bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Genistein decreases the breast cancer stem-like cell population through Hedgehog pathway
Authors: Fan Panhong , Fan Shujun , Wang Huan , Mao Jun , Shi Yu , Ibrahim Mohammed M , Ma Wei , Yu Xiaotang , Hou Zhenhuan , Wang Bo , Li Lianhong
Published: December 2013

Introduction

The existence of breast cancer stem-like cells (BCSCs) has profound implications for cancer prevention. Genistein, a predominant isoflavone found in soy products, has multiple robust anti-tumor effects in various cancers, especially in the breast and prostate cancer. In this study, we aimed to evaluate genistein inhibition of BCSCs and its potential mechanism by culturing MCF-7 breast cancer cells and implanting these cells into nude mice.

Methods

Cell counting, colony formation and cell apoptosis analysis were used to evaluate the effect of genistein on breast cancer cells’ growth, proliferation and apoptosis. We then used mammosphere formation assay and CD44CD24 staining to evaluate the effect of genistein on BCSCs in vitro. A nude mice xenograft model was employed to determine whether genistein could target BCSCs in vivo, as assessed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunohistochemical staining. The potential mechanism was investigated utilizing real-time PCR, western blotting analysis and immunohistochemical staining.

Results

Genistein inhibited the MCF-7 breast cancer cells’ growth and proliferation and promoted apoptosis. Both in vitro and in vivo genistein decreased breast cancer stem cells, and inhibited breast cancer stem-like cells through down-regulation of the Hedgehog-Gli1 Signaling Pathway.

Conclusions

We demonstrated for the first time that genistein inhibits BCSCs by down-regulating Hedgehog-Gli1 signaling pathway. These findings provide support and rationale for investigating the clinical application of genistein in treating breast cancer, and specifically by targeting breast cancer stem cells.
Mutagenesis and homologous recombination in Drosophila cell lines using CRISPR/Cas9
Authors: Bassett Andrew R. , Tibbit Charlotte , Ponting Chris P. , Liu Ji-Long
Published: December 2013

We have applied the CRISPR/Cas9 system to Drosophila S2 cells to generate targeted genetic mutations in more than 85% of alleles. By targeting a constitutive exon of the AGO1 gene, we demonstrate homozygous mutation in up to 82% of cells, thereby allowing the study of genetic knockouts in a Drosophila cell line for the first time. We have shown that homologous gene targeting is possible at 1–4% efficiency using this system, allowing for the construction of defined insertions and deletions. We demonstrate that a 1 kb homology arm length is optimal for integration by homologous gene targeting, and demonstrate its efficacy by tagging the endogenous AGO1 protein. This technology enables controlled genetic manipulation in Drosophila cell lines, and its simplicity offers the opportunity to study cellular phenotypes genome-wide.
Price Forecasting for Cell Phone Market Using Adaptive Sliding Window and Adaptive RBF NN
Authors: Zhu Quan-Yin , Cao Su-Qun , Zhou Pei , Yin Yonghua
Published: December 2013

In order to get the excellent accuracy for price forecast in the cell phone market, a novel improved Sliding Window (SW) model based on adaptive windows width and a novel improved Radial Basis Function (RBF) Neural Network (NN) model based on adaptive spread are proposed and the Disturbance Factors Model (DFM) is used in this paper. All of the three kinds of price forecasting models are utilized to verify the accuracy. The cell phone price is extracted from different websites and used as the model verification data. And the experimental results of the forecasting average accuracy based on the DFM obtain 94.61 percent. The experimental results of the forecasting average accuracy based on the ARBF NN model obtain 97.88 percent. The experimental results of the forecasting average accuracy based on the Adaptive SW Model (ASWM) obtain 99.64 percent. Although the results based on the DFM are not very good, it is still a satisfactory result. Since it is at least not a very serious result which proves that it is worth to do further researches in the field of the cell phone market based on the DFM. The results based on the ASWM and the ARBF NN models are satisfied. The improved methods enhance the forecast accuracy compared to the original model. In the field of the price forecast on the cell phone market, the improved methods have a good performance which is valuable and useful not only for businesses, but also for consumers.
On the Mobility Scenario Implementation Using a Graphical P2P Discrete Event Simulator for the Bittorrent Protocol
Authors: Charalambous Marios , Mavromoustakis Constandinos X. , Violaris George C. , Yassein Muneer Bani
Published: December 2013

