bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Territory and Ritornello: Deleuze and Guattari on Thinking Living Beings
Authors: Kleinherenbrink Arjen
Published: May 2015

The concepts of territory and ritornello cannot be separated from one another, despite the fact that scholarship tends to restrict the former to discussions of politics and the latter to discussions of art. Deleuze and Guattari deploy the combination of territory and ritornello, along with associated notions such as rhythm, milieu, counterpoint and force, as a method to describe and understand the formation, existence and relations of living beings. They understand ‘life’ to also include a variety of nonorganic entities, such as social formations. Territory and ritornello provide a philosophical alternative to understanding the existence of beings in terms of an immutable, unchanging transcendent structure, such as divine revelation, politico-economic ideology or cultural identity. As such, this conceptual pair is a necessary element in translating Deleuze and Guattari's metaphysical commitment to immanence and univocity into ethical and political theory and practice.
Becoming-animal in Shaffer'sEquus
Authors: Woodward Ashley
Published: May 2015

This paper mounts a philosophical defence of Peter Shaffer's 1973 play Equus by interpreting it from three perspectives: that of Freud, Jung, and Deleuze and Guattari. The latter's concept of becoming-animal is offered as a leading perspective which reveals the deep philosophical significance of the drama, belying the claims of those critics who have dismissed it as bogus or banal. This interpretation also allows Equus to be seen as an exemplary illustration of what Deleuze and Guattari mean by their intriguing concept of becoming-animal, and throws fresh light on this fascinating but difficult notion.
Editing Beckett's Twin Texts
Authors: Van Hulle Dirk
Published: May 2015

This article tries to envision and assess the feasibility of a critical multilingual edition of Beckett's works, against the background of both traditional editorial theory and new developments in the field. In the case of Beckett's theatrical work, he kept revising his texts in performance. German editorial practice in particular has offered several examples of dealing with this kind of variance, reflecting the author's multiple and changing intentions over time in a critical edition. The situation becomes more complex in Beckett's case due to the multilingual aspect of his work. One way to reflect the multiplicity of Beckett's texts would be to present them as both product and process, in the form of critical multilingual editions with revision narratives connected to, and informed by, the Beckett Digital Manuscript Project ( www.beckettarchive.org ). In this way, the various versions of Beckett's work are not reduced to a critical apparatus but exist alongside the critically edited twin texts, calling the readers’ attention to crucial points of textual variation, rather than smoothing them out.
‘There are differences’: Variants and Errors in the Texts of Beckett's Radio Plays
Authors: Verhulst Pim
Published: May 2015

As opposed to Beckett's drama and, to a lesser degree, his television plays, the six scripts he wrote for radio are generally considered to be a textually stable category in his body of work. The only well-known exception is Cascando, whose American and British first editions were distinguished by more than fifty variants. When Everett Frost confronted the author with the Grove and Faber versions of the text in 1987, to re-record them for an American Festival of his radio plays, Beckett admitted ‘there are differences’ and advised the producer to follow the Faber example. Three years earlier, Beckett's English-language publishers had made the same choice for their joint publication of the Collected Shorter Plays (1984), when Grove discarded their texts of the radio plays for the Faber alternatives. But, not only were the American texts generally more reliable, they sometimes contained unique variants as well. Unproofed by the author, CSP added several new mistakes to the ones still surviving from the British first editions and their later reprints. This is problematic as CSP continued to serve as the model for Grove's Centenary Edition (2006) and Faber's All That Fall and Other Plays for Radio and Screen (2009). While its editor, Everett Frost, has ‘made every effort silently to correct minor flaws appearing in earlier editions, no attempt has been made to impose a rigorous consistency upon such diverse materials’. Building on Frost's work, this article compares all English editions with each other, as well as the typescripts on which they were based, to provide an overview of variants and errors for each text. The purpose is to show that Cascando is not the only one marked by differences, and that a study of the existing drafts is necessary to fully understand the publishing history of the radio plays.
Systematic Study of the Content of Phytochemicals in Fresh and Fresh-Cut Vegetables
Authors: Alarcón-Flores María , Romero-González Roberto , Vidal José , Frenich Antonia
Published: May 2015

Vegetables and fruits have beneficial properties for human health, because of the presence of phytochemicals, but their concentration can fluctuate throughout the year. A systematic study of the phytochemical content in tomato, eggplant, carrot, broccoli and grape (fresh and fresh-cut) has been performed at different seasons, using liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. It was observed that phenolic acids (the predominant group in carrot, eggplant and tomato) were found at higher concentrations in fresh carrot than in fresh-cut carrot. However, in the case of eggplant, they were detected at a higher content in fresh-cut than in fresh samples. Regarding tomato, the differences in the content of phenolic acids between fresh and fresh-cut were lower than in other matrices, except in winter sampling, where this family was detected at the highest concentration in fresh tomato. In grape, the flavonols content (predominant group) was higher in fresh grape than in fresh-cut during all samplings. The content of glucosinolates was lower in fresh-cut broccoli than in fresh samples in winter and spring sampling, although this trend changes in summer and autumn. In summary, phytochemical concentration did show significant differences during one-year monitoring, and the families of phytochemicals presented different behaviors depending on the matrix studied.
Stabilization Effects of Dichotomous Noise on the Lifetime of the Superconducting State in a Long Josephson Junction
Authors: Guarcello Claudio , Valenti Davide , Carollo Angelo , Spagnolo Bernardo
Published: May 2015

