children (36,5%), 1-4 years old - 1 child, 4-7 years old in 8 children (19%%), 7-14 years old inl8 children (45%). Bowel perforations were caused by complications of diseases and malformations and acute purulent processes in the abdominal cavity. Perforating peritonitis has polymorphism of pyogenic flora, where the most dangerous are the following: Pseudomonas aeraginosae, fungi Candida (albicans, crasei, glabrata, tropicalis), Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterococcus faecium, Enterobacter cloacae; E.Coli, Staphylococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus rarely revealed in the children after 4 years of age.

The paper focuses on ineffective traditional treatment of children with diffuse perforating peritonitis due to insufficient knowledge of the pathogenesis of the disease and low efficiency of remedial measures. The authors´ developments aimed at improving efficiency of the local rehabilitation of purulent perforating peritonitis continue to be implemented in practice. However, the methods of differentiated treatment of patients with purulent perforating peritonitis are missing in clinical practice.

The use of new medical technologies in complex diagnostics and the modern antifungal and highly effective antibacterial drags in treatment of patients contributed to improve treatment outcomes and prevent mortality.
Environmental assessment of surface waters in the technogenic zones
Authors: Домнина  , Domnina Viktoriia , Короткова  , Korotkova Anna , Булухто  , Bulukhto N.
Published: June 2014

As the result of the monitoring of the Klokovsky stream in s. Plekhanovo of Tula region in the sewage water of "Tulaelectroprivod" the individual living organisms (unicellular green algae and protozoa) were detected. The biological researches allow to revealing the a-mesosaprobic level of organic pollution of surface waters and sediments. The chemical analysis didn´t found inorganic pollutants, in particular heavy metals. Based on biotesting, the acute toxicity of surface water and sediments of the Klokovsky stream and fecal waters was found, caused by the presence of organic substances which are not detected by chemical methods. The research has shown that the surface water in the studied water flow is highly polluted and highly toxic. This ecosystem of the stream is close to destruction, as the trophic links and mechanisms of self-purification are disturbed. The atypical accumulation of organic matter is observed and there are a large number of bacteria, including pathogenic to humans. Thus, the Klokovsky stream and its coastal zone represent an area of intense ecological environment which may influence on human health. The danger is in contact with pathogenic microorganisms and organic substances in garden crops with irrigation water from this stream. There is a threat of the use in food of fish caught in the mouth areas of this watercourse. The consequences of such anthropogenic impacts affect the quality of drinking water. There is the possibility of contamination of the aquifer surface water streams by filtering them through the alluvial deposits of riverbed.
Liability for Crimes in the Field of Economic Activity: Paths of Development of the Russian Criminal Legislation
Authors: Koshayeva Tatyana
Published: June 2014

On the question improvement criminal legislation of the Russian Federation about responsibility for criminal offences in economic activity considers problems reformation criminal act about responsibility for economic crimes. Acts analyzed legal criminal norms with purpose increasing effectiveness. The improvement criminal act denotes a special attention.
Legal Means of Provision of Financial Sustainability of the Russian Federation
Authors: Povetkina Natalya
Published: June 2014

In the present article the author makes an attempt of research of problems of ensuring financial stability of the Russian Federation from a position of legal means. In article the concept, types, elements of financial stability is analyzed, the concept «legal means», their signs is investigated. The author of article comes to a conclusion that it is necessary to understand set of regulations, institutes, legal regimes, legal principles, receptions, means and ways in which the financial and legal designs necessary for ensuring ability to resist to influence of internal and external factors, for orientation on positive dynamics of stable development of the state, efficiency and productivity of use of financial resources of the Russian state are formulated and fixed as legal means of ensuring of financial stability of the Russian Federation.
Concepts of Positive Legal Responsibility in the Russian Jurisprudence
Authors: Lipinsky Dmitriy
Published: June 2014

The article is devoted to the phenomenon of positive legal responsibility, which is actively studied in Russian legal science, since the 1960 of XX century. The author analyzes various concepts of positive legal responsibility: a sense of legal duty; the discharge of duty; a duty to give account, good behavior and others. Advocated for-sure about the actual legal nature of the positive responsibility and the lack thereof its identity with a legal obligation, lawful behavior, promotion and other legal phenomena. The arguments about criticism against the concept of positive legal responsibility. It is proved that a voluntary form of realization of the legal liability of a legal obligation of compliance with legal norms implemented in lawful behaviour of the subjects of legal responsibility, endorsed or encouraged by the state.
Administrative Permit System: Origin and Content of the Modern Concept
Authors: Nozdrachyev Alyeksandr
Published: June 2014

The authorization system is one of the most important administrative institutes of the Russian law and order. In article the concept, appointment and the basis of introduction of an authorization system is investigated; concept “administrative permission”, its forms; classification and categorization of permissions is carried out; the fundamental principles of an authorization system and timely tendencies of its development come to light. Permission represents the individual administrative act adopted by authorized government body, carrying out functions in the allowing sphere within the provided competence, addressed to particular natural or legal entities — subjects of allowing legal relationship, and attracting their emergence, change or the termination. Permission can be accepted only during performance of the established allowing procedures with observance of a special form and according to law requirements. For the solution of problems of ordering of an authorization system and improvement of law-enforcement practice author’s classification of permissions by functional criterion and their categorization by degree of danger of adjustable activity is offered. As a result of such classification the exhaustive list of permissions by types and categories can be created.
Practice of Application of Rules of Admissibility of Evidence in Criminal Procedure
Authors: Velikiy Dmitriy
Published: June 2014