Peer-to-Peer computing is nowadays the application platform which utilizes a novel distributed computing paradigm. It allows any number of participants to exchange and coordinate their resources with minimum overhead through centralized servers/services. This paradigm is also gaining ground in mobile computing environments. By merging the wireless and the static worlds of Peer-to-Peer applications, new services emerge. As Peer-to-Peer networks have nowadays become the basis for efficiently sharing data among users (both wireless and static) this work elaborates on the design of a new simulation framework via which, a mobility-based scenario can be utilized using the Bittorrent protocol. The framework uses a structured-based overlay for the static peers, and unstructured for mobile peers. Many parameters were introduced for the diffusion process and the seeding techniques that are utilized by the Bittorrent simulation framework. By using the Object Oriented design paradigm the proposed simulation framework is developed to be highly scalable being capable to potentially host new components. The simulation tool can encompass a scenario with partial mobility characteristics in a Peer-tracker and a Peer-to-Peer communication enhancement scheme. The proposed simulation framework can evaluate effectively the scalable mobility and can estimate the availability of requested resources of each individual user (both mobile and static). Finally the created simulation framework and the designed modules take into consideration the active intercluster peer participation and evaluate a degree of participation while resources are being exchanged.
Improved Prototype Selection in Synergetic Pattern Recognition to Recognize Human Face Expressions
Authors: Zhu Minchen , Wang Weizhi , Liu Binghan , Huang Jingshan
Published: December 2013

The prototype selection plays critical roles in synergetic pattern recognition (SPR). K-means clustering is widely adopted to determine appropriate prototypes in SPR. However, the selection of initial cluster centers significantly affects clustering results. We propose an improved k-means clustering to handle this challenge. According to inner-class distances among samples within the same cluster, we will dynamically adjust inter-class distances among clusters. Initial cluster centers will then be highly representative in that they are distributed among as many samples as possible. Consequently, local optima that are common in k-means clustering can be effectively reduced. After we obtain final cluster centers output from the improved k-means clustering, we then use these centers as the prototype vector to train a synergetic neural network (SNN), which will be utilized to recognize human face expressions. Experimental results demonstrate that our algorithm greatly improves the accuracy in recognizing face expressions and, in a more efficient manner.
Thermal Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Structural Elements
Authors: Lakhani Hitesh , Kamath Praveen , Bhargava Pradeep , Sharma Umesh , Reddy G
Published: December 2013

The paper presents a comparative study of thermal properties of reinforced concrete structural elements. A total of 2 beams and 2 columns were selected from literature [1-3]. Thermal profiles of these elements were predicted using different thermal properties and were compared with the experimental results. The thermal analysis is carried out numerically using finite element analysis package, ABAQUS [4]. Comparisons of different analyses results have been made with the main focus laid on the effect of the boundary conditions i.e. prescribed temperature boundary condition, convection and radiation. During the heating phase, there was slight difference in the temperatures predicted using the two boundary conditions, whereas during cooling phase, there was a significant difference: the convective and radiation boundary condition yielded better results. A reduction in discrepancy between the simulated and experimental result was observed on using thermal properties as per the formulation in Eurocode2 which took into account the moisture content.
Review of the Punching Shear Behavior of Concrete Flat Slabs in Ambient and Elevated Temperature
Authors: Ghoreishi Mehrafarid , Bagchi Ashutosh , Sultan Mohamed
Published: December 2013

There are a number of benefits associated with two-way concrete flat slab construction for office buildings, parking garages and apartments - for example, reduced formwork, prompt erection, flexibility of partitions, and minimal increase in story heights. However, concrete flat slabs could be quite vulnerable to punching shear failure in the event of a fire. The objective of the present article is to provide a state of the art review of the existing research and the issues associated with concrete flat slabs in fire and elevated temperature. There are a number of experimental and analytical studies on the punching shear behavior of concrete flat slabs in ambient conditions, available in the literature. Based on these studies, it is found that punching shear capacity in ambient condition is affected by many factors, which may not remain constant during a fire exposure. Only a limited number of studies on concrete flat slabs for punching shear failure in fire are available. This paper reviews the available experimental and analytical studies, standards and codes to address the research gap in estimating of punching shear strength of concrete flat slab-column connections without shear reinforcement.
Complementing TLS Point Clouds by Dense Image Matching
Authors: Moussa Wassim , Wenzel Konrad , Rothermel Mathias , Abdel-Wahab Mohammed , Fritsch Dieter
Published: December 2013

The complementation of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) by photogrammetric acquisition techniques enables the exploitation of two different measurement principles. TLS with distance measurements can be used for acquiring large-scale point clouds at medium range distances, while image-based surface reconstruction methods enable flexible acquisition with high precision at short distances. Within this paper, an automatic procedure for the combination of photogrammetry and laser scanning is presented. Synthetic images derived from the laser scanning point clouds are used together with camera images in a common Structure-from-Motion (SfM) process. This enables an automatic registration of multiple laser scans. Furthermore, surface information can also be derived from the imagery using dense image matching methods. While the laser scanning data provides the missing scale information, the imagery can complement the dataset to fill gaps, occlusions or to resolve small details. Consequently, large datasets can be connected by registering imagery and laser scans.
STRATEGIC POSITIONING OF CITIES AND REGIONS
Authors: Савченко Александр , Savchenko Alexander
Published: December 2013

