bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Study on Dynamic Development of Three-dimensional Weld Pool Surface in Stationary GTAW
Authors: Huang Jiankang , He Jing , He Xiaoying , Shi Yu , Fan Ding
Published: July 2017

The weld pool contains abundant information about the welding process. In particular, the type of the weld pool surface shape, i. e., convex or concave, is determined by the weld penetration. To detect it, an innovative laser-vision-based sensing method is employed to observe the weld pool surface of the gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). A low-power laser dots pattern is projected onto the entire weld pool surface. Its reflection is intercepted by a screen and captured by a camera. Then the dynamic development process of the weld pool surface can be detected. By observing and analyzing, the change of the reflected laser dots reflection pattern, for shape of the weld pool surface shape, was found to closely correlate to the penetration of weld pool in the welding process. A mathematical model was proposed to correlate the incident ray, reflected ray, screen and surface of weld pool based on structured laser specular reflection. The dynamic variation of the weld pool surface and its corresponding dots laser pattern were simulated and analyzed. By combining the experimental data and the mathematical analysis, the results show that the pattern of the reflected laser dots pattern is closely correlated to the development of weld pool, such as the weld penetration. The concavity of the pool surface was found to increase rapidly after the surface shape was changed from convex to concave during the stationary GTAW process.
Problems Affecting Successful Implementation of Blended Learning in Higher Education - The Teacher Perspective
Authors: Mozelius Peter , Rydell Claes
Published: July 2017

An increased use of blended learning environments in higher education has been an emerging trend in the 21st century. Sometimes the definition of blended learning has been so broad that it makes it hard to find any learning environment in higher education that would not be included. Many research studies have been reporting the pros and cons of blended learning from the university perspective and the learner perspective. There are less studies on the teacher view of blended learning environments. This study had the aim to explore, analyse and discuss teachers’ perceived problems and barriers to a successful implementation of blended learning at university level. The used research strategy was a qualitative cross-sectional study where data has been collected with semistructured interviews. Six teachers that all are subject matter experts and instructional designers for courses on computer science were interviewed. In a computer assisted thematic analysis found codes and keywords was grouped together to create themes. Four themes or problematic areas were found, and that they combined could give an explanation to what teachers experience as problems when implementing blended learning environments. First theme is documentation and support, where teachers find the scarcity of documentation in their virtual learning environment a problem for implementing extension modules. Second theme is introduction and training, where teachers find it problematic that they rarely get a proper introduction or further training on the use of tools and modules. Third theme is the time aspect, teachers suffer from the lack of time to implement blended learning thoroughly in their courses. Last found theme is didactics, where teachers do not feel that they have the required knowledge or skills to apply the appropriate instructional design for blended learning environments.
A forensic linguistics problem: Asylum seekers’ dialect identification difficulties in under-documented adjacent Arabic dialects
Authors: Rosenhouse Judith
Published: July 2017

Forensic linguistics includes dialect identification also named Language Analysis for the Definition of Origin (LADO). LADO is used mainly for defining asylum seekers’ mother tongue as reflecting the speaker’s origin. The focus here is on linguistic aspects of adjacent Levant Arabic dialects in Israel (I), Jordan (J) and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Arabic has many spoken dialects in addition to Modern Standard Arabic, its written variety. Differences and similarities between dialects create confusion regarding speakers’ origin. Rich Arabic dialectal literature studies the Levant dialects, but not the precise differences between adjacent dialects. We discuss examples of adjacent under-documented Arabic dialects, which cause difficulties in LADO. The paper presents the linguistic issues involved in examples of phonological, morphological and lexical elements of Arabic dialects spoken in I, J and the PA. In Arabic dialects of these areas, some “Shibboleth” features could identify a speaker’s “mother dialect”. Linguists might use such forms for identification, if speakers use them in spontaneous speech. If they do not occur in a speaker’s recording, however, the interviewer should try to elicit them in the recording session. Currently, inter-dialect language contacts are frequent and complex, and therefore more research is required to provide the missing information.
“There are no words that are ‘clear’ in and of themselves”: Meta-pragmatic comments and semantic analysis in legal interpretation
Authors: Livnat Zohar
Published: July 2017

