bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Uninhabitable?
Authors: Simone AbdouMaliq
Published: August 2016

The extent to which certain kinds of people are inundated with toxins, pollutants, bacteria, viruses, violence, and disaster is well documented. The various ways in which the extension of urbanization as a planetary phenomenon has refigured geographies of sustenance is also well established. This article focuses, instead, on exploring the interfacial oscillations among that which is experienced as habitable or uninhabitable, as a kind of regionalizing of relationships between life and nonlife. It looks at how possibilities of living disappear and reappear, often in the least expected situations and circumstances, and at how inhabitation itself becomes increasingly precarious through various devices and calculations deployed in order to guarantee it. Drawing upon decades of research and program development in urban Africa and Southeast Asia, the article explores some of ways in which the habitable and uninhabitable are redescribed in terms of each other and considers how this redescription could be used to formulate more judicious modalities of viable urban development, as urbanization itself seems to posit increased dangers to the viability of many lives.
Make Magazine and the Social Reproduction of DIY Science and Technology
Authors: Nguyen Josef
Published: August 2016

This analysis of Make, a US parenting magazine, focuses on how the periodical attempts to democratize science and technology through do-it-yourself (DIY) politics by rendering it a problem of child-rearing. Positioning the magazine within a broader context of contemporary interest in making and DIY practices, I argue that Make magazine deploys constructions of creative children to naturalize risk-taking as integral to future innovations, as a response to tensions between risks and responsibility underlying DIY modes of science and technology. Make magazine’s content performs what I define as the workshop-function, which distributes protocols through mass media for inaugurating spaces of scientific work outside of professional laboratories run by amateur scientific and technologic subjects. Make magazine highlights how DIY science and making intersects the politics of social reproduction, since the creation of amateur workshops and their operation become integral functions of the home, tying citizenship and political legitimacy to domestic labor in support of scientific and technological innovation.
Environmental Trade-Offs in Nitrogen Oxide Removal from Ship Engine Exhausts
Authors: Andersson K , Winnes H
Published: August 2016

The emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO x) from ship engines constitute an increasing part of the total global emissions of NO x while the share from land-based sources is decreasing. In the coming years, new regulations will set limits to emissions in specific areas and various technical countermeasures will be developed and implemented. However, when taking technical measures against emissions on a local scale, there is always a risk of inducing an increase in the total environmental impact related to the technology used, owing to increased energy use and emissions in other places.

In the present study, an investigation of the difference in environmental impact from passenger transport vessels with and without catalytic NO x emission purification was performed in a life cycle assessment. The production and transport of chemicals used in the catalyst are included in the study.

The study shows that the use of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) gives a considerable decrease in the environmental impact compared with using a diesel engine without a catalyst. The transport of urea solution over a 500 km distance makes a very small contribution to the total environmental impact. The global warming potential is the only impact category for which values are increased when including the urea production and transport. When looking at the contribution from urea to the total impact from the SCR process, the increase is less than 10 per cent for most impact categories.
Characterization of the tRNA ligases of pathogenic fungi Aspergillus fumigatus and Coccidioides immitis
Authors: Remus Barbara S. , Schwer Beate , Shuman Stewart
Published: August 2016

Yeast tRNA ligase (Trl1) is an essential trifunctional enzyme that repairs RNA breaks with 2′,3′-cyclic-PO4 and 5′-OH ends. Trl1 is composed of C-terminal cyclic phosphodiesterase and central polynucleotide kinase domains that heal the broken ends to generate the 3′-OH, 2′-PO4, and 5′-PO4 termini required for sealing by an N-terminal ligase domain. Trl1 enzymes are found in all human fungal pathogens and they are promising targets for antifungal drug discovery because: (i) their domain structures and biochemical mechanisms are unique compared to the mammalian RtcB-type tRNA splicing enzyme; and (ii) there are no obvious homologs of the Trl1 ligase domain in mammalian proteomes. Here we characterize the tRNA ligases of two human fungal pathogens: Coccidioides immitis and Aspergillus fumigatus. The biological activity of CimTrl1 and AfuTrl1 was verified by showing that their expression complements a Saccharomyces cerevisiae trl1Δ mutant. Purified recombinant AfuTrl1 and CimTrl1 proteins were catalytically active in joining 2′,3′-cyclic-PO4 and 5′-OH ends in vitro, either as full-length proteins or as a mixture of separately produced healing and sealing domains. The biochemical properties of CimTrl1 and AfuTrl1 are similar to those of budding yeast Trl1, particularly with respect to their preferential use of GTP as the phosphate donor for the polynucleotide kinase reaction. Our findings provide genetic and biochemical tools to screen for inhibitors of tRNA ligases from pathogenic fungi.
Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Replacement in a Carcinoid Heart
Authors: Loyalka Pranav , Schechter Michael , Nascimbene Angelo , Raman Ajay Sundara , Ilieascu Cezar A. , Gregoric Igor D. , Kar Biswajit
Published: August 2016

Carcinoid heart disease presents as right-sided heart failure attributable to the dysfunction of the tricuspid and pulmonary valves. Although surgical valve replacement is the mainstay of treatment when patients become symptomatic, it is associated with substantial perioperative mortality rates.

We present a case of severe pulmonary valve stenosis secondary to carcinoid heart disease, treated successfully with percutaneous valve replacement. A 67-year-old man with severe pulmonary valve stenosis was referred to our center for pulmonary valve replacement. The patient had a history of metastatic neuroendocrine tumor of the small bowel with carcinoid syndrome, carcinoid heart disease, and tricuspid valve regurgitation previously treated with surgical valve replacement.

