bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
PREVENCIJA UPOTREBE PSIHOAKTIVNIH SUPSTANCI UTEMELJENA NA DOKAZIMA
Authors: Hasanović Amir , Pekić Sanela
Published: May 2024

Prema Svjetskoj zdravstvenoj organizaciji nezarazne bolesti trenutno u svijetu uzrokuju 60% smrtnih slučajeva. Ovome su primarno doprinijeli socio-ekonomski uslovi i odabir određenih životnih stilova koji, između ostalog, uključuju i probleme s korištenjem psihoaktivnih supstanci. Sve do 80-ih godina prošlog vijeka koncept sprječavanja upotrebe supstanci uglavnom se zasnivao na metodama zastrašivanja – povezanim sa dubokim moralnim porukama i snažnim fokusom na apstinenciju. Tadašnje prevencijske prakse – još uvijek dominantne u Bosni i Hercegovini – primarno su utemeljene na tradiciji, intuiciji ili pojedinačnim zapažanjima.Savremena, naučno utemeljena praksa prevencije korištenja supstanci oslanja se na podatke prikupljene u okviru eksperimentalnog istraživanja i uzima u obzir obilježja pojedinih klijenata i stručnost praktičara. Ona, također, ima jako uporište u etiološkoj teoriji (uzroci korištenja psihoaktivnih supstanci), teoriji ljudskog razvoja i teoriji ljudskog ponašanja. Njen imperativ je kontinuirana evaluacija kojom se vrši procjena kratkoročnih i dugoročnih željenih ishoda preventivnih intervencija, kao i faktora povezanih sa tim ishodima.Preventivne prakse utemeljene na dokazima omogućavaju pozitivno interveniranje u različitim okruženjima - porodici, školi, na radnom mjestu, u zajednici, široj okolini i medijima, kako bi pojačale osjećaj sigurnosti i podrške, te smanjile posljedice negativne interakcije između okoline i pojedinca. Učinkovite preventivne intervencije i politike također se vežu i za međunarodne standarde. Ovdje se primarno misli na Međunarodne standarde za prevenciju zloupotrebe droga (UN-ov ured za droge i kriminal), te Evropske standarde za kvalitetnu prevenciju zloupotrebe droga (Evropski centar za praćenje droga i ovisnosti o drogama).Prevencija utemeljena na dokazima zahtjeva stručan i kvalitetan pristup. Stoga, ključni ljudi u području prevencije trebaju steći širok raspon znanja iz različitih naučnih oblasti, uključujući epidemiologiju i psihologiju. Kada se osigura kontinuiran kvalitet, savremena prevencija će svojim djelovanjem znatno doprinijeti zdravom i sigurnom razvoju djece i mladih.
ЗАСТУПЉЕНОСТ И ПРЕВЕНЦИЈА НАСИЉА У ШКОЛИ
Authors: Ковачевић Бранка , Костић Наташа
Published: May 2024

Циљ рада се односи на сагледавање заступљености и превенције насиља у школи. Приликом сагледавања заступљености насиља вршен је преглед и анализа садржаја истраживачких радова који су у фокусу имали заступљеност насиља у школи као и на превенцију. У обзир су узети радови који су за узорак истраживања имали ученике старијих разреда основне школе: најмање пети разред. Разлог за то је што већина аутора наводи да је насиље у школи најзаступљеније у адолесценцији, али и да оно опада током позније адолесценције. Такође су узети узети радови објављени од 2010. до 2022. године у којима су приказана истраживања вршена у основним школама у Босни и Херцеговини, Србији и Хрватској, а разлог за то почива на покушају сагледавања стања о заступљености насиља у новије вријеме (у нашој земљи и земљама региона). Када је ријеч о превенцији насиља разматрана је настава усмјерена на превенцију насиља у школи, као и истицање значајних аспеката за организовање педагошких и психолошких радионица у функцији превенције насиља у школи. Аутори предлажу организовање континуиране обуке наставника за превенцију насиља у школи.
VANNASTAVNE AKTIVNOSTI U FUNKCIJI PEDAGOŠKE PREVENCIJE NEPRIHVATLJIVIH OBLIKA PONAŠANJA MLADIH
Authors: Šijaković Draga , Bjelan-Guska Sandra
Published: May 2024

Slobodno vrijeme jedan je od vaţnih faktora koji djeluju na razvoj ličnosti mladog čovjeka, a intencionalno odgojno djelovanje u njemu ima tri funkcije: preventivnu, formativnu i kurativnu. U ovom radu ispitivali smo slobodno vrijeme u funkciji pedagoške prevencije neprihvatljivih oblika ponašanja mladih u cilju utvrđivanja njegovih sadrţaja, oblika i aktivnosti u ovoj domeni. Istraţivanje je realizirano na uzorku od 200 srednjoškolaca i 4 školska pedagoga u Trebinju. Opšta istraţivačka hipoteza - da slobodno vrijeme mladih pruţa značajne mogućnosti za pedagošku prevenciju uz poticaj i pomoć mladima u njegovom osmišljavanju i produktivnom korištenju, te da je odgoj mladih za slobodno vrijeme i u njemu neopravdano zapostavljen u teorijskoj i praktičnoj odgojnoj djelatnosti, potvrđena je dobijenim nalazima, kao i podhipoteze o funkcionalnosti aktivnosti mladih u slobodnom vremenu i uticaju spola na manifestovanje društveno neprihvatljivih ponašanja. Djelimično su potvrĎene hipoteze o uopćenom ispoljavanju ovih oblika ponašanja mladih, uticaju dobi, socioekonomskog statusa i sudjelovanja u vannastavnim i vanškolskim aktivnostima na pojavu fenomena te stavovima pedagoga o društveno neprihvatljivim ponašanjima mladih i efektima školskih preventivnih programa. Dobijeni nalazi idu u prilog rezultatima studija drugih autora i zaključcima koji iz njih proizlaze o tome kako se potencijali slobodnog vremena za pozitivan razvoj i prevenciju koriste u insuficijentnoj mjeri. U daljnjim ispitivanjima ove problematike dragocjeno bi bilo usmjeriti paţnju na sociodemografska obiljeţja čiji uticaj na provoĎenje slobodnog vremena ovdje nije ispitan, a koje su se u drugim istraţivanjima i praksi pokazale značajnima. Zaključna razmatranja daju smjernice za unapređenje programa i aktivnosti slobodnog vremena u svrhu pedagoške prevencije neprihvatljivih oblika ponašanja mladih.
MALOLETNICI KAO UČINIOCI IMOVINSKIH KRIVIČNIH DELA
Authors: Nikolić Gordana
Published: May 2024