Legal interpretation often includes a profusion of meta-pragmatic comments about the interpretation process itself. Thus, while pragmatic theories refer to the interpretation processes as natural, mostly unconscious processes, in legal interpretation the inference processes take on a conscious form. Meta-pragmatic comments provide a glimpse into this process and surface various aspects of it that have been described theoretically. The aim of this study is to examine the possibility of applying theoretical pragmatic terms to the legal interpretation discourse.A semantic-pragmatic analysis of a few cases shows that while the linguistic component of the legal interpretation makes it easy to apply pragmatic theory, some of the procedures performed by judges are incompatible with a semantic-pragmatic interpretation and contradict its theoretical assumptions. The purposive approach to interpretation that has developed in the Israeli legal system raises some serious problems in that sense. Applying the objective purpose of a statute even when it is obvious that the legislators could not have desired that in order to change the law cannot be considered “interpretation” in the pragmatic sense, since the central element of speaker’s intentions has been given a completely different meaning, and the aim of the interpretation procedure, namely identifying the speaker’s intentions, has for the most part been lost. This paper suggests that these cases should be viewed as exceptions to pragmatic interpretation and they do not permit application of pragmatic theory to them, at least not of the types of approaches attributed to Grice’s legacy. Nevertheless, this does not mean that theoretical pragmatic tools are not applicable to judicial opinions and to other kinds of legal text.
Optimal Concentration of Organic Solvents to be Used in the Broth Microdilution Method to Determine the Antimicrobial Activity of Natural Products Against Paenibacillus Larvae
Authors: Cugnata Noelia Melina , Guaspari Elisa , Pellegrini Maria Celeste , Fuselli Sandra Rosa , Alonso-Salces Rosa Maria
Published: July 2017

American Foulbrood (AFB) is a bacterial disease, caused by Paenibacillus larvae, that affects honeybees (Apis mellifera). Alternative strategies to control AFB are based on the treatment of the beehives with antimicrobial natural substances such as extracts, essential oils and/or pure compounds from plants, honey by-products, bacteria and moulds. The broth microdilution method is currently one of the most widely used methods to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of a substance. In this regard, the fact that most natural products, due to their lipophilic nature, must be dissolved in organic solvents or their aqueous mixtures is an issue of major concern because the organic solvent becomes part of the dilution in the incubation medium, and therefore, can interfere with bacterial viability depending on its nature and concentration. A systematic study was carried out to determine by the broth microdilution method the MIC and the maximum non inhibitory concentration (MNIC) against P. larvae of the most common organic solvents used to extract or dissolve natural products, i.e. ethanol, methanol, acetonitrile, n-butanol, dimethylsulfoxide, and acidified hydromethanolic solutions. From the MIC and MNIC for each organic solvent, recommended maximum concentrations in contact with P. larvae were established: DMSO 5% (v/v), acetonitrile 7.5% (v/v), ethanol 7.5% (v/v), methanol 12% (v/v), n-butanol 1% (v/v), and methanol-water-acetic acid (1.25:98.71:0.04, v/v/v).
Gyne and Drone Production in Bombus Atratus (Hymenoptera: Apidae)
Authors: Padilla Sandy C. , Cure José R. , Riaño Diego A. , Gutierrez Andrew P. , Rodriguez Daniel , Romero Eddy
Published: July 2017

For over a decade, our research group has studied the biology of the native bumblebee, Bombus atratus, to investigate the feasibility of using it to pollinate crops such as tomato, strawberry, blackberry and peppers. Traditionally, captive breeding has depended on the use of captured wild queens to initiate the colonies. The goal of the current work is to investigate conditions required to produce new queens and drones in captivity. In this study, 31 colonies were evaluated under either greenhouse or open field conditions over a 15 month period. A total of 1492 drones (D) and 737 gynes (G, i.e., virgin queens) were produced by all colonies, with 16 colonies producing both drones and gynes (D&G), 11 producing only drones (D) and 4 producing neither. Some of the D&G colonies had more than one sexual phase, but no colonies produced exclusively gynes. More drones and fewer gynes were produced per colony under greenhouse conditions with the highest number of drones produced by D&G colonies. The numbers of immature stages per cell declined in colonies as increasingly more resources were allocated to the production of gynes and the maintenance of increased nest temperature.
Methoprene and Temperature Stimulation of Emergence and Longevity in Adults of Osmia Rufa L. (Megachilidae; Apoidea) During Wintering Period
Authors: Giejdasz Karol , Wasielewski Oskar
Published: July 2017

In this study methoprene, a juvenile hormone analogues, was tested as a factor that stimulates the end of diapause, bee activation and emergence. In addition, the survival of bees was checked when combined with an application of methoprene. The experimental activation of wintering bees was carried out once a month between December and March, Three groups of bee cocoons were selected for each activation term: treated with either methoprene or acetone as vehicle control and untreated as controls. After the applications were finished the cocoons were incubated at temperature 26°C. The emerged adult males and females were then kept in the laboratory and fed sucrose solution to evaluate the longevity of bees. The application of juvenile hormone analogue reduced the emergence time of adult bees in December, February and March. The rate of emergence presented in the form of cumulative percentage of emerged adult bees indicated that the bees treated with methoprene started to emerge 1-2 days earlier than bees from acetone and control groups and finished emergence 2-5 days earlier too. Methopren application did not reduce the longevity of the bees after emergence. Moreover, the median longevity of these females was higher than untreated in December and February.
The Exposure of Honey Bees to Pesticide Residues in the Hive Environment with Regard to Winter Colony Losses
Authors: Pohorecka Krystyna , Szczęsna Teresa , Witek Monika , Miszczak Artur , Sikorski Piotr
Published: July 2017

