bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Termite (order Blattodea, infraorder Isoptera) baiting 20 years after commercial release
Authors: Evans Theodore A , Iqbal Naeem
Published: September 2014

Termite baiting is now one of the two main management tools in developed countries after 20 years of commercial release. It has two main goals: to use small amounts of active ingredient and ‘colony elimination’, i.e. death of all individuals in the colony. We consider how well baiting has been evaluated from 100 studies in the scientific literature. Studies have included 15 active ingredients, 23 termite species and 16 countries, yet most studies have focused on the chitin synthesis inhibitor hexaflumuron,Reticulitermesand the United States. Baiting has mostly met its goals: typically about 0.5 g of active ingredient was used, and colony elimination achieved, albeit with rates varying from 0 to 100%, and sometimes supplemented with liquid insecticide. Baiting was most successful using chitin synthesis inhibitors againstReticulitermesandCoptotermes(Rhinotermitidae), in temperate locations, although colony elimination was usually inferred indirectly – mostly by termite absence from baits – and was often slow, from 25 to 450 days. Baiting has been less tested and less successful against higher termites in tropical locations, where they are most diverse and abundant. Future research may have to consider greater termite species diversity and other active ingredients to reduce control times in order to fulfil the potential of baiting. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry
Selective Antibacterial Activity of Patchouli Alcohol Against Helicobacter pylori Based on Inhibition of Urease
Authors: Yu Xiao‐Dan , Xie Jian‐Hui , Wang Yong‐Hong , Li Yu‐Cui , Mo Zhi‐Zhun , Zheng Yi‐Feng , Su Ji‐Yan , Liang Ye‐er , Liang Jin‐Zhi , Su Zi‐Ren , Huang Ping
Published: September 2014

The aim of this study is to evaluate the antibacterial activity and urease inhibitory effects of patchouli alcohol (PA), the bioactive ingredient isolated from Pogostemonis Herba, which has been widely used for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders. The activities of PA against selected bacteria and fungi were determined by agar dilution method. It was demonstrated that PA exhibited selective antibacterial activity against Helicobacter pylori, without influencing the major normal gastrointestinal bacteria. Noticeably, the antibacterial activity of PA was superior to that of amoxicillin, with minimal inhibition concentration value of 78 µg/mL. On the other hand, PA inhibited ureases from H. pylori and jack bean in concentration‐dependent fashion with IC50 values of 2.67 ± 0.79 mM and 2.99 ± 0.41 mM, respectively. Lineweaver‐Burk plots indicated that the type of inhibition was non‐competitive against H. pylori urease whereas uncompetitive against jack bean urease. Reactivation of PA‐inactivated urease assay showed DL‐dithiothreitol, the thiol reagent, synergistically inactivated urease with PA instead of enzymatic activity recovery. In conclusion, the selective H. pylori antibacterial activity along with urease inhibitory potential of PA could make it a possible drug candidate for the treatment of H. pylori infection. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
TSSL: improving SSL/TLS protocol by trust model
Authors: Asadzadeh Kaljahi Maryam , Payandeh Ali , Ghaznavi‐Ghoushchi Mohammad Bagher
Published: September 2014

Transport Layer Security (TLS) is the most popular security protocol of the transport layer. It is widely used to provide basic security services of authentication, confidentiality, and integrity of sensitive data. It is carried out in critical untrusted networks between client and server entities, such as e‐commerce and online transactions. Despite multiple capabilities, TLS protocol is vulnerable to the malicious server attacks that may cause a serious threat to TLS‐based e‐commerce communications. This should be considered as the first problem of this protocol. The other problem of TLS is sending many messages during the handshake phase for providing a successful negotiation and a secure communication. So, this phase is the most complex and time‐consuming phase of the TLS protocol. This causes decreasing of service capacity and using more time. We are going to propose a new protocol based on trust model called “TSSL protocol” in this paper. This model is used to conquer the disadvantages with security of the TLS protocol. Through this paper, it is going to be indicated that the proposed model has higher levels in both security and performance compared with the conventional TLS. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Differentially pumped quadrupole SIMS probe on FIB‐based and two‐beam microscopes
Authors: Chater Richard J. , Shollock Barbara A. , McPhail David S. , Smith Alan J. , Cooke Graham
Published: September 2014