Situational analysis allows to combine ideas about marketing and management areas, at least at the strategic level, to look at regional development from the standpoint of Strategic Market Management. Especially great is its role in building the vision of the future territorial formation and selection of the main areas to achieve it. Actually, Strategic Market Management territorial development, based on the strategic positioning of the city or region combines three aspects of accounting and management: a category that successfully meets the needs of their environment (it is), the consumer segment (for whom it is) and benefits (it gives the consumer), — and is intended to reconcile the promises that gives elected in the strategic positioning of the brand of the city or region, with the actual investment strategy, which should provide a parallel implementation of the identified competitive advantages of the region or city through the implementation of strategic initiatives and project — specific drivers that are actively interested in the main consumers of media city or region — residents, businesses, investors. The results of such initiatives and projects, in turn, provide the efficiency and quality of reproduction and use of strategic resources of cities and regions, the best implementation of the three main functions as a place of residence, place of management and recreational facilities, and thus increase the competitiveness of the territorial entities and improve their strategic positioning.
MECHANISM TO INCREASE THE RATIONALITY OF MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATIVE SUPPORT OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS IN THE BRANCHES OF UNIVERSITIES
Authors: Васин Сергей , Vasin Sergey , Яшина Инна , Yashina Inna
Published: December 2013

The article considers a methodical point of view to evaluating

the rationality of management of informative support of the

educational process in the branches of universities. The factual calculation

is made corresponding figure by the example of several

organizations. The authors created regression models describing the

dependence of the results of the operation of branches of universities

on the level of rationality management of informative support of

their educational process. The article formulates an algorithm for

improving the rationality of management impact on the development

of informative support.
Seismical Threat as Treated in the Latest Research by the Institute of Geophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences: State Policy and Science
Authors: Строганова Светлана , Stroganova Svetlana
Published: December 2013

The article dwells on the dangers which seismical threats pose on the world-, Russia- and individual-Russian-region-wide scale if carried out. The author studies the latestprojects by the Institute ofGeophysics, the Russian Academy of Sciences, aimed at mitigating the current risks and forecasts the development of Russia with the innovations implemented in the real economy and 'no change 'scenario in effect.
Work, Version, Text and Scriptum : High Medieval Manuscript Terminology in the Aftermath of the New Philology
Authors: Snijders Tjamke
Published: December 2013

This article reviews the terminological framework used to describe manuscripts. The Lachmannian terminology allows scholars to classify manuscripts as versions or variants of a work on a purely textual basis, but lacks a rigid designator to indicate a (part of a) manuscript as a unit of text and material considerations. Conversely, scholars who adopt Dagenais’s solution to renounce the work and concentrate on the material scriptum gain a rigid designator, but threaten to lose the ability to classify manuscripts at all. Proceeding from a case study, the article argues that the twelfth-century view of a work’s ontological status enables medievalists to keep classifying their scripta on both textual and material grounds. It explores the possibility of using Dagenais’s scriptum as the foundation for a Neo-Lachmannian terminological framework that allows scholars to study manuscript variance and materiality without losing the ability to classify them.
Future Values of the Qatal and Their Conceptual and Diachronic Logic: How to Chain Future Senses of the Qatal to the Core of Its Semantic Network
Authors: Andrason Alexander
Published: December 2013

The present paper demonstrates that various prospective values displayed by the Biblical Hebrew qatal are logical—both conceptually and diachronically—components of the total meaning offered by the Biblical Hebrew suffix conjugation. By employing a chaining procedure based on typologically plausible tendencies or—under a stronger assumption—universal evolutionary scenarios (i.e., diachronic paths), the author shows that such senses as future perfect, simple future, prospective certainty, or inevitability, future imminence and near future, present about-ness as well as “almost” and counterfactual present perfects are related to and fully compatible with the remaining dominant semantic potential of the qatal (in particular, with its most common values: present perfect, perfective, and past). Namely, the two sets of senses (viz., the perfect-perfective-past domain and the prospective domain) can successfully be mapped and chained by making use of evolutionary rules that typically govern the grammatical life of resultative constructions (such as the Biblical Hebrew qatal ), that is, the anterior path and the future perfect path. Additionally, by means of the latter trajectory, it is possible to demonstrate that the elements of the prospective domain may likewise be ordered and interconnected—they simply correspond to consecutive stages of this typo-logically plausible evolutionary process.
Nationalism and Maternal Sacrifice in To the End of the Land
Authors: Peled Shimrit
Published: December 2013

In To the End of the Land , a compulsory connection is made between the space of the land of Israel, Jewish national identity, and death. Reading this essentially popular novel, we may understand the way the Akedah myth is taken for granted in Israel, threaded as it is through Israeli consciousness. The implications of Grossman’s use of the Akedah go beyond the reciprocal relations between the citizen and the sovereign power. The excessive emotional manipulation of the reader obtains from the transposition of the Akedah myth from the father to the mother. Grossman overplays the relation between nationalism and the Akedah myth by foregrounding the concern of a mother for her son. This is the perfect device to achieve total identification with Israelihood. Via the strongest and most understandable of emotions, the complex emotion of motherhood, Grossman struggles to revive the Akedah myth with its shocking, double meanings, and demands the unquestioning re-conscription of the myth to the good of nationalism.
Voices of War, Illness, and Dream
Authors: Ben-Dov Nitza
Published: December 2013

