bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Subcellular localisations of the CPTI collection of YFP-tagged proteins inDrosophilaembryos
Authors: Lye Claire M. , Naylor Huw W. , Sanson Bénédicte
Published: October 2014

A key challenge in the post-genomic area is to identify the function of the genes discovered, with many still uncharacterised in all metazoans. A first step is transcription pattern characterisation, for which we now have near whole-genome coverage in Drosophila. However, we have much more limited information about the expression and subcellular localisation of the corresponding proteins. The Cambridge Protein Trap Consortium generated, via piggyBac transposition, over 600 novel YFP-trap proteins tagging just under 400 Drosophila loci. Here, we characterise the subcellular localisations and expression patterns of these insertions, called the CPTI lines, in Drosophila embryos. We have systematically analysed subcellular localisations at cellularisation (stage 5) and recorded expression patterns at stage 5, at mid-embryogenesis (stage 11) and at late embryogenesis (stages 15-17). At stage 5, 31% of the nuclear lines (41) and 26% of the cytoplasmic lines (67) show discrete localisations that provide clues on the function of the protein and markers for organelles or regions, including nucleoli, the nuclear envelope, nuclear speckles, centrosomes, mitochondria, the endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi, lysosomes and peroxisomes. We characterised the membranous/cortical lines (102) throughout stage 5 to 10 during epithelial morphogenesis, documenting their apico-basal position and identifying those secreted in the extracellular space. We identified the tricellular vertices as a specialized membrane domain marked by the integral membrane protein Sidekick. Finally, we categorised the localisation of the membranous/cortical proteins during cytokinesis.
One-pot In Situ Synthesis of Hollow Layered Double Hydroxide–Ammonium Polyphosphate Nanoshells toward Flame Retardant
Authors: Li Zhangcheng , Xue Zhonghua , Yang Baojun , Wang Bainian , Peng Xinhua
Published: October 2014

A novel approach to synthesize nanostructure composites of layered double hydroxide–ammonium polyphosphate (LDH–APP) is reported. hollow LDH–APP nanoshells were synthesized by simply mixing precursor solutions and systematically characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) techniques. The as-fabricated LDH–APP–PP (polypropylene) composites using hollow LDH–APP nanoshells as nanofiller show excellent flame-retardant performance, which is much better than that of LDH–PP. It is expected that such a kind of LDH–APP composite materials may have potential applications in the field of industrial flame-retardant.
Simple Homopolymer-incarcerated Gold Nanoclusters Prepared by Self-assembled Encapsulation with Aluminum Reagents as Crosslinkers: Catalysts for Aerobic Oxidation Reactions
Authors: Yasukawa Tomohiro , Miyamura Hiroyuki , Kobayashi Shū
Published: October 2014

Simple homopolymer-incarcerated gold nanocluster catalysts were developed using a self-assembled encapsulation strategy. In this method, Red-Al® acting as a reductant also played the role of an inter-crosslinker via the formation of tetraalkoxyaluminate with the hydroxy groups in a homopolymer. Gold nanoclusters could be immobilized at high loadings without aggregation, and high catalytic activities were observed in several aerobic oxidation reactions.
Should Aid Reward Performance? Evidence from a Field Experiment on Health and Education in Indonesia
Authors: Olken Benjamin A. , Onishi Junko , Wong Susan
Published: October 2014

We report an experiment in 3,000 villages that tested whether incentives improve aid efficacy. Villages received block grants for maternal and child health and education that incorporated relative performance incentives. Subdistricts were randomized into incentives, an otherwise identical program without incentives, or control. Incentives initially improved preventative health indicators, particularly in underdeveloped areas, and spending efficiency increased. While school enrollments improved overall, incentives had no differential impact on education, and incentive health effects diminished over time. Reductions in neonatal mortality in nonincentivized areas did not persist with incentives. We find no systematic scoring manipulation nor funding reallocation toward richer areas. (JEL F35, I18, I28, J13, J16, O15)
Private and Public Provision of Counseling to Job Seekers: Evidence from a Large Controlled Experiment
Authors: Behaghel Luc , Crépon Bruno , Gurgand Marc
Published: October 2014

This paper reports the results of a large-scaled randomized controlled experiment comparing the public and private provision of counseling to job seekers. The intention-to-treat estimates of both programs are not statistically different, but more workers were enrolled in the private program, implying an effect per beneficiary that is twice as large under the public as under the private program. We find suggestive evidence that the private firms may have insufficiently mastered the counseling technology, and exercised less effort on those who had the best chance to find a job. This highlights the incentive problems in designing contracts for these services. (JEL J22, J64, J68)
The Distributive Impacts of Financial Development: Evidence from Mortgage Markets during US Bank Branch Deregulation
Authors: Tewari Ishani
Published: October 2014