Two microscopes with focused ion beam (FIB) columns in the Department of Materials, Imperial College, have been fitted with SIMS probes (Hiden EQS 1000). Both probes have differential pumping to maintain the vacuum in the probe below 5 × 10−6 mbar irrespective of the main operating and imaging conditions of the microscopes. In both microscopes, standard operations include the injection of oxygen‐containing species close to the sputter site. This process is also a technique for SIMS analysis instrumentation to enhance positive ion yields during sputtering where an oxygen primary ion beam for dynamic SIMS analysis is not available. The aim of this paper is to describe the compatibility of the differentially pumped SIMS probe with the normal specifications of microscopes. In particular, the modern field emission gun‐SEM instrument's (Zeiss Auriga) ability to provide ultra‐high spatial resolution SIMS in combination with electron microscopy imaging, energy dispersive spectroscopy and electron backscatter diffraction. In the second instrument, an ion microscope (FEI FIB200), the installed system is additional to the existing FEI SIMS probe. Simultaneous detection of positive and negative secondary ions from the same sputtered crater is obtained on this instrument with the two SIMS probes. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Silicon Nanohybrid‐based Surface‐enhanced Raman Scattering Sensors
Authors: Wang Houyu , Jiang Xiangxu , Lee Shuit‐Tong , He Yao
Published: September 2014

Nanomaterial‐based surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensors are highly promising analytical tools, capable of ultrasensitive, multiplex, and nondestructive detection of chemical and biological species. Extensive efforts have been made to design various silicon nanohybrid‐based SERS substrates such as gold/silver nanoparticle (NP)‐decorated silicon nanowires, Au/Ag NP‐decorated silicon wafers (AuNP@Si), and so forth. In comparison to free AuNP‐ and AgNP‐based SERS sensors, the silicon nanohybrid‐based SERS sensors feature higher enhancement factors (EFs) and excellent reproducibility, since SERS hot spots are efficiently coupled and stabilized through interconnection to the semiconducting silicon substrates. Consequently, in the past decade, giant advancements in the development of silicon nanohybrid‐based SERS sensors have been witnessed for myriad sensing applications. In this review, the representative achievements related to the design of high‐performance silicon nanohybrid‐based SERS sensors and their use for chemical and biological analysis are reviewed in a detailed way. Furthermore, the major opportunities and challenges in this field are discussed from a broad perspective and possible future directions.
Metal‐Cluster‐Decorated TiO2 Nanotube Arrays: A Composite Heterostructure toward Versatile Photocatalytic and Photoelectrochemical Applications
Authors: Xiao Fang‐Xing , Hung Sung‐Fu , Miao Jianwei , Wang Hsin‐Yi , Yang Hongbin , Liu Bin
Published: September 2014

Recent years have witnessed increasing interest in the solution‐phase synthesis of atomically precise thiolate‐protected gold clusters (Aux); nonetheless, research on the photocatalytic properties of Aux–semiconductor nanocomposites is still in its infancy. In this work, recently developed glutathione‐capped gold clusters and highly ordered nanoporous layer‐covered TiO2 nanotube arrays (NP‐TNTAs) are employed as nanobuilding blocks for the construction of a well‐defined Aux/NP‐TNTA heterostructure via a facile electrostatic self‐assembly strategy. Versatile photocatalytic performances of the Aux/NP‐TNTA heterostructure which acts as a model catalyst, including photocatalytic oxidation of organic pollutant, photocatalytic reduction of aromatic nitro compounds and photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting under simulated solar light irradiation, are systematically exploited. It is found that synergistic interaction stemming from monodisperse coverage of Aux clusters on NP‐TNTAs in combination with hierarchical nanostructure of NP‐TNTAs reinforce light absorption of Aux/NP‐TNTA heterostructure especially within visible region, hence contributing to the significantly enhanced photocatalytic and PEC water splitting performances. Moreover, photocatalytic and PEC mechanisms over Aux/NP‐TNTA heterostructure are elucidated and corresponding reaction models were presented. It is anticipated that this work could boost new insight for photocatalytic properties of metal‐cluster‐sensitized semiconductor nanocomposites.
Surveying Louisiana waterfowl hunters: Open web and random mail surveys produce similar responses to attitudinal questions
Authors: Laborde Lucien P. , Rohwer Frank C. , Kaller Michael D. , Reynolds Larry A.
Published: September 2014