The present studies are the second part of the research project dedicated to finding the causes for increased winter mortality of honey bee colonies. The aim of this task was to investigate incidents of overwintered colonies′ death with regard to the potential interrelation to the exposure to pesticides. The samples of winter stores of bee bread and sugar food (honey or syrup processed by bees), beeswax and bees collected from apiaries with low and high rates of winter colony mortality were searched for acaricides used to control V. destructor and plant protection pesticides. The presence of acaricides used in apiculture has been detected in the 51% beeswax samples. The most abundant acaricide was tau-fluvalinate. The stores of bee bread and sugar food had a similar frequency of plant protection pesticide occurrence, ranging between 50-60%, but the number of active substances and their concentrations were substantially lower in sugar food samples. The most prevalent pesticides in pollen were fungicides (carbendazim and boscalid) and insecticides (acetamiprid and thiacloprid). Only a few pesticides were found in the several dead honey bees. The level of pesticide contamination (frequency, concentration, toxicity) of hive products and bees originating from apiaries with both a high and low winter colony survival rates, was similar, which created a similar extent of risk. Although the multiple varroacides and pesticides were present in the hive environment we not found unequivocal links between their residues and high winter colony mortality.
An Effective Technique to Track Objects with the Aid of Rough Set Theory and Evolutionary Programming
Authors: Shanmugapriya Kumaraperumal , Malar RajaMani Suja Mani
Published: July 2017

Due to its wide range of applications, the impact of multimedia in the real world has shown stupendous growth. Texts, images, audio, and video are the different forms of multimedia which are utilized by humans in various applications such as education and surveillance applications. A wide range of research has been carried out, and here in this paper, we propose an object racking with the aid of rough set theory in combination with the eminent soft computing technique evolutionary programming. Initially, the input video is segregated into frames, then the frames that belong to particular shots are identified through the shot segmentation process, and after that the object to be tracked is identified manually. Subsequently, the shape and texture feature is extracted, and then the rough set theory is applied. This is done to identify the presence of object in the frames. Consequently, genetic algorithm (GA) is utilized for the object monitoring process to mark the object with variant color. As a result, the selected object is tracked in an effective manner.
Serological and molecular detection of Bean leaf roll and Chickpea chlorotic stunt luteoviruses in chickpea from Iran
Authors: Hajiyusef Tara , Shahraeen Nooh , Maleki Mojdeh
Published: July 2017

Chickpea (Cicer arietinumL.) is an important legume crop and widely cultivated in northwestern provinces of Iran. During a survey in the 2015 growing season a total of 170 selected chickpea plants with general yellowing symptoms including stunting and leaf bronzing were collected. Serological Elisa and tissue blot immunoassay (TIBA) tests revealed the presence ofBean leaf roll virus(BLRV) andChickpea chlorotic stunt virus(CpCSV) as the predominant viruses in the region. Some serologically positive samples of BLRV and CpCSV were selected and rechecked by RT-PCR. The results of amplified PCR products using a specific pair of primers towards theCpgene region of the viruses were approximately 413 bp for CpCSV and 391 bp for BLRV. Results obtained from sequence comparison of BLRV (IR-F-Lor-5) isolate form two subgroups with eight other BLRV isolates from GeneBank indicating a high homology of 96% with isolates from Argentina, Germany, Tunisia, USA, Spain, and Colombia. An isolate from Norabad (Iran) (IR-Nor) had 98% homology with HQ840727 Libyan isolate. CpCSV sequence comparison with six other GeneBank isolates indicated 98% homology with isolates from Tunisia and Azerbaijan. The overall results of this research revealed the CpCSV and BLRV (luteoviruses) associated with the yellowing disease syndrome of chickpea crops in the surveyed region.
A study on Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench response to split application of herbicides
Authors: Kaczmarek Sylwia
Published: July 2017

Field experiments to evaluate the split application of mesotrione + s-metolachlor, mesotrione + terbuthylazine, dicamba + prosulfuron, terbuthylazine + mesotrione + s-metolachlor, and sulcotrione in the cultivation of sorghum var. Rona 1 were carried out in 2012 and 2013. The field tests were conducted at the field experimental station in Winna Góra, Poznań, Poland. Treatments with the herbicides were performed directly after sowing (PE) and at leaf stage 1–2 (AE1) or at leaf stage 3–4 (AE2) of sorghum. The treatments were carried out in a laid randomized block design with 4 replications. The results showed that the tested herbicides applied at split doses were effective in weed control. After the herbicide application weed density and weed biomass were significantly reduced compared to the infested control. The best results were achieved after the application of mesotrione tank mixture with s-metolachlor and terbuthylazine. Application of split doses of herbicides was also correlated with the density, biomass, and height of sorghum.
Post-intensive care syndrome: An overview
Authors: Rawal Gautam , Yadav Sankalp , Kumar Raj
Published: July 2017