We investigate the superconducting lifetime of a long overdamped current-biased Josephson junction, in the presence of telegraph noise sources. The analysis is performed by randomly choosing the initial condition for the noise source. However, in order to investigate how the initial value of the dichotomous noise affects the phase dynamics, we extend our analysis using two different fixed initial values for the source of random fluctuations. In our study, the phase dynamics of the Josephson junction is analyzed as a function of the noise signal intensity, for different values of the parameters of the system and external driving currents. We find that the mean lifetime of the superconductive metastable state as a function of the noise intensity is characterized by nonmonotonic behavior, strongly related to the soliton dynamics during the switching towards the resistive state. The role of the correlation time of the noise source is also taken into account. Noise-enhanced stability is observed in the investigated system.
Properties of Nonnegative Hermitian Matrices and New Entropic Inequalities for Noncomposite Quantum Systems
Authors: Man'ko Margarita , Man'ko Vladimir
Published: May 2015

We consider the probability distributions, spin (qudit)-state tomograms and density matrices of quantum states, and their information characteristics, such as Shannon and von Neumann entropies and q-entropies, from the viewpoints of both well-known purely mathematical features of nonnegative numbers and nonnegative matrices and their physical characteristics, such as entanglement and other quantum correlation phenomena. We review entropic inequalities such as the Araki–Lieb inequality and the subadditivity and strong subadditivity conditions known for bipartite and tripartite systems, and recently obtained for single qudit states. We present explicit matrix forms of the known and some new entropic inequalities associated with quantum states of composite and noncomposite systems. We discuss the tomographic probability distributions of qudit states and demonstrate the inequalities for tomographic entropies of the qudit states. In addition, we mention a possibility to use the discussed information properties of single qudit states in quantum technologies based on multilevel atoms and quantum circuits produced of Josephson junctions.
Project Management Maturity Analysis in the Serbian Energy Sector
Authors: Mihic Marko , Petrovic Dejan , Obradovic Vladimir , Vuckovic Aleksandar
Published: May 2015

In this paper we will present an analysis of the current state of practice in project management in the energy sector in Serbia, wherein the mentioned analysis is based on the results of original research on project maturity in this field. This paper includes a literature review about the current situation in the Serbian energy system, the basic concepts and significance of the research of project maturity in organizations, the basic concepts related to the projects in the energy sector, as well as the general state of project management in Serbia. After this, an analysis of the results of the research is presented, which is structured according to the elements of project maturity included in the research, and the methods of analysis. The analysis of the results includes a general analysis as well as statistical and cluster analysis. At the end, based on the analysis results, recommendations for improvements in the area of project management in the energy sector in Serbia are presented.
Temperature Dependence of the Elastic Modulus of (Ni0.6Nb0.4)1−xZrx Membranes: Effects of Thermal Treatments and Hydrogenation
Authors: Palumbo Oriele , Brutti Sergio , Trequattrini Francesco , Sarker Suchismita , Dolan Michael , Chandra Dhanesh , Paolone Annalisa
Published: May 2015

Amorphous (Ni0.6Nb0.4)1−xZrx membranes were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetry, differential thermal analysis and tensile modulus measurements. Crystallization occurs only above 673 K, and even after hydrogenation the membranes retain their mainly amorphous nature. However, after exposure to gaseous hydrogen, the temperature dependence of the tensile modulus, M, displays large variations. The modulus of the hydrogen reacted membrane is higher with respect to the pristine samples in the temperature range between 298 K and 423 K. Moreover, a sharp drop in M is observed upon heating to approximately 473 K, well below the glass transition temperature of these glasses. We propose that the changes in the moduli as a function of temperature on the hydrogenated samples are due to the formation of nanocrystalline phases of Zr hydrides in (Ni0.6Nb0.4)1−xZrx-H membanes.
Inefficiency of IDS Static Anomaly Detectors in Real-World Networks
Authors: Guillen Edward , Sánchez Jeisson , Paez Rafael
Published: May 2015

A wide range of IDS implementations with anomaly detection modules have been deployed. In general, those modules depend on intrusion knowledge databases, such as Knowledge Discovery Dataset (KDD99), Center for Applied Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA) or Community Resource for Archiving Wireless Data at Dartmouth (CRAWDAD), among others. Once the database is analyzed and a machine learning method is employed to generate detectors, some classes of new detectors are created. Thereafter, detectors are supposed to be deployed in real network environments in order to achieve detection with good results for false positives and detection rates. Since the traffic behavior is quite different according to the user’s network activities over available services, restrictions and applications, it is supposed that behavioral-based detectors are not well suited to all kind of networks. This paper presents the differences of detection results between some network scenarios by applying traditional detectors that were calculated with artificial neural networks. The same detector is deployed in different scenarios to measure the efficiency or inefficiency of static training detectors.
Trends in Infant Mortality in United States: A Brief Study of the Southeastern States from 2005–2009
Authors: He Xiaojia , Akil Luma , Aker Winfred , Hwang Huey-Min , Ahmad Hafiz
Published: May 2015