Imovinska krivična dela su najzastupljenija, najobimnija i najbrojnija u odnosu na ukupna krivična dela u smislu izvršenja, pa samim tim privlače stručnu i teorijsku javnost u cilju njihove analize i uspostavljanje resenja valjanije prevencije i represije. Ova krivična dela su stara, arhaična i klasična krivična dela, te su u Krivičnom zakoniku Republike Srbije svrstana u 21. glavi u posebnom delu Krivično zakonika. Pored punolotihnih izvršioca ovih dela, naţalost praksa je zabeleţila veliki broj i maloletnih izvršioca koji ova dela vrše kako samostalno, tako i kao neposredni izvršioci punletnih učinioca zbog slabije kaznene politike. Imovinska krivična dela dela se vrše u nameri pribavljanja protivpravne imovinske koriste, pa s tim u vezi osnovni cilj vršenja ovih dela od strane maloletnika je brzi, lakši i jednostavniji način dolaska do novca, pokretne ili nepokretne imovine. U radu se autor osvrće na krivičnopravni i kriminalistički aspekt imovinskih krivičnih dela, kao i opšte karakteristike maloletnih učinioca krivičnih dela, dok se teţište rada odnosi na statističku analizu broja prijavljenih, optuţenih i osuĎenih maloletnika za izvršena imovinska krivična dela, kao i stuktura, dinamiku i zastupljenost ovih dela u odnosu na ukupno izvršena dela od strane maloletnika u vremenskom periodu od deset godina na osnovu čega se iznose zaključci u cilju smanjenja izvršenja ovih dela od strnae maloletnih lica.
EFEKTI RADA NASTAVNOG OSOBLJA U PREVENCIJI NASILJA
Authors: Bjelopoljak Šejla , Midžić Arijana
Published: May 2024

Razumijevanje odnosa svjesnih i nesvjesnih procesa koji se odvijaju unutar čovjekovog uma pomoću kojih se izraţavaju određena pozitivna ili negativna ponašanja, implicitna ili eksplicitna - predstavlja područje istraţivanja mnogih nauka. Buđenjem svijesti posebno u posljednjih petnaest godina akcenat se stavlja na uzroke ponašanja koja diskriminiraju po bilo kojoj osnovi i ukazuju na potrebu razvijanja boljih socijalnih odnosa na temelju ravnopravnosti, tolerancije, čovjekoljublja i isti su intencijom brojnih školskih programa.Škola i druge institucije koncipirane su tako da predstavljaju resurs društvu, pa čak i onda kada isto modeluje neprihvatljive oblike ponašanja budućim generacijama. Odgojno-obrazovni sistem djeluje interventnim i preventivnim programima radi preveniranja ovih oblika ponašanja dok djeca istodobno usvajaju raznovrsne predrasudne i stereotipne modele ponašanja, izgraĎujući stavove o drugima, čak i onda kada “te druge” nikada nisu sreli. Implicira da kompetitivna sredina, nedostatak saradnje, pasivnost i sankcionisanje kritičkog mišljenja predstavlja pogodno tlo za diskriminaciju svih kategorija društva te da načinom rada heterogene skupine nastavnog osoblja, ni škola nije imuna na nedostatak kvalitete. U radu se upravo bavimo procjenom jačine djelovanja kvalitete rada nastavnika i stručnih saradnika i to onih, fokusiranih na prevenciju neprihvatljivih obrazaca ponašanja kroz minimum tj. samo sedam radionica stručnih saradnika i nastavnika. Pred test i post test obuhvataju 246 učenika različitih uzrasta iz osnovnih i srednjih škola i 147 radionica od strane 21 nastavnika/stručnog saradnika. Rezultati govore u prilog potreba za intervencijama u slučajevima pojave nasilja u školama, te o promjenama ponašanja učenika prilikom rješavanja problema u situacijama prije i poslije učestvovanja u radionicama Programa. Više od 50% odgovora nastavnika i saradnika govore u prilog pozitivnih efekata nakon primjene sedam radionica. Rad je empirijskog karaktera zasnovan na imenovanju pojava koje ugroţavaju kvalitet (su)ţivota, a koje djeca internalizuju u budućim ponašanjima, te nudi smjernice za uspostavljanje prakse bazirane na obrazovanju koje poziva na mir u svim aspektima života trenutnih i budućih generacija.
Eugenol mimics exercise to promote skeletal muscle fiber remodeling and myokine IL-15 expression by activating TRPV1 channel
Authors: Huang Tengteng , Chen Xiaoling , He Jun , Zheng Ping , Luo Yuheng , Wu Aimin , Yan Hui , Yu Bing , Chen Daiwen , Huang Zhiqing
Published: May 2024