Survival of critically unwell patients has improved in the last decade due to advances in critical care medicine. Some of these survivors develop cognitive, psychiatric and /or physical disability after treatment in intensive care unit (ICU), which is now recognized as post intensive care syndrome (PICS). Given the limited awareness about PICS in the medical faculty this aspect is often overlooked which may lead to reduced quality of life and cause a lot of suffering of these patients and their families. Efforts should be directed towards preventing PICS by minimizing sedation and early mobilization during ICU.All critical care survivors should be evaluated for PICS and those having signs and symptoms of it should be managed by a multidisciplinary team which includes critical care physician, neuro-psychiatrist, physiotherapist and respiratory therapist, with the use of pharmacological and non-apharmacological interventions. This can be achieved through an organizational change and improvement, knowing the high rate of incidence of PICS and its adverse effects on the survivor’s life and daily activities and its effect on the survivor’s family.
Exploring patient characteristics and barriers to Hepatitis C treatment in patients on opioid substitution treatment attending a community based fibro-scanning clinic
Authors: Crowley Des , Cullen Walter , Laird Eamon , Lambert John S. , Mc Hugh Tina , Murphy Carol , Van Hout Marie Claire
Published: July 2017

Background and Objectives

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major public health issue. There is substandard uptake in HCV assessment and treatment among people who inject drugs (PWID). Community fibroscanning is used to assess disease severity and target treatment.

Methods

A survey was administered to a cohort of chronically HCV infected patients attending a community fibroscanning clinic. Questions targeted diagnosis of HCV, suitability, willingness and barriers to engagement in treatment. Descriptive and regression analysis, with thematic analysis of open-ended data was conducted.

Results

There was high acceptance of community fibroscanning among this cohort with over 90% (68) attending. High levels of unemployment (90%) and homelessness (40%) were identified. Most patients were on methadone treatment and had been HCV infected for greater than 10 years with length of time since HCV diagnosis being significantly longer in patients with fibroscan scores > 8.5 kPa (P = 0.016). With each unit increase in methadone dose, the odds of the >8.5 fibroscan group increased by 5.2%. Patient identified barriers to engagement were alcohol and drug use, fear of HCV treatment and liver biopsy, imprisonment, distance to hospital and early morning appointments.

Conclusion

The study highlights the usefulness of community fibroscanning. Identifying barriers to treatment in this cohort affords an opportunity to increase the treatment uptake. The availability of afternoon clinics and enhanced prison linkage are warranted.
Is aortic aneurysm preventable?
Authors: Das Undurti N.
Published: July 2017

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a chronic inflammatory condition, triggered by the local accumulation of macrophages, oxidative stress and damage to the aortic wall. Pro-inflammatory eicosanoids seem to play a significant role in AAA. The pro-inflammatory events seen in AAA could be due to a deficiency of anti-inflammatory eicosanoids such as lipoxin A4 (LXA4), resolvins, protectins and maresins as a result of reduced tissue concentrations of their precursors: arachidonic acid (AA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Thus, an imbalance between pro- and anti-inflammatory eicosanoids may underlie AAA. Angiotensin-II (Ang-II), a pro-inflammatory molecule, seems to have a role in AAA. I propose that AAA is due to the local (abdominal aortic wall) deficiency of AA and other PUFAs and their anti-inflammatory metabolites especially LXA4. The beneficial action of EPA and DHA reported in the animal experimental models of AAA induced by Ang-II infusion can be attributed to their (EPA and DHA) ability to enhance the formation of not only resolvins, protectins and maresins but also LXA4. It is likely that abdominal aortic tissue (endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells and other cells) may be deficient in AA, EPA and DHA, and have defective activity of 5-, 12-, and 15-lipoxygenases and cyclooxygenase, especially COX-2 resulting in decreased formation of LXA4, resolvins, protectins and maresins. Thus, methods designed to enhance the formation of LXA4 and other anti-inflammatory eicosanoids may form a new approach to prevent and manage AAA.
Lebendiges Mittelalter: Möglichkeiten der Vermittlung im gymnasialen Deutschunterricht
Authors: Möhren Markus
Published: July 2017

In the unknown worlds of medieval literature and history and their heroes, students encounter the essence of human experience and longing. Thus they also encounter themselves – despite being embedded in a profoundly different world which for a great part has become a digital world. What appears to have become distant and foreign over the centuries can nevertheless be approachable to today’s young people. These connections are not automatically clear or visible, but must be described and established anew. In skills-oriented lessons we can teach them to forge these connections by highlighting (apparently) foreign yet quite familiar phenomena and vice versa. This approach conforms with the main ideas of current competence-oriented curricula. The article focuses on the options offered by the new 2016 syllabus in the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg. The findings can, by and large, be applied in the curricula in any other German federal state.
Comparison of Interpolators Used for Time-Interval Measurement Systems Based on Multiple-Tapped Delay Line
Authors: Chaberski Dariusz , Frankowski Robert , Gurski Maciej , Zieliński Marek
Published: July 2017