While overall infant mortality rates have declined over the past several decades, the Southeastern states have remained the leading states in high infant death in the United States. In this study, we studied the differences in infant mortality in the southeastern United States from 2005 through 2009 according to mother’s characteristics (age of mother, marital status, maternal race, maternal education), birth characteristics (month when maternal prenatal care began, birth weight), and infant’s characteristics (age of infant at death). This paper illustrates the significance level of each characteristic of mothers and infants, as well as socioeconomic factors that contribute to significant infant mortality that impacts subgroups within the US population. Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance studies were performed and presented. Statistical analysis of the contribution of causes of infant death to infant mortality at the national and state level was elaborated. Data suggest that mothers with no prenatal care had a very high overall infant death rate (5281.83 and 4262.16 deaths per 100,000 births in Mississippi and Louisiana, respectively, whereas the US average was 3074.82 deaths (p < 0.01)). It is suggested that better education and living quality should be available and improved for the residents in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
Ninety Day Toxicity and Toxicokinetics of Fluorochloridone after Oral Administration in Rats
Authors: Zhang Suhui , Cheng Xiaoqin , Wang Yu , Fan Junpei , Li Rui , Zhou Su , Liu Shihong , Shi Jingmin , Sun Jie , Hu Yue , Xu Chaojin , Wu Chunhua , Chang Xiuli , Tang Liming , Zhou Zhijun
Published: May 2015

The ninety day toxicity and toxicokinetics of fluorochloridone (FLC) were accessed in Wistar rats. Animals were gavaged with FLC at doses of 31.25 mg/kg, 125 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg for ninety days, followed by thirty days for recovery. On the 1st, 60th, 75th and 90th days of the dosing phase, plasma of ten animals of all groups treated with FLC was collected for toxicokinetic analysis of FLC by an UPLC-MS/MS method. Numerous changes in body weight, hematology, serum chemistry, and organ weight ratios were observed by the 45th and 90th dosing day. Most changes in groups treated with FLC were absent on the last recovery day. Testis and epididymis lesions were consistently seen in histopathological observations on the 45th, 90th dosing day and the last recovery day. Repeated administration of FLC increased the level of testosterone in serum in male rats on the 90th dosing day. FLC plasma concentrations could be detected in all animal drug-treated groups during the dosing phase, and a dose proportional relationship was seen between FLC dose and AUC or Cmax. This study will support future studies on the mechanism of FLC-induced toxicity.
Intraurban and Longitudinal Variability of Classical Pollutants in Kraków, Poland, 2000–2010
Authors: Choi Hyunok , Melly Steven , Spengler John
Published: May 2015

In spite of a dramatic decrease in anthropogenic emissions, ambient concentrations of major pollutants have not changed within many urban locations. To clarify the relationship between ambient air quality trend and the population exposures, we compared the intraurban versus temporal variability of the collocated measurements of five major air pollutants including particulate matter (PM) with an aerodynamic diameter <10 µm (PM10), < 2.5 µm (PM2.5), tropospheric ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), in Kraków, Poland, during the 2000-2010 period. Strong seasonal trends and overall absence of spatial heterogeneity in PM10 and PM2.5, except in the traffic monitoring site, were observed across the monitoring network. The range of median PM2.5 concentrations during winter (54–64 µg/m3) was 3- to 4-times higher than the summer medians (15–26 µg/m3) across the sites during 2009-2010. Furthermore, large proportion of PM10 appears to be comprised of PM2.5 (PM2.5/PM10 concentration ratios range, 0.5–0.7). At each monitoring site, the Pearson’s correlation coefficients between PM2.5 and PM10 ranged between 0.944 and 0.963, suggesting a health-relevance of PM10 monitoring. One ln-unit increase in PM10 was associated with 92%–100% increase in PM2.5 concentrations in the same location. While PM10 did not demonstrate a clear temporal trend, SO2 concentrations steadily declined by 40% during the 2000–2010 period. Summertime median NO2 concentration was acutely elevated ‎(70 mg/m3 vs. 22 mg/m3) at the traffic oriented site compared to the city’s central monitoring site. The traffic and the industrial sites were associated with highest number of days during which 24-hour mean PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations exceeded the European Union standard. Steadily growing contributions by vehicular emissions appear to be associated with the absence of clear trend in PM10. Current practices of air quality control within Kraków may not be adequate for the protection of the public’s health.
Cell Death Pathways and Phthalocyanine as an Efficient Agent for Photodynamic Cancer Therapy
Authors: Mfouo-Tynga Ivan , Abrahamse Heidi
Published: May 2015