The article explores the acoustic (aural) dimension of David Grossman’s novel To the End of the Land . Positing as one of the protagonists of the unusual love triangle shaped in the novel a “child prodigy,” who plans to become a writer of radio plays due to his attraction to and fascination with the human voice, Grossman gives a unique, mimetic expression to the voice throughout the novel. The story opens with a scene permeated by the presence of voices, as the three protagonists, who will later make up the love triangle, meet in complete darkness, unable to see one another and forced to only hear their counterparts. The centrality of the human voice in the novel reaches its peak in the Yom Kippur War, when Avram, enamored of the voice, documents his desperate situation while making up an apocalyptic radio play which is heard on the army radio networks. Serving as the novel’s soundtrack is the life story of Ora, the feminine edge of the erotic triangle. Ora, light in Hebrew, also appears in daylight to the reader and to the novel’s other protagonists, but she is made present mostly by her voice. The article reveals Grossman’s strategies of making the voice heard through the written text, focusing on the covert struggle between sight and sound in this unique novel.
Gender-Based Wage and Occupational Inequality in the New Millenium in Egypt
Authors: El-Hamidi Fatma , Said Mona
Published: December 2013

Abstract
This paper adds to the existing literature on the Egyptian labor market by examining the extent to which the treatment of women in the Egyptian private labor market has evolved, and if occupational segregation has affected gender wage gaps in the newly transformed Egyptian economy. The paper tracks the current trend of gender based wage gaps, and evaluates the role of occupational segregation in explaining these gaps in the Egyptian private labor market. Comparing the years 2000 and 2004, and arranging occupations in three broad categories, findings of this study point to a wider occupational segregation and increased crowding of women in few jobs, which are becoming a more serious issue in pay differences than pure pay discrimination for both professional and blue collar women. Pay discrimination for white collar workers is not as severe as in professional and blue collar jobs. Therefore, policies that target inter-occupational components to close the wage gap may have far-reaching effects on professional and blue-collar workers, whereas policies targeting equal pay for equal jobs will have a greater success for white-collar workers.
Who Benefits from Spending on Water and Electricity in Nigeria?: A Benefit Incidence Analysis
Authors: Alabi Reuben Adeolu , Admas Oshobugie Ojor
Published: December 2013

This study estimated Progressivity of Benefit, Average and Marginal Benefit Incidence of public spending on pipe borne water and electricity in Nigeria, using Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Living Standard Household Survey Data of 2004. The various analyses were carried out using Distributive Analysis Stata Package (DASP) 2.1. The results of the analyses show that the spending on the utilities in Nigeria is not pro-poor. The marginal benefit incidence of spending on the utilities in Nigeria indicates that the poorest group can only benefit more than the richest group from extra spending on the utility in which their current accessibility rate is high. Finally, from the findings of this study we formulated policy recommendations that will make the public spending in Nigeria pro-poor in order to accelerate the speed at which the poor benefit more from increases in access to the utilities in the country.
Re-Examining the Finance-Growth Relationship for a Developing Economy: A Time Series Analysis of Post-Reform India
Authors: Kar Sabyasachi , Mandal Kumarjit
Published: December 2013

The cross-country empirical literature on the finance-growth relationship has debated three propositions. These are (i) Financial deepening has a strong impact on the growth process (ii) Measures of financial “activity” rather than the “size” of the sector plays a more significant role in the growth process and (iii) Financial structure (bank-based versus stock market-based) has no impact on the growth process at all. The present study re-examines the validity of these propositions for a developing economy using the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) methodology. In the context of the “size versus activity” debate, we also test whether these two aspects of the financial sector can impact growth rates independently. The results support the strong impact of financial deepening on growth but finds that the other propositions are not as robust.
The Dual Political Effects of Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries
Authors: Sun Feng
Published: December 2013

This study revisits the political effect of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on the level of democracy in developing countries. The author finds that FDI has dual political effects based on the panel corrected standard error (PCSE) analysis using panel data covering 124 developing countries from 1970 to 2005. Although the political effect of aggregate FDI is negative, FDI from developed democracies exerts a significant positive effect on democracy. FDI in the primary sector plays a negative role in the political development in developing countries. The author also finds a regional difference in the political effect of FDI due to uneven distribution of disaggregated FDI.
Reconsidering Aesthetic Autonomy and Interpretation as a Critique of the Latin American Left in Roberto Bolaño’s Estrella distante
Authors: Di Stefano Eugenio
Published: December 2013