The paper describes the construction, operation and test results of three most popular interpolators from a viewpoint of time-interval (TI) measurement systems consisting of many tapped-delay lines (TDLs) and registering pulses of a wide-range changeable intensity. The comparison criteria include the maximum intensity of registered time stamps (TSs), the dependency of interpolator characteristic on the registered TSs’ intensity, the need of using either two counters or a mutually-complementing pair counter-register for extending a measurement range, the need of calculating offsets between TDL inputs and the dependency of a resolution increase on the number of used TDL segments. This work also contains conclusions about a range of applications, usefulness and methods of employing each described TI interpolator. The presented experimental results bring new facts that can be used by the designers who implement precise time delays in the field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA).
Effect of Feature Extraction on Automatic Sleep Stage Classification by Artificial Neural Network
Authors: Prucnal Monika , Polak Adam G.
Published: July 2017

EEG signal-based sleep stage classification facilitates an initial diagnosis of sleep disorders. The aim of this study was to compare the efficiency of three methods for feature extraction: power spectral density (PSD), discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and empirical mode decomposition (EMD) in the automatic classification of sleep stages by an artificial neural network (ANN). 13650 30-second EEG epochs from the PhysioNet database, representing five sleep stages (W, N1-N3 and REM), were transformed into feature vectors using the aforementioned methods and principal component analysis (PCA). Three feed-forward ANNs with the same optimal structure (12 input neurons, 23 + 22 neurons in two hidden layers and 5 output neurons) were trained using three sets of features, obtained with one of the compared methods each. Calculating PSD from EEG epochs in frequency sub-bands corresponding to the brain waves (81.1% accuracy for the testing set, comparing with 74.2% for DWT and 57.6% for EMD) appeared to be the most effective feature extraction method in the analysed problem.
How the Big Ten West Was Won: Football Recruiting
Authors: Diehl Kevin A.
Published: July 2017

The paper analyses the 2017 Big Ten West Division football cycle models recruiting. The top ten recruit scores [(Rivals.com * 100) + [100 (outside surrounding); 75 (surrounding)] + extra credit walk-ons (100; 75)] allow proper ranking: Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Illinois, Minnesota, and Purdue.
Crystal structure of catena-poly[dichlorido-(μ2-4-(1H-pyrazol-3-yl)-pyridine-κ2
N,N′)]cadmium(II), C48H42Cd3Cl16N18
Authors: Bai Ruo-Fei , Liu Qiu-Xia
Published: July 2017

C48H42Cd3Cl16N18, monoclinic, C2/c (no. 15), a = 11.4564(7) Å, b = 21.1547(15) Å, c = 21.3475(13) Å, β = 95.192(5)°, V = 5152.5(6) Å3, Z = 4, R
gt(F) = 0.0381, wR
ref(F
2) = 0.0862, T = 293(2) K.
Maintaining Connections
Authors: Fernández-Ardèvol Mireia , Sawchuk Kim , Grenier Line
Published: July 2017

The concepts of user and non-user are frequently deployed within media and communications literature. What do these terms mean if examined regarding age and ageing? In this article we explore and trouble these notions through an analysis of twenty-two conversations with a group of octogenarians and nonagenarians living in a retirement home. Their descriptions of their changing uses of media througout lifetime, and their encounters with mobile phones, computers, newspapers, television, radio and landline phones, are presented as a set of ‘techno-biographies’ that challenge binary divisions of use and non-use, linear notions of media adoption, and add texture to the idea of ‘the fourth age’ as a time of life bereft of decisional power. Speaking with octogenarians and nonagenarians provides insights into media desires, needs and uses, and opens up ‘non-use’ as a complex, variegated activity, rather than a state of complete inaction or disinterest.
Digital Equality and the Uptake of Digital Applications among Seniors of Different Age
Authors: Bergström Annika
Published: July 2017

Ageing societies are facing challenges from the perspective of the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). There is an increase in online services relevant for the economic, political, cultural and private life. Those who participate more fully in a digitally mediated social life enjoy advantages over their digitally disadvantaged counterparts. Today’s digital divide is not first and foremost between pensioners and others, but between younger and older pensioners. Scholars identify the need for longitudinal research among younger and older seniors to understand the differences between more or less advantaged users. Based on longitudinal, representative surveys, the present study finds that there is a clear gap between younger and older seniors, and that it is closing only very slowly. Age and level of education are powerful explanatory factors whereas generational belonging and social capital contribute only to a limited extent to the understanding of Internet uptake among older adults.
Why Ageing is More Important than Being Old
Authors: Naab Thorsten , Schwarzenegger Christian
Published: July 2017

The idea of distinct media generations is frequently discussed in the research literature about elderly media users. This article reviews the theoretical framework of media generations and develops a contrasting perspective that focuses on the dynamics of ageing. Its line of argument is supported empirically based on ten years of longitudinal, representative German national survey data and thirty media biographical interviews. The results indicate the fluidity of generational belonging and the importance of contextual factors to assess elderly’s media use. Finally, it is concluded that media dynamics in the lives of the elderly are best examined with a concept of media generations that is not essentially derived from birth – neither of technology, nor of people.
Growing Old with Mediatization
Authors: Givskov Cecilie
Published: July 2017