Because of the patient's severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and hostile chest anatomy seen on a computed tomographic scan dating from previous cardiothoracic surgery, we considered off-label percutaneous valve replacement a viable alternative to open-heart surgery. A 29-mm Edwards Sapien XT valve was successfully deployed over the native pulmonary valve. There were no adverse sequelae after the procedure, and the patient was discharged from the hospital the next day. This case report shows that percutaneous valve replacement can be a valid option in carcinoid heart disease patients who are not amenable to surgical valve replacement.
WarpLDA
Authors: Chen Jianfei , Li Kaiwei , Zhu Jun , Chen Wenguang
Published: August 2016

Developing efficient and scalable algorithms for Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) is of wide interest for many applications. Previous work has developed an
O
(1) Metropolis-Hastings (MH) sampling method for each token. However, its performance is far from being optimal due to frequent
cache misses
caused by random accesses to the parameter matrices.

In this paper, we first carefully analyze the memory access behavior of existing algorithms for LDA by cache locality at document level. We then develop WarpLDA, which achieves
O
(1) time complexity per-token and fits the randomly accessed memory perdocument in the L3 cache. Our empirical results in a wide range of testing conditions demonstrate that WarpLDA is consistently 5-15x faster than the state-of-the-art MH-based LightLDA, and is faster than the state-of-the-art sparsity aware F+LDA in most settings. Our WarpLDA learns a million topics from 639 millions of documents in only five hours at an unprecedented throughput of 11 billion tokens per second.
BlinkFill
Authors: Singh Rishabh
Published: August 2016

The recent Programming By Example (PBE) techniques such as FlashFill have shown great promise for enabling end-users to perform data transformation tasks using input-output examples. Since examples are inherently an under-specification, there are typically a large number of hypotheses conforming to the examples, and the PBE techniques suffer from scalability issues for finding the intended program amongst the large space.

We present a semi-supervised learning technique to significantly reduce this ambiguity by using the logical information present in the input data to guide the synthesis algorithm. We develop a data structure InputDataGraph to succinctly represent a large set of logical patterns that are shared across the input data, and use this graph to efficiently learn substring expressions in a new PBE system B
link
F
ill
. We evaluate B
link
F
ill
on 207 real-world benchmarks and show that B
link
F
ill
is significantly faster (on average 41x) and requires fewer input-output examples (1.27 vs 1.53) to learn the desired transformations in comparison to F
lash
F
ill
.
Weaver
Authors: Dubey Ayush , Hill Greg D. , Escriva Robert , Sirer Emin Gün
Published: August 2016

Graph databases have become a common infrastructure component. Yet existing systems either operate on offline snapshots, provide weak consistency guarantees, or use expensive concurrency control techniques that limit performance.

In this paper, we introduce a new distributed graph database, called Weaver, which enables efficient, transactional graph analyses as well as strictly serializable ACID transactions on dynamic graphs. The key insight that allows Weaver to combine strict serializability with horizontal scalability and high performance is a novel request ordering mechanism called refinable timestamps. This technique couples coarse-grained vector timestamps with a fine-grained timeline oracle to pay the overhead of strong consistency only when needed. Experiments show that Weaver enables a Bitcoin blockchain explorer that is 8x faster than Blockchain.info, and achieves 10.9x higher throughput than the Titan graph database on social network workloads and 4x lower latency than GraphLab on offline graph traversal workloads.
Dynamic Capabilities and Healthcare: A Framework for Enhancing the Competitive Advantage of Hospitals
Authors: Agwunobi Andrew , Osborne Paul
Published: August 2016

This article describes how hospitals can use the dynamic capabilities framework to achieve competitive advantage in today's difficult healthcare environment.
PYK2 via S6K1 regulates the function of androgen receptors and the growth of prostate cancer cells
Authors: Hsiao Yu-Hsuan , Huang Yu-Ting , Hung Chia-Yu , Kuo Tzu-Chien , Luo Fuh-Jinn , Yuan Ta-Chun
Published: August 2016

Androgen receptor (AR) is a steroid hormone receptor that functions as a transcription factor for regulating cell growth and survival. Aberrant AR function becomes a risk factor for promoting the progression of prostate cancer (PCa). In this study, we examined the roles of proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 (PYK2) and ribosomal S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) in regulating AR expression and activity and growth properties in PCa cells. Compared with normal prostate tissues, PCa tumors exhibited high levels of PYK2 and S6K1 expression. Furthermore, the expression levels of PYK2 and S6K1 were significantly correlated with nuclear AR expression in PCa tissues. We further found the association between PYK2, S6K1, and AR in their protein expression and phosphorylation levels among normal prostate PZ-HPV-7 cells and prostate cancer LNCaP and 22Rv1 cells. Overexpression of the wild-type PYK2 in PZ-HPV-7 and LNCaP cells promoted AR and S6K1 expression and phosphorylation as well as enhanced cell growth. In contrast, expression of the mutated PYK2 or knockdown of PYK2 expression in LNCaP or 22Rv1 cells caused reduced expression or phosphorylation of AR and S6K1 as well as retarded cell growth. Under an androgen-deprived condition, PYK2-promoted AR expression and phosphorylation and PSA production in LNCaP cells can be abolished by knocking down S6K1 expression. In summary, our data suggested that PYK2 via S6K1 activation modulated AR function and growth properties in PCa cells. Thus, PYK2 and S6K1 may potentially serve as therapeutic targets for PCa treatment.
A 50-year Odyssey in Medical Education
Authors: Cookson John
Published: August 2016

