bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mistaking For: Testing the Theory of Mediated Predication
Authors: Marelj Marijana , Matushansky Ora
Published: February 2015

This article investigates the validity of the theory of mediated predication by examining one of the proposed overt realizations of Pred0. Taking the law of parsimony as our starting position and using evidence from English, Russian, and Serbo-Croatian, we argue that the element that looks like the preposition ‘for’ is, in fact, a preposition (not Pred0), and we show how it explains the syntax and the semantics of the relevant ‘for’ sequences. Cases of apparently predicative interpretation of ‘for’-PP result from the interplay between the meaning of the preposition ‘for’ and the metaphorical reinterpretation of motion and locative verbs that ‘for’-PPs combine with.
Mental Insanity in the Hippocratic Texts: A Pragmatic Perspective
Authors: Thumiger Chiara
Published: February 2015

The terminology of insanity in the Hippocratic texts appears often confusing to the reader for its variety and ambiguity. Scholarship has dealt with this problematic group of words in different ways, attributing the phenomenon to accidents in the composition of early medical texts or their status as part of a developing technical language and fundamentally reducing them to synonymous. In this piece I propose to look at them not in a semantic perspective, but from the point of view of pragmatic linguistics. How does the grammar and position in which these words are used influence their effect within the individual narrative? How are nuances of emphasis and intensity expressed? How do aspects of subjectivity and chronology emerge through narrative strategies? Through a close reading of one illustrative passage from the patient cases of the Epidemics I attempt to extract further information about the use and meaning of early medical psychiatric vocabulary.
Stabilisation Clauses and Foreign Direct Investment: Presumptions versus Realities
Authors: Frank Sotonye
Published: February 2015

Stabilisation clauses are widely portrayed as an essential tool which developing countries use to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to their extractive industries. However, this view of stabilisation clauses is based on two presumptions. The first is that developing countries compete to attract FDI. The second is that developing countries have higher levels of political risks. This article argues that neither presumption is true as such. The available evidence points to intense competition among foreign investors, backed by their home governments, for access to the extractive industries in developing countries. The political risks that stabilisation clauses are aimed at also exist at least in equal measure, in developed countries. The article then relies on the findings of previous empirical studies and an analysis of current trends in stabilisation practices to argue that contrary to popular belief, stabilisation clauses do not play an ‘essential’ role in attracting FDI into developing countries.
Redescription and taxonomic status of Paguristes praedator Glassell, 1937 and P. oxyophthalmus Holthuis, 1959 (Anomura: Paguroidea: Diogenidae), with an emendation to the diagnosis of the genus Areopaguristes Rahayu & McLaughlin, 2010
Authors: AYÓN-PARENTE MANUEL , HENDRICKX MICHEL E. , LEMAITRE RAFAEL
Published: February 2015

The taxonomic status of Paguristes praedator Glassell, 1937, and Paguristes oxyophthalmus Holthuis, 1959, is reevaluated, and the two species redescribed and illustrated in detail. Both species are transferred to the genus Areopaguristes Rahayu & McLaughlin, 2010, a genus previously defined to accommodate species of Paguristes sensu lato with 12 pairs of gills instead of 13. Two important characters in both species were found to differ or have not been mentioned in the current definition of Areopaguristes, i.e., the first maxilliped lacking epipod, and dactyls of second and third pereopods unarmed on the ventral margins. The presence of other diagnostically significant characters (e.g., lack of first pleopods in females) previously noted in other species of Areopaguristes, requires the generic emendation of this genus presented herein. With the transfer of A. praedator nov. comb. and A. oxyophthalmus nov. comb. to Areopaguristes, this genus now contains 27 species, of which nine occur in the Americas (four in the eastern tropical Pacific, and five in the western Atlantic).
Description of the female terminalia of twenty species of Proconiini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) from Argentina
Authors: DELLAPÉ GIMENA
Published: February 2015

The tribe Proconiini is represented in Argentina by 18 genera and 44 species. Characters for the identification of most genera and species are from male specimens, while females are identified by association with males. In this contribution, the female terminalia of 20 species of Proconiini from Argentina are described and illustrated. The value of each character to genus or species identification is discussed.
An Open Virtual Machine for Cross-Platform Weather Radar Science
Authors: Heistermann M. , Collis S. , Dixon M. J. , Helmus J. J. , Henja A. , Michelson D. B. , Pfaff Thomas
Published: February 2015

In a recent BAMS article, it is argued that community-based Open Source Software (OSS) could foster scientific progress in weather radar research, and make weather radar software more affordable, flexible, transparent, sustainable, and interoperable.

Nevertheless, it can be challenging for potential developers and users to realize these benefits: tools are often cumbersome to install; different operating systems may have particular issues, or may not be supported at all; and many tools have steep learning curves.