Metabolic disorders are highly prevalent in modern society. Exercise mimetics are defined as pharmacologic compounds that can produce the beneficial effects of fitness. Recently, there has been increased interest in the role of eugenol and transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) in improving metabolic health. The aim of this study was to investigate whether eugenol acts as an exercise mimetic by activating TRPV1. Here, we showed that eugenol improved endurance capacity, caused the conversion of fast to slow muscle fibers, and promoted white fat browning and lipolysis in mice. Mechanistically, eugenol promoted muscle fiber type transformation by activating TRPV1-mediated CaN signaling pathway. Subsequently, we identified IL-15 as a myokine that is regulated by the CaN/Nuclear factor of activated T cells cytoplasmic 1 (NFATc1) signaling pathway. Moreover, we found that TRPV1-mediated CaN/NFATc1 signaling, activated by eugenol, controlled IL-15 levels in C2C12 myotubes. Our results suggest that eugenol may act as an exercise mimetic to improve metabolic health via activating the TRPV1-mediated CaN signaling pathway.
Sex Differences in Discrimination Behavior and Orbitofrontal Engagement During Context-Gated Reward Prediction
Authors: Peterson Sophie , Maheras Amanda , Chavira Jose , Wu Brenda , Keiflin Ronald
Published: May 2024

Animals, including humans, rely on contextual information to interpret ambiguous stimuli. Impaired context processing is a hallmark of several neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and addiction. While sex differences in the prevalence and manifestations of these disorders are well established, potential sex differences in context processing remain uncertain. Here we examined sex differences in the contextual control over cue-evoked reward seeking and its neural correlates, in rats. Male and female rats were trained in a bidirectional occasion-setting preparation in which the validity of two auditory reward-predictive cues was informed by the presence, or absence, of a visual contextual feature (LIGHT: X+ / DARK: X− / LIGHT: Y− / DARK: Y+). Females were significantly slower to acquire contextual control over cue-evoked reward seeking. However, once established, the contextual control over behavior was more robust in female rats; it showed less within-session variability (less influence of prior reward) and greater resistance to acute stress. This superior contextual control achieved by females was accompanied by an increased activation of the orbitofrontal cortex compared to males. Critically, these behavioral and neural sex differences were specific to the contextual modulation process and not observed in simple, context-independent, reward prediction tasks. These results indicate a sex-biased trade-off between the speed of acquisition and the robustness of performance in the contextual modulation of cued reward seeking. The different distribution of sexes along the fast learning ↔ steady performance continuum might reflect different levels of engagement of the orbitofrontal cortex, and might have implications for our understanding of sex differences in psychiatric disorders.
Convolutional networks can model the functional modulation of MEG responses during reading
Authors: van Vliet Marijn , Rinkinen Oona , Shimizu Takao , Niskanen Anni-Mari , Devereux Barry , Salmelin Riitta
Published: May 2024

Neuroimaging studies have provided a wealth of information about when and where changes in brain activity might be expected during reading. We sought to better understand the computational steps that give rise to such task-related modulations of neural activity by using a convolutional neural network to model the macro-scale computations necessary to perform single-word recognition. We presented the model with stimuli that had been shown to human volunteers in an earlier magnetoencephalography (
meg
) experiment and evaluated whether the same experimental effects could be observed in both brain activity and model. In a direct comparison between model and
meg
recordings, the model accurately predicted the amplitude changes of three evoked
meg
response components commonly observed during single-word reading. In contrast to traditional models of reading, our model directly operates on the pixel values of an image containing text. This allowed us to simulate the whole gamut of processing from the detection and segmentation of letter shapes to word-form identification, with the deep learning architecture facilitating inclusion of a large vocabulary of 10k Finnish words. Interestingly, the key to achieving the desired behavior was to use a noisy activation function for the units in the model as well as to obey word frequency statistics when repeating stimuli during training. We conclude that the deep learning techniques that revolutionized models of object recognition can also create models of reading that can be straightforwardly compared to neuroimaging data, which will greatly facilitate testing and refining theories on language processing in the brain.
Whole-brain neural substrates of behavioral variability in the larval zebrafish
Authors: Manley Jason , Vaziri Alipasha
Published: May 2024

Animals engaged in naturalistic behavior can exhibit a large degree of behavioral variability even under sensory invariant conditions. Such behavioral variability can include not only variations of the same behavior, but also variability across qualitatively different behaviors driven by divergent cognitive states, such as fight-or-flight decisions. However, the neural circuit mechanisms that generate such divergent behaviors across trials are not well understood. To investigate this question, here we studied the visual-evoked responses of larval zebrafish to moving objects of various sizes, which we found exhibited highly variable and divergent responses across repetitions of the same stimulus. Given that the neuronal circuits underlying such behaviors span sensory, motor, and other brain areas, we built a novel Fourier light field microscope which enables high-resolution, whole-brain imaging of larval zebrafish during behavior. This enabled us to screen for neural loci which exhibited activity patterns correlated with behavioral variability. We found that despite the highly variable activity of single neurons, visual stimuli were robustly encoded at the population level, and the visual-encoding dimensions of neural activity did not explain behavioral variability. This robustness despite apparent single neuron variability was due to the multi-dimensional geometry of the neuronal population dynamics: almost all neural dimensions that were variable across individual trials, i.e. the “noise” modes, were orthogonal to those encoding for sensory information. Investigating this neuronal variability further, we identified two sparsely-distributed, brain-wide neuronal populations whose pre-motor activity predicted whether the larva would respond to a stimulus and, if so, which direction it would turn on a single-trial level. These populations predicted single-trial behavior seconds before stimulus onset, indicating they encoded time-varying internal modulating behavior, perhaps organizing behavior over longer timescales or enabling flexible behavior routines dependent on the animal’s internal state. Our results provide the first whole-brain confirmation that sensory, motor, and internal variables are encoded in a highly mixed fashion throughout the brain and demonstrate that de-mixing each of these components at the neuronal population level is critical to understanding the mechanisms underlying the brain’s remarkable flexibility and robustness.
Base editing of Ptbp1 in neurons alleviates symptoms in a mouse model for Parkinson’s disease
Authors: Böck Desirée , Wilhelm Maria , Mumenthaler Jonas , Carpanese Daniel Fabio , d'Aquin Simon , Cremonesi Alessio , Rassi Anahita , Häberle Johannes , Patriarchi Tommaso , Schwank Gerald
Published: May 2024