We surveyed random and convenience samples of Louisiana, USA, waterfowl hunters after the 2009–2010 season, and asked identical questions about waterfowl‐hunting effort, success, satisfaction, regulatory alternatives, and demographics. We received 727 usable responses to our random mail survey, and 949 usable responses to an on‐line web survey that was accessible to the general public. Compared with the random mail survey, respondents to the web survey hunted more frequently, harvested more waterfowl, and placed greater importance on waterfowl hunting. However, we noted similarities in attitudes toward regulatory alternatives across survey methods. Binary logistic regression of 13 variables measuring effort, success, satisfaction, and demographics accurately predicted the survey method of 75.5% of respondents. Similar analysis of 10 variables measuring attitudes toward regulatory alternatives categorized only 63.1% of the respondents into their correct survey mode, and failed to meet conservative standards for predictive accuracy. Polar reclassification of attitudinal responses into bichotomous categories led to identical managerial conclusions, irrespective of survey method. Based on our results, we believe responses from the random mail survey more accurately represent the demographics, effort, and success of Louisiana waterfowl hunters; however, the attitudes of respondents did not differ between random mail and convenience web samples, especially in regard to regulatory alternatives. The ease and low cost of web surveys are important advantages over traditional mail surveys. We suggest survey methodology be carefully linked to survey objectives, and that open web surveys may be used to supplement random surveys in investigations of stakeholder attitudes to inform development of natural resource policy. © 2014 The Wildlife Society.
Phase 1 combination study of Eribulin mesylate with trastuzumab for advanced or recurrent human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive breast cancer
Authors: Mukai Hirofumi , Saeki Toshiaki , Shimada Ken , Naito Yoichi , Matsubara Nobuaki , Nakanishi Tadashi , Obaishi Hiroshi , Namiki Masayuki , Sasaki Yasutsuna
Published: September 2014

Eribulin mesylate (Halaven®) is a novel inhibitor of microtubule dynamics that has demonstrated a survival benefit in patients with locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer who previously received at least two chemotherapeutic regimens including an anthracycline and a taxane. Although trastuzumab is indicated for patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive (HER2+) breast cancer, a phase 1 study to evaluate tolerability/safety of eribulin mesylate with trastuzumab has not been conducted. Therefore, a study of eribulin mesylate in combination with trastuzumab was conducted to evaluate dose limiting toxicity (DLT), tolerability/safety, pharmacokinetics (PK), and efficacy and to estimate the recommended dose in Japanese patients with advanced or recurrent HER2+ breast cancer. Eribulin mesylate (1.4 mg/m2) was administered on days 1 and 8 of every 3 week cycle. Trastuzumab was administered with a 4 mg/kg loading dose followed by 2 mg/kg weekly doses or with an 8 mg/kg loading dose followed by 6 mg/kg tri-weekly doses. A total of 12 patients (six for each regimen) received eribulin mesylate and trastuzumab. No DLT was observed and the recommended dose of eribulin mesylate in combination with trastuzumab was estimated as 1.4 mg/m2. Common adverse events were neutropenia, leukopenia, anaemia and alopecia. This combination therapy was well tolerated and the neutropenia observed was manageable. No PK drug-drug interaction between eribulin and trastuzumab was observed. Since a transient ejection fraction decreased was observed in two patients, cardiac function should be routinely assessed in patients receiving the combination therapy of eribulin mesylate with trastuzumab (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01432886).
Efectos de los emplazamientos de marca real y enmascarada en el comportamiento del consumidor: un experimento exploratorio
Authors: Alvarado Herrera Alejandro , Cavazos Arroyo Judith , Vázquez Charolet Rubén
Published: September 2014

La efectividad del emplazamiento de marcas enmascaradas en el comportamiento del consumidor no ha sido comparada empíricamente con la producida por el emplazamiento de marcas reales. Para hacerlo, se realizó un experimento exploratorio verdadero (post-test) en 4 ciudades mexicanas. Una animación de HuevoCartoon con 3 versiones desarrolladas ex profeso, manipulando la variable Tipo de emplazamiento, fue presentada a 183 participantes voluntarios repartidos aleatoriamente en los grupos y, posteriormente, se solicitó que respondieran un cuestionario que midió 7 variables dependientes referentes a los efectos cognitivos, emocionales y conativos producidos en los sujetos. Los resultados permiten concluir que la diferencia en la efectividad del uso de ambos tipos de emplazamiento es meramente marginal.
The effect of intravenous paracetamol for the prevention of rocuronium injection pain
Authors: Uzun Sennur , Erden İsmail A. , Canbay Ozgur , Aypar Ulku
Published: September 2014