Well-functioning credit markets play a key role in boosting overall economic growth, but their impact on distributional outcomes is much less clear. I use a quasi-experimental setting provided by branch banking deregulation, an important episode of US financial development, to study the distributive impacts of finance. Following removal of geographic restrictions on banks in the 1980s and early 1990s, mortgage access increased for lower-middle income groups, young, and also black households. These effects were driven by commercial banks, the only financial institutions subject to the policy. Banks' new screening technologies may have been responsible for this expansion of credit. (JEL D14, D31, G12, G28)
Interaction of Parties of Payment System: Issues of Formation of Guarantee Fund
Authors: Belobabchenko Marina
Published: October 2014

After the entry into force on January 1, 2014, in full, of the Federal law No. 161-FZ «On the National Payment System» and the practical application of the norms of the mentioned law, when the payment systems in the Russian Federation, has identified the need to clarify and making some changes in the rules of this law regulating the procedure for the formation of separate structures of the payment system, ensure the effectiveness of its activities. This applies, for example, order of creation and use of the guarantee Fund specific payment system, the order of payment of the COP guarantee fees to ensure the satisfaction of the claims for the obligations. The author has proposed changes on the order of formation of the guarantee Fund of the payment system its participants. A large number of regulatory acts, developed by the Bank of Russia, as the body exercising supervision and control over activities of the payment systems, devoted to questions of protection of information in the process of transfer of funds, including in electronic form, as well as division of responsibility between participants of the payment system for determining the order of protection of information.
The Principle of Language of Court Proceeding: Content and Guarantees
Authors: Vilkova Tatyana
Published: October 2014

The article deals both with the rules that govern the language suitable for criminal procedure in the Russian Federation, and with the set of procedural measures ensuring the right to a criminal proceeding of the party, which does not master or has insufficient knowledge of the language used during the criminal proceeding, to use their mother tongue or any other language that they have proficiency in, including their right to have a charge-free interpreter according to the established law. Author used abstract-logical, comparative-legal, formal-legal and historical methods. The article reveals the meaning of the rules for the language that is used in criminal procedure and accessible to any party in a sense of fulfillment of the criminal procedure tasks (article 6 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation) ensuring the right of the accused to a fair trial (article 6 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms). There was an analysis of the statements deemed to provide the parties with the knowledge of criminal procedure language, the parties being authorized to make decisions at different levels of a criminal proceeding; in particular, the statutory requirements to master the language of criminal procedure for the applicants for the position of investigation officer, interrogation officer, prosecutor, judge, as well as for the applicants for the position of juror. There was a list of criteria based on which it is possible to say whether or not the party to a criminal proceeding masters the language used during the criminal proceeding to an extent sufficient for the protection of his or her rights. The article then deals with the statements deemed to provide for a charge-free interpreter and the extents which the written translation might have been applied to. Only the proceedings subject to be given to the corresponding party (not all the case materials) shall be translated into the language that this or that party to a criminal procedure has proficiency in.
Predictors of eating disorders outcomes in Polish teenage patients
Authors: Pilecki Maciej , Józefik Barbara , Solecka Dorota , Cygankiewicz Patrycja
Published: October 2014

Aim of the study

The aim of this study was to assess factors associated with outcome of eating disorders in Polish teenage patients.

Subject or material and methods

Analyses covered the data of 47 patients diagnosed with any of the eating disorders according to DSM IV consulted for the first time in the outpatients clinic of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit between 2002/2004 in Krakow (DGN1), Poland and then followed-up between 2009/2011 (DGN2). The influence of the number of variables collected at DGN1 on outcomes were analysed.

Results

The outcomes of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are influenced by some aspects of clinical picture, patients’ objective family situation, their self-image and the perception they have of their family relations. The co-occurrence of depressive symptoms and younger age of parents proved to be the most clinically important negative outcome predictors in whole group of eating disorders.

Discussion

Small size of group in the follow-up study is the most important limitating factor.

Conclusions

Conclusion: Outcomes in eating disorders are affected by several psycho-bio-social factors common for all patients and specific for diagnosis type they initially present.
The Use of Methods of Multidimensional Comparative Analysis in Evaluation of the Standard of Living of Poland’s Population in Comparison with Other Countries of the European Union
Authors: Mościbrodzka Monika
Published: October 2014

The comparative analysis of the standard of living of the population is significant from the viewpoint of evaluation of economic changes as well as determination of the distance between countries with regard to social development. The goal of the article was to compare, using the methods of multidimensional comparative analysis (MCA), the standard of living in the countries of the European Union using a single indicator. This indicator, as an aggregated value, synthesizes the information from all variables defining a complex phenomenon, enabling a comparison of countries with regard to the standard of living. The point of departure for the research was a creation of a set of variables, divided into 8 subgroups: health care, labour market, salaries, housing conditions, education, culture and recreation, communication, environmental protection, and social benefits. On the basis of this group of variables, a comparison of the European Union countries between 2006 and 2011 was made, specifying the position of Poland, with regard to the standard of living of inhabitants and evaluation of the extent of Poland’s similarity to other EU countries. The source base of the articles was information from secondary sources: Internet sites, publications on European statistics, as well as data published by the GUS (Central Statistical Office of Poland).
Is ‘sinus’ pain really sinusitis?
Authors: Agius AM , Jones NS , Muscat R
Published: October 2014