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. The author has spent 50 years in medical education as student, teacher, educator, academic and manager. Now in his anecdotage, he explores the past five decades, the influences upon him, what he made of them and what decisions he took; some of it based on evidence but much made up as he went along.
Funding Agreement-Backed Securities in the Enhanced Financial Accounts
Authors: Foley-Fisher Nathan , Meisenzahl Ralf R. , Narajabad Borghan , Perozek Maria G. , Verani Stephane H.
Published: August 2016

This note describes new data on funding agreement-backed securities (FABS) that is being provided as part of the Enhanced Financial Accounts (EFA) initiative.
Preparation of Custom Synthesized RNA Transcript Standard v2
Authors: M. Satinsky Brandon , Scott M. Gifford not provided , Byron C. Crump not provided , Christa Smith not provided , Mary Ann Moran not provided
Published: August 2016

This protocol is from: Satinsky, Brandon M., et al. "Use of internal standards for quantitative metatranscriptome and metagenome analysis." Methods in enzymology 531 (2012): 237-250. Please see the full chapter for additional details.
Factores asociados al consumo de cocaína en usuarios de heroína inyectable en Colombia
Authors: Berbesi-Fernández Dedsy Yajaira ,   Facultad de Medicina, Universidad CES, Medellín-Colombia., Segura-Cardona Angela , Montoya-Velez Liliana Patricia , Ramirez-Medina Andres Felipe
Published: August 2016

Resumen

Introducción. Las personas que consumen heroína y cocaína presentan una mayor actividad sexual, conductas de riesgo relacionadas con la inyección y un uso inconsistente del condón, lo que aumentaría el riesgo de infecciones de transmisión sexual y la presencia de VIH.

Objetivo. Identificar factores sociodemográficos, conductas sexuales y de inyección en usuarios de heroína, según consumo o no de cocaína en cinco ciudades de Colombia.

Método. Se encuestaron 1017 usuarios de drogas inyectables mayores de 18 años. Por medio de muestreo generado por el entrevistado, se calcularon razones de prevalencia crudas (OR) y ajustadas a través de una regresión logística, con sus respectivos IC 95% según el consumo de cocaína.

Resultados. El 60% de los usuarios de heroína inyectada consumían también cocaína. Esta población en gran parte eran hombres, solteros, menores de 25 años, pertenecientes a estratos socioeconómicos bajos e involucrados en el microtráfico. Los comportamientos de riesgo en la última inyección de la droga fueron mayores en quienes también consumían cocaína. El uso de condón en la última relación sexual fue menor y se observó una mayor prevalencia de VIH en los consumidores de cocaína.

Discusión y conclusión. Se logró determinar que los usuarios de drogas inyectables que consumen cocaína se enfrentan a una alta probabilidad de presentar VIH y menor uso del condón, así como mayores comportamientos de riesgo sexual y relacionados con la inyección. Se requiere atención con medidas preventivas y sociales que disminuyan el policonsumo y las consecuencias de estas drogas en Colombia.
Acute and sub-acute toxicity studies of an extract from white bean pods under the condition of its intragastric administration
Authors: Kuznietsova M. , Halenova T. , Savchuk O.
Published: August 2016

The article is devoted to the studies of acute and sub-acute toxicity of dry extract from white bean (P. vulgaris) pods. The acute toxicity study of the extract was carried out according to the conventional classification of K.K Sidorov and showed that the extract refers to low-toxic substances (LD 50 following its intragastric administration is greater than 2000 mg/kg). The study of extract sub-acute toxicity showed the increasing of relative liver and kidney weight, which may indicate the existence of adverse effects of the extract under the conditions of its long-term administration.
Heterocyclization Reactions of Pyruvic Acids and Aminoazoles with Controlled Chemoselectivity
Authors: Sakhno Yana , Murlykina Maryna , Morozova Alisa , Kozyrev Anton , Chebanov Valentin
Published: August 2016

The present review includes the analysis of known literature data concerning linear and multicomponent heterocyclizations involving pyruvic acids and aminoazoles. In particular, the review demonstrates the approaches to control regio- and chemoselectivity of these types of treatments and their application to solve the matters of Diversity Oriented Synthesis.
New 3-(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4-triazole derivatives and their palladium (II) complexes
Authors: Zakharchenko Borys , Khomenko Dmytro , Doroschuk Roman , Lampeka Rostyslav
Published: August 2016

The article is devoted to investigation of coordination compounds of palladium (II) with 3-(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4-triazole derivatives containing amino groups. We syntesized 4 ligands and 4 new coordination compounds. An interesting after removing of BOC-protection, NH2-group is still uncoordinated. In 1H NMR spectra of complexes was a significant shift of the ortho-pyridine proton in a low-field area, which prove proposed structure. This may be due to its closeness to the lone electron pair of the nitrogen cycle of the second triazole ligand.
New chiral bis(oxazolinyl)bipyridine ligands and application in the iron catalyzed asymmetric hydrosilylation of ketones
Authors: Jalba Angela , Levitre Guillaume , Keipour Hoda , Lauzon Samuel , Ollevier Thierry
Published: August 2016