Rocuronium is a nondepolarizing neuromuscular blocking agent used in anesthesia induction and is associated with considerable discomfort and burning pain during injection, which is reported to occur in 50–80% of patients. This study was carried out to investigate the effectiveness of intravenous paracetamol pretreatment compared with lidocaine and normal saline to prevent rocuronium injection pain. The study included 150 ASA I–II patients undergoing elective orthopedic, gastrointestinal, and gynecological procedures under general anesthesia. They were allocated into three groups according to pretreatment drugs: lidocaine (40 mg) (n = 50), paracetamol (n = 50), and normal saline group (n = 50). Before anesthesia induction with propofol, all patients were pretreated with rocuronium. The pain caused by the injection was evaluated. Local signs were assessed on the arm at the end of the injection, as well as 24 hours after recovery from anesthesia. There were no patients with blurred speech or vision and there was no respiratory depression in any group after pretreatment with the study drug. The level of pain on injection was statistically lower in those who had received paracetamol compared to normal saline (p = 0.009). There were more patients in the saline group with severe pain (p < 0.001). Paracetamol relieved the rocuronium injection pain better than normal saline but lidocaine was the best of the three drugs (p < 0.001).
Enhanced expression of retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARA) induces epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition and disruption of mammary acinar structures
Authors: Doi Ayano , Ishikawa Kosuke , Shibata Nao , Ito Emi , Fujimoto Jiro , Yamamoto Mizuki , Shiga Hatsuki , Mochizuki Hiromi , Kawamura Yoshifumi , Goshima Naoki , Semba Kentaro , Watanabe Shinya
Published: September 2014

The early steps of mammary tumorigenesis include loss of epithelial cell polarity, escape from anoikis, and acquisition of proliferative capacity. The genes responsible for these processes are predicted to be early diagnostic markers or new therapeutic targets. Here we tested 51 genes coamplified with ERBB2 in the 17q12–21 amplicon for these tumorigenic activities using an MCF10A 3D culture‐based screening system. We found that overexpression of retinoic acid receptor α (RARA) disrupted normal acinar structure and induced epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition (EMT). The mRNA levels of known EMT‐inducing factors, including SLUG, FOXC2, ZEB1, and ZEB2, were significantly increased upon RARA overexpression. Knockdown of ZEB1 suppressed the RARA‐mediated EMT phenotype. These results suggest that overexpression of RARA enhances malignant transformation during mammary tumorigenesis.
Transforming the quality assurance framework for Taiwanese higher education: A glonacal context
Authors: Hou Angela Yung-Chi , Chen Karen Hui-Jung , Morse Robert
Published: September 2014

In an interconnected world, higher education systems, the institutions that comprise them, educational policy makers, quality assurance agencies are all supposed to interact simultaneously in a global, national, and local, or glonacal, context. Like some other Asian nations, Taiwan has been developing its glonacal quality assurance framework. At the same time, it attempted to give more institutional autonomy to universities by awarding them a self-accreditation status. The main purpose of the paper is to examine transformation of QA systems in Taiwan's higher education under the glonacal context and to analyze the new development of self-accreditation.
Identification and nomenclature of the genus Penicillium
Authors: Visagie C.M. , Houbraken J. , Frisvad J.C. , Hong S.-B. , Klaassen C.H.W. , Perrone G. , Seifert K.A. , Varga J. , Yaguchi T. , Samson R.A.
Published: September 2014