Computers, tablets, smartphones and mobile phones enable people to act across contexts. For individuals born during the first half of the twentieth century, these social infrastructures for agency arrived late in the life course. This article presents an analysis of a set of interviews that were thematically coded to reveal ways in which the infrastructures figured in reflexive practices among older single-dwelling women. The interviews were patterned by the shared image of a ‘media world’ and the hypothesis of the indispensability of newer media for living a socially integrated life in today’s society. Control of media connected with feelings of dis- or empowerment; ultimately media amplified the participants’ feelings of being autonomous actors. I argue that the newer media infrastructures extend the scope and need for reflexivity and augment the reflexive ageing associated with the continued activity and autonomy of the third age.
Culturable halotolerant fungal isolates from Southern California Gulf sediments
Authors: González-Martínez Sophia , Soria Irma , Ayala Nahara , Portillo-López Amelia
Published: July 2017

Marine fungal biodiversity as a new precursor of biotechnology products is poorly studied compared to its terrestrial counterpart which has been used as a rich source of bioactive compounds. Because of the importance of marine fungi, we present here the first marine cultivable fungal isolates from sea sediments of 43 to 311 m depth from the Southern California Gulf, Mexico. Seventeen selected halotolerant fungi were isolated and identified by sequencing their ITS 1 and 2 genes. They belong to the phylum Ascomycota and Basidiomycota (16 and 1 isolates). Cladosporium spp were represented by 29%, Aspergillus spp by 24%, Talaromyces spp by 12% and other species by 35%. Two fungi showed antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus.
Changes in bird communities of Admiralty Bay, King George Island (West Antarctic): insights from monitoring data (1977–1996)
Authors: Sierakowski Kazimierz , Korczak-Abshire Małgorzata , Jadwiszczak Piotr
Published: July 2017

The paper summarizes results of twenty years of seabird observations carried out between 1977 and 1996 on the western shore of Admiralty Bay (King George Island, South Shetlands, Antarctic). Changes in population size, distribution and phenology of the breeding species as well as the appearance of non-breeding species are reported. A total of 34 species of birds were observed, including 13 breeding species. Among the non-breeding species, four were observed to visit the site regularly, six rarely, and the remaining 11 were observed only occasionally. Among breeding populations, three Pygoscelis penguin species, the main krill consumers, were most numerous. The Adélie Penguin (P. adeliae) dominated among the penguins nesting in the investigated areas, reaching 23,661 breeding pairs in 1978. Two other penguin species were less abundant with population sizes of approximately 7,200 breeding pairs for the Chinstrap Penguin (P. antarcticus) and 3,100 breeding pairs for the Gentoo Penguin (P. papua) in the same year. During the following two decades, breeding populations of pygoscelid species experienced a declining trend and their numbers were reduced by 68.0% for Chinstrap, 67.1% for Gentoo, and 33.9% for Adélie Penguins. The data reported here represent a unique reference basis and provide valuable information about indicator species, suitable for comparison with contemporary observations of bird populations in the Antarctic Peninsula region, a place of rapidly occurring climate changes and intensive harvesting of marine living resources.
Knowledge about the joy in children with mild intellectual disability
Authors: Jasielska Aleksandra , Buchnat Marzena
Published: July 2017

The aim of this study was to characterize the knowledge about the joy in children with mild intellectual disability. The premises relating to mental functioning of these children suggest that this knowledge is poorer and less complex than the knowledge of their peers in the intellectual norm. The study used the authoring tool to measure children’s knowledge of emotions including the joy. This tool takes into account the cognitive representation of the basic emotions available in three codes: image, verbal, semantic and interconnection between the codes - perception, symbolization and conceptualization which perform the functions of perception, expression and understanding. The study included children with the intellectual norm (N = 30) and children with mild intellectual disability (N = 30). The obtained results mainly indicate the differences in how the happiness is understood by particular groups, to the detriment of children with disability. The character of the results is largely determined by the level of organization of knowledge about the joy and accompanying mental operations. The results will be discussed, among others, in the context of the adjustment of the programs of lasting increase of happiness for people with intellectual disability.
Positivity and job burnout in emergency personnel: examining linear and curvilinear relationship
Authors: Basińska Beata Aleksandra , Gruszczyńska Ewa
Published: July 2017

The aim of this study was to examine whether the relationship between the ratio of job-related positive to negative emotions (positivity ratio) and job burnout is best described as linear or curvilinear. Participants were 89 police officers (12% women) and 86 firefighters. The positivity ratio was evaluated using the Job-related Affective Wellbeing Scale (Van Katwyk, Fox, Spector, & Kelloway, 2000). Exhaustion and disengagement, two components of job burnout, were measured using the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (Demerouti, Mostert, & Bakker, 2010). The results of regression analysis revealed that curvilinear relationships between the positivity ratio and two components of job burnout appeared to better fit the data than linear relationships. The relationship between the positivity ratio and exhaustion was curvilinear with a curve point at around 2.1. A similar curvilinear relationship, but with a lower curve point, i.e., around 1.8, was observed for disengagement. It seems that beyond certain values there may be hidden costs of maintaining positive emotions at work. Also, the unequal curve points for subscales suggest that different dimensions of work-related functioning are variously prone to such costs.
Mere Recollection of Food Reduces Altruistic Behavior
Authors: Okamura Yasuto
Published: July 2017