The mechanisms of cell death can be predetermined (programmed) or not and categorized into apoptotic, autophagic and necrotic pathways. The process of Hayflick limits completes the execution of death-related mechanisms. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are associated with oxidative stress and subsequent cytodamage by oxidizing and degrading cell components. ROS are also involved in immune responses, where they stabilize and activate both hypoxia-inducible factors and phagocytic effectors. ROS production and presence enhance cytodamage and photodynamic-induced cell death. Photodynamic cancer therapy (PDT) uses non-toxic chemotherapeutic agents, photosensitizer (PS), to initiate a light-dependent and ROS-related cell death. Phthalocyanines (PCs) are third generation and stable PSs with improved photochemical abilities. They are effective inducers of cell death in various neoplastic models. The metallated PCs localize in critical cellular organelles and are better inducers of cell death than other previous generation PSs as they favor mainly apoptotic cell death events.
The Drosophila Retinoblastoma Binding Protein 6 Family Member Has Two Isoforms and Is Potentially Involved in Embryonic Patterning
Authors: Hull Rodney , Oosthuysen Brent , Cajee Umar-Faruq , Mokgohloa Lehlogonolo , Nweke Ekene , Antunes Ricardo , Coetzer Theresa , Ntwasa Monde
Published: May 2015

The human retinoblastoma binding protein 6 (RBBP6) is implicated in esophageal, lung, hepatocellular and colon cancers. Furthermore, RBBP6 was identified as a strong marker for colon cancer prognosis and as a predisposing factor in familial myeloproliferative neoplasms. Functionally, the mammalian protein interacts with p53 and enhances the activity of Mdm2, the prototypical negative regulator of p53. However, since RBBP6 (known as PACT in mice) exists in multiple isoforms and pact−/− mice exhibit a more severe phenotype than mdm2−/− mutants, it must possess some Mdm2-independent functions. The function of the invertebrate homologue is poorly understood. This is complicated by the absence of the Mdm2 gene in both Drosophila and Caenorhabditis elegans. We have experimentally identified the promoter region of Snama, the Drosophila homologue, analyzed potential transcription factor binding sites and confirmed the existence of an additional isoform. Using band shift and co-immunoprecipitation assays combined with mass spectrometry, we found evidence that this gene may be regulated by, amongst others, DREF, which regulates hundreds of genes related to cell proliferation. The potential transcription factors for Snama fall into distinct functional groups, including anteroposterior embryonic patterning and nucleic acid metabolism. Significantly, previous work in mice shows that pact−/− induces an anteroposterior phenotype in embryos when rescued by simultaneous deletion of p53. Taken together, these observations indicate the significance of RBBP6 proteins in carcinogenesis and in developmental defects.
Anti-NR2A/B Antibodies and Other Major Molecular Mechanisms in the Pathogenesis of Cognitive Dysfunction in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Authors: Tay Sen , Mak Anselm
Published: May 2015

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that affects approximately 1–45.3 per 100,000 people worldwide. Although deaths as a result of active and renal diseases have been substantially declining amongst SLE patients, disease involving the central nervous system (CNS), collectively termed neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE), remains one of the important causes of death in these patients. Cognitive dysfunction is one of the most common manifestations of NPSLE, which comprises deficits in information-processing speed, attention and executive function, in conjunction with preservation of speech. Albeit a prevalent manifestation of NPSLE, the pathogenetic mechanisms of cognitive dysfunction remain unclear. Recent advances in genetic studies, molecular techniques, neuropathology, neuroimaging and cognitive science have gleaned valuable insights into the pathophysiology of lupus-related cognitive dysfunction. In recent years, a role for autoantibodies, molecular and cellular mechanisms in cognitive dysfunction, has been emerging, challenging our previous concept of the brain as an immune privileged site. This review will focus on the potential pathogenic factors involved in NPSLE, including anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor subunit NR2A/B (anti-NR2A/B) antibodies, matrix metalloproteinase-9, neutrophil extracellular traps and pro-inflammatory mediators. Better understanding of these mechanistic processes will enhance identification of new therapeutic modalities to halt the progression of cognitive decline in SLE patients.
Gene Overexpression and RNA Silencing Tools for the Genetic Manipulation of the S-(+)-Abscisic Acid Producing Ascomycete Botrytis cinerea
Authors: Ding Zhong-Tao , Zhang Zhi , Luo Di , Zhou Jin-Yan , Zhong Juan , Yang Jie , Xiao Liang , Shu Dan , Tan Hong
Published: May 2015