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a multifactorial disease caused by irreversible progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons. Recent studies reported successful conversion of astrocytes into dopaminergic neurons by repressing polypyrimidine tract binding protein 1 (PTBP1), which led to a rescue of motor symptoms in a mouse model for PD. However, the mechanisms underlying this cell type conversion remain underexplored and controversial. Here, we devised a strategy using adenine base editing to effectively knockdown PTBP1 in astrocytes and neurons in a PD mouse model. Using AAV delivery vectors at a dose of 2×10
8
vg per animal, we found that
Ptbp1
editing in neurons, but not astrocytes, of the substantia nigra pars compacta and striatum resulted in the formation of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)
+
cells and the rescue of forelimb akinesia and spontaneous rotations. Phenotypic analysis of TH
+
cells indicates that they originated from non-dividing neurons and acquired dopaminergic neuronal markers upon PTBP1 downregulation. While further research is required to fully understand the origin, identity, and function of these newly generated TH
+
cells, our study reveals that the downregulation of PTBP1 can reprogram neurons to mitigate symptoms in PD mice.
Effect of Sodium Benzoate as an Add-on Therapy on the Clinical and Cognitive Symptoms of Schizophrenia: A Case Series
Authors: Victor Robin , Avinash Priyaranjan , Singhania Rachit
Published: May 2024

Schizophrenia is understood as a construct of positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms. There has been considerable proof at a genetic, biochemical, and pharmacological level to support that N-methyl-D-aspartate Receptor (NMDAR) hypofunction is a key factor in the development of clinical and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia. While most antipsychotics improve positive symptoms of schizophrenia, the negative and cognitive symptoms have usually been much more difficult to treat and have been associated with poor prognosis, poor functional outcome, and long-term morbidity. Sodium benzoate is a molecule that targets D-amino Acid Oxidase (DAAO) and competitively inhibits it, thus acting as an NMDAR agonist. With this background, we started using sodium benzoate as an adjuvant along with the ongoing antipsychotics in certain patients with schizophrenia to observe the change in clinical and cognitive symptoms. The authors have compiled a case series of 12 such patients. They found an improvement ranging from 17% to 21.5% in the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) score and 19% to 32.5% in the Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) Score after six weeks of administration of sodium benzoate as an add-on agent. None of the patients reported any adverse effects after six weeks. Thus, sodium benzoate as an add-on treatment can act as a neurocognitive enhancer as well as a novel antipsychotic that can bridge the gap in the treatment of schizophrenia.
Isolation, Morphological Characterization and Screening of Yeast Isolates from Different Fruit Samples of Raichur District, Karnataka, India
Authors: Shruthi C  , Yallappa M  , Naik Nagraj M , Pampangouda  , Pampanna Y
Published: May 2024

A laboratory experiment was conducted in the Department of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Agriculture Raichur and Bheemarayangudi for isolation, characterization and screening of yeast isolates from different fruit samples of Raichur district. Fruit samples like Fig, Papaya, Pomegranate, Dragon fruit and Grapes were collected from different places of Raichur district. In total 26 yeast isolates were isolated from collected fruit samples all yeast isolates showed colour characteristics like dull white, white milky, creamish-white, pink and orange. The population of yeast isolates ranged from 2.00 to 58.50 cfu/ml of fruit samples.  All 26 yeast isolates were positive for sugar fermentation test, different carbon utilization test, ethanol, glucose and pH tolerance test. The yeast isolate Raichur Papaya Yeast- 5 shown better results (2.510@10% v/v, 3.055 @30% and 2.862@ pH 6 respectively).
Millets as an Ancient Grains for Modern Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture
Authors: Singh Bishnu Deo , Abhishek G J , Priya P.  , Kumar Sunil , Shinde Shital Pravin , Kumar Sanjay , Bhushan Shanti , Behera Madhumita , Vajha Madhuri , Pandey Amit Kumar
Published: May 2024

Millets, a group of small-seeded grasses, represent a diverse set of cereal crops that have been cultivated for millennia. They offer numerous nutritional, environmental, and economic benefits, yet they remain underutilized in many parts of the world. This paper explores the potential of millets as a key component of efforts to ensure food security in the face of climate change, population growth, and environmental degradation. Millets are highly resilient to drought, pests, and diseases, making them well-suited to marginal growing conditions. Additionally, they boast nutritional profiles rich in protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, addressing malnutrition and diet-related health issues. Furthermore, millet cultivation promotes biodiversity, reduces water consumption, and enhances soil fertility, contributing to sustainable agricultural practices. Despite their advantages, millets face challenges such as limited awareness, lack of infrastructure, and policy neglect. Thus, concerted efforts are needed to promote research, improve market access, and raise consumer awareness to unlock the full potential of millets in ensuring food security and promoting sustainable agriculture globally.
Robust and Highly Efficient Free‐Standing Carbonaceous Nanofiber Membranes for Water Purification
Authors: Liang Hai‐Wei , Cao Xiang , Zhang Wen‐Jun , Lin Hong‐Tao , Zhou Fei , Chen Li‐Feng , Yu Shu‐Hong
Published: August 2011