C2 symmetrical 6,6′-bis(oxazolinyl)-2,2′-bipyridine (bipybox) chiral ligands have been synthesized from readily available 2,2′-bipyridine. Catalytic asymmetric hydrosilylation of ketones was studied using this family of ligands in the presence of iron(II) acetate.
Gas Chromatographic determination of parabens after derivatization and dispersive microextraction
Authors: Levchyk Valentyna , Zui Marina
Published: August 2016

In this study a dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction method combines with an in situ derivatization. The proposed method is used for the extraction and pre-concentration of some preservatives including methyl paraben, ethyl paraben, propyl paraben and butyl paraben from different water matrices. The extracted compounds are monitored by gas chromatography-flame ionization detector. Parabens are derivatizated by propionic anhydride. The effects of the extraction solvent type, extraction and acylation time, derivative agent volume, temperature, pH and the ionic strength of the solution on the extraction efficiency were investigated. 50 mkl chloroform and 500 mkl acetonitrile is a mixture of suitable extraction and dispersive solvents. The mixture is centrifuged for 3min at 4000 rpm. 20 mkl propionic anhydride is used for derivatization parabens in the concentration range of 0.05 - 1 mg within 2 - 3 minutes. The optimum pH range is 8 - 9. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of parabens were in the range of 2.0–10.0% (n = 3). The method was applied to the analysis of the four parabens in water. For the analysis of the spiked samples, a recovery above 100 % were obtained.
GÊNESE DO HERÓI BANDIDO NA LITERATURA SERTANEJA
Authors: SIQUEIRA Ana Maria Alves
Published: August 2016

Por meio da história do primeiro cangaceiro cantado pela musa popular- Cabeleira- Franklin Távora cria um romance que, além de oferecer um quadro elucidativo da origem do banditismo no sertão, entrelaçando história e imaginação, delineia diversos fatores sócio- econômicos  culturais que sustentam o personagem como representação de um tipo popular na literatura sertaneja: o herói bandido. O artigo pretende, pois, a partir do estudo da obra e das trovas populares sobre o cangaceiro, delinear vários aspectos que fomentaram a gênese de tal fenômeno através da analise da origem da violência e da marginalidade no sertão, bem como da presença, no gosto popular da região, de uma especial predileção por aventuras cavaleirescas de valentia e heroísmos.PALAVRAS- CHAVE: cangaço; herói- bandido; aventura cavaleiresca.
O FANTÁSTICO EM “ O JOVEM GOODMAN BROWN” , DE NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
Authors: FROTA Adolfo José de Souza
Published: August 2016

O objetivo desse artigo é analisar como se configura a idéia do fantástico no conto de Nathaniel Hawthorne “O jovem Goodman Brown” a partir das teorias de H. P. Lovecraft , Tzvetan Todorov e Filipe Furtado e apontar, de forma sucinta, uma outra possível leitura para a narrativa aliada à fantástica, fazendo com que a crítica desse conto seja enriquecida na confluência de outras possibilidades interpretativas.PALAVRAS- CHAVE: Fantástico; hesitação; conto; sobrenatural; ambigüidade.
VAGA LEMBRANÇA OU POR UMA RELEITURA SENTIMENTAL DAS MEMÓRIAS DE JOÃO MIRAMAR
Authors: KERN Daniela
Published: August 2016

Este trabalho, através da recuperação da gênese e da fortuna critica de Memórias sentimentais de João Miramar, analisa tanto ligações entre o romance e a biografia de seu autor, Oswald de Andrade, quanto características sentimentais e não irônicas da personagem principal, João Miramar.PALAVRAS- CHAVE: memória, irônia, sentimentalismo.
Formas de dizer o indizível: a animação como recurso (testemunhal) em Postales de Leningrado e Infância Clandestina
Authors: SARMENTO-PANTOJA Tânia
Published: August 2016

O estudo toma como corpus duas narrativas fílmicas: os filmes de ficção Postales de Leningrado e Infância Clandestina. São narrativas que tratam de aspectos relacionados à experiência com a ditadura em países da América Latina – respectivamente Venezuela e Argentina. Apresentam como protagonistas crianças, filhas e filhos de guerrilheiros na clandestinidade. Além da relação com as lutas estabelecidas por conta do regime de exceção, da experiência da clandestinidade e suas consequências avassaladoras para a vida, há um artifício técnico, o manuseio da animação, que desponta de modo peculiar nos dois filmes. Procedimento artístico que além de tornar mais próximas as duas narrativas estimula uma problematização importante para a teoria do testemunho: a agregação das técnicas de animação às narrativas de filmes com teor testemunhal favorecem a possibilidade de repensarmos aspectos próprios do testemunho, como a irrepresentabilidade do trauma? Pretendemos que esta questão conduza a análise dos objetos.   PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Infância. Exceção. Resistência. Cinema.
Antonieta Dias de Moraes: da política à literatura
Authors: MENEZES Ivanildes Regina de , CÓSCIA Vera Lucia , COSTA Luzia Sigoli Fernandes
Published: August 2016