Estrella distante (1996) es una novela policiaca sobre la captura del criminal Carlos Wieder, pero también es una novela que insiste en identificar la autonomía del arte como elemento central en esta búsqueda. Este ensayo argumenta que la novela de Roberto Bolaño señala una ruptura con el compromiso posmoderno de la heteronomía del arte y reconsidera, en cambio, la autonomía estética y la interpretación como un proyecto izquierdista. La novela responde a la teoría, establecida por críticos como Nelly Richard y John Beverley, que pretende establecer la imposibilidad de una autonomía estética o interpretativa. Este ataque crítico a la autonomía implica un nuevo tipo de lectura que tiene menos que ver con la interpretación del texto que con las emociones que ese texto causa en el lector. Por lo tanto, el ensayo se centra en cómo las acciones artísticas de Carlos Wieder enfrentan el compromiso con el afecto, lo cual recientemente ha sido imaginado como la base de un proyecto para la izquierda en América Latina. El propósito de este ensayo es demostrar que tanto la autonomía estética como la interpretación subrayan una ruptura con el posmodernismo y una crítica a la política neoliberal.
Understanding and Visualizing and ENSO-Based Fire Climatology in Florida, USA: A Case Method Using Cluster Analysis
Authors: Harrison Michael
Published: December 2013

Los incendios originados por relámpagos tienen un impacto significativo en el medio ambiente físico y cultural de las zonas subtropicales húmedas de los Estados Unidos, y en particular en la Florida. El papel de El Niño-Oscilación del Sur (EÑOS) en la génesis de estos incendios se ha ganado un gran interés, sobre todo la modificación espacial de año a año de los regímenes de fuego en respuesta a los forzamientos climáticos asociados a EÑOS. Una variedad de técnicas estadísticas se han empleado para derivar las asociaciones entre la ocurrencia de incendios y la variabilidad del clima a gran escala. En este estudio, la eficacia del análisis de conglomerados es examinada con el fin de entender cómo EÑOS afecta la distribución espacial de los incendios de origen natural a través de Florida. Para este estudio, se examinaron veintidós años de datos de incendios, de los que se extraen los recuentos de incendios a base de rayos. Usando una combinación entre el Método de Ward y algoritmos de agrupamiento K-means, los datos se dividen en tres grupos de conglomerados, en base a estadísticas descriptivas derivadas simples basadas en categoría anuales EÑOS (El Niño, La Niña o neutro). Los resultados son cartografiados para visualizar la disposición espacial de los conglomerados resultantes. Los resultados demuestran una estrecha correspondencia entre los conglomerados resultantes cuando se compara con el entendimiento previo del comportamiento del fuego y la teleconexión EÑOS en Florida.
Optimized Data Analysis Algorithm for On-Site Chemical Identification Using a Hand-Held Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR FT-IR) Spectrometer
Authors: Ron Izhar , Zaltsman Amalia , Kendler Shai
Published: December 2013

On-site identification of organic compounds in the presence of interfering materials using a field-portable attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR FT-IR) spectrometer is presented. Identification is based on an algorithm that compares the analyte's infrared absorption spectrum with the reference spectra. The comparison is performed at several predetermined frequencies, and a similarity value (distance) between the measured and the reference spectra is calculated either at each frequency individually, or, alternatively, the average distance for all frequencies is calculated. The examined frequencies are selected to give the best contrast between the target materials of interest. In this study, the algorithm was optimized to identify three common chemical warfare agents (CWAs): O-ethyl S-[2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl] methylphosphonothioic acid (VX), sarin (GB), and sulfur mustard (bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide) (HD), in the presence of field-related interfering materials (fuels, water, and dust). Receiver operating characteristics analysis was performed in order to determine the probabilities for detection (PD) and for false alerts (PF). Challenging the algorithm with a set of data that contains mixtures of CWAs and interfering materials resulted in PD of 90% and PF of 0%, 0%, and 1% for VX, GB, and HD, respectively, using the average distance approach, which was found to be much more effective than analyzing each frequency individually. This finding was validated for all possible combinations of 2–7 peaks per material. It is suggested that this algorithm provides a reliable mean for the identification of a predetermined set of target analytes and interfering materials.
Thermal Behavior of Silicone Rubber–Based Ceramizable Composites Characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy and Microcalorimetry
Authors: Anyszka Rafał , Bieliński Dariusz M. , Jędrzejczyk Marcin
Published: December 2013

Ceramizable (ceramifiable) silicone rubber–based composites are commonly used for cable insulation. These materials are able to create a protective ceramic layer during fire due to the ceramization process, which occurs at high temperature. When the temperature is increased, the polymer matrix is degraded and filler particles stick together by the fluxing agent, producing a solid, continuous ceramic phase that protects the copper wire from heat and mechanical stress. Despite increasing interest in these materials that has resulted in growing applications in the cable industry, their thermal behavior and ceramization process are still insufficiently described in the literature. In this paper, the thermal behavior of ceramizable silicone rubber–based composites is studied using microcalorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The analysis of the experimental data made it possible to develop complete information on the mechanism of composite ceramization.
Ex Vivo Assessment of Carbon Tetrachloride (CCl4)-Induced Chronic Injury Using Polarized Light Spectroscopy
Authors: Ahmad Manzoor , Ali Safdar , Mehmood Malik Sajjad , Ali Hamid , Khurshid Ahmat , Firdous Shamaraz , Muhammad Saleh , Ikram Masroor
Published: December 2013