The phytopathogenic ascomycete Botrytis cinerea produces several secondary metabolites that have biotechnical significance and has been particularly used for S-(+)-abscisic acid production at the industrial scale. To manipulate the expression levels of specific secondary metabolite biosynthetic genes of B. cinerea with Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation system, two expression vectors (pCBh1 and pCBg1 with different selection markers) and one RNA silencing vector, pCBSilent1, were developed with the In-Fusion assembly method. Both expression vectors were highly effective in constitutively expressing eGFP, and pCBSilent1 effectively silenced the eGFP gene in B. cinerea. Bcaba4, a gene suggested to participate in ABA biosynthesis in B. cinerea, was then targeted for gene overexpression and RNA silencing with these reverse genetic tools. The overexpression of bcaba4 dramatically induced ABA formation in the B. cinerea wild type strain Bc-6, and the gene silencing of bcaba4 significantly reduced ABA-production in an ABA-producing B. cinerea strain.
Combined Characterization of the Time Response of Impression Materials via Traditional and FTIR Measurements
Authors: Derchi Giacomo , Manca Enrico , Shayganpour Amirreza , Barone Antonio , Diaspro Alberto , Salerno Marco
Published: May 2015

We investigated the temporal response of four dental impression materials, namely three siloxanes (Imprint 4, Flexitime, Aquasil) and one polyether (Impregum). The null hypothesis was that the nominal working times are confirmed by instrumental laboratory tests. We also aimed to identify alternative techniques with strong physical-chemical background for the assessment of temporal response. Traditional characterization was carried out by shark fin test device and durometer at both ambient and body temperature. Additionally, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy was performed at room temperature. From shark fin height and Shore hardness versus time the working time and the setting time of the materials were evaluated, respectively. These were in reasonable agreement with the nominal values, except for Impregum, which showed longer working time. Spectroscopy confirmed the different character of the two types of materials, and provided for Imprint 4 and Aquasil an independent evaluation of both evolution times, consistent with the results of the other techniques. Shark fin test and durometer measurements showed deviations in setting time, low sensitivity to temperature for Flexitime, and longer working time at higher temperature for Impregum. Deviations of working time appear in operating conditions from what specified by the manufacturers. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy can provide insight in the correlation between material properties and their composition and structure.
Research on High-Precision, Low Cost Piezoresistive MEMS-Array Pressure Transmitters Based on Genetic Wavelet Neural Networks for Meteorological Measurements
Authors: Zhang Jiahong , Wu Yusheng , Liu Qingquan , Gu Fang , Mao Xiaoli , Li Min
Published: May 2015

This paper provides a novel and effective compensation method by improving the hardware design and software algorithm to achieve optimization of piezoresistive pressure sensors and corresponding measurement systems in order to measure pressure more accurately and stably, as well as to meet the application requirements of the meteorological industry. Specifically, GE NovaSensor MEMS piezoresistive pressure sensors within a thousandth of accuracy are selected to constitute an array. In the versatile compensation method, the hardware utilizes the array of MEMS pressure sensors to reduce random error caused by sensor creep, and the software adopts the data fusion technique based on the wavelet neural network (WNN) which is improved by genetic algorithm (GA) to analyze the data of sensors for the sake of obtaining accurate and complete information over the wide temperature and pressure ranges. The GA-WNN model is implemented in hardware by using the 32-bit STMicroelectronics (STM32) microcontroller combined with an embedded real-time operating system µC/OS-II to make the output of the array of MEMS sensors be a direct digital readout. The results of calibration and test experiments clearly show that the GA-WNN technique can be effectively applied to minimize the sensor errors due to the temperature drift, the hysteresis effect and the long-term drift because of aging and environmental changes. The maximum error of the low cost piezoresistive MEMS-array pressure transmitter proposed by us is within 0.04% of its full-scale value, and it can satisfy the meteorological pressure measurement.
Setting up the Journal of Transport and Health, a New Cross-Disciplinary Journal
Authors: Mindell Jennifer
Published: May 2015

The Journal of Transport and Health is a new journal, bringing together the impacts of transport on health and inequalities and the ways changes to transport policy and/or infrastructure affect these. It aims to: promote dialogue between the two research communities it serves; improve the quality of data and its appropriate use; and encourage transfer of research into practice. The first volume of four issues was published in 2014; it is already abstracted and indexed in SafetyLit, ERIH PLUS, TRID, the TRIS and ITRD Databases. A substantial achievement is that the Social Sciences Citation Index added the journal within the first year, from the first issue onwards, which is rare. Before the end of 2014, the journal had exceeded its target by 2015 for: numbers of manuscripts submitted; editorial decisions made; articles accepted for publication; and articles downloaded. Challenges have included recruiting sufficient reviewers; setting standards for acceptance of manuscripts; and editors’ time commitments. In 2014, articles were downloaded in 77 countries, and we received submissions from 27 countries. Despite the plethora of scientific journals, Journal of Transport and Health has obviously filled a gap in interdisciplinary research “whose time has come”, in a timely and attractive manner.
Incorporation of Passive Microwave Brightness Temperatures in the ECMWF Soil Moisture Analysis
Authors: Muñoz-Sabater Joaquín
Published: May 2015