To overcome some of these barriers, we present an open, community-based virtual machine (VM). This VM can be run on any operating system, and guarantees reproducibility of results across platforms. It contains a suite of independent OSS weather radar tools (BALTRAD, Py-ART, wradlib, RSL, and Radx), and a scientific Python stack. Furthermore, it features a suite of recipes that work out of the box and provide guidance on how to use the different OSS tools alone and together. The code to build the VM from source is hosted on GitHub, which allows the VM to grow with its community.

We argue that the VM presents another step toward Open (Weather Radar) Science. It can be used as a quick way to get started, for teaching, or for benchmarking and combining different tools. It can foster the idea of reproducible research in scientific publishing. Being scalable and extendable, it might even allow for real-time data processing.

We expect the VM to catalyze progress toward interoperability, and to lower the barrier for new users and developers, thus extending the weather radar community and user base.
Daily Rainfall Detection and Estimation over Land Using Microwave Surface Emissivities
Authors: Birman Camille , Karbou Fatima , Mahfouf Jean-François
Published: February 2015

Surface emissivities computed at 89 GHz from AMSU-A, AMSU-B, and SSMI/S instruments are used to detect rain events and to estimate a daily precipitation rate over land surfaces. This new retrieval algorithm, called the emissivity rainfall retrieval (EMIRR) algorithm, is evaluated over France and compared with several other precipitation products. The precipitation detection is performed using temporal changes in daily surface emissivities. A statistical fit, derived from a rainfall analysis product using rain gauge and radar data, is devised to estimate a daily precipitation rate from surface emissivities. Rain retrievals are evaluated over a 1-yr period in 2010 against other precipitation products, including rain gauge measurements. The EMIRR algorithm allows a reasonable detection of rainy events from daily surface emissivities. The number of rainy days and the daily rainfall rates compare well to estimates from other precipitation products. However, the algorithm tends to overestimate low precipitation amounts and to underestimate higher ones, with reduced performances in the presence of snow. Despite such limitations, this new method is very promising and provides a demonstration of the potential use of the 89-GHz surface emissivities to infer relevant information (occurrence and amounts) related to daily precipitation over land surfaces.
The Role of Clouds in Modulating Global Aerosol Direct Radiative Effects in Spaceborne Active Observations and the Community Earth System Model
Authors: Matus Alexander V. , L’Ecuyer Tristan S. , Kay Jennifer E. , Hannay Cecile , Lamarque Jean-Francois
Published: February 2015

Observational benchmarks of global and regional aerosol direct radiative effects, over all surfaces and all sky conditions, are generated using CloudSat’s new multisensor radiative fluxes and heating rates product. Improving upon previous techniques, the approach leverages the capability of CloudSat and CALIPSO to retrieve vertically resolved estimates of cloud and aerosol properties required for complete and accurate assessment of aerosol direct effects under all conditions. The global annually averaged aerosol direct radiative effect is estimated to be −1.9 W m−2 with an uncertainty range of ±0.6 W m−2, which is in better agreement with previously published estimates from global models than previous satellite-based estimates. Detailed comparisons against a fully coupled simulation of the Community Earth System Model, however, reveal that this agreement on the global annual mean masks large regional discrepancies between modeled and observed estimates of aerosol direct effects. A series of regional analyses demonstrate that, in addition to previously documented biases in simulated aerosol distributions, the magnitude and sign of these discrepancies are often related to model biases in the geographic and seasonal distribution of clouds. A low bias in stratocumulus cloud cover over the southeastern Pacific, for example, leads to an overestimate of the radiative effects of marine aerosols in the region. Likewise, errors in the seasonal cycle of low clouds in the southeastern Atlantic distort the radiative effects of biomass burning aerosols from southern Africa. These findings indicate that accurate assessment of aerosol direct effects requires models to correctly represent not only the source, strength, and optical properties of aerosols, but their relative proximity to clouds as well.
Recent Winter Precipitation Increase in the Middle–Lower Yangtze River Valley since the Late 1970s: A Response to Warming in the Tropical Indian Ocean
Authors: Li Xiao-Feng , Li Jianping , Li Yun
Published: February 2015

The middle–lower valley of the Yangtze River (MLY), located in the middle of eastern China, has been one of the largest economic centers of China since ancient times. Winter precipitation variability over the MLY is important for China because of its significant influence on the local economy. However, few studies have focused on the long-term variability of winter precipitation over the MLY. This study reports a significant wetting trend over the MLY in winter during the three decades since the late 1970s, forming a “mid-east-China winter wetting” pattern, which has become an important feature of precipitation change under the weakening East Asian winter monsoon. This wetting trend in the MLY also implies the poleward extension of the precipitation belts of southern China.