The liver performs various functions, such as the production and detoxification of chemicals; therefore, it is susceptible to hepatotoxins such as carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), which causes chronic injury. Thus, assessment of injury and its status of severity are of prime importance. Current work reports an ex vivo study for probing the severance of hepatic injury induced by CCl4 with polarized light over the spectral range 400–800 nm. Different concentrations of CCl4 were used to induce varying severity of hepatic injury in a rat model. Linear retardance, depolarization rates, and diagonal Mueller matrix elements (m22, m33, and m44), were successfully used as the distinguishing criterion for normal and different liver injuries. Our results show that linear retardance for injured liver samples with lower doses of CCl4 tends to increase when compared with normal liver samples, while samples injured at higher doses of CCl4 offer almost no retardance. Total, linear, and circular depolarizations follow decreasing trends with increased liver injury severity over the entire investigated wavelength range. Linear polarization states were observed to be better maintained as compared to circular polarization states for all samples. Furthermore, numerical values of diagonal elements of the experimentally measured Mueller matrix also increase with increasing doses of CCl4. Liver fibroses, change in transport albedo, and the relative refractive index of the extracellular matrix caused by CCl4 are responsible for the observed differences. These results will provide a pathway to gauge the severity of injury caused by toxic chemicals.
Narrative form and the rhetoric of fashion in the promotional fashion film
Authors: Mijovic Nikola
Published: December 2013

Online promotional fashion film has become a significant aspect of the symbolic production of fashion in the twenty-first century. This article presents a broad overview of the genre’s most prominent aesthetic and formal tendencies. Three approaches to fashion film-making are discussed: first, the non-narrative, where the status of fashion as a designed object is foregrounded; second, the conventional narrative, in which fashion acts as an aspirational symbol; and finally, the ‘organic’ narrative approach, where the visual style and the formal system of the moving image are constructed around clothing. The films discussed include Portent (2009), directed by Nick Knight, Karl Lagerfeld’s Remember Now (2010) and Once Upon a Time ... (2013), and Lucrecia Martel’s Muta (2011). The article assesses this medium in relation to its potential to challenge the existing paradigm associated with the rhetoric of fashion on the one hand, and the narrative film form on the other. Promotional fashion film, while being a form of ‘new media’, is also firmly situated within the domain of postmodernism, which may explain its limited ability to undermine the established dominant representational codes.
Book Review
Authors: Jeffers-McDonald Tamar
Published: December 2013

Fashion in Film, Adrienne Munich (ed.) (2011) Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 376pp., 90 b&w illustrations ISBN: 978-0-253-22299-2, p/bk, $27.95
Community music and music pedagogy: Collaborations, intersections and new perspectives: A personal reflection
Authors: Deane Kathryn
Published: December 2013

The lenses through which community music and music pedagogy can be viewed are many. A navigation through a symposium on community music and music pedagogy at Ludwig Maximillians University Munich in February 2013 can be provided by examining the purposes of the activities presented in various papers. This approach could address the concerns of a number of speakers about a lack of shared terminology and understanding, and reduce oppositionality sometimes present when we pit community music against music pedagogy.
Building a landscape for Parks
Authors: Gulden Leslie S.
Published: December 2013

Would modernist techniques in design help to ground, clarify and (for lack of a better term) unify postmodern texts for a theatrical audience? Given a script like Suzan-Lori Parks’s. The America Play, how have scenographers dealt with ambiguous stage directions like, ‘Place: A great hole. In the middle of nowhere. The hole is an exact replica of The Great Hole of History’?

Using the questions above, among others, I analyse the scenographic choices in four productions of The America Play. Created in different parts of the United States and in theatres of various sizes, these productions demonstrate that not only can the design aspects be modernist while the script/text is postmodern, but that choosing a modernist design approach could be beneficial to the production. I examined several images from each production, supported by interviews with many of their respective designers, to argue that through the use of various modernist design elements each production offered visual elements that might have helped audiences to relate to the text and provide a way in to the postmodern language. Stated another way, these designs were used to bring the text more ‘down to earth’ by leaning towards visual metaphors to which the audience could relate. Since Parks appears to intentionally neglect any mention of design in the play script, there is a certain freedom offered to any design team, but that freedom also creates challenges. If we accept that this play is a landscape in the tradition of Gertrude Stein than could the best practice for this or other postmodernist plays be to surround them with a modernist design? This article will use primarily Park’s play and the works of postmodern theorists, to argue that the answer is ‘Yes’.
Demon: A View from Above – When director and performers are scenographers
Authors: Thomas James
Published: December 2013

Dmitry Krymov is a Russian artist who has developed an international reputation through work that combines images from paintings, poems, prose, plays, music and popular culture to create phantasmagorical, one-of-a-kind performances. Following no obvious linear narratives and no literary dramaturgy as such, the images built up on Krymov’s stage may be seen as dynamic montages. Montages because they combine visual and aural elements from various sources; dynamic because they are constructed literally before our eyes. Of special interest is the fact that his performance style developed along aside of, and emerged from, his approach to teaching scenography, where designers actually devise and execute the performances.
Una propuesta de estudio para el humor en la conversación coloquial
Authors: Alvarado Ortega María Belén
Published: December 2013