For more than a decade, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) has used in-situ observations of 2 m temperature and 2 m relative humidity to operationally constrain the temporal evolution of model soil moisture. These observations are not available everywhere and they are indirectly linked to the state of the surface, so under various circumstances, such as weak radiative forcing or strong advection, they cannot be used as a proxy for soil moisture reinitialization in numerical weather prediction. Recently, the ECMWF soil moisture analysis has been updated to be able to account for the information provided by microwave brightness temperatures from the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). This is the first time that ECMWF uses direct information of the soil emission from passive microwave data to globally adjust the estimation of soil moisture by a land-surface model. This paper presents a novel version of the ECMWF Extended Kalman Filter soil moisture analysis to account for remotely sensed passive microwave data. It also discusses the advantages of assimilating direct satellite radiances compared to current soil moisture products, with a view to an operational implementation. A simple assimilation case study at global scale highlights the potential benefits and obstacles of using this new type of information in a global coupled land-atmospheric model.
Multiple Leader Candidate and Competitive Position Allocation for Robust Formation against Member Robot Faults
Authors: Kwon Ji-Wook , Kim Jin , Seo Jiwon
Published: May 2015

This paper proposes a Multiple Leader Candidate (MLC) structure and a Competitive Position Allocation (CPA) algorithm which can be applicable for various applications including environmental sensing. Unlike previous formation structures such as virtual-leader and actual-leader structures with position allocation including a rigid allocation and an optimization based allocation, the formation employing the proposed MLC structure and CPA algorithm is robust against the fault (or disappearance) of the member robots and reduces the entire cost. In the MLC structure, a leader of the entire system is chosen among leader candidate robots. The CPA algorithm is the decentralized position allocation algorithm that assigns the robots to the vertex of the formation via the competition of the adjacent robots. The numerical simulations and experimental results are included to show the feasibility and the performance of the multiple robot system employing the proposed MLC structure and the CPA algorithm.
Documentary Criminology: Expanding the Criminological Imagination with “Mardi Gras—Made in China” as a Case Study (23 Minutes)
Authors: Redmon David
Published: May 2015

This paper explores the central role of documentary filmmaking as a methodological practice in contemporary criminology. It draws from cultural criminology to develop emerging, open-ended practices for conducting ethnographically inflected audiovisual research that crafts sensory knowledge from aesthetic experience. First, it demonstrates how documentary criminology is an ethnographic practice that embraces audiovisual technologies to inflect, render, and depict the aesthetics of material, sensory, and corporeal experiences of crime and transgression as knowledge production. Second, it explores a particular type of lived experience that John Dewey terms “aesthetic” to demonstrate the sorts of tangible and intangible entities that documentary criminology can interpret, record and depict as knowledge. To demonstrate this approach, the article employs a variety of examples from cultural criminology and from the documentary Mardi Gras: Made in China. The final part of the paper turns to an analysis of Mardi Gras: Made in China itself to illustrate the overlap of theory, methods, and reflexive practices of documentary criminology within four broad aesthetic domains: temporality, topography, corporeality, and the personal. The inclusion of documentary within an open-ended methodological sensibility, both as a mode of analysis and as a means of producing sensory knowledge, can expand the criminological imagination.

Mardi Gras: Made in China (23 minutes select scenes) from David Redmon.
Dilemmas for China: Energy, Economy and Environment
Authors: Tang Xu , McLellan Benjamin , Snowden Simon , Zhang Baosheng , Höök Mikael
Published: May 2015

China’s current national policies promote high levels of economic growth, transforming China into a “world factory”, but at a high cost in terms of energy and the environment. At the same time, this growth and transformation also forms the backbone of China’s economy, underpinning social stability. China faces a dilemma to reconcile its economy, energy system and environmental security. Each aspect of this triad is discussed in this study to illuminate the challenges faced by China, and China’s dilemma in energy, economy and environment is analyzed from the perspective of its participation in current global supply chains. While China must import a significant proportion of its energy and a large proportion of primary materials, a large share of these imports are returned to the global market as industrial exports. China is bound by its own course of action and unable to radically change its position for the foreseeable future as the road to economic development and employment stability is through policies built on exports and shifting development models, presenting a tough socio-economic trade-off. China’s growth challenges are discussed as an example of challenges more broadly faced in the developing world. China’s success or failure in achieving a sustainable developmental pattern will inevitably have a significant influence on the global environment.
Botulinum Neurotoxin Serotypes Detected by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy
Authors: Savage Alison , Buckley Nicholas , Halliwell Jennifer , Gwenin Christopher
Published: May 2015

Botulinum neurotoxin is one of the deadliest biological toxins known to mankind and is able to cause the debilitating disease botulism. The rapid detection of the different serotypes of botulinum neurotoxin is essential for both diagnosis of botulism and identifying the presence of toxin in potential cases of terrorism and food contamination. The modes of action of botulinum neurotoxins are well-established in literature and differ for each serotype. The toxins are known to specifically cleave portions of the SNARE proteins SNAP-25 or VAMP; an interaction that can be monitored by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. This study presents a SNAP-25 and a VAMP biosensors for detecting the activity of five botulinum neurotoxin serotypes (A–E) using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The biosensors are able to detect concentrations of toxins as low as 25 fg/mL, in a short time-frame compared with the current standard methods of detection. Both biosensors show greater specificity for their compatible serotypes compared with incompatible serotypes and denatured toxins.
Upflow Evapotranspiration System for the Treatment of On-Site Wastewater Effluent
Authors: Curneen Sean , Gill Laurence
Published: May 2015