So-called ‘sinus pain’ is a common complaint in GP and ear, nose and throat clinics, and patients often receive treatment with antibiotics and decongestants. Recent evidence suggests that facial pain may not be related to the sinuses at all and that doctors may have to rethink their prescribing strategy.
A VLU complicated by severe group a Streptococcal infection resulting in necrotising fasciitis and septic shock: a case report
Authors: Meagher H. , Corkery M. , Concannon L. , Kavanagh E.
Published: October 2014

This case study outlines the management of a patient with a venous leg ulcer whose swabs cultured Staphylococcus aureus and beta-haemolytic streptococcus group A while in hospital with cellulitis, which was treated with antibiotics as per sensitivities. However, the patient presented at the emergency department five weeks later with a diagnosis of invasive group A streptococcal disease resulting in necrotising fasciitis and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. This paper describes the holistic care and wound management that the patient received.
La necesidad de considerar los riesgos climáticos en la introducción de cultivos tropicales en latitudes medias. El mango en el valle del Guadalhorce (Málaga)
Authors: Rodrigo Comino Jesús , Senciales González José María , González Moreno José María
Published: October 2014

El presente trabajo pretende demostrar que no es recomendable la introducción de un cultivo tropical como el mango (Mangifera indica) dentro del área mediterránea del valle del Guadalhorce (Málaga, España). Es un cultivo en expansión por su rentabilidad económica, pero es necesario atender a los posibles riesgos climáticos para su explotación (tras la gran inversión que requiere). Para justificar esta afirmación se presenta un estudio agroclimático realizado en las parcelas experimentales de la finca de IFAPA (Instituto de Investigación y Formación Agraria y Pesquera de Andalucía) de Churriana (Málaga). Los resultados se obtienen a través de los datos de una estación meteorológica y una modelización territorial a partir de herramientas de análisis espacial con SIG. Se tienen en cuenta las variables térmicas y los vientos como condicionantes principales de la aparición de la necrosis apical: patología mortal para el mango.
Features of Loschmidt's Number and Its Theoretical Frontiers
Authors:   Science, Noosphereorder Co., London, UK, Zhussupov M.E.
Published: October 2014

Loschmidt's number has played an important role in the development of science and technology and in the establishment of various standards. However, despite advances in the technological methods of estimating Loschmidt's number, the nature of its formation remains unknown. The information that lies in the nature of this constant can be useful for understanding the properties of a physical vacuum and character of processes of the interaction of matter in this environment. Basing on time and experiment tested the laws of molecular physics and thermodynamics, some features of the host medium of micro-particles involved in the formation of Loschmidt’s number were identified, describing its nature and the previously unknown phenomena of fundamental pressure of a Universe. The characteristics of various physical and chemical processes occurring in systems associated with a vacuum and the behavior of heavenly bodies are considered from the perspective of this phenomenon’s existence.
Giant Magnetoresistance and Oscillations In Interlayer Exchange Coupling In Co/Cu/Co Multi-Layers
Authors:   Department Semiconductors (Device Fabrication), Surface Physics and Thin Films Material And Energy Research Center (MERC) Alvand Avenue, Postal Code: 13145-1659, Tehran, Iran, Shirinzadeh Haji
Published: October 2014

The oscillations in interlayer exchange coupling between ferromagnetic layers which are Separated by a nonmagnetic spacer layer, manifests n oscillatory magnetic properties which depend on the thickness of Copper interlayer. Using Molecular Beam Epitaxy system. We have made multilayer films with alternating cobalt and copper thin films. The preliminary results are reported on microstructure and magnetization properties. The conductance between first and third film depends on the relative orientation of magnetization between them. This optimizes to large magneto resistance changes called Giant Magneto-resistance effect.
Autoprezentacja cesarzy rzymskich w mennictwie II i III wieku po Chr.
Authors: Balbuza Katarzyna
Published: October 2014

Recenzja książki: Erika Manders, Coining Images of Power. Patterns in the Representation of Roman Emperors on Imperial Coinage A.D. 193––284, Brill Academic Publishers, Leiden–Boston–Tokyo 2012 [=Impact of Empire, 15], 363 s.
Absolutyzm francuski z nowej perspektywy
Authors: Grobelna Paulina
Published: October 2014

Recenzja książki: Hervé Drévillon, Les rois absolus (1629–1715), Belin, Paris 2011, 637 s.
Hamiltonian stability of Hamiltonian minimal Lagrangian submanifolds in pseudo- and para-Kähler manifolds
Authors: Anciaux Henri , Georgiou Nikos
Published: October 2014