Further investigation reveals that the increasing sea surface temperature (SST) in the tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) is the dominant factor responsible for recent increases in precipitation over the MLY. The thermal forcing driven by warming of the TIO SST gives rise to an anomalous cyclonic circulation along the coast of eastern China. This transports more water vapor onto the Chinese mainland, shifts and causes anomalous convergence over the MLY, and generates the increase in precipitation there. As such, the increasing SST in the TIO induces over 80% of the observed wetting trend over the MLY. This mechanism was verified by results obtained from two sets of sensitivity experiments using a numerical spectral atmospheric general circulation model. Thus, increasing SST in the TIO has made a dominant contribution to the recent winter precipitation increase over the MLY.
Evaluation of the PERSIANN-CDR Daily Rainfall Estimates in Capturing the Behavior of Extreme Precipitation Events over China
Authors: Miao Chiyuan , Ashouri Hamed , Hsu Kuo-Lin , Sorooshian Soroosh , Duan Qingyun
Published: February 2015

This study evaluates the performance of a newly developed daily precipitation climate data record, called Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information Using Artificial Neural Networks–Climate Data Record (PERSIANN-CDR), in capturing the behavior of daily extreme precipitation events in China during the period of 1983–2006. Different extreme precipitation indices, in the three categories of percentile, absolute threshold, and maximum indices, are studied and compared with the same indices from the East Asia (EA) ground-based gridded daily precipitation dataset. The results show that PERSIANN-CDR depicts similar precipitation behavior as the ground-based EA product in terms of capturing the spatial and temporal patterns of daily precipitation extremes, particularly in the eastern China monsoon region, where the intensity and frequency of heavy rainfall events are very high. However, the agreement between the datasets in dry regions such as the Tibetan Plateau in the west and the Taklamakan Desert in the northwest is not strong. An important factor that may have influenced the results is that the ground-based stations from which EA gridded data were produced are very sparse. In the station-rich regions in eastern China, the performance of PERSIANN-CDR is significant. PERSIANN-CDR slightly underestimates the values of extreme heavy precipitation.
A National View of Storm Surge Risk and Inundation
Authors: Zachry Brian C. , Booth William J. , Rhome Jamie R. , Sharon Tarah M.
Published: February 2015

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), specifically the National Weather Service’s (NWS) National Hurricane Center (NHC), utilizes the hydrodynamic Sea, Lake, and Overland Surges from Hurricanes (SLOSH) model to simulate storm surge in 27 basins along the U.S East and Gulf Coasts. This information is provided to federal, state, and local partners to assist in a range of planning processes, risk assessment studies, and decision making. Based on climatology, tens of thousands of hypothetical hurricanes are simulated in each basin, and the potential storm surges are calculated. Storm surge composites—maximum envelopes of water (MEOWs) and maximum of maximums (MOMs)—are created to assess and visualize storm surge risk under varying conditions.

While MEOWs and MOMs provide a local assessment of storm surge risk, they do not provide a national perspective owing to the 27 discrete grids. National assessments must therefore merge the grids together, which is a laborious task requiring considerable SLOSH and hydrodynamic modeling expertise. This paper describes the technique used to create national inundation maps for category 1–5 hurricanes using the SLOSH MOM product, and it provides a simple quantitative assessment of the potential societal impacts. Approximately 22 million people along the U.S East and Gulf Coasts are vulnerable to storm surge. For all hurricane categories, a substantial portion of the coastal population and housing units are at risk, and many evacuation routes become inundated. Florida is the most vulnerable state with 40% of its population at risk. These maps and analyses provide a new way to view, analyze, and communicate national storm surge risk and inundation.
Is Nebulized Lidocaine Adequate Topical Anesthesia for Diagnostic Transnasal Tracheoscopy?
Authors: Sharma Giriraj K. , Verma Sunil P.
Published: February 2015

Objectives:

To evaluate if nebulized 4% lidocaine alone provides adequate laryngopharyngeal anesthesia for office-based diagnostic transnasal tracheoscopy (TNT).

Methods:

A retrospective chart review (January 2011 to June 2014) and a prospective case series (July 2014 to December 2014) of patients who underwent diagnostic TNT were performed at a university voice and swallowing center. TNT cases were categorized by method of topical laryngopharyngeal anesthesia: nebulized 4% lidocaine and 4% lidocaine drip (phase I) and nebulized 4% lidocaine only (phase II).

Results:

TNT was performed a total of 59 times on 38 patients. Eleven (69%) of 16 phase I TNT procedures involved significant patient discomfort and severe cough following the lidocaine drip. Forty-two (98%) of 43 phase II TNT procedures were completed comfortably; 1 case required additional anesthesia by lidocaine drip. Retrospectively, 100% (n = 8) of patients who underwent both phase I and phase II TNTs were noted to prefer anesthesia with nebulizer alone. In a prospective case series of 14 phase II TNT cases, 6 (86%) of 7 patients who previously underwent phase I TNT reported preference for anesthesia with nebulizer alone.

Conclusions:

Nebulized lidocaine appears to provide sufficient laryngopharyngeal anesthesia for diagnostic TNT. It is preferred by patients over laryngeal drip.
Severe Transient Pharyngeal Paralysis Following C2 Fracture Repair
Authors: Cumpston Evan C. , Bock Jonathan M.
Published: February 2015

Objectives:

We report a case of isolated pharyngeal plexus injury following posterior plating of a C2 fracture in an 84-year-old white male.

Methods:

Methods include a case report with literature review.