The article deals with the problems of interpretation of the rules on admissibility of evidence in criminal proceedings, ways of substitution of one type of evidence by another, examples of the use of inadmissible evidence in the activities of the investigative and judicial authorities. The author analyzes the court practice concerning the issue of admissibility of evidence and explains the position of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation concerning the possibility of questioning of investigators and inquiry officers as witnesses at the court hearing. The author is against the use as evidence not provided for in the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. The author supports the idea that there should be a regulation of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation that particular kinds of evidence have to be from proper sources. In the end, the author comes to the conclusion about the necessity of using teleological interpretation of the criminal procedure rules on the admissibility of evidence, based on the intentions of the legislator.
Marriage Contract in Private International Law: Legal Regulation in Russia and in the EU
Authors: Maryshyeva Nataliya , Sergeeva Olga
Published: June 2014

The article covers the questions of comparative analysis of the proposal for the regulation of European Union “On Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions in Matters of Matrimonial Property Regimes” and Russian family and civil legislation. The disputable issues of Russian legislation in defined sphere are also explored in the article.
Legal Regime of the Territorial Sea of the People´s Republic of China
Authors: Tszentszyun Kuan
Published: June 2014

Legal regime of the territorial sea is analyzed from the perspectives of both of international and domestic law. The article is considering the development of the legislation regulating the Legal regime of the territorial sea in China. Author used abstract-logical, comparative-legal, formal-legal and historical methods. The article highlights the stages in the development of legislation, their peculiarities, as well as the main tasks at these stages. The main attention is paid to the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone (1992), the conditions in which it was enacted, and its subsequent adjustments. The author examines legislation and practice of the People’s Republic of China on the following problems of the territorial sea: limits of the territorial sea, the innocent passage of foreign ships through the territorial sea, marine scientific research, protection of the marine environment in the territorial sea. The general conclusion is that the Legislation China practically comply with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and operates on the basis of its implementation into national legislation. Chinese law and practice as a whole is also consistent with existing customary norms of international law and take into account the prevailing trends seen in the legislative practice of a significant number of coastal states.
The Value of Information in Some Variations of the Stopping Problem
Authors: Bhattacharjya Debarun , Deleris Léa A.
Published: June 2014

In stopping problems, the decision maker receives a sequence of candidates and decides whether to select the current candidate and thereby stop the search or whether to continue surveying. Some examples include searching for an apartment, selecting an employee for a job, or choosing a new product or service from a sequence of vendors. Most of the literature on stopping problems assumes that the decision maker can perfectly evaluate the candidate when surveyed. We consider practical variations where surveying a candidate may provide no further information or imperfect information about its value. We show how the stopping problem can be considered an extension of the two-action (go/no-go) problem and present threshold optimal policies for the general problem. For the case where surveying candidates provides no further information and the uncertain values of candidates are normally distributed, we present analytical results that highlight how the value of information is affected by the parameters. With the help of an illustrative example, we demonstrate how a model that ignores sequential decisions could potentially severely underestimate the value of information. We also present a data-driven application of our results by studying the value of reports to a potential used car buyer.
Analytics for Power Grid Distribution Reliability in New York City
Authors: Rudin Cynthia , Ertekin Şeyda , Passonneau Rebecca , Radeva Axinia , Tomar Ashish , Xie Boyi , Lewis Stanley , Riddle Mark , Pangsrivinij Debbie , McCormick Tyler
Published: June 2014

We summarize the first major effort to use analytics for preemptive maintenance and repair of an electrical distribution network. This is a large-scale multiyear effort between scientists and students at Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and engineers from the Consolidated Edison Company of New York (Con Edison), which operates the world’s oldest and largest underground electrical system. Con Edison’s preemptive maintenance programs are less than a decade old and are made more effective with the use of analytics developing alongside them. Some of the data we used for our projects are historical records dating as far back as the 1880s, and some of the data are free-text documents typed by Con Edison dispatchers. The operational goals of this work are to assist with Con Edison’s preemptive inspection and repair program and its vented-cover replacement program. This has a continuing impact on the public safety, operating costs, and reliability of electrical service in New York City.
Training community matrons in basic cognitive behavioural therapy-based techniques for patients with COPD
Authors: Barker David , Davies Caroline , Dixon Brendan , Hodgson Amanda , Reay Simon , Barclay Nicola
Published: June 2014

People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) experience anxiety and depression with a higher prevalence than the general population. Despite this, they are under-represented in mental health services on a national scale, but do regularly have contact with health-care professionals such as community matrons. We aimed to explore the process of CBT-based skills supervision and the practical implications for community matrons using CBT-based techniques with COPD clients as part of their standard practice. Twenty community matrons took part in a 2-day CBT-based skills training programme. Measurements of their knowledge and understanding of CBT-based skills were taken before and following the training. Additionally, they completed written feedback relating to the training. They were then supervised by CBT therapists for 6 months. Written feedback was obtained following this and some supervisors participated in a 1-hour focus group to discuss the process. Community matrons' knowledge and understanding of CBT-based techniques significantly improved following training, although findings did indicate that merely training did not always seamlessly translate into effective practice. Supervisor feedback suggested that it would be beneficial for community matrons to share positive practice of their use of basic CBT-based techniques among peers to maximise the perceived value of this approach.