Let L be a Lagrangian submanifold of a pseudo- or para-Kähler manifold with nondegenerate induced metric which is H-minimal, i.e. a critical point of the volume functional restricted to Hamiltonian variations. We derive the second variation formula of the volume of L with respect to Hamiltonian variations and apply this formula to several cases. We observe that a minimal Lagrangian submanifold L in a Ricci-flat pseudo- or para-Kähler manifold is H-stable, i.e. its second variation is definite and L is in particular a local extremizer of the volume with respect to Hamiltonian variations. We also give a stability criterion for spacelike minimal Lagrangian submanifolds in para-Kähler manifolds, similar to Oh’s stability criterion for minimal Lagrangian manifolds in Kähler-Einstein manifolds (cf. [20]). Finally, we determine the H-stability of a series of examples of H-minimal Lagrangian submanifolds: the product S1(r1) x ··· x S1(rn) of n circles of arbitrary radii in complex space Cn is H-unstable with respect to any indefinite flat Hermitian metric, while the product ℍ1(r1) x ···x ℍ1(rn) of n hyperbolas in para-complex vector space Dn is H-stable for n = 1; 2 and H-unstable for n ≥ 3. Recently, minimal Lagrangian surfaces in the space of geodesics of space forms have been characterized ([4], [11]); on the other hand, a class of H-minimal Lagrangian surfaces in the tangent bundle of a Riemannian, oriented surface has been identified in [6]. We discuss the H-stability of all these examples.
A multimodel inference approach to categorical variant choice: construction, priming and frequency effects on the choice between full and contracted forms of am, are and is
Authors: Barth Danielle , Kapatsinski Vsevolod
Published: October 2014

The present paper presents a multimodel inference approach to linguistic variation, expanding on prior work by Kuperman and Bresnan (2012). We argue that corpus data often present the analyst with high model selection uncertainty. This uncertainty is inevitable given that language is highly redundant: every feature is predictable from multiple other features. However, uncertainty involved in model selection is ignored by the standard method of selecting the single best model and inferring the effects of the predictors under the assumption that the best model is true. Multimodel inference avoids committing to a single model. Rather, we make predictions based on the entire set of plausible models, with contributions of models weighted by the models' predictive value. We argue that multimodel inference is superior to model selection for both the I-Language goal of inferring the mental grammars that generated the corpus, and the E-Language goal of predicting characteristics of future speech samples from the community represented by the corpus. Applying multimodel inference to the classic problem of English auxiliary contraction, we show that the choice between multimodel inference and model selection matters in practice: the best model may contain predictors that are not significant when the full set of plausible models is considered, and may omit predictors that are significant considering the full set of models. We also contribute to the study of English auxiliary contraction. We document the effects of priming, contextual predictability, and specific syntactic constructions and provide evidence against effects of phonological context.
What's in a dialogic construction? A constructional approach to polysemy and the grammar of challenge
Authors: Nikiforidou Kiki , Marmaridou Sophia , Mikros George K.
Published: October 2014

In this paper we address lexical polysemy in a constructional perspective, arguing that each of the conversational meanings we identify for Modern Greek ela (2nd person singular imperative of the verb erxome ‘come’) is appropriately modeled as a conceptual gestalt of formal (including prosodic) and semantic-pragmatic properties. In turn-initial position, ela is used to challenge a preceding utterance; we show that the variations in the kind of challenge expressed are systematically tied to the word that follows ela, the speech act force and the sentence type of the preceding utterance, and finally prosodic and textual cues. To the extent that these varieties of conversational challenge are conditioned by particular contextual features, we treat them as a family of related constructions whose common features can be captured in the form of a generalized ela construction abstracted from the different sub-patterns. Our analysis thus demonstrates the appropriateness of a constructional framework for dealing with the different kinds of parameters involved in dialogic meaning and strongly suggests that at least some of the variation inherent in discourse is amenable to a grammatical description, so that sentence-level and supra-clause patterns can be analyzed in a uniform way.
Chloral hydrate, through biotransformation to dichloroacetate, inhibits maleylacetoacetate isomerase and tyrosine catabolism in humans
Authors: Shroads Albert L. , Coats Bonnie S. , Langaee Taimour , Shuster Jonathan J. , Stacpoole Peter W.
Published: October 2014

Background: Chloral hydrate (CH), a sedative and metabolite of the environmental contaminant trichloroethylene, is metabolized to trichloroacetic acid, trichloroethanol, and possibly dichloroacetate (DCA). DCA is further metabolized by glutathione transferase zeta 1 (GSTZ1), which is identical to maleylacetoacetate isomerase (MAAI), the penultimate enzyme in tyrosine catabolism. DCA inhibits its own metabolism through depletion/inactivation of GSTZ1/MAAI with repeated exposure, resulting in lower plasma clearance of the drug and the accumulation of the urinary biomarker maleylacetone (MA), a metabolite of tyrosine. It is unknown if GSTZ1/MAAI may participate in the metabolism of CH or any of its metabolites and, therefore, affect tyrosine catabolism. Stable isotopes were utilized to determine the biotransformation of CH, the kinetics of its major metabolites, and the influence, if any, of GSTZ1/MAAI.