Penicillium is a diverse genus occurring worldwide and its species play important roles as decomposers of organic materials and cause destructive rots in the food industry where they produce a wide range of mycotoxins. Other species are considered enzyme factories or are common
indoor air allergens. Although DNA sequences are essential for robust identification of Penicillium species, there is currently no comprehensive, verified reference database for the genus. To coincide with the move to one fungus one name in the International Code of Nomenclature for
algae, fungi and plants, the generic concept of Penicillium was re-defined to accommodate species from other genera, such as Chromocleista, Eladia, Eupenicillium, Torulomyces and Thysanophora, which together comprise a large monophyletic clade. As
a result of this, and the many new species described in recent years, it was necessary to update the list of accepted species in Penicillium. The genus currently contains 354 accepted species, including new combinations for Aspergillus crystallinus, A. malodoratus
and A. paradoxus, which belong to Penicillium section Paradoxa. To add to the taxonomic value of the list, we also provide information on each accepted species MycoBank number, living ex-type strains and provide GenBank accession numbers to ITS, β-tubulin, calmodulin
and RPB2 sequences, thereby supplying a verified set of sequences for each species of the genus. In addition to the nomenclatural list, we recommend a standard working method for species descriptions and identifications to be adopted by laboratories working on this genus.
Constraints on Paleoclimate from 11.5 to 5.0 ka from Shoreline dating and Hydrologic Budget Modeling of Baqan Tso, Southwestern Tibetan Plateau
Authors: Huth Tyler , Hudson Adam M. , Quade Jay , Guoliang Lei , Hucai Zhang
Published: September 2014

14C dating of shoreline deposits of closed-basin lake Baqan Tso in the western Tibetan Plateau shows that lake level regressed from the undated highstand (46 m above modern, 4.3 × modern surface area) of likely earliest Holocene age by 11.5 ka, and remained larger than modern until at least ≈ 5.0 ka. The shoreline record broadly matches other regional climate records, with lake level closely following Northern Hemisphere summer insolation overprinted by sub-millennial lake-level oscillations. A model coupling modern land runoff and lake surface heat closely reproduces estimated modern precipitation of ≈ 240 mm/yr. We estimate that the Baqan Tso basin required ≈ 380 mm/yr precipitation to sustain the maximum early Holocene lake area, a 55% increase over modern. Precipitation increases, not glacial meltwater, drove lake-level changes, as Baqan Tso basin was not glaciated during the Holocene. Our estimate assumes early Holocene insolation (≈ 1.3% overall increase), and mean annual increases of 2°C in temperature, and 37% in relative humidity. We additionally developed a Holocene precipitation history for Baqan Tso using dated paleolake areas. Using the modern and early Holocene model results as end-members, we estimate precipitation in the western Tibetan Plateau which was 300–380 mm/yr between 5.0 and 11.5 ka, with error of ± 29–57 mm/yr (± 12–15%).
Development and evaluation of the US Healthy Food Diversity index
Authors: Vadiveloo Maya , Dixon L. Beth , Mijanovich Tod , Elbel Brian , Parekh Niyati
Published: September 2014

Varied diets are diverse with respect to diet quality, and existing dietary variety indices do not capture this heterogeneity. We developed and evaluated the multidimensional US Healthy Food Diversity (HFD) index, which measures dietary variety, dietary quality and proportionality according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). In the present study, two 24 h dietary recalls from the 2003–6 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were used to estimate the intake of twenty-six food groups and health weights for each food group were informed by the 2010 DGA. The US HFD index can range between 0 (poor) and 1 − 1/n, wherenis the number of foods; the score is maximised by consuming a variety of foods in proportions recommended by the 2010 DGA. Energy-adjusted Pearson's correlations were computed between the US HFD index and each food group and the probability of adequacy for fifteen nutrients. Linear regression was run to test whether the index differentiated between subpopulations with differences in dietary quality commonly reported in the literature. The observed mean index score was 0·36, indicating that participants did not consume a variety of healthful foods. The index positively correlated with nutrient-dense foods including whole grains, fruits, orange vegetables and low-fat dairy (r0·12 to 0·64) and negatively correlated with added sugars and lean meats (r− 0·14 to − 0·23). The index also positively correlated with the mean probability of nutrient adequacy (r0·41;P< 0·0001) and identified non-smokers, women and older adults as subpopulations with better dietary qualities. The US HFD index may be used to inform national dietary guidance and investigate whether healthful dietary variety promotes weight control.
METROPOLITAN BLUEPRINTS OF COLONIAL TAXATION? LESSONS FROM FISCAL CAPACITY BUILDING IN BRITISH AND FRENCH AFRICA,c.1880–1940
Authors: Frankema Ewout , van Waijenburg Marlous
Published: September 2014

The historical and social science literature is divided about the importance of metropolitan blueprints of colonial rule for the development of colonial states. We exploit historical records of colonial state finances to explore the importance of metropolitan identity on the comparative development of fiscal institutions in British and French Africa. Taxes constituted the financial backbone of the colonial state and were vital to the state building efforts of colonial governments. A quantitative comparative perspective shows that pragmatic responses to varying local conditions can easily be mistaken for specific metropolitan blueprints of colonial governance and that under comparable local circumstances the French and British operated in remarkably similar ways.
THE DIASPORA OF AFRICANS LIBERATED FROM SLAVE SHIPS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
Authors: Domingues da Silva Daniel , Eltis David , Misevich Philip , Ojo Olatunji
Published: September 2014