The removal of dye and toxic ionic pollutants from water is an extremely important issue. A simple filtration process to decontaminate water by employing a free‐standing fibrous membrane fabricated from highly uniform carbonaceous nanofibers (CNFs) is demonstrated. This process combines the excellent adsorption behavior of CNFs and the advantages of membrane filtration over conventional adsorption techniques, which include simple scale‐up, reduced time, and lower energy consumption. Batch adsorption experiments showed that the CNFs exhibited larger adsorption capacities than commercial granular active carbon (GAC) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) because of their large surface area, high uniformity, and numerous active sites on the surface of nanofibers. Membrane filtration experiments proved that the CNF membranes could remove methylene blue (MB) efficiently at a very high flux of 1580 L m−2 h−1, which is 10–100 times higher than that of commercial nano‐ or ultrafiltration membranes with similar rejection properties. The high permeability of CNF membrane permits stacking of membranes to improve adsorption capacity. In addition, the CNF membranes are easily regenerated and remain unaltered in adsorption performance over six successive cycles of dye adsorption, desorption, and washing. Given the high adsorption and regenerability performance of the CNF membrane, it should have potential applications in water purification.
Fluorescent Conjugated Polyelectrolytes for Bioimaging
Authors: Pu Kan‐Yi , Liu Bin
Published: August 2011

This Feature Article summarizes the recent advances of water‐soluble fluorescent conjugated polyelectrolytes (CPEs) in bioimaging. Apart from a brief overview of traditional linear CPEs, a special emphasis is placed on CPEs that can self‐assemble into or are born with three‐dimensional nano‐architectures, including grafted CPEs, hyperbranched CPEs, and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes(POSS)‐based CPE derivatives. These CPEs naturally form nanoparticles with sizes ranging from 3 to 100 nm in aqueous media, and possess reactive functional groups for bioconjugation or complexation with desired biorecognition elements. The tunable size, low cytotoxicity, good photostability, and ease of surface modification ultimately enable these CPEs with wide applications in in vitro intracellular protein sensing, cell detection, in vivo cell imaging and drug tracking. Moreover, traditional linear CPEs can be transformed into uniform nanoparticles by complexation with oppositely charged biomolecules to allow for cell detection and in situ drug release monitoring. The work featured herein not only reveals the important molecular design principles of CPEs for different imaging tasks, but also highlights the promising directions for the further development of CPE‐based imaging materials.
MODY type 2 in Greig cephalopolysyndactyly syndrome (GCPS) as part of a contiguous gene deletion syndrome
Authors: Zung Amnon , Petek Erwin , Ben‐Zeev Bruria , Schwarzbraun Thomas , Ben‐Yehoshua Sagi Josefsberg
Published: August 2011

Maturity‐onset diabetes of the young type 2 (MODY2) is a form of monogenic diabetes, characterized by mild fasting hyperglycemia. MODY2 is caused by heterozygous mutations in the GCK gene that encodes the glucokinase enzyme. We describe the clinical features and the underlying genetic defect of MODY2 in a patient with atypical Greig cephalopolysyndactyly syndrome (GCPS). The patient presented with the limb formation and the craniofacial developmental abnormalities typical to GCPS, in addition to mental retardation and epilepsy (assigned as atypical syndrome). Fasting hyperglycemia in the diabetic range, impaired glucose tolerance, and lack of diabetes autoantibodies were compatible with MODY2. In order to delineate the genetic aberrations relevant both to MODY2 and Greig syndrome in this patient, we performed cytogenetic analysis, real‐time PCR of the GCK gene, and comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) array. Cytogenetic study has shown a microscopic detectable deletion in the 7p13‐15 chromosomal region. Real‐time PCR demonstrated a deletion of the GCK gene in the patient but not her parents, and CGH array revealed a deleted region of approximately 12 Mb in the 7p13‐15 region. This deleted region included GLI3 and GCK genes (where heterozygous mutations cause GCPS and MODY2, respectively), and many other contiguous genes. Our patient manifests a unique form of MODY2, where GCK gene deletion is part of a large deleted segment in the 7p13‐15 chromosomal region. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
De novo 5q35.5 duplication with clinical presentation of Sotos syndrome
Authors: Kasnauskiene Jurate , Cimbalistiene Loreta , Ciuladaite Zivile , Preiksaitiene Egle , Kučinskienė Zita Aušrelė , Hettinger Joe A. , Sismani Carolina , Patsalis Philippos C. , Kučinskas Vaidutis
Published: August 2011

We report on a girl with developmental delay and a de novo 264 kb interstitial duplication in the region of Sotos syndrome at 5q35.3 in the immediate vicinity of critical NSD1 gene, but manifesting the phenotype, of overgrowth both prenatal stage and postnatal, macrocephaly, developmental delay, and resembling that of Sotos syndrome, rather than the recently reported syndrome of reciprocal duplication. The duplication is located right downstream from the NSD1 gene, a region which appears critical for the expression of the gene as regulatory elements might be disrupted or the expression of a not amplified critical gene might be otherwise affected by the duplicated region. Thus, in the process of evaluating identified CNVs attention should be drawn to the possible influence of chromosomal rearrangement on distant genes, which could add additional diversity to genomic disorders. Our case demonstrates that evaluation of the size of chromosomal alteration and gene content are not sufficient for assessment of CNV's pathogenicity and the context of adjacent genes should be considered. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Report of a further family with dominant deafness‐onychodystrophy (DDOD) syndrome
Authors: White Susan M. , Fahey Michael
Published: August 2011