Methods: Eight healthy volunteers (ages 21–40 years) received a dose of 1 g of CH (clinical dose) or 1.5 μg/kg (environmental) for five consecutive days. Plasma and urinary samples were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Results: Plasma DCA (1.2–2.4 μg/mL), metabolized from CH, was measured on the fifth day of the 1 g/day CH dosage but was undetectable in plasma at environmentally relevant doses. Pharmacokinetic measurements from CH metabolites did not differ between slow and fast GSTZ1 haplotypes. Urinary MA levels increased from undetectable to 0.2–0.7 μg/g creatinine with repeated CH clinical dose exposure. Kinetic modeling of a clinical dose of 25 mg/kg DCA administered after 5 days of 1 g/day CH closely resembled DCA kinetics obtained in previously naïve individuals.

Conclusions: These data indicate that the amount of DCA produced from clinically relevant doses of CH, although insufficient to alter DCA kinetics, is sufficient to inhibit MAAI and tyrosine catabolism, as evidenced by the accumulation of urinary MA.
Inheritance of Sclerotinia Midstalk Rot Resistance in Elite Sunflower Breeding Germplasm
Authors: Würschum Tobias , Anyanga Walter O. , Hahn Volker
Published: October 2014

(Lib.) de Bary is a yield-limiting factor and the major disease of sunflower (
Polyfunctionality and transcategoriality of coordinating particles in Latin and in other ancient languages
Authors: Orlandini Anna , Poccetti Paolo
Published: October 2014

Semantic and pragmatic values of Latin coordinators will be analyzed in comparison with other ancient languages under the following conditions: (a) in an asymmetrical sequence, where they may express temporal relations (‘and then’) or causal relations (‘and so’); (b) in dialogic verbal interaction in their cognitive effects and their informational and rhetorical contributions; (c) with respect to their position and their role in the discourse organization; (d) in the sentence- or utterance-initial position, as discourse markers for repetition, reformulation, expressive intensity, indignation, or denial of an expectation, depending on the different interpretive effects arising from different contexts.

Initial position provides a privileged position for expressions associated with speakers' intervention, emotions, mental reservations, and disagreement. Coordinators thus give rise to conversational implicatures (Grice 1975), pragmatically determined by each context. The initial position of coordinators is thus of decisive importance from the point of view of multifunctionality and discursive interchange.
Latin parts of speech in historical and typological context
Authors: Viti Carlotta
Published: October 2014

It is usually assumed that Latin parts of speech cannot be properly applied to other languages, especially outside the Indo-European domain. We will see, however, that the traditional distinction into eight parts of speech is established only in the late period of the classical school of grammar, while originally parts of speech varied in number and in type according to different grammarians, as well as to different periods and genres. Comparisons will be drawn on the one hand with parts of speech in the Greek and Indian tradition, and on the other with genetically unrelated languages where parts of speech – notably adjectives and adverbs – are scarcely grammaticalized. This may be revealing of the manner in which the ancients used to categorize their language.
Taxonomic evaluation of the bent-winged bat (Miniopterus) populations occurring in Iran inferred from mitochondrial cytochrome-b sequences
Authors: Akmali Vahid , Mehdizadeh Robab , Chaghamirza Kianoosh , Moradi Marziyeh , Sharifi Mozafar
Published: October 2014

We studied the genetic differentiation and taxonomy of the bent-wing bat (
Nanomaterials for boron and gadolinium neutron capture therapy for cancer treatment
Authors: Gao Shanmin , Fu Rongrong , Hosmane Narayan S.
Published: October 2014

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death; with it may different types, it kills thousands of people every day. Various types of treatment have been developed to treat and cure cancer. Nanotechnology has emerged as one of the most fruitful areas of science in cancer treatment and the nanomaterials are considered as a medical boon for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of cancer. The major approaches of nanotechnology in tumor treatment include the development of nanoparticles with less or no tissue-resistance, their biocompatibility, ability as nanocarriers for drug delivery, and enhanced energy deposition in tissue with or without the external influence of microwave, light, magnet, etc. This review presents some of the recent developments in the use of nanoparticles as adjuncts to boron and gadolinium containing compounds in boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) and gadolinium neutron capture therapy (GdNCT) along with the latest developments in the area of boron nanotubes (BNTs), gadolinium oxide, boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) and the boron agent itself.
Economic Growth and Recovery After Civil Wars
Authors: Gil-Alana Luis A. , Singh Prakarsh
Published: October 2014

Using a fractional integration approach, we find that developing countries recover their economic growth faster than developed countries in response to a shock. The main finding is that longer civil conflicts are associated with a faster recovery process. To investigate deeper on this issue, we explore correlations with components of GDP. Higher government spending is correlated with faster recoveries post longer conflicts and higher consumption and investment are linked to faster recoveries following shorter conflicts.
Military Expenditure and Investment in OECD Countries: Revisited
Authors: Hou Na , Chen Bo
Published: October 2014