A vida pós-moderna agregou mudanças inevitáveis nos modos de viver e pensar da sociedade e, em velocidade alucinante, esquecer o passado tem se tornado comum. Há 31 anos, encerrou-se o regime militar no Brasil, contudo, ainda convivemos com os reflexos daquela época. Diante das condições inerentes à pós-modernidade, e que favorecem o gradual esquecimento do passado, refletir sobre o período ditatorial brasileiro mostra-se pertinente. Foi nesse período que a escritora Antonieta Dias de Moraes publicou livros no exterior e, posteriormente, no Brasil, em sua maioria com temáticas sociais. Diante do desassossego causado pelos “anos de chumbo” e da relevância de seus textos surge, então, a necessidade de discorrer sobre o livro Tonico e o Segredo de Estado, no qual as entrelinhas tornam possível identificar o contexto histórico representado por crianças em busca de condições de vida mais justas.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Ditadura Militar Brasileira, Antonieta Dias de Moraes, Tonico e o Segredo de Estado.
Borges e o conto policial: uma metáfora para a criação literária
Authors: QUEIROZ Juliana
Published: August 2016

Este artigo apresenta, em um primeiro momento, um panorama do gênero policial que tem como um de seus autores primeiros o norte-americano Edgar Allan Poe e sua narrativa “Os crimes da rua Morgue” (1841). A partir desse conto e das narrativas produzidas no século XX, teóricos como Boileau, Narcejac e Tzvetan Todorov criam tipologias para o gênero, evidenciando suas principais características e diferenciando as narrativas clássicas daquelas consagradas posteriormente pelo modelo americano e francês. A segunda parte do artigo apresenta o escritor argentino Jorge Luis Borges como grande apreciador do gênero, crítico e também autor de narrativas policiais. Seu conto “A morte e a bússola” (1942) dialoga diretamente com preceitos do modelo clássico, mas também com pressupostos que ele mesmo criou no ensaio “Os labirintos policias e Chesterton” (1935). O conto “A morte e a bússola” pode também ser lido como uma metáfora para a atividade de leitura e interpretação do texto literário, temática que perpassa toda a obra borgeana.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Gênero policial. Jorge Luis Borges. A morte e a bússola.
SHORT-TERM SOCIAL ISOLATION DOES NOT REDUCE ELEVATED PLUS-MAZE EXPLORATION IN EARLY PROTEIN MALNOURISHED RATS
Authors: Almeida Sebastião De Sousa , De Araújo Marielena , Moreira Gabriela M. S. , Paiva Rodrigo V. F. , De Oliveira Luiz Marcellino
Published: August 2016

An increased number of visits and time spent in the open arms of the elevated plus-maze by malnourished rats has been used as indicative of lower anxiety or impulsiveness. In order to study how this behavior profile responds to an anxiogenic procedure (short-term social isolation), control (16% protein) and malnourished (6% protein) rats were socially isolated prior to the test in the maze. Litters (dam plus 6 male 2 female pups) were fed the diets from birth to 49 days of age. From 50 days on, all rats were fed a lab chow diet. Social isolation consists in removing the rats from the group and placing in individual cages for 2h before the test. During the test each rat was individually placed on the center of the maze and allowed to explore for 5 min. The results showed higher open arms exploration and lower attempts to enter open arms by the malnourished rats than by the controls. Social isolation decreased open arm exploration and increased time spent on the central platform in control animals, but had no effect on the malnourished rats. The results reinforce the lower anxiety or higher impulsiveness of malnourished rats, as well as the anxiogenic effect of social isolation in control rats. However, the malnourished rats were unresponsive to the anxiogenic effects of social isolation, indicating that protein deficiency early in life not only induces lower anxiety or higher impulsiveness in the maze, but also changes the behavior of these animals in response to another environmentally-induced procedure of anxiety (social isolation). Keywords: Early protein malnutrition, Social isolation, Anxiety, Impulsiveness, Stress, Rats.
EFFECTS OF EARLY CONCURRENT PROTEIN MALNUTRITION AND ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULATION ON THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM AND BEHAVIOR
Authors: Lima Juraci G. , De Oliveira Luiz Marcellino , Almeida Sebastião De Sousa
Published: August 2016

A complex program of environmental and sensory stimulation was developed to study its potential effects in reversing some of the alterations produced by early protein malnutrition in the brain and behavior of rats. Litters (dam plus 6 male pups) were fed diets containing 8% (malnourished) or 25% (well-nourished) casein. After weaning, the animals were maintained on the same diets as their respective dams until 50 days of age. Environmental stimulation consisted of 3-min daily handing from birth to 50 days of age by rearing the rats in an enriched living cage and exposing the animal to visual, auditory, and olfactory stimuli. At. 50 days of inhibitory avoidance tests. Animal of the same age were sacrificed, the brain removed and divided in telencephalon, brain steam and cerebellum. DNA and RNA were assessed in in telencephalon and cerebellum. Protein malnutrition produced brain weight deficits that were partially reversed by environmental stimulation. The behavioral measure showed lower locomotor activity and higher latencies in inhibitory avoidance for malnourished animals as compared to well-nourished animals. Environmental stimulation reduced the aversiveness in the inhibitory avoidance test as showed by lower latencies in the stimulated group of animals. These results suggest that early protein malnutrition impairs brain and behavior of rats and a complex program of environmental stimulation is beneficial to reverse some of those impairments. Keywords: Protein malnutrition, Environmental enrichment, Brain weight, Locomotor activity, Inhibitory avoidance.
Toward a Conceptualization and Operationalization of Satisfaction With Nonpharmacological Interventions
Authors: Sidani Souraya , Epstein Dana R.
Published: August 2016