This article uses the extensive documentation of Africans liberated from slave vessels to explore issues of identity and freedom in the nineteenth-century Atlantic world. It tracks the size, origin, and movement of the Liberated African diaspora, offers a preliminary analysis of the ‘disposal’ of African recaptives in societies on both sides of the Atlantic, and assesses the opportunities Liberated Africans had in shaping their post-disembarkation experiences. While nearly all Liberated Africans were pulled at least partly into the Atlantic wage economy, the article concludes that recaptive communities in Freetown and its hinterland most closely met the aspirations of the Liberated Africans themselves while the fate of recaptives settled in the Americas paralleled those who were enslaved.
GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN AFRICAN HISTORY: A PERSONAL REFLECTION
Authors: Musisi Nakanyike
Published: September 2014

This piece considers the subfields of African gender and sexuality history, from the perspective of an unusual career path that has moved between higher education and activist work in Canada and Uganda, and included policy and public service work in the latter. Over the past few decades, African women's history has shifted from the margins of African historiography to the mainstream; scholars have subjected a wide range of topics to insightful gender analysis; and increasingly sophisticated studies of sexuality have emerged. This piece surveys these important developments and how they have played out in the classroom in relation to students’ shifting political and social sensibilities. It argues that, moving forward, scholars should devote more attention to the precolonial history of sexuality and develop creative methodologies for reconstructing that history, especially through engaging historical demography.
THE RECREATION OF MODERN AND AFRICAN ART AT ACHIMOTA SCHOOL IN THE GOLD COAST (1927–52)
Authors: Woets Rhoda
Published: September 2014

The formative influence of colonial art education on modern art movements in Africa has not attracted a great deal of scholarly attention. Yet, European art teachers in the Gold Coast challenged colonial prejudice that Africans were incapable of mastering European aesthetic forms. This article analyses the art education provided at the Teacher Training College at Achimota School where pupils learned both to revalue African art forms and to draw and paint in European, representational art styles. Modern artists built on and reshaped what they had learned at Achimota in order to respond to changing social and political conditions. The last section of this article explores the impact of colonial art education on the work of two of the earliest modern artists in Ghana: Kofi Antubam and Vincent Kofi.
THE AFFECTIVE, THE INTELLECTUAL, AND GENDER HISTORY
Authors: Hunt Nancy Rose
Published: September 2014

The integration of gender as a vibrant stream within African historical writing suggests a remarkable success story with many prominent historians and fresh thematics involved. Alongside an interest in subjectivities has emerged vigorous attention to the affective, emotions, and the senses. Why affect has emerged now matters. At the same time, new kinds of intellectual histories are burgeoning in the African field, frequently forwarding an unacknowledged masculinity. With the affective and the intellectual seemingly at odds with each other, it is crucial to seek ways to cross and combine them, while remaining alert to methodological perils and innovative forms.
TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE: THE ROUTES OF ‘AFRICAN SEXUALITY’
Authors: Gaudio Rudolf P.
Published: September 2014

The idea that homosexuality is ‘un-African’ is widely regarded, at least among Western scholars, as a myth concocted during the colonial era. The evidence adduced to support this consensus is largely convincing, but it does not account for all the features of contemporary African leaders’ homophobic discourses. In particular, it does not account for differences between Christian and Muslim rhetorics with respect to a putative ‘African sexuality’. Historical, ethnographic, and literary evidence suggests these differences can be traced in part to the trans-Saharan slave trade, which gave rise to racialized sexual tropes of blacks and Arabs that circulated and continue to circulate on both sides of the Sahara. In Nigeria and perhaps elsewhere, it seems that sexual stereotypes of Arabs and black Africans derived from both the trans-Saharan trade and European colonial rule have been respectively, if unevenly, mapped onto Muslims and Christians, in a way that hinders national integration. This is so even when the leaders of both groups seem to be in agreement, as when they join forces to condemn homosexuality. To ignore such religious, racial, and sexual contradictions is to ignore some of the major cultural faultlines within contemporary African nation-states and the continent overall.
Heavy Alcohol Use, Marijuana Use, and Concomitant Use by Adolescents Are Associated with Unique and Shared Cognitive Decrements
Authors: Winward Jennifer L. , Hanson Karen L. , Tapert Susan F. , Brown Sandra A.
Published: September 2014