This study examines the effects of military expenditure on investment in 13 selected OECD countries over the period of 1971–2012 by applying the Smith Demand-Side model and different estimation methodologies including panel data, cross section and time series estimation methods. Our empirical results reveal that military expenditure crowds out investment and that crowding-out effect lessens during the Post-Cold War period.
Sputter-Deposited Mg-Zr Alloys – Surface Characteristics and Electrochemical Behavior in Borate Solutions
Authors: El-Moneim Ahmed Abd , Ismail Khalid Mahfouz , Badawy Waheed Abdallah
Published: October 2014

The effect of zirconium on the electrochemical kinetics and surface
characteristics of Mg-(6 – 81 at %) Zr alloys
was investigated by different electrochemical techniques. The
sputter-deposited alloy is subjected to X-ray photo-electron
spectroscopic analyses. Alloys with ≥ 29 at % Zr were
spontaneously passivated. The passive film resistance is much higher
than that formed on Mg metal. The high resistance of the
passive film was attributed to a continuous connected network of
a double oxy-hydroxide composed mainly of Zr4+ and a small
amount of Mg2+. XPS measurements revealed a dynamic nature
of the passive film, where concentration gradient of Zr4+,
Mg2+, OH
–
and O2–
species was recorded
throughout a few nanometers depth. An optimum Zr content is
required to promote the formation of stable oxy-hydroxide film. Alloys
with Zr content ≥ 29 at % attains critical oxide
film composition with Zr4+ ≥ 0.69 cation fractions and
thickness in the range of 3.2 ∼ 4.5 nm.
A Novel Credit Risk Assessment Model Using a Granular Computing Technique
Authors: Chang Yung-Chia , Chang Kuei-Hu , Hsiao Chien-Wen
Published: October 2014

Information about financial risk almost always contains a problem of class imbalance. Class-imbalanced data refers to the asymmetric categories of data, and it is divided into a major class and a minor class. If we guide all information into the training sample to model of this situation, it may happen that the accuracy rate of the major class is high, but the accuracy rate of the minor class is too low. Many risk assessment models have been developed in many studies, but most of them only use sampling methods to deal with the class-imbalanced data; this may cause the distortion of information. In order to effectively solve the problem of class imbalance in credit risk assessment, this paper proposed a novel credit risk assessment model using a granular computing technique to construct a risk assessment model to provide a better insight into the essence of data and effectively solve class imbalance problems. On the other hand, in order to improve the lack of granular computing and enhance the efficiency of the credit risk assessment model, this paper adds a new index, “% of minor class (PM),” to avoid a situation in which minor class data spread to the major class granular. Finally, this paper also compares the results of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and G-means methods for dealing with class-imbalanced data. The results demonstrate that the proposed granular computing credit assessment model would have better results than other sampling models.
Extension of Fatigue Cracks in a Low-Alloy Steel After Massive Plastic Deformation
Authors: Brueckner-Foit A. , Besel M. , Stein T. , Zeismann F.
Published: October 2014

Fatigue crack extension was studied in a ferritic–pearlitic steel in two different material conditions. The first one was the virgin state with a typical pearlitic microstructure containing comparatively large stacks of cementite lamellae. The second material contained predominantly globular cementite and stacks of very fine cementite lamellae and was found after massive plastic deformation during a thermo-mechanical forming process. These differences in the microstructure lead to significantly different mechanisms in the damage accumulation process under fatigue loading. Stacks of cementite lamellae pearlite were both crack initiation sites and microstructural barriers for small cracks in the virgin material, whereas the fine lamellae in the plastically deformed (cold-worked) material could cause crack deviation, but no crack initiation and no significant crack arrest or crack retardation.
Fatigue Crack Growth in Blade Attachment of Turbine Disks: Experimental Tests and Life Prediction
Authors: Foletti S. , Beretta S. , Scaccabarozzi F. , Rabbolini S. , Traversone L.
Published: October 2014

To assess residual life for those component parts where low cycle fatigue (LCF) design is adopted, especially for those critical regions where high stress concentrations cause cyclic yielding of the material, it is necessary to consider the presence of potential defects and their propagation during service. In order to represent the high stress concentration at the root of blade attachments in a gas turbine and the typical elastic-shakedown conditions, a notched specimen has been designed and tested. A series of experimental tests in three regimes have been carried out with the presence of small semi-circular micronotches and crack growth rates have been measured with plastic replicas. The results have shown that the initial over-load impressed by the spinning tests is able to double the propagation lifetime. The experimental results have then been successfully analyzed with Newman's crack growth model applied to the elastic shakedown stress fields at the notch root.
High Cycle Fatigue Behavior of Precipitation Hardened Stainless Steel Alloys in Multiphase Environments
Authors: Gianforcaro Richard , Ault James P.
Published: October 2014