Deafness and onychodystrophy is a presumed autosomal dominant condition previously reported in five families. We report on a three‐generation family with three affected members with absent finger and toenails, finger‐like thumbs, and severe sensorineural deafness. In the hands, the first and fifth digits had absent nails and bulbous swelling of the distal phalanx. The second, third, and fourth digits were relatively spared. In the feet, there were hypoplastic great toenails and absent nails on second to fifth toes. Intelligence was normal. In addition to deafness and onychodystrophy, other features in this family included subtle facial dysmorphism in two individuals, cutis aplasia in one individual, epilepsy in one individual, and sudden infant death in two family members, one of whom had deafness and onychodystrophy and one who did not. A full autopsy of both infants did not reveal a cause. SNP microarray analysis of one family member showed no evidence of copy number change. This family's condition fits within the spectrum of dominant deafness‐onychodystrophy syndrome (DDOD) and further characterises this rare condition. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Analysis of genomewide association signals for nonsyndromic cleft lip/palate in a Kenya African cohort
Authors: Weatherley‐White R. Christopher , Ben Songtao , Jin Ying , Riccardi Sheri , Arnold Thomas D. , Spritz Richard A.
Published: August 2011

Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate is a common birth defect with a wide range of prevalence among different populations, apparently highest in Asians and Amerindians and lowest in Africans. Recent genomewide association studies of European‐derived and Asian populations have identified six confirmed loci for this phenotype: 1p22.1, 1q32.2 (IRF6), 8q24, 10q25.3, 17q22, and 20q12. However, there have thus far been no studies of these loci in African patients with nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate. We carried out association analysis of SNPs in these six candidate chromosomal regions in 128 nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate cases and 105 controls from the Rift Valley of Kenya. We observed no apparent association of this phenotype with any of these SNPs, though there was strong statistical power only for 8q24. These results indicate that at least the 8q24 locus does not play a major role in the pathogenesis of nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate in east Africa, supporting locus heterogeneity for susceptibility to this phenotype among different major populations of the world. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Synthesis of liquid crystalline polymers from polyethylene terephthalate and 4‐acetoxybenzoic acid: A kinetic study
Authors: Bishara Ahmed , Al‐Mulla Adam , Al‐Roomi Yousef , Shaban Habib
Published: August 2011

Liquid crystalline polymers (LCPs) have been synthesized from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and 4‐acetoxybenzoic acid (OB) through melt step‐growth polymerization. The presence of liquid crystalline texture is first examined using optical polarizing microscopy. The thermal durability of the developed systems is studied through thermogravimetric analysis. The kinetics of the polymerization processes is analyzed. The effectiveness of three catalysts commonly used in polyesterification is investigated. The effect of reaction temperature is also examined. The progress of polycondensation reactions over time takes a nonlinear behavior of slight sigmoidal shape, irrespective of whether or not the reaction is catalyzed. Simple second and third order equations, along with a nonlinear model, are used to determine the kinetic parameters characterizing these reactions. The rate of reaction is enhanced when the reaction temperature is increased. Overall, second‐order kinetics well describes the polymerization reactions when the data set is divided into two regions. Antimony trioxide induces a more visible enhancement to the rate of reaction, compared to zinc acetate and sodium acetate. The presence of a catalyst generally increases the reaction activation energy. This indicates that entropy factors outweigh the increase in activation energy and drive the catalyzed reactions to completion. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012
Analytical applications of newly synthesized copolymer resin derived from p‐aminophenol, dithiooxamide, and formaldehyde
Authors: Gurnule Wasudeo B. , Katkamwar Sharayu S.
Published: August 2011

A copolymer resin (p‐APDF) has been synthesized using the monomers p‐aminophenol, dithiooxamide, formaldehyde in 1 : 1 : 2M proportions in the presence of 2M HCl as catalyst. The structure of p‐APDF copolymer has been elucidated on the basis of elemental analysis and various physicochemical techniques, i.e., UV‐visible, FTIR, and 1H‐NMR spectroscopy. The number average molecular weight of copolymer resin was determined by nonaqueous conductometric titration in DMF. Viscosity measurement were carried out in DMF indicate normal behavior. The prepared resin proved to be a selective ion exchange resin for some metal ions. The chelating ion exchange properties of this resin was studied for Fe(III) and Cu(II), Ni(II), Co(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), Pb(II) ions. A batch equilibrium method was used to study selectivity of metal ion uptake over a wide pH range and in media of various ionic strength. The resin showed a higher selectivity for Fe(III), Ni(II), Cu(II) ions than for Co(II), Pb(II), Zn(II), and Cd(II) ions. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012
Effect of intercalation agent on the structure and properties of OMMT and RTV/OMMT composites
Authors: Jincheng Wang , Ke Yang , Nan Xu
Published: August 2011