Full-scale willow evapotranspiration systems fed from the base with septic tank or secondary treated domestic effluent from single houses have been constructed and instrumented in Ireland in order to investigate whether the technology could provide a solution to the problem of on-site effluent disposal in areas with low permeability subsoils. Continuous monitoring of rainfall, reference evapotranspiration, effluent flows and water level in the sealed systems revealed varying evapotranspiration rates across the different seasons. No system managed to achieve zero discharge in any year remaining at maximum levels for much of the winter months, indicating some loss of water by lateral exfiltration at the surface. Water sampling and analysis however, showed that the quality of any surface overflow from the systems was similar to rainfall runoff. The performance results have then been used to formulate design guidelines for such systems in Ireland’s temperate maritime climate. The effect of varying different combinations of design parameters (plan area, soil depth, etc.) has been evaluated with respect to the simulated number of overflow days over a five-year period using a water balance model. Design guidelines have then been based upon minimising the amount of runoff, in conjunction with other practical and financial considerations.
Sensitivity Analysis in a Complex Marine Ecological Model
Authors: Mateus Marcos , Franz Guilherme
Published: May 2015

Sensitivity analysis (SA) has long been recognized as part of best practices to assess if any particular model can be suitable to inform decisions, despite its uncertainties. SA is a commonly used approach for identifying important parameters that dominate model behavior. As such, SA address two elementary questions in the modeling exercise, namely, how sensitive is the model to changes in individual parameter values, and which parameters or associated processes have more influence on the results. In this paper we report on a local SA performed on a complex marine biogeochemical model that simulates oxygen, organic matter and nutrient cycles (N, P and Si) in the water column, and well as the dynamics of biological groups such as producers, consumers and decomposers. SA was performed using a “one at a time” parameter perturbation method, and a color-code matrix was developed for result visualization. The outcome of this study was the identification of key parameters influencing model performance, a particularly helpful insight for the subsequent calibration exercise. Also, the color-code matrix methodology proved to be effective for a clear identification of the parameters with most impact on selected variables of the model.
PHENIX: An R package to estimate a size‐controlled phenotypic integration index
Authors: Torices Rubén , Muñoz‐Pajares A. Jesús
Published: May 2015

Premise of the study:

Organisms usually show intercorrelations between all or some of their components leading to phenotypic integration, which may have deep consequences on the evolution of phenotypes. One of the main difficulties with phenotypic integration studies is how to correct the integration measures for size. This has been considered a challenging task. In this paper, we introduce an R package (PHENIX: PHENotypic Integration indeX), in which we provide functions to estimate a size‐controlled phenotypic integration index, a bootstrapping method to calculate confidence intervals, and a randomization method to simulate null distributions and test the statistical significance of the integration.

Methods and Results:

PHENIX is an open source package written in R. As usual for R packages, the manual and sample data are available at:http://cran.r‐project.org/web/packages/PHENIX/index.html. Functions included in this package easily estimate phenotypic integration by controlling a third variable (e.g., the size of the studied organ).

Conclusions:

PHENIX helps to estimate and test the statistical significance of the magnitude of integration using one of the most‐used methodological approaches, while taking size into account.
EVALUATION OF ASPHALT PAVEMENT LAYER BONDING STRESS
Authors: Du Jia-Chong
Published: May 2015

This study is to evaluate the bonding shear stress between asphalt pavement layered structures with emulsion and cutback asphalt as tack coat materials. A simple direct shear test device is set up for testing the shear force of the pavement composite interface. The test results show that the shear force decreases with an increase in temperature. It had a maximum value at optimum application rate and the emulsion asphalt used exhibited higher shear force than that of cutback asphalt. The shear stress model represented by exponential equations between shear stress and temperature is reasonable and is not significantly different to the shear stress from experimental field test, in accordance with the statistic of analysis of variance test. The shear stress modeling developed in this paper provides a valuable method to simulate the shear stress of a different nominal aggregate gradation and tack coat material.
ERRATUM
Authors: Gunduz Murat , Sahin Haci Bayram
Published: May 2015

Erratum." Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, 21(5), p. 678
Drug Resistance is Rarely the Cause or Consequence of Long-Term Persistent Low-Level Viraemia in HIV-1-Infected Patients on ART
Authors: Vancoillie Leen , Mortier Virginie , Demecheleer Els , Schauvliege Marlies , Vandekerckhove Linos , Vogelaers Dirk , Verhofstede Chris
Published: May 2015

Background

The introduction of highly sensitive HIV-1 viral load assays with a lower quantification limit of 20 copies/ml uncovered that in a number of patients on ART, the viral load systematically fluctuates around or slightly above the detection limit of the assays. This study aimed to analyse the presence or occurrence of drug resistance mutations in HIV-1-infected patients during long-term persistent low-level viraemia (PLLV) under ART.