Results:

The patient presented with dense pharyngeal paralysis and inability to initiate swallowing but maintained true vocal cord movement. The patient required gastrostomy tube feeding for 3 months but eventually recovered his swallowing function. Prior literature on acute pharyngeal paralysis following upper cervical spine fracture repairs is reviewed with recommendations for care of this unique patient population.

Conclusions:

Traumatic C2 fracture repair can lead to isolated dense pharyngeal paralysis due to pharyngeal plexus injury with subsequent severe dysphagia. Observation may be appropriate in this population, with consideration of tracheotomy for recurrent aspiration.
Relationship of Serum Procalcitonin Levels to Severity and Prognosis in Pediatric Bacterial Meningitis
Authors: Hu Ruimei , Gong Yansheng , Wang Yuzhen
Published: February 2015

Objective. To investigate the relationship between serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels and prognosis in children with bacterial meningitis. Methods. Eighty-two child patients were included in this prospective study. The diagnosis of meningitis was based on clinical features and cerebrospinal fluid findings. PCT levels were measured with a specific immunoluminometric assay. Results. ( a) Patients with bacterial meningitis had significantly higher serum PCT than those with viral meningitis. ( b) The PCT levels of patients with severe sepsis or septic shock were significantly higher than those who had no or mild sepsis. ( c) PCT levels decreased significantly in patients who had good curative effect, whereas PCT levels did not changed in patients who had no curative effect. ( d) The PCT levels were significantly higher in those who died than those who survived. Conclusions. Serum PCT is related to the severity of disease in children with bacterial meningitis. A fall in PCT after treatment may have favorable prognostic significance.
The effect of elevated temperatures on the bending behaviour of foam cored sandwich structures
Authors: Zhang Shufeng , Dulieu-Barton Janice M , Thomsen Ole T
Published: February 2015

The influence of elevated temperatures on the bending response of polymer foam cored sandwich structures is investigated. A new analytical model is proposed that enables the calculation of the stress/strain and deflection of sandwich beams subjected to load and elevated temperatures. The model is based on the classical sandwich beam theory, but the effect of a through thickness temperature gradient is accounted for by imposing different stiffnesses of the core for different temperatures. The sandwich beam specimen studied in the paper is loaded in a simply supported three-point bending configuration, where one of the face sheets is heated. The experimental approach utilises digital image correlation to obtain the point deflection of the specimen and more importantly to characterise the nonuniform deformation of the core. The results from the new analytical method agree well with corresponding experimental results for the beam deflection and core shear strain. It is found that the core shear stress remains uniform in the through thickness direction despite the temperature gradient and resulting stiffness gradient. Thereby the core shear yielding is initiated from the area with the highest temperature in the sandwich beam cross-section due to the reduction of core yield strength with increasing temperature.
Compressive properties of high-resilience thermal-bonding cushioning inter/intra-ply hybrid composites
Authors: Yan Ruosi , Wang Rui , Lou Ching-Wen , Lin Jia-Horng
Published: February 2015

In this study, hybrid composites composed of high-resilience fiber and reinforced with glass fabric were successfully prepared by needle punching and thermal bonding process. The effects of areal density, needle punching depth, and fiber blending ratio of the composites on delamination, cushioning, hardness, support factor, and hysteresis loss were investigated, and the relevant mechanisms were elucidated. Experimental results indicated that the hybrid composites exhibit high cushioning properties under multidrop-weight impact. The factors studied considerably influenced the cushioning properties of the composites. Hardness and support factor improved with increasing areal density and needle punching depth but decreased with increasing crimp hollow fiber ratio because of compression stress relaxation. Hybrid composites with various areal densities exhibited contrasting effects on the hysteresis behaviors of compression and indentation force deflections; these effects are attributed to the dissipation of support and energy in the materials surrounding the indentation. Instantaneous compression and recovery processes yielded no significant effects on fiber slippage; however, hysteresis loss was slightly affected by compression stress relaxation. The high-resilience thermal-bonding hybrid composites proposed in this work exhibited high cushioning and compression resistance properties.
Lennie: a smartphone application with novel implications for the management of animal colonies
Authors: Allwood MA , Griffith D , Allen C , Reed J , Mahmoud QH , Brunt KR , Simpson JA
Published: February 2015

Researchers rely on animals for their clinical applicability and ease of monitoring. However, careful management is required to ensure the animal and financial costs are minimized. The incorporation of ‘smartphone’ technology in research has increased exponentially, with a focus on the development of innovative research-based applications. We have developed a smartphone application designed to address the needs of modern researchers in the management of their colonies. ‘Lennie’ introduces a new method for the management of small to medium-sized animal colonies. Lennie allows users wireless access to their colonies with the ability to create and edit from virtually anywhere. Lennie also offers the ability to manage colonies based on experiments by assigning animals based on priority. Experimental time-points are also recorded with integrated scheduling options using the calendar function. Lennie represents an alternative to current large-scale software options, as the application design is simple, and requires no training or manuals. As the technological landscape is constantly evolving, we must continue to find ways to improve upon current practices to ensure that research is completed with efficiency and efficacy. With this new method of animal management, researchers are able to spend less time record keeping and can focus their efforts on continued innovation.
Seeing Mothers-in-Law Through the Lens of the Mothering Ideology
Authors: Shih Kristy Y. , Pyke Karen
Published: February 2015