En el grupo de investigación GRIALE hemos desarrollado un método teórico que aplicamos a los enunciados irónicos con humor en diferentes géneros textuales, a partir de la violación de principios conversacionales. Además, tendremos en cuenta para el análisis la Teoría General del Humor Verbal propuesta por Attardo. Así pues, estudiamos la ironía y el humor en ejemplos de conversaciones extraídos de corpus de muestras reales del español peninsular (COVJA y Corpus de conversaciones coloquiales). En este trabajo, nos centramos en la aplicación de dichas teorías a los enunciados irónicos humorísticos que se producen en la conversación y estudiaremos los efectos que desarrollan; y comprobaremos que ironía y humor conviven en un mismo intercambio conversacional con un fin comunicativo.
Interpretación multifuncional del párrafo
Authors: Bustos Gisbert José Manuel
Published: December 2013

A partir de una revisión de la definición tradicional del párrafo se persigue superar una percepción del mismo que lo identifica como unidad primordialmente estructural. Se plantea una interpretación del párrafo como unidad de construcción discursiva, una herramienta en manos del autor para ahormar el texto. En el diseño del párrafo intervienen consideraciones esenciales referidas a cuatro planos diferentes: configuración temática, organización retórica, distribución visual y procesamiento cognitivo. Se comprueba, pues, que el párrafo cumple funciones diferentes asociadas con estas cuatro variables. Finalmente se evalúa el rendimiento de esa interpretación del párrafo en un corpus de textos escritos redactados por aprendices de composición escrita en dos fases distintas de su aprendizaje.
Modalidad apelativa y gramaticalización en el discurso: el caso de no me digas
Authors: Grande Alija Francisco Javier
Published: December 2013

Basándonos principalmente en los datos suministrados por el Corpus de Referencia del Español Actual (CREA), se identifican y describen los usos discursivos que la forma apelativa no me digas presenta en la sincronía actual del español. El análisis de estos usos comunicativos pone de relieve que no me digas ha desarrollado diversos valores formulísticos que, no obstante, se pueden explicar desde las propiedades formales y semánticas originales de la expresión apelativa. Los diferentes grados de fijación e idiomaticidad que presentan estos valores formulísticos sugieren la existencia de varios grados de gramaticalización en el discurso, así como de un paso gradual en el “desplazamiento modal” o cambio por el que la modalidad expresada en el discurso acaba imponiéndose a la modalidad codificada. Como consecuencia de estos cambios, se ha producido una evolución desde la modalidad apelativa original a otros valores modales de carácter expresivo, epistémico y asertivo, así como su transformación en diversos marcadores discursivos de naturaleza modal.
Estudio sociofonético de los tonemas de las interrogativas absolutas en el castellano de Galicia
Authors: Pérez Castillejo Susana
Published: December 2013

A partir de un corpus de interrogativas absolutas producidas por 24 hablantes, este trabajo analiza los efectos suprasegmentales del contacto entre castellano y gallego. Adoptando una metodología sociofonética y bajo el marco teórico del sistema métrico autosegmental, se examinan los tonemas interrogativos en función del contexto pragmático, formalidad de la tarea y la exposición al gallego de cada participante. Los resultados revelan variación estilística, indicativa de la estigmatización de rasgos vernáculos, y un cambio de relaciones prosódico-pragmáticas inducido por el contacto con el gallego.
El párrafo como unidad discursiva
Authors: Vera Luján Agustín
Published: December 2013

Tras pasar revista a algunas de las propuestas de caracterización del párrafo, se opta por una definición de esta unidad como elemento del ámbito de lo textual que posee características definitorias desde una perspectiva sintáctica, semántica y pragmática. Se ponen también de manifiesto los mecanismos lingüístico-cognitivos a que obedecen las relaciones de dominio entre el párrafo y sus constituyentes y los resultados que de ellas de derivan para la configuración final del párrafo como unidad.
Language evolution as a cascade of behaviorial bifurcations
Authors: Wildgen Wolfgang
Published: December 2013

The evolution of human language probably passed several gateways or decisive periods. Our aim is to show that they have the form of a cascade of bifurcations, i.e. of binary choices. At each step small causal constellations may have decided on which way to go. This explains the overall improbability of a phenomenon like human language in the animal kingdom (which was and is the major argument of creationists). The hierarchy and temporal sequence of “decisions” (Darwinian principles were the deciders) gives us a hint at the architecture of human language. In particular the emergence of verbal valence (argument structure, constructions), of subject-predicate constellations and syntactic devices can be explained as a result of these evolutionary steps. We presume that throughout the evolution basic schemata of (manual) action, like the GRASP-schema were of central importance for the conceptual unfolding of human language.
Recepción, audiencias y consumo cultural en Venezuela (período: 2000-2011)
Authors: Hernández Diaz Gustavo Alfredo
Published: December 2013