Methods

A retrospective study was carried out in which baseline and on-therapy presence of drug resistance mutations in the HIV-1 protease and reverse transcriptase genes were analysed in patients with PLLV between 20 and 250 copies/ml. For all available plasma samples collected during PLLV, resistance analysis was attempted with an ultrasensitive amplification and sequencing protocol.

Results

Resistance analysis was successful for 154 samples collected longitudinally from 23 patients over a median period of 4.7 years (IQR 3.3–5.7). Twenty of these patients were on a boosted protease inhibitor (PI)-based regimen (87%). Single drug resistance mutations were detected in isolated samples of 4 patients, 2 of the 3 patients who initiated a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor-based regimen and 2 of the 20 on a PI-based regimen. Only one of the detected mutations decreased susceptibility to the therapy regimen taken at the time of sample collection. Drug resistance mutations were not found in the three patients who developed virological failure (viral load >250 copies/ml) during the study.

Conclusions

Long episodes of PLLV in patients on boosted PI-based regimens rarely result in the selection of new drug-resistant variants.
Fondements et dynamique de l’Etat-providence
Authors: Masson André
Published: May 2015

L’objet de cet article est d’étudier brièvement les fondements et la dynamique de l’Etat-providence. S’agissant des fondements, le critère d’évaluation ne sera plus la dualité Bismarck-Beveridge des modèles sociaux mais l’opposition ternaire entre les philosophies ou paradigmes du « libre agent », de « l’égalité citoyenne » et « multi-solidaire », en s’intéressant moins aux évolutions historiques qu’aux tendances récentes et aux devenirs envisageables d’un Etat-providence confronté à un problème de soutenabilité financière provoqué par le vieillissement démographique et la crise économique. Dans cette perspective, la dynamique que l’on risque d’observer concernerait le passage d’une philosophie dominante multi-solidaire au paradigme de l’égalité citoyenne, voire à celui du libre agent en cas de délitement de l’Etat-providence : cette dynamique supposée est-elle plus probable en Belgique qu’en France, par exemple – dans l’hypothèse où les deux Etats-providence sont suffisamment proches pour procéder à une telle comparaison ?
L’évaluation des politiques publiques : enjeux, méthodes et institutions
Authors: Bozio Antoine
Published: May 2015

Cet article présente les objectifs et les difficultés techniques et institutionnelles de l’évaluation des politiques publiques. Les enjeux de l’évaluation sont à la fois l’approfondissement de connaissances scientifiques, l’aide à la décision politique et la contribution au débat démocratique. Loin de réserver les décisions politiques à un groupe d’experts restreint, l’évaluation est au contraire la condition d’appropriation des éléments du débat public par l’ensemble des citoyens. L’expertise doit se concentrer sur le choix des méthodes d’évaluation, diverses selon les données disponibles et la politique à évaluer. Une revue non technique des méthodes disponibles actuellement est présentée, contrastant leurs avantages et leurs limites. Enfin, après un panorama des institutions contribuant à l’évaluation des politiques publiques, les clés d’une réussite institutionnelle de l’évaluation sont discutées.
A study of seed micromorphology in the genus Ophrys (Orchidaceae)
Authors: Galán Cela Pablo , Seligrat Irene , Ortúñez Emma , Gamarra Roberto , Vivar Alejandro , Scrugli Antonio
Published: May 2015

Seed micromorphology of 19 taxa of the genus Ophrys have been studied using SEM and light microscope. Quantitative data (length and width of seed and embryo, number of testa cells along the longitudinal axis, volume of seed and embryo, and percentage of free air space), as well as qualitative characters (seed shape, features of the anticlinal and periclinal walls, ornamentation and colour) were analysed. All the seeds are fusiform, with an asymmetrical basal pole, the periclinal walls of the medial cells have parallel and transverse to slanting ridges, and raised anticlinal walls. Statistical analyses show two large clusters according to the volumes of seed and embryo. Our results support the monophyly of the genus and their recent diversification, however, seed features are not congruent with the recognition of sections and groups within Ophrys.
A casual alien plant new to Mediterranean Europe: Ceiba speciosa (Malvaceae) in the suburban area of Palermo (NW Sicily, Italy)
Authors: Pasta Salvatore , La Mantia Tommaso , Badalamenti Emilio
Published: May 2015

The abiotic and biotic characteristics of the first sites where floss silk tree behaves as a casual alien plant in the Mediterranean Europe are described. The species was probably first planted in botanical gardens of southern France few decades before mid XIX century. It was introduced in Palermo in 1896, a city which appears to match very well its climatic requirements. According to the available information on its biology and ecology in both its original and secondary range, the floss silk tree should not become an invasive alien plant in the Mediterranean. Nevertheless, several gaps need to be filled in order to increase our understanding of future trends of Ceiba speciosa in southern Europe, in particular, the eventual role of pollinators and seed dispersers outside the species’ natural range.