This interview study examines the ideological assumptions in women’s accounts of their coethnic mothers-in-law in a sample of 36 Taiwanese, Taiwanese Americans, and Mexican Americans. Respondents across ethnic and national backgrounds deploy an ideology of “expressive mothering” that emphasizes close affective bonds in evaluating their mothers-in-law, often relying on their own mothers as the standard for comparison. While respondents generally expect mothers to be very involved in their lives as an extension of their close bonds, they want mothers-in-law to walk a tightrope between close emotional bonds and noninterference. Our findings suggest that respondents’ use of the mothering ideology promotes high expectations and can contribute to difficult in-law relations. We also describe how Taiwanese and Taiwanese American respondents, but not Mexican Americans, engage racialized assumptions regarding the mother-in-law role and, in so doing, reproduce racial stereotypes.
With the eye and the ear—analytical and intuitive approaches in piano playing by Finnish teacher candidates
Authors: Ketovuori Mikko
Published: February 2015

This article investigates a piano-playing subject called “keyboard harmony.” The subject was initially developed in the 1980s to give (K–12) schoolteachers the skills needed for accompanying singing in classrooms. Since keyboard harmony today has an official status in all Finnish music schools, both piano and general music teachers ought to know and make use of the method in their work. In this study, teacher education candidates ( N = 35) were given the task of playing two pieces of music with melody and chords from a songbook. The performances were recorded and evaluated. Students were tested also with Karmas auditory structuring and WAIS Digit-Symbol Coding tests. Additionally, all players wrote a short description of the strategies they used. Deriving from theory and based on the results, two main approaches to piano playing are defined: analytical and intuitive playing. The results indicate that one-sided emphasis on notation may hinder creative and more nuanced ways to play the piano.
The paradoxes of democratic life
Authors: Grumley John
Published: February 2015

Recent events have only reinforced the fact that the value of freedom occupies a pre-eminent, but also paradoxical, role in modern societies. Nowhere have the ambiguities and ambivalences of this leading concept been more fully explored than in recent analyses by György Márkus and Axel Honneth. The following paper brings these two theorists together, examining Márkus’s claims for the perplexity that overtakes an investigation of modern freedom against the background of Honneth’s most recent magnum opus. This contrast will provide mutual illumination, allowing us to appreciate both the commonalities and differences in approach and conclusion, but also allowing us to critically contest some of Márkus’s most startling conclusions.
The effect of moisture on the release and enrichment of heavy metals during pyrolysis of municipal solid waste
Authors: Raclavská Helena , Corsaro Agnieszka , Hlavsová Adéla , Juchelková Dagmar , Zajonc Ondřej
Published: February 2015

The investigation of the effect of moisture on the release and enrichment of heavy metals during pyrolysis of municipal solid waste is essential. This is important owing to: (i) the increasing amount of metals in the solid product of pyrolysis beyond the normalised level; (ii) the effect of moisture on the overall cost of pyrolysis process; and (iii) the utilisation of pyrolysis products. Seven metals were selected for evaluation: arsenic, cadmium, chromium, mercury, nickel, lead, and vanadium. Pyrolysis experiments were conducted in a steel retort at 650 °C. The municipal solid waste samples with moisture contents of 0, 30, and 65 wt% were investigated. The relative enrichment index and release of heavy metals were evaluated individually for liquid and solid fractions. A consistent trend was observed for the majority of metals investigated. Reductions of relative enrichment index and release, i.e. an increase of volatility, were observed for arsenic, chromium, cadmium, nickel, and vanadium, with an increase of municipal solid waste moisture. Whereas divergent results were obtained for lead and mercury. The effect of moisture on the relative enrichment index and release was greater at 65 wt% moisture than at 30 wt% for lead, and more remarkable at 30 wt% than at 65 wt% for mercury.
Musculoskeletal problems and fluoride exposure
Authors: Saha A , Mukherjee AK , Ravichandran B
Published: February 2015