Novel room‐temperature vulcanized silicone rubber (RTV)/organic montmorillonite (OMMT) composites have been prepared. Di(2‐oxyethyl)‐12 alkane‐3 methyl‐amine chloride and hydrogen silicone oil were used as intercalation agents to treat Na+‐montmorillonite and form two kinds of OMMTs. The structure and properties of OMMT were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X‐ray diffraction (XRD). The intercalation mechanism of different types of intercalation agents was proposed. RTV/OMMT composites were prepared using these OMMTs. Properties such as viscosity, hardness, tensile strength, elongation at break, and thermal stability were researched and compared. A combination of swelling test, XRD and transmission electronic microscopy studies was used to characterize the structure and reinforcing mechanism of these OMMTs. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012
Synthesis and photoinitiating activity study of polymeric photoinitiators bearing BP moiety based on hyperbranched poly(ester‐amine) via thiol‐ene click reaction
Authors: Xie Han , Hu Lihua , Shi Wenfang
Published: August 2011

A series of polymeric photoinitiators (BP‐HPEAs) bearing BP moiety based on hyperbranched poly(ester‐amine) were synthesized via the thiol‐ene click reaction of 3‐(4‐benzoylphenoxy)propyl 2‐mercaptoacetate (BPPM) with acrylated HPEA. BPPM was obtained by the esterification of (4‐(3‐hydroxypropoxy) phenyl) phenyl methanone (HPPM) with mercaptoacetic acid in the presence of p‐toluene sulphonic acid as a catalyst. HPEA was prepared through Michael addition of piperazine with tri(hydroxymethyl)propane triacrylate. Their molecular structures were confirmed by the 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and FTIR analysis. The UV–vis spectrum analysis results showed that BP‐HPEAs exhibit the stronger n–π* absorption at ∼ 340 nm with over two times higher molar extinction coefficients than BP at the concentration of 1.00 × 10−3M. The photoinitiating activity study showed that the maximum photopolymerization rates of 1,6‐hexanediol diacrylate initiated by BP‐HPEAs in the absence of coinitiator were obtained by two times higher than that by BP in the presence of triethylamine as a coinitiator. Moreover, the excellent miscibility of BP‐HPEAs with the commercial bisphenol A epoxy diacrylate was achieved according to the Ts/Tg ratios of over 9.0 from DMTA. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012
Redox‐Controlled, Reversible Rearrangement of a Tris(2‐pyridylthio)methyl Ligand on Nickel to an Isomer with an “N,S‐Confused” 2‐Pyridylthiolate Arm
Authors: Kuwamura Naoto , Kitano Ken'ichi , Hirotsu Masakazu , Nishioka Takanori , Teki Yoshio , Santo Ryoko , Ichimura Akio , Hashimoto Hideki , Wright L. James , Kinoshita Isamu
Published: August 2011

Interchange between the nickel +2 and +3 oxidation states precisely controls the reversible rearrangement of the tris(2‐pyridylthio)methanide (tptm) ligand in the organometallic nickel(II) complex [{Ni(μ‐Br)(tptm)}2] (2). Oxidation of 2 first gives the corresponding NiIII complex [{Ni(μ‐Br)(tptm)}2][PF6]2 (4). However, in solution the tptm ligand in 4 slowly undergoes a rearrangement, in which the N and S atoms of one of the pyridylthiolate arms exchange Ni and C bonding partners, thereby resulting in an “N,S‐confused” isomer of tptm in the product, [NiBr(bpttpm)]PF6 (5; bpttpm=bis(2‐pyridylthio)(2‐thiopyridinium)methyl). Reduction of 5 reverses this ligand rearrangement and 2 is reformed quantitatively. The individual steps involved in these unusual ligand rearrangements were investigated by a number of methods, including voltammetric analysis, and a mechanism for this process is proposed. X‐ray crystal structure determinations of the key compounds 2, 4 and 5 have been obtained.
Congestion control for sudden bandwidth changes in TCP
Authors: Ko Euiyul , An Donghyeok , Yeom Ikjun , Yoon Hyunsoo
Published: August 2011

In this paper, we propose a novel technique to deal with sudden bandwidth changes in transmission control protocol (TCP). In the current Internet, sudden bandwidth changes may occur because of vertical handovers between heterogeneous access networks, routing path changes, cognitive ratio, and multi‐rate wireless local area network. The current implementation of TCP is designed and optimized for stable networks and does not adapt well upon sudden bandwidth changes. Consequently, it might suffer from packet losses in burst upon sudden bandwidth decrement and under‐utilization upon sudden bandwidth increment. To resolve this problem, we propose to modify the current TCP algorithm to include a new phase, called fast adaptation (FA). The FA phase is triggered upon detecting sudden bandwidth changes, and a TCP sender in the FA phase attempts to recover lost packets quickly to avoid spurious timeouts upon sudden bandwidth decrement. Upon sudden bandwidth increment, it increases its window size drastically to realize full utilization. Through extensive simulations, experiments, and analysis, it is shown that the proposed scheme can effectively deal with sudden bandwidth changes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
State‐of‐the‐art therapeutic medical countermeasures for bacterial threat agents
Authors: Stundick Melissa V. , Metz Matthew , Sampath Aruna , Larsen Joseph C.
Published: August 2011

In the event of another bioterrorism attack with a bacterial agent, antibiotics will be critical medical countermeasures to have in the US Strategic National Stockpile. Conventional antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, and streptomycin are generally considered a first line of defense against organisms such as Bacillus anthracis and Yersinia pestis. However, antibiotic resistance is a growing public health threat, especially among potentially life‐threatening pathogens; it is possible that threat agent bacteria could naturally evolve, or be engineered to express, antibiotic resistance against commonly used antibiotics. At the same time that the need for novel or improved antibiotics is becoming urgent, the antibiotic development pipeline has slowed, with only two completely new classes of antibiotics having been introduced over the past 40 years. In the present work, we review the current antibiotic pipeline, including novel, innovative approaches being considered to target bacteria or virulence, with a focus on those compounds that have been tested for activity against threat agent bacteria. We opine on the benefits and challenges inherent in certain mechanisms of action and stress that regulatory, policy, and technical strategies need to be revisited in order to incentivize industry to continue antibiotic development. Drug Dev Res 72: 361–378, 2011.© 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Synthesis of Unsymmetrical Alkyloxy/Aryloxy‐azaphthalocyanines Based on a Transetherification Reaction
Authors: Novakova Veronika , Miletin Miroslav , Kopecky Kamil , Franzová Šárka , Zimcik Petr
Published: August 2011