Analizamos el estado del arte de los estudios de recepción, audiencias y consumo cultural en Venezuela durante el período 2000-2011. Examinamos enfoques teóricos sobre el campo de la recepción mediática y cultural, desde las propuestas conceptuales de Aguirre, Barrios y Hernández Díaz. Se pudo constatar, en esta revisión documental, que los estudios de recepción en Venezuela abordan cuatro campos de estudio: 1) Educación para la recepción. 2) Influencia de la televisión. 3) Ciber-recepción. 4) Consumo cultural.
El uso de las TRIC y el choque cultural en la escuela. Encuentros y desencuentros entre maestros y alumnos
Authors: Busquet Duran Jordi , Medina Cambrón Alfons , Ballano Macías Sonia
Published: December 2013

En este artículo presentamos algunas de las conclusiones más destacadas del proyecto AUSTICA del grupo de investigación CONINCOM. Concretamente, focalizamos nuestra atención en el análisis de los conflictos que se dan en la escuela entre maestros y alumnos. En este punto, nuestra investigación afronta una realidad que aún hoy resulta sorprendente y paradójica. Mientras la educación formal obligatoria sigue estando caracterizada por una comprensión tradicional del concepto de alfabetización, los “nuevos alfabetismos”, aquellos que potencian habilidades y competencias propias del siglo XXI, se ejercitan en las prácticas culturales digitales que los jóvenes llevan a cabo en sus contextos de ocio y, por consiguiente, en entornos de naturaleza informal. Así, mientras los adultos generalmente separan lo digital de lo analógico, es decir, lo virtual de lo presencial, para los jóvenes, todo forma parte de una única dimensión: “la realidad”. En nuestro estudio se constata que las tecnologías contribuyen a modificar las relaciones interpersonales entre los propios jóvenes y que las redes sociales han ampliado la capacidad de mantenerse en contacto, ofreciendo más oportunidades para crear y aumentar vínculos sociales gracias a la reducción o eliminación de la distancia o el tiempo. Pero al mismo tiempo generan incertidumbre e incomprensiones en el mundo escolar, aunque no se deben exclusivamente a la (in)comprensión del nuevo medio por parte de la institución escolar sino que también entra en juego la tradicional distancia o brecha generacional entre adultos y jóvenes.
Recent breakthroughs in carrier depletion based silicon optical modulators
Authors: Reed Graham T. , Mashanovich Goran Z. , Gardes Frederic Y. , Nedeljkovic Milos , Hu Youfang , Thomson David J. , Li Ke , Wilson Peter R. , Chen Sheng-Wen , Hsu Shawn S.
Published: December 2013

The majority of the most successful optical modulators in silicon demonstrated in recent years operate via the plasma dispersion effect and are more specifically based upon free carrier depletion in a silicon rib waveguide. In this work we overview the different types of free carrier depletion type optical modulators in silicon. A summary of some recent example devices for each configuration is then presented together with the performance that they have achieved. Finally an insight into some current research trends involving silicon based optical modulators is provided including integration, operation in the mid-infrared wavelength range and application in short and long haul data transmission links.
Investigation of experimental study of end milling of CFRP composite
Authors: Kiliçkap Erol , Yardimeden Ahmet , Çelik Yahya Hışman
Published: December 2013

Carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites are materials that are difficult to machine due to the anisotropic and heterogeneous properties of the material and poor surface quality, which can be seen during the machining process. The machining of these materials causes delamination and surface roughness owing to excessive cutting forces. This causes the material not to be used. The reduction of damage and surface roughness is an important aspect for product quality. Therefore, the experimental study carried out on milling of CFRP composite material is of great importance. End milling tests were performed at CNC milling vertical machining center. In the experiments, parameters considered for the end milling of CFRP were cutting speed, feed rate, and flute number of end mill. The results showed that damage, surface roughness, and cutting forces were affected by cutting parameters and flute number of end mill. The best machining conditions were achieved at low feed rate and four-flute end mill.
Epigenetic Regulation of Sensory Axon Regeneration after Spinal Cord Injury
Authors: Finelli Mattéa J. , Wong Jamie K. , Zou Hongyan
Published: December 2013

Axon regeneration is hindered by a decline of intrinsic axon growth capability in mature neurons. Reversing this decline is associated with the induction of a large repertoire of regeneration-associated genes (RAGs), but the underlying regulatory mechanisms of the transcriptional changes are largely unknown. Here, we establish a correlation between diminished axon growth potential and histone 4 (H4) hypoacetylation. When neurons are triggered into a growth state, as in the conditioning lesion paradigm, H4 acetylation is restored, and RAG transcription is initiated. We have identified a set of target genes of Smad1, a proregenerative transcription factor, in conditioned DRG neurons. We also show that, during the epigenetic reprogramming process, histone-modifying enzymes work together with Smad1 to facilitate transcriptional regulation of RAGs. Importantly, targeted pharmacological modulation of the activity of histone-modifying enzymes, such as histone deacetylases, leads to induction of multiple RAGs and promotion of sensory axon regeneration in a mouse model of spinal cord injury. Our findings suggest epigenetic modulation as a potential therapeutic strategy to enhance axon regeneration.