Frequent and repetitive activities in job and awkward postures are shown as major contributors of musculoskeletal problems in most of the occupational health studies; however, efforts to explore newer risk factor are important to plan interventional measures. In this backdrop, this study examined contribution of fluoride exposure to musculoskeletal complaints. A cross-sectional interviewer-administered questionnaire survey was conducted involving 180 randomly selected subjects from a metal smelting industry. Clinical examination of the subjects was also performed to assess their health status and morbidity details. Assessment of personal exposure to particulate and gaseous fluoride at workplace was conducted. Urinary fluoride level was also examined in post-shift samples collected from study subjects. The mean age of the study subjects was 39.1 (±6.7) years. Majority of the workers (42.5%) were engaged in pot room. About 54% workers were suffering from backache and 66% subjects had joint pain. Exposure of workers to both particulate and gaseous fluoride and post-working shift urinary fluoride level was significantly higher in pot-room workers in comparison with all other workers. It was observed that age (odds ratio (OR): 1.62; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.18–2.34), drinking untreated water (OR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.03–2.76), working in pot room (OR: 1.44; 95% CI: 1.13–1.91) and urinary fluoride level (OR: 2.71; 95% CI: 1.81–3.75) had significant effects on musculoskeletal complaints. This study concludes that along with other predictors such as nature of work, posture at work and age of worker, exposure to fluoride also has significant role in the occurrence of musculoskeletal morbidity.
Evaluation of genome damage in subjects occupationally exposed to possible carcinogens
Authors: Zeljezic Davor , Mladinic Marin , Kopjar Nevenka , Radulovic Azra Hursidic
Published: February 2015

In occupational exposures, populations are simultaneously exposed to a mixture of chemicals. We aimed to evaluate DNA damage due to possible carcinogen exposure (phenylhydrazine, ethylene oxide, dichloromethane, and 1,2-dichloroethane) in lymphocytes of pharmaceutical industry workers from the same production line. Population comprised 16 subjects (9 females and 7 males) who were exposed to multiple chemicals for 8 months. Genome damage was assessed using alkaline comet assay, micronucleus assay, and comet assay coupled with fluorescent in situ hybridization (comet-FISH). After 8 months of exposure, the issue of irregular use of all available personal protective equipment (PPE) came into light. To decrease the risk of exposure, strict use of PPE was enforced. After 8 months of strict PPE use, micronuclei frequency and comet assay parameters in lymphocytes of pharmaceutical workers significantly decreased compared with prior period of irregular PPE use. Comet-FISH results indicated a significant shift in distribution of signals for the TP 53 gene toward a more frequent occurrence in the comet tail. Prolonged exposure to possible carcinogens may hinder DNA repair mechanisms and affect structural integrity of TP 53. Two indicators of loss of TP 53 gene integrity have risen, namely, TP 53 fragmentation rate in lymphocytes with persistently elevated primary damage and incidence of TP 53 deletions in undamaged lymphocytes.
Sin in the Psalms
Authors: Barton John
Published: February 2015

The Psalms are a heterogeneous collection of texts that may come from many different periods, yet a reasonably consistent picture emerges of the sins they mention. These are mostly to do with social interactions, though there is some attention to sins of thought and intent. Because so many Psalms are concerned with supplications by those oppressed by others, the emphasis tends to fall on malice rather than on more ‘obvious’ sins such as murder or adultery, which are little mentioned. There is not much reflection on the nature of sin as such, though Psalm 51 suggests that it goes back even as far as one’s conception.
The Difficulties of Mercy: Reading Thomas Aquinas on Misericordia
Authors: Miner Robert C.
Published: February 2015

In the Questions on charity in the ST (2a2ae, qq. 23-46), Aquinas considers at length the vices opposed to charity, omitting altogether any Question on a vice opposed to mercy. What does the omission reveal about mercy and its difficulties? First, I reject ready-to-hand explanations of the omission. Second, I consider the relation between mercy and compassion, showing that for Thomas the primary impediments to compassion are less vices than psychological forces irreducible to any single vice. Third, I turn to a different set of obstacles to mercy – acts that can arise from compassion, but do not help (and often harm) the person in need. Given these difficulties, how can Thomas take the practice of virtuous mercy to be generally possible? I conclude with a discussion of suffering and the gift of wisdom.
Peccatorum Communio: Intercession in Bonhoeffer’s Use of Hegel
Authors: Robinson David S.
Published: February 2015

This essay challenges the portrayal of philosophical idealism as sinful ‘confinement in the self’, arguing that this obscures a relationship between Hegel and Bonhoeffer characterised by variation rather than contradiction. I first trace a limited congeniality between their respective critiques of the ‘beautiful soul’ and the ‘privately virtuous’, showing how both thinkers resist moral isolation through the call to confession. Second, I follow their attempts to overcome an oppositional logic between such social exchange and divine agency, rooted in the syntax of Hegel’s phrase ‘God existing as community’. This provides sharper focus to Bonhoeffer’s variations, changing the subject from God to Christ and the attendant act from reciprocal confession to intercessory prayer. Rather than merely defensive revision, I argue that this reveals an agile Christology which can sustain an ethical posture of ‘being for others’ through the withheld confession and broken trust typical of a communion of sinners.
Pride’s Progress
Authors: O’Donovan Oliver
Published: February 2015

Sin has infinite variety, but is also a unified phenomenon. As a way of displaying both these aspects, the vice-lists of the New Testament explore patterns by which sin unfolds in a sequence of diverse but connected forms. The eschatological vice-list of 2 Timothy 3 treats this as an unfolding of the sin of pride from an immanent form (love of self) to a socially concrete one (love of pleasure). Exploring this train of thought in further detail, we find room within the progress of pride for the love of money and the love of war.
Autonomous rear-end collision avoidance using an electric power steering system
Authors: Shah Jitendra , Best Matt , Benmimoun Ahmed , Ayat Mohsen Lakehal
Published: February 2015