Stainless steels are often used in marine applications due to their superior corrosion resistance and mechanical properties. However, stainless steels are susceptible to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) and corrosion fatigue. Fatigue occurs when cracks, which initiate as the result of cyclic loading, grow and eventually lead to fracture and component failure. For this reason, it is important to include fatigue in design considerations. Unfortunately, there is little data available for corrosion fatigue in marine environments. Most fatigue studies for materials in marine environments are conducted in aqueous solutions at ambient temperatures. In reality, marine environments can include periods of cyclic wetting and drying and variations in temperature. Furthermore, components often include design parameters that can shorten fatigue life such as crevices and mating surfaces. To better understand the behavior of stainless alloys in realistic marine environments, a series of high cycle fatigue tests were conducted on several alloys. Precipitation hardened and nickel alloys have been tested in environments including ambient air, immersion in solutions of 3.5 % sodium chloride (NaCl), and cyclic wetting environments at both ambient and elevated temperatures. Studies validated the importance of testing alloys in conditions representative of the actual service environment.
Characterizing Communal Creativity in Instrumental Group Learning
Authors: Burnard Pamela , Dragovic Tatjana
Published: October 2014

Situated broadly within the field of secondary (high) school education, and with a specific focus on the subject area (and extra-curricular educational setting) of instrumental music education, this essay provides evidence of the meaning of communal creativity as it arises in three interrelated practices: creative learning practice, creative teaching practice, and creative teacher leadership practice. This article reports on how learning is enhanced by experiences of communal creativity as illustrated in the case of a particular instrumental ensemble called Percussion 1. Findings support the specific nature of communal creativity, expressed in terms of embodiment, immersion, enhancement, and empowerment, and constituted socially (made manifest in a social context) through activity. Communal creativity has the potential to transform the experience of instrumental group learning with regard to the pedagogical values that aim to engage the whole community of learners.
Trusting the Bridging Power of Autoethnography
Authors: Lockford Lesa
Published: October 2014

In this essay I explore how autoethnography as a method for fieldwork and for writing has conveyed me to new locales and to new insights that I would not have found without employing it. I also consider how trusting the autoethnographic bridge is not easy and that taking the bridge is not for everyone.
Wedding Album
Authors: Tillmann Lisa M.
Published: October 2014

Historical and personal snapshots of weddings become poetic stanzas that advocate for marriage equality and for a social safety net strong enough to protect the human rights and meet the human needs of everyone, regardless of relational—or any other—status.
Appalachian Appellations
Authors: Newman Joshua I.
Published: October 2014

This article provides a series of critical reflections on my recent encounters with the spaces and bodies of tourist Appalachia. As both researcher and returnee, I look back on various qualitative research activities that have brought me back home to the Appalachian tourist destination of Sevier County, Tennessee. In so doing, I also outline (1) the market transformations that have come to shape the present-day Appalachian tourist economy—and the bodies working within it, (2) the ways in which active and symbolic forms of hillbilly embodiment produce not only local identities but the very “tourist gaze” upon which those bodies are often fixed and thus made marketable, and (3) my struggles as a critical qualitative researcher-returnee to come to terms with these corporeal-commercial projections. I end with a discussion on how my researcher-hillbilly body is negotiated, complicated, and [re]made as I return to spaces of my youth.
Cerebral Arterial Variations Associated with Moyamoya Disease Diagnosed by MR Angiography
Authors: Uchino Akira , Saito Naoko , Takahashi Masahiro , Kurita Hiroki , Ishihara Shoichiro
Published: October 2014

Moyamoya disease is a rare progressive cerebrovascular steno-occlusive disease associated with different variations of the cerebral arteries. We evaluated the types and prevalence of such variations among patients with moyamoya disease. In our institution during the past seven years, we diagnosed 72 patients (24 male, 48 female; aged 6 to 75 years, mean, 42 years) with moyamoya disease by magnetic resonance (MR) angiography using either a 3-Tesla or one of two 1.5-T imagers and a standard time-of-flight technique without contrast media. An experienced neuroradiologist retrospectively reviewed the images. There were 15 cerebral arterial variations in 13 of 72 patients with moyamoya disease (18.1%), including four basilar artery fenestrations, three ophthalmic arteries arising from the middle meningeal artery, two intracranial vertebral artery fenestrations, two persistent first cervical intersegmental arteries, two persistent trigeminal arteries, one extracranial origin of the posterior inferior cerebellar artery, and one persistent stapedial artery. Although our number of patients was small, moyamoya disease was frequently associated with variations of the cerebral arteries, especially fenestrations in the vertebrobasilar system and persistent trigeminal artery.
Intravenous Immunoglobulin Therapy for Refractory Recurrent Pericarditis
Authors: del Fresno M. Rosa , Peralta Julio E. , Granados Miguel Ángel , Enríquez Eugenia , Domínguez-Pinilla Nerea , de Inocencio Jaime
Published: October 2014

Recurrent pericarditis is a troublesome complication of idiopathic acute pericarditis and occurs more frequently in pediatric patients after cardiac surgery (postpericardiotomy syndrome). Conventional treatment with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, corticosteroids, and colchicine is not always effective or may cause serious adverse effects. There is no consensus, however, on how to proceed in those patients whose disease is refractory to conventional therapy. In such cases, human intravenous immunoglobulin, immunosuppressive drugs, and biological agents have been used. In this report we describe 2 patients with refractory recurrent pericarditis after cardiac surgery who were successfully treated with 3 and 5 monthly high-dose (2 g/kg) intravenous immunoglobulin until resolution of the effusion. Our experience supports the effectiveness and safety of this therapy.
When Is Waiver of Consent Appropriate in a Neonatal Clinical Trial?
Authors: Schreiner Mark S. , Feltman Dalia , Wiswell Thomas , Wootton Susan , Arnold Cody , Tyson Jon , Lantos John D.
Published: October 2014