Background:Although satisfaction is recognized as an essential aspect in the evaluation of interventions’ effectiveness, there is lack of clarity on its conceptualization and operationalization. In this article, we present conceptual and operational definitions that specify the domains and attributes of satisfaction with nonpharmacological interventions.Methods:An integrative review of conceptual and empirical literature was conducted to generate the conceptual and operational definitions of satisfaction with interventions. Fifty-six publications were included in the review. The definitions of satisfaction and the content of instruments measuring satisfaction were reviewed, compared, and contrasted to identify the domains and attributes of the concept.Results:Satisfaction is defined as the appraisal of the interventions’ process and outcome. It is operationalized in 4 domains of process: (a) suitability and utility of the intervention’s components, (b) attitude toward and desire to continue with the intervention, (c) competence and interpersonal style of interventionist, and (d) implementation (format and dose) of the intervention. The outcome domain includes improvement in the health problem and in everyday functions, discomfort, and attribution of the outcomes to the intervention.Conclusions:The conceptual and operational definitions can guide the development of instruments to assess satisfaction with nonpharmacological interventions, which can point to aspects of interventions that are viewed favorably or unfavorably.
O papel da competição infantil de tênis no desenvolvimento dos fundamentos técnico-táticos básicos
Authors: Gonçalves Gabriel Henrique Treter , Cortela Caio Correa , Klering Roberto Tierling , Bulso Rodrigo Vieira , Balbinotti Carlos Adelar Abaide
Published: August 2016

No ano de 2012, a Federação Internacional de Tênis alterou o modelo competitivo infantil de tênis, dividindo-o em três categorias etárias: ''até 8 anos'', ''9 anos'' e ''10 anos''. Cada categoria passou a ter adequações específicas em relação ao modelo competitivo anterior. Neste caminho, o estudo buscou responder a seguinte questão norteadora: as modificações realizadas no modelo competitivo infantil de tênis estão de acordo com os objetivos de formação dos fundamentos técnico-táticos básicos do tênis infantil? Foram entrevistados onze treinadores (sete mulheres e quatro homens) de tênis de clubes e academias de tênis da cidade de Porto Alegre, RS – Brasil, com experiência no ensino do tênis infantil. Os resultados indicam uma relevante melhora no desenvolvimento dos conteúdos técnico-táticos básicos do tênis em relação ao modelo competitivo anterior. No entanto, alguns ajustes ainda são sugeridos pelos treinadores, principalmente para as categorias “até 8 anos” e “10 anos”.
Associação entre insatisfação com a massa corporal e objetivos com a atividade física de mulheres frequentadoras de academias de ginástica
Authors: Rosa Junior Carlos Roberto Ramos da , Oliveira Juliana Tereza Garcia de , Rêis Larissa Alegrini , Ferreira Maria Elisa Caputo
Published: August 2016

O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar a associação da insatisfação com a massa corporal atual, as classificações do IMC e os objetivos com a prática de atividade física em mulheres frequentadoras de academias de ginástica. A amostra foi composta por 124 mulheres matriculadas em academias de ginástica do município de Juiz de Fora, MG. Foram coletadas informações sobre idade, massa corporal atual, estatura corporal, massa corporal ideal para si mesmo e objetivos com a prática de atividade física. A associação entre: a (in)satisfação com a massa corporal, o IMC e com os objetivos com a prática de atividade física foram verificadas por meio do Teste Qui-Quadrado. A amostra investigada apresentou um elevado nível de insatisfação com a massa corporal atual, desejando apresentar um corpo mais magro. A estética e a saúde foram os principais objetivos indicados para prática de atividades físicas em academias de ginástica pelas mulheres insatisfeitas com a massa corporal atual. Observou-se a associação entre a (in)satisfação com a massa corporal atual e as classificações do IMC das mulheres investigadas.
Visual Symmetry: From Geometry to Sensation and Preference
Authors: Dresp-Langley Birgitta
Published: August 2016

Evolution and geometry generate complexity in similar ways. Evolution drives natural selection while geometry may capture the logic of this selection and express it visually, in terms of specific generic properties representing some kind of advantage. Geometry is ideally suited for expressing the logic of evolutionary selection for symmetry, which is found in the shape curves of vein systems and other natural objects such as leaves, cell membranes, or tunnel systems built by ants. The topology and geometry of symmetry is controlled by numerical parameters, which act in analogy with a biological organism's DNA. The introductory part of this paper reviews findings from experiments illustrating the critical role of two-dimensional design parameters and shape symmetry for visual or tactile shape sensation, and for perception-based decision making in populations of experts and non-experts. Thereafter, results from a pilot study on the effects of fractal symmetry, referred to herein as the symmetry of things in a thing, on aesthetic judgments and visual preference are presented. In a first experiment (psychophysical scaling procedure), non-expert observers had to rate (scale from 0 to 10) the perceived beauty of a random series of 2D fractal trees with varying degrees of fractal symmetry. In a second experiment (two-alternative forced choice procedure), they had to express their preference for one of two shapes from the series. The shape pairs were presented successively in random order. Results show that the smallest possible fractal deviation from "symmetry of things in a thing" significantly reduces the perceived attractiveness of such shapes. The potential of future studies where different levels of complexity of fractal patterns are weighed against different degrees of symmetry is pointed out in the conclusion.
Verification and validation as a key driver in modern engineering education
Authors: Lo Sophie Hong Rui
Published: August 2016

In the era of fast technological development in all engineering disciplines, how to improve the employability of engineering graduates imposes an even greater challenge than ever before to the educators in higher education.  What constitutes key knowledge and skills for future professional engineers and how they can be developed in the graduates through our engineering courses are important questions whose answers can have a profound impact on the success of the engineering education.