A step towards fully autonomous vehicles can be achieved by autonomous collision avoidance. This paper presents the development and implementation of a rear-end collision avoidance system which consists of novel linear threat assessment, projected escape path planning with non-zero initial condition, reference generation and linear path control by an electric steering actuator using dynamic inversion. The linear threat assessment continuously calculates threat metrics associated with collision avoidance by either steering or braking. The escape path planner continuously estimates a path with constraints on the peak lateral acceleration and the required lateral deviation. The reference generator then estimates the states for avoidance according to the available friction. Linear state feedback control is applied for path following to avoid a collision in both straight-road scenarios and curved-road scenarios. The proposed approach is evaluated in simulations, and in practice on a C-segment Ford vehicle. A user-related assessment about the usefulness and satisfaction is included to conclude the paper.
Optimal assembly of a skin panel onto the fuselage framework based on force control technology
Authors: Wu Fengfeng , Li Dongsheng , Du Baorui
Published: February 2015

It is important for fuselage assembly to align the skin panel onto the frame, i.e. to reduce the gaps and subsequently lessen the need for shimming, but conventional position control method cannot always meet the requirement. This study proposed a direct force control technology, which can be directly promoted to a full-rate production without making any dedicated assistance and complex finite element analysis. This strategy was based on a force sensor mounted on a flexible tooling locator to feed back the pressing force information to the controller system. To achieve a certain compressing status, the system was controlled to achieve a desired force rather than reach a specific position. After obtaining four ideal force values from an experimental study during a prototype trial-production, a force-size interval that provides a certain grey degree of confidence was proposed for the flexible tooling control system using a parameter estimation approach for small samples based on the grey distance measure. Compared with conventional position control method, force control technology can achieve better compressing status, since it enables a reduction of all gap values between the skin panel and the framework by 0.15 mm on average or even 0.2 mm at most in the same assembly process.
Determination of loads carried by polypropylene ankle–foot orthoses: A preliminary study
Authors: Papi Enrica , Maclean John , Bowers Roy J , Solomonidis Stephanos E
Published: February 2015

Ankle–foot orthoses (AFOs) are prescribed for the management of gait-related problems. Prescription of AFOs is based on empirical techniques due to the low level of evidence-based research on their efficacy, but primarily poor understanding of their mechanical characteristics. This study aimed to establish a method that would allow the quantification of the contribution of AFOs in the control of the ankle joint during gait. A possible way of achieving this aim would be to measure strain on the AFO during walking by the use of strain gauges. Following successful experimentation with the application of strain gauges to polypropylene tensile specimens, an AFO was instrumented by attaching strain gauges to it so as to allow the moment generated on the AFO in the sagittal plane about the ankle to be measured. Walking trials using this AFO on an able-bodied subject indicated good step-to-step repeatability. The use of an instrumented AFO in conjunction with kinematic and kinetic data acquisition would allow the contribution of the AFO and the residual anatomical loads to be determined. The advantage of such procedure over previously reported ones resides on the use of the actual orthosis being worn by patients thereby conducting tests under real-life situations. It is believed that such analysis of the load actions of an orthosis, which may in future be carried out in three dimensions, would allow a better understanding of the interaction between the leg and the orthosis. This should ultimately enhance AFO prescription criteria and help in optimising patient/device matching.
Determining material loss from the femoral stem trunnion in hip arthroplasty using a coordinate measuring machine
Authors: Bone Martin C , Sidaginamale Raghavendra P , Lord James K , Scholes Susan C , Joyce Thomas J , Nargol Anthony VF , Langton David J
Published: February 2015

In contrast to the articulating and taper surfaces of failed total hip replacements, volumetric wear analysis of trunnions is not routinely performed. Metal wear particles from the trunnion may contribute not only to the failures of metal-on-metal total hip replacements but also to all hip replacements utilising metal trunnions. A validation study was performed with the material removed in stages from the trunnions of an Exeter V40 stem, a Corail stem and an Accolade stem to simulate different magnitudes of wear. The material loss from the trunnions was measured both volumetrically with a coordinate measuring machine and gravimetrically with a high-precision balance. A cohort of 28 ex vivo trunnions was also measured using the coordinate measuring machine. The maximum error between the two methods was found to be 0.13 mm3. This result was comparable with the coordinate measuring machine method for the taper surface (0.2 mm3). The ex vivo trunnions had a median wear volume of 0.14mm3 (range: 0.04–0.28 mm3). This is the first study to determine the accuracy of volumetric wear measurements of trunnions by comparing against gravimetric measurements. Volumetric wear analysis of trunnions may provide additional insights into failures of modular total hip prostheses and will be performed routinely at our centre.
The biochemical characteristics of wear testing lubricants affect polyethylene wear in orthopaedic pin-on-disc testing
Authors: Guenther Leah E , Turgeon Thomas R , Bohm Eric R , Brandt Jan-M
Published: February 2015