It is difficult to do scientifically rigorous research on treatments that must be administered urgently or emergently. Therefore, such treatments are often provided without a strong evidence base. Research would be facilitated if it were permissible to waive the requirement for parental consent. However, that raises a different set of concerns. Federal regulations allow waiver of the requirement for consent but only if studies meet certain conditions. Institutional review boards must decide whether those conditions are met. Sometimes, reasonable people disagree. We present and analyze a protocol for which investigators request a waiver of consent.
Prenatal and Newborn Screening for Critical Congenital Heart Disease: Findings From a Nursery
Authors: Johnson Lise C. , Lieberman Ellice , O’Leary Edward , Geggel Robert L.
Published: October 2014

BACKGROUND:

Delayed diagnosis of critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) in neonates increases morbidity and mortality. The use of pulse oximetry screening is recommended to increase detection of these conditions. The contribution of pulse oximetry in a tertiary-care birthing center may be different from at other sites.

METHODS:

We analyzed CCHD pulse oximetry screening for newborns ≥35 weeks’ gestation born at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and cared for in the well-infant nursery during 2013. We identified patients with prenatal diagnosis of CCHD. We also identified infants born at other medical centers who were transferred to Boston Children’s Hospital for CCHD and determined if the condition was diagnosed prenatally.

RESULTS:

Of 6838 infants with complete pulse oximetry data, 6803 (99.5%) passed the first screening. One infant failed all 3 screenings and had the only echocardiogram prompted by screening that showed persistent pulmonary hypertension. There was 1 false-negative screening in an infant diagnosed with interrupted aortic arch. Of 112 infants born at Brigham and Women’s Hospital with CCHD, 111 had a prenatal diagnosis, and none was initially diagnosed by pulse oximetry. Of 81 infants transferred to Boston Children’s Hospital from other medical centers with CCHD, 35% were diagnosed prenatally.

CONCLUSIONS:

In our tertiary-care setting, pulse oximetry did not detect an infant with CCHD because of effective prenatal echocardiography screening. Pulse oximetry will detect more infants in settings with a lower prenatal diagnosis rate. Improving training in complete fetal echocardiography scans should also improve timely diagnosis of CCHD.
Does use of the cough assist machine reduce respiratory morbidity for children with neuromuscular disease?
Authors: Phillips Rachel , Edwards Elizabeth , McNamara David , Reed Peter
Published: October 2014

The role of the cough assist machine (CAM) in the long term respiratory management of children with neuromuscular disease (NMD) is unclear. This study examined the impact of regular, home use of the CAM on the respiratory status of six children with NMD and significant respiratory morbidity. Individualised CAM programmes were devised to be undertaken regularly. Retrospective review of hospital records was undertaken to obtain admission data, lung function data, community antibiotic prescriptions and chest radiology reports for the two years prior to CAM initiation. These data were compared to data collected for two years following CAM initiation. Fewer days hospitalised for respiratory infections following machine initiation were evident for all participants. Qualitative feedback indicated high treatment compliance and satisfaction. Four of the five participants, with persistent or recurrent chest radiology abnormalities on enrolment, achieved resolution. Half of the participants had a reduction in community antibiotic prescriptions. No adverse events were reported. Acknowledging the small sample size, domiciliary use of the CAM appears a safe and effective form of airway clearance for some children with NMD. In addition, CAM’s may potentially reduce respiratory admission time for some children with severe respiratory morbidity as a result of their NMD. Furthermore an impact on radiological abnormalities and community antibiotic prescriptions may also be possible.
Older adults’ experiences of community integration following traumatic brain injury
Authors: Kent James , Wright-St Clair Valerie A. , Kersten Paula
Published: October 2014

Literature suggests community integration should be the primary rehabilitation goal for older people following a traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, little is known about older people’s lived experience of community integration following TBI. This mixed method study explores community integration from the perspective of four older adults following mild TBI, and compares findings with results from two community integration outcome measures: the Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ) and the Community Integration Measure (CIM). Findings showed that TBI caused major disruption in life planning, with participants discussing a battle to maintain their pre-TBI independence and having to deal with the consequences of losing some independence following their injury. Setting up or maintaining good support networks were identified as vital to reintegration into the community following TBI, including with physiotherapists whose ability to engage and listen to their patients’ experiences can play an important role in their recovery. Physiotherapists must take care when using the CIQ or CIM to measure the experiences of older adults’ community integration following TBI as this study suggests that the measures do not wholly reflect people’s lived experiences. Findings from this study may be referred to by the providers of community-based services for older adults with TBI to develop strategies for supporting older adults’ community integration following TBI.