An approach leading to unsymmetrical azaphthalocyanines (AzaPcs) bearing one aryloxy and seven butoxy substituents on the periphery is described. Several cyclotetramerization methods were tested, including the template effect of a metal salt in a melt/solution and the Linstead method, but only one was found to be suitable for the isolation of unsymmetrical alkyloxy/aryloxy‐AzaPcs. Undesired transetherification with alkoxides, which is common with these types of compounds, was considered to be an advantage in this approach, and an unsymmetrical AzaPc was isolated in 10 % yield. An analysis of the transetherification process is also described. Unsymmetrical zinc(II) and magnesium(II) AzaPcs showed excellent spectral properties (λmax = 620 nm; ϵ = 1.5–2.2 × 105 dm3mol–1 cm–1) as well as promising singlet oxygen (ΦΔ = 0.44 and 0.26, respectively) and fluorescence quantum yields (ΦF = 0.50 and 0.65, respectively). The metal‐free derivative (λmax = 603 and 640 nm; ϵ = 0.80 and 1.2 × 105 dm3 mol–1 cm–1) dissipated energy in a different way, and the ΦΔ and ΦF values were one order of magnitude smaller (0.030 and 0.053, respectively). All the parameters were comparable to the corresponding symmetrical AzaPcs containing eight butoxy substituents, which suggests that an unsymmetrical composition of AzaPc on the periphery has no negative effect on the photophysical or photochemical properties.
Session and media signalling for communication components‐based open multimedia conferencing Web service over IP networks
Authors: Bo Cheng , Xiaoxiao Hu , Shicheng Zhang , Junliang Chen
Published: August 2011

Service‐oriented communication is a new trend in the industry to enable communication through a service‐oriented architecture (SOA) and thereby package communications as services, which opens a new paradigm of Web service‐based Voice Over Internet Protocol communication, which is extensible and can be easily integrated in end‐to‐end SOA solutions. In this paper, we proposed the communication components‐based open multimedia conferencing Web service over IP networks and mainly focus on the session and media signalling for multimedia conferencing Web service. Details including the multimedia conferencing multiple parties call control state machines and session management, the state life cycle management, and the signal flows for multimedia conferencing scenarios, also including the Simple Object Access Protocol messages mapping to the asynchronous events. The session and media signalling management also provides the Web services interfaces for triggering conferencing session establishment and is further responsible for all necessary media signalling towards a proper media server. In addition, a prototype has been implemented, and its performance has been measured and analysed. Finally, we give the conclusions and future work. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A review on recent research results (2008–2010) on essential oils as antimicrobials and antifungals. A review.
Authors: Lang Gudrun , Buchbauer Gerhard
Published: August 2011

The antimicrobial activity of essential oils is discussed in this review taking in account studies which were published in the period of time from 2008 until September 2010. Furthermore, the most important methods to examine the antimicrobial efficiency of essential oils are presented. The studies are divided into the following two groups, namely antibacterial and antifungal active agents depending on the activity of the applied essential oil against the test microorganisms. Various interesting possible applications are revealed such as the use of essential oils instead of synthetic drugs to circumvent the increasing resistance of some pathogens. Moreover, they could not only be used for the therapy of infectious illnesses, but also as preservatives in the food industry. A further possibility is, among others, the application of essential oils in skin products in order to treat or avoid dermal infections. Additionally, the prevalent constituents of the individual antimicrobial active essential oils are elaborated. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Integrating service quality evaluation model to improve employees' satisfaction for high‐tech iindustry
Authors: Chen Shun‐Hsing
Published: August 2011

This study addresses the deficiency research of service quality by integrating the importance–satisfaction model (I‐S model) and the performance control matrix to provide a more comprehensive assessment model for improving specific quality attributes. The study applies this integrated measuring instrument in a Taiwanese high‐tech industry by using a questionnaire survey of production‐line employees to assess importance and satisfaction in their capacity as internal customers of the company. The study thus identifies and prioritizes quality attributes that require improvement. The findings are significant for service providers because they take into account: (i) the relative importance of quality attributes; (ii) the relative satisfaction level of these attributes; and (iii) the resources available for improvement. The study demonstrates that the I‐S model and the performance control matrix, taken together, provide an excellent measuring instrument for assessing priorities for quality improvement. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Allylation of N‐Benzoylhydrazones (=N′‐Alkylidene‐Substituted Benzohydrazides) by Treatment with Allyl Bromide in the Presence of Zinc in Aqueous Ammonium Chloride Solution
Authors: Das Biswanath , Shinde Digambar Balaji , Kanth Boddu Shashi , Kumar Jayprakash Narayan
Published: August 2011

N‐Benzoylhydrazones (=N′‐alkylidene‐substituted benzohydrazides) 1 are allylated efficiently by reaction with allyl bromide (2) in the presence of Zn in aqueous NH4Cl solution. The products 3 are formed in excellent yields (85–94%) within 35–50 min (Scheme, Table).