Lubricant protein concentration is known to affect crosslinked polyethylene wear in in vitro testing; however, the biochemical nature of these lubricants may also have a significant effect on wear and dictate its clinical relevance. A modified approach to pin-on-disc testing was implemented to explore the effect of four biochemically different lubricants on the wear of two types of crosslinked polyethylene materials (XLK™ and Marathon™; DePuy Synthes, Warsaw, IN, USA). XLK was associated with higher wear rates than Marathon. In comparison to lubricants containing deionized water, lubricants containing phosphate buffered saline solution and hyaluronic acid increased osmolality by up to 1.2 times and thermal stability by up to 1.4 times. This biochemical change reduced wear by up to 12.5 times. Wear rates for XLK and Marathon differed by a factor of 3.2 using lubricants with phosphate buffered saline solution as the dilutive media, but only 2.0 for lubricants with deionized water. Interestingly, varying the concentration of hyaluronic acid did not have a significant effect on wear, and differences between XLK and Marathon wear rates were not found to be statistically significant when hyaluronic acid was added to the lubricant. The findings of this study showed that increasing the osmolality and thermal stability of lubricants to more clinical levels decreased wear; however, the effect of hyaluronic acid on wear may not be apparent in simplistic pin-on-disc testing. It was suggested that phosphate buffered saline solution be used as the dilutive media of choice in order to better differentiate the ranking of materials while maintaining some clinical relevance.
‘Nothing ruins writers like journalism’: Colette, the press and belle époque literary life
Authors: Dubbelboer Marieke
Published: February 2015

This article takes Colette as a case study to explore the role of the press in the literary world of the belle époque. Like Colette, many literary authors worked in journalism, a commercial career that often clashed with ideals of creative autonomy and genius. Yet the close connection between the literary world and the press was more complex and productive than has previously been acknowledged by either cultural historians and historians of the press. This analysis offers new perspectives, not only by examining Colette’s overlooked journalistic career, but also by looking at the role of money, publicity and how the press shaped the politics and poetics of writers. This paper argues that the press played a crucial and under-examined role in French literary life of the belle époque and that the study of the press contributes to a better understanding of the institutional context of cultural production.
Objects of pleasure: Epistephilia and the sex worker in Rithy Panh’s Le Papier ne peut pas envelopper la braise
Authors: Barnes Leslie
Published: February 2015

Prostitution in contemporary Cambodia is historically linked to the violence of the Khmer Rouge regime and the degradation of Cambodian society. And yet, while other attempts at official reconciliation have been made, prostitution remains largely shrouded in silence. Rithy Panh’s 2007 documentary, Le Papier ne peut pas envelopper la braise, counters this silence by focusing on a group of prostitutes in Phnom Penh, seeking not only to give them voice, but to contribute to the healing of the Cambodian people. However, in making the prostitutes the subject of their own intimate discourse rather than the object of a broader social discourse, Panh’s film fails to satisfy the viewer’s expectations – expectations that are attendant on the documentary genre and bound to epistephilic desires and the pleasures of non-fiction. In humanising its subjects, Panh’s film paradoxically defamiliarises the film’s subject matter, in a Brechtian sense, interrupting the process through which the viewer projects his moralising pity or righteous indignation.
François le champi: A new Émile
Authors: De Vries Vicki
Published: February 2015

Despite its frequent classification as a pastoral novel, George Sand’s François le champi advocates forcefully for better treatment of abandoned children. During the nineteenth century, much debate centred on how best to ensure their care, education and integration into society. Sand’s solution, embodied by her eponymous protagonist, bears a striking resemblance to the ideal Jean-Jacques Rousseau proposes in his Émile, ou de l’éducation. Sand’s modelling of François on Rousseau’s Émile had personal roots, but would also have resonated with contemporary readers, many of whom considered Rousseau an authority on child-rearing and education. Sand’s use of Émile as intertext lends weight to her argument that abandoned children are not lost causes. Rather, with a devoted caretaker and a healthy environment, they can grow up to be not just ordinary, but even exemplary members of society.
Sexual freedom and anarchist individualism in French symbolism’s ivory tower
Authors: Williams Benjamin
Published: February 2015

How could an apparently apolitical poem (about a virgin princess and a knight errant) correspond with a poet’s anarchic beliefs? In the 1890s, symbolists like Pierre Quillard claimed that their isolation and production of ‘ivory tower’ poetry constituted a critique of the constraints placed on individuals by society. My paper argues that, in light of national anxieties over depopulation and homosexuality, the symbolists’ various defences of non-procreative sexualities provide one means of understanding why they would claim that their isolationist aestheticism effectively undermined ‘la société’. Following the analysis of pertinent texts from two prominent symbolists (Quillard and Henri de Régnier), my study concludes with a consideration of an apparently unstudied episode in which an anarchist periodical, L’Endehors, was prosecuted for defending homosexuality.