 

In this paper, the strategy of using verification & validation (V&V) as a key driver for quality learning in engineering education is proposed.  The rationale of the proposed strategy and the requirements for its success are explained.  An example of implementing this strategy is illustrated.   In the conclusion section, a current and common issue is raised.
Socio-Religious and Political Changes in Punjab during the Second Half of Nineteenth Century
Authors: Singh Karanbir
Published: August 2016

After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the East India Company defeated the Khalsa Army of Lahore Darbar in two Anglo-Sikh Wars. Being astute political masters, the British felt the lurking fear of simmering discontent among the Punjabis against their rule. For safeguarding the logistics of administration, efficacious precautionary measures were undertaken by them to satisfy the grievances of certain sections of the society so that British rule would face lesser political instability and enmity of the natives. After 1857, the British conducted a thorough study of ethnographic, fiscal, geographical, political, social and religious conditions of Punjab and oriented their administrative policies to suit the best interests of the Empire.  Far-reaching political, economic and social changes were introduced by the British to strengthen their hold over all branches of administration. A new administrative hierarchy, composed of Anglo-Indian elements was firmly established and it embraced every activity of the state.  
A reliable rainfall–runoff model for flood forecasting: review and application to a semi-urbanized watershed at high flood risk in Italy
Authors: Masseroni Daniele , Cislaghi Alessio , Camici Stefania , Massari Christian , Brocca Luca
Published: August 2016

Many rainfall–runoff (RR) models are available in the scientific literature. Selecting the best structure and parameterization for a model is not straightforward and depends on a broad number of factors, including climatic conditions, catchment characteristics, temporal/spatial resolution and model objectives. In this study, the RR model ‘Modello Idrologico Semi-Distribuito in continuo’ (MISDc), mainly developed for flood simulation in Mediterranean basins, was tested on the Seveso basin, which is stressed several times a year by flooding events mainly caused by excessive urbanization. The work summarizes a compendium of the MISDc applications over a wide range of catchments in European countries and then it analyses the performances over the Seveso basin. The results show a good fit behaviour during both the calibration and the validation periods with a Nash–Sutcliffe coefficient index larger than 0.9. Moreover, the median volume and peak discharge errors calculated on several flood events were less than 25%. In conclusion, we can be assured that the reliability and computational speed could make the MISDc model suitable for flood estimation in many catchments of different geographical contexts and land use characteristics. Moreover, MISDc will also be useful for future support of real-time decision-making for flood risk management in the Seveso basin.
Seasonal influence of environmental variables and artificial aeration on Escherichia coli in small urban lakes
Authors: Durham Bart W. , Porter Lucy , Webb Allie , Thomas Joshua
Published: August 2016

This study investigated patterns of Escherichia coli in urban lakes in Lubbock, Texas. Specific objectives were to (1) document seasonal patterns in abundance of E. coli over a 3-year period, (2) identify environmental factors, including effects of migratory geese and artificial aeration devices that may influence E. coli abundance, and (3) determine if E. coli abundance over time was similar for individual lakes. Water samples were collected monthly for 36 months from six lakes, three of which contained artificial aeration devices (fountains). Regression models were constructed to determine which environmental variables most influence E. coli abundance in summer and winter seasons. Escherichia coli is present in the lakes of Lubbock, Texas year-round and typically exceeds established bacterial thresholds for recreational waters. Models most frequently contained pH and dissolved oxygen as predictor variables and explained from 17.4% to 92.4% of total variation in E. coli. Lakes with fountains had a higher oxygen concentration during summer and contained consistently less E. coli. We conclude that solar irradiation in synergy with pH and dissolved oxygen is the primary control mechanism for E. coli in study lakes, and that fountains help control abundance of fecal bacteria within these systems.
The spatial and temporal variation of water use efficiency in the Huai River Basin using a comprehensive indicator
Authors: Meng Yu , Zhang Xiang , She Dunxian , Wang Junchai , Wu Shaofei
Published: August 2016

A comprehensive indicator of water use efficiency (WUE) to promote coordinated development between socio-economic and environmental systems was developed. A comprehensive consideration of the social, economic and environmental benefits of water was made in the evaluation index system of WUE and the projection pursuit model combined with chaotic particle swarm optimization was adopted to calculate the comprehensive indicator of WUE. The Huai River Basin (HRB) was selected as a case study area. The temporal change of WUE showed that the annual WUE of the HRB from 2007 to 2013 increased obviously because of the enhanced emphasis on environmental protection by the government. The spatial results showed that the spatial WUE of each province in 2013 was significantly higher than in 2007. In 2013, Anhui with the lowest WUE was selected as representative to reveal the problems of water use in the HRB. The main reasons were that the government paid more attention to the high water consumption industries and ignored the small-scale water users, and wastewater treatment was still weak in the HRB. The research can provide the foundation for improving WUE and solving the problem of water shortages.
BRASÍLIA: A SÃO PETERSBURGO BRASILEIRA?
Authors: Vólkova Américo Ekaterina , Américo Edelcio
Published: August 2016