The purpose of the study was twofold: Experiment 1 tested the possibility that the mere recollection of food aroused a state of hunger and that different types of food influenced the state of hunger differently; Experiment 2 tested the possibility that food cues affected altruistic behavior. In Experiment 1, 28 participants reported how hungry they felt before and after their recollection of certain foods (noodles and pudding). Results suggest that recollection of food increased hunger and that the type of food influenced the degree of hunger (F(2,54) = 31.88, p < .001, η2 = .54). In Experiment 2, 63 participants were randomly assigned to one of three recollection conditions: (1) noodles, (2) pudding, and (3) control. Participants in the two conditions described each food in detail; control group participants did not. Participants were then asked how much they would be willing to participate in an ostensible experiment. Results indicate that recollection-induced hunger reduced altruistic behavior (F(2, 60) = 4.11, p = .021, η2 = .12). Cue reactivity theory and the hierarchy of needs could explain these results.
Translation and Cognition: Cases of Asymmetry. An Editorial
Authors: Deckert Mikołaj
Published: July 2017

This editorial outlines the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of the current special issue, signalling some of the practical implications of the problems investigated. As the title of the collection highlights the convergence of “translation” and “cognition”, emphasis is here first placed on what “cognitive” can be taken to stand for in translation-centred research. I then discuss the other identifying idea of the issue – that of asymmetry – i.e. the observation that conceptual-semantic content is variably partitioned as it gets coded in different languages. Special attention is paid to cross-linguistic conventionalisation misalignment which requires sensitisation to translation scenarios where the symmetry of the source and target structures is only illusory.
Partial Perception and Approximate Understanding
Authors: Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk Barbara
Published: July 2017

What is discussed in the present paper is the assumption concerning a human narrowed sense of perception of external world and, resulting from this, a basically approximate nature of concepts that are to portray it. Apart from the perceptual vagueness, other types of vagueness are also discussed, involving both the nature of things, indeterminacy of linguistic expressions and psycho-sociological conditioning of discourse actions in one language and in translational contexts. The second part of the paper discusses the concept of conceptual and linguistic resemblance (similarity, equivalence) and discourse approximating strategies and proposes a Resemblance Matrix, presenting ways used to narrow the approximation gap between the interacting parties in monolingual and translational discourses.
A Multivariate Study of T/V Forms in European Languages Based on a Parallel Corpus of Film Subtitles
Authors: Levshina Natalia
Published: July 2017

The present study investigates the cross-linguistic differences in the use of so-called T/V forms (e.g. French tu and vous, German du and Sie, Russian ty and vy) in ten European languages from different language families and genera. These constraints represent an elusive object of investigation because they depend on a large number of subtle contextual features and social distinctions, which should be cross-linguistically matched. Film subtitles in different languages offer a convenient solution because the situations of communication between film characters can serve as comparative concepts. I selected more than two hundred contexts that contain the pronouns you and yourself in the original English versions, which are then coded for fifteen contextual variables that describe the Speaker and the Hearer, their relationships and different situational properties. The creators of subtitles in the other languages have to choose between T and V when translating from English, where the T/V distinction is not expressed grammatically. On the basis of these situations translated in ten languages, I perform multivariate analyses using the method of conditional inference trees in order to identify the most relevant contextual variables that constrain the T/V variation in each language.
The Effect of Chewing a Sugar-Free Gum After Oatmeal on the Postprandial Glycaemia – A Cross-Over Study
Authors: Vuletic Lea , Klaic Marija , Spalj Stjepan , Peros Kristina
Published: July 2017

Background and Aims: Gum chewing after a meal stimulates salivation and may affect the motility of the gastrointestinal tract and the release of hormones through neural mechanisms. This study was conducted to assess if chewing a sugar-free gum for 20 min following a meal, as recommended for dental caries prevention, influences the postprandial blood glucose levels in a period of one hour. Materials and Methods: For each of 18 participants blood glucose profile was made by measuring capillary glucose concentration in 10-min intervals within one hour following: a) chewing a sugar-free gum, b) the consumption of an oatmeal, c) chewing a sugar-free gum after the consumption of an oatmeal. Results: No statistically significant differences were found in the glycaemic response following complex carbohydrate ingestion when a gum was chewed after a meal. Conclusions: The possible influence of gum chewing on the postprandial gastrointestinal and metabolic ongoings was not reflected in the postprandial glycaemic response under the conditions of this study. A more comprehensive study which would include more variables related to vagal efferent activity, digestion and metabolism would be needed to assess if chewing sugar-free gums to exploit their caries-protective potential can influence metabolic adaptability to nutritional challenges.
Association Between Helicobacter Pylori Infection and Insulin Resistance: A Systematic Review
Authors: Popescu Decebal , Andronescu Dan , Babeș Petru Aurel
Published: July 2017

Most studies in the past decades show that screening of Helicobacter Pylori (HP) together with monitoring the inflammatory markers, plasma glucose and HbA1c levels can help prevent or delay type 2 diabetes mellitus. There is a double interrelation between HP infection and diabetes; thus diabetic patients are more susceptible to infection with HP via multiple mechanisms (decreased cellular and humoral immunity induced by diabetes, reducing gastrointestinal motility and secretion of hydrochloric acid, impaired glucose metabolism with the advent of chemical modifications of the gastric mucosa, the last two mechanisms favoring the intestinal colonization with HP). At the same time, those infected with HP can develop diabetes. The purpose of this paper is reviewing the data from the medical literature on the role of the chronic infection with HP on the induction of type 2 diabetes. The studies presented below lead us to the conclusion that the chronic infection with HP, in addition to local specific effects (simple gastritis, peptic ulcer and malignant diseases), also has extradigestive effects. The one approached in our work is that HP is being able to induce type 2 diabetes by complex mechanisms related to insulin resistance, chronic low-grade inflammation, decreased insulin secretion, and influences on glucose and lipid absorption.
Testing of thermal fatigue resistance of tools and rolls for hot working
Authors: Terčelj Milan , Fazarinc Matevž , Kugler Goran
Published: July 2017

In the present contribution two tests for thermal fatigue testing, which have been developed in our group, are presented. First test has provided internal cooling system of sample, while second has external cooling. For both tests heating and cooling of samples are computer guided that enables very reliable results of testing. The first test is more appropriate for testing the base material, i.e. roll cast irons, roll steels, tool steels. The second test is more appropriate for experiments that are aimed for selection of appropriate tool surface treatment, i.e. laser cladding, nitriding, coating, etc., and to compare and to achieve improved resistance against thermal fatigue of produced surface layers.
Association of abnormal metopic suture causing hypertelorism, interfrontal encephalocele with craniofacial cosmetic deformity associated with myelomeningocele: management literature review
Authors: Calderon-Miranda Willem Guillermo , Satyarthee Guru Dutta , Padilla-Zambrano Huber , Ramos-Villegas YanCarlos , Alvis-Miranda Hernando Raphael , Mo-Carrascal Joulen , Maraby Johana , Moscote-Salazar Luis Rafael
Published: July 2017

Myelomeningocele may be associated with other neural and extraneural anomalies. Authors present association of metopic suture abnormality, an interfrontal encephalocele with widening of metopic suture and abnormal shape frontal bones in the forehead in those associated with hydrocephalus. Authors describes two neonates with interfrontal encephalocele, representing first series reporting in neonate. Management and pertinent literature is briefly discussed.
Rare case of multiple meningiomas in nonneurofibromatosis patient at unusual locations
Authors: Setia Vikrant , Sachdeva Deepashu , Odugoudar Shrinivas , Borde Pravin , Singh Daljit
Published: July 2017

Multiple meningioma is a condition in which more than one intracranial lesion is seen in different location and these lesions may occur with or without signs of neurofibromatosis. Incidence of multiple meningioma range from 1 to 10% in different series. We report a case of multiple meningioma in a 33 years old female who had 14 intracranial lesions both supratentorially and infratentorially, and underwent surgery for large right lateral intraventricular meningioma. She had two meningiomas located in posterior fossa associated with supratentorial meningioma, which has been rarely reported.
Historiographic Aspects of Studying the Phenomenon of Pedagogical Mastery (Analysis of Ukrainian and Foreign Scholars′ Views)
Authors: Milto Liudmyla
Published: July 2017

The article is devoted to scientific analysis of the phenomenon of pedagogical mastery. Research findings on pedagogical mastery, pedagogical creativity, pedagogical technologies have been studied in the light of historical and pedagogical paradigm. In addition, various scientific approaches and views of scholars on the essence of pedagogical mastery have been considered and the ambiguity of their scientific interpretations has been justified. The scientific category of pedagogical mastery is regarded as a social, cultural and historical phenomenon, caused by the challenges of society in line with the relevant social priorities and directions according to the goals and objectives of a particular historical period. Subsequently, complexity and multidimensionality of the notion of pedagogical mastery and presence of various scientific approaches (technological, creative, personality- and activitybased) to interpreting the scientific category have been proved. Based on the current sociocultural situation, the relevance of researches on pedagogical mastery as a scientific category has been proved and its role in training future teachers, which can be considered as a certain teaching strategy and factor in forming their readiness for innovative activity has been defined. It has been found out that diversity and interdisciplinarity of pedagogical mastery in the system of scientific knowledge promote methodological strategies for its research, the need for their systematization and complex implementation.