A partir do conceito de “texto da cidade“, formulado nos trabalhos de Iúri Lotman e Vladimir Toporov, no âmbito dos estudos empreendidos pela Escola Semiótica de Tártu-Moscou nos anos 1970-1980, o artigo aborda a presença, na cultura russa, de São Petersburgo como uma capital criada artificialmente por um capricho do Imperador Pedro, o Grande no século XVIII, e a possibilidade de traçar algumas semelhanças com a cidade de Brasília na cultura brasileira, como, por exemplo, na crônica “Nos primeiros começos de Brasília”, de Clarice Lispector, que registrara as primeiras impressões da escritora sobre a capital recém-construída.
Magnetic resonance imaging–based measures predictive of short-term surgical outcome in patients with Chiari malformation Type I: a pilot study
Authors: Alperin Noam , Loftus James Ryan , Bagci Ahmet M. , Lee Sang H. , Oliu Carlos J. , Shah Ashish H. , Green Barth A.
Published: August 2016

OBJECTIVE

This study identifies quantitative imaging-based measures in patients with Chiari malformation Type I (CM-I) that are associated with positive outcomes after suboccipital decompression with duraplasty.

METHODS

Fifteen patients in whom CM-I was newly diagnosed underwent MRI preoperatively and 3 months postoperatively. More than 20 previously described morphological and physiological parameters were derived to assess quantitatively the impact of surgery. Postsurgical clinical outcomes were assessed in 2 ways, based on resolution of the patient's chief complaint and using a modified Chicago Chiari Outcome Scale (CCOS). Statistical analyses were performed to identify measures that were different between the unfavorable- and favorable-outcome cohorts. Multivariate analysis was used to identify the strongest predictors of outcome.

RESULTS

The strongest physiological parameter predictive of outcome was the preoperative maximal cord displacement in the upper cervical region during the cardiac cycle, which was significantly larger in the favorable-outcome subcohorts for both outcome types (p < 0.05). Several hydrodynamic measures revealed significantly larger preoperative-to-postoperative changes in the favorable-outcome subcohort. Predictor sets for the chief-complaint classification included the cord displacement, percent venous drainage through the jugular veins, and normalized cerebral blood flow with 93.3% accuracy. Maximal cord displacement combined with intracranial volume change predicted outcome based on the modified CCOS classification with similar accuracy.

CONCLUSIONS

Tested physiological measures were stronger predictors of outcome than the morphological measures in patients with CM-I. Maximal cord displacement and intracranial volume change during the cardiac cycle together with a measure that reflects the cerebral venous drainage pathway emerged as likely predictors of decompression outcome in patients with CM-I.
The impact of the neurodevelopmental traction technique on activation of lateral abdominal muscles in children aged 11–13 years
Authors: Gogola Anna , Gnat Rafał , Dziub Dorota , Gwóźdź Michalina , Zaborowska Małgorzata
Published: August 2016

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to evaluate the activation of lateral abdominal muscles (LAM) in response to neurodevelopmental traction technique as assessed by ultrasounds as well as to compare the effects of different traction forces.

OBJECTIVE: An experiment with repeated measurements of the dependent variables was conducted. Thirty-seven children (22 girls) participated.

METHODS: Measurements of LAM thickness (indicating LAM activation) were performed bilaterally during traction of 5% body weight: 1) in neutral position, 2) in 20° posterior trunk inclination; during traction of 15% body weight: 3) in neutral position, 4) in 20° posterior trunk inclination. The ultrasound technology was employed.

RESULTS: When applying the lighter traction the superficial LAM (external and internal oblique muscles) showed significant changes. The mean thickness of both muscles during traction increased (both p < 0.001). The deepest transversus abdominis showed no response ( p > 0.05). Stronger traction elicited smaller changes. External and internal oblique muscles showed significant increases ( p < 0.001, p < 0.01, respectively). Transversus abdominis became less thick during stronger traction ( p < 0.01).

CONCUSIONS: The neurodevelopmental traction technique elicits the changes in LAM thickness in children with typical development. The superficial LAM show more distinct responses than the profound LAM. Stronger traction induces smaller LAM thickness changes than lighter traction.
The effectiveness of psychological interventions for aggressive behavior following acquired brain injury: A meta-analysis and systematic review
Authors: Byrne Christopher , Coetzer Rudi
Published: August 2016

BACKGROUND: The consequences of aggressive behavior following ABI have an impact at both an individual and systemic level. In contrast to other ABI sequelae, aggressive behavior has been shown to increase over time without appropriate timely interventions.

OBJECTIVE: The current meta-analysis aimed to systematically review the current literature examining psychological interventions for aggressive behavior following ABI. The meta-analysis also aimed to provide a statistical synthesis of the available evidence.

METHOD: Following the PRISMA guidelines, an electronic and ancestral search of the available literature identified eleven studies (N = 123) that met the inclusion criteria for the review. Non-overlap effect sizes (Tau-U) were calculated to synthesize the available evidence from single case experimental design studies (SCEDs; N = 7). Standardized mean difference effect sizes (d) were calculated to synthesize the available evidence from group studies (N = 4).

RESULTS: A medium omnibus effect size (weighted d = –0.46, 95% CI: –0.69 <> –0.24) was found for group studies. Similarly, the overall effect size (Tau-U) for SCEDs was –0.59 (95% CI: –0.72 <> –0.46), indicating a 59% reduction in aggressive behaviour compared to baseline.

CONCLUSION: The findings of the meta-analysis suggest that psychological interventions for aggressive behavior are at least moderately effective at reducing aggressive behavior following ABI.