To assess recovery of cognitive effects, we investigated neuropsychological performance after 1 month of monitored abstinence in teens with histories of heavy episodic drinking, protracted marijuana use, or concomitant use of alcohol and marijuana. Adolescents (ages 16–18 years) with histories of heavy episodic drinking (HED; n=24), marijuana use (MJ; n=20), both heavy alcohol and marijuana use (HED+MJ; n=29), and socio-demographically similar control teens (CON; n=55) completed a neuropsychological battery following 4 weeks of monitored abstinence. Groups were similar on 5th grade standardized test scores, suggesting comparable academic functioning before onset of substance use. Relative to CON, HED showed poorer cognitive flexibility (p=.006), verbal recall (p=.024), semantic clustering (p=.011), and reading skills (p=.018). MJ performed worse than CON on inhibition task accuracy (p=.015), cued verbal memory (p=.031), and psychomotor speed (p=.027). Similar to HED youth, HED+MJ showed differences relative to CON on cognitive flexibility (p=.024) and verbal recall (p=.049). As with MJ teens, HED+MJ showed poorer task accuracy (p=.020). Unique to the HED+MJ group was poorer working memory (p=.012) relative to CON. For all substance using participants, worse performance across domains correlated with more lifetime use of alcohol and of marijuana, more withdrawal symptoms from alcohol, and earlier age of onset of marijuana use (ps<.05). Heavy alcohol use, marijuana use, and concomitant use of both substances during adolescence appear to be associated with decrements in cognitive functioning, and each substance (or combination of substances) may be linked to poorer performance in specific cognitive domains (JINS, 2014, 20, 784–795).
Doomed aspiration of pure instrumentality: Global Administrative Law and accountability
Authors: RACHED DANIELLE HANNA
Published: September 2014

The article attempts to illuminate how the concept of accountability is diversely shaped and signified in the theoretical legal discourse. It engages in a threefold mapping review: (i) it portrays, according to the basic divide between the angles ‘within the state’ and ‘beyond the state’, the geographical and functional contexts in which real-world political accountability mechanisms exist and interact; (ii) it interprets an influential legitimating discourse that is being used as a benchmark to appraise institutions and political processes beyond the state – the Global Administrative Law project (GAL); (iii) it highlights how this sort of accountability discourse is tied with demands for legitimacy in global governance that cannot be detached from the old political ideals. Largely oriented towards due process, I argue that the GAL project, in order to maintain a normative appeal, should not ignore larger political ideals, however controversial they might be. Otherwise, it remains a manipulable and hence unreliable cause to be endorsed.
Understanding the Neuropsychology of Aesthetic Paradox: The Dual Phase Oscillation Hypothesis
Authors: Mukhopadhyay Dyutiman
Published: September 2014

Aesthetic delight is a unique and paradoxical psychological experience of simultaneous emotional exaltation and a state of serenity toward a percept when an individual experiences the percept with the approach of an art experiencer or artist. The primary drawback of neuroscientific investigation of art is that it fails to trace the functional coherence of the entire process of generation of aesthetic delight. At least 2 recent seminal works by Vessel et al. (2013) and Cela-Conde et al. (2013) tried to resolve this deficiency using 2 different neuroimaging techniques (fMRI and MEG respectively) and assessed the relevance of the Default Mode Network (DMN) of the brain in the generation of aesthetic pleasure. However, their works are yet to precisely highlight what primarily separates aesthetic experience from similar psychological experiences. This article formulates the dual phase oscillation hypothesis based on the neural correlate of the paradox of aesthetic delight, explaining the precise logic behind linking aesthetic delight and DMN activity. The hypothesis focuses on 2 seemingly paradoxical unique attributes of aesthetic delight: the phenomenon of suspension of disbelief (SOD), whereby the person experiencing art temporarily suspends the belief of surface reality, and the phenomenon of introspective detached contemplation, whereby the same person, while experiencing the same art, reflects on the artistic phenomenon and is simultaneously aware of the surface reality. The hypothesis proposes that aesthetic delight is the dynamic, oscillatory balance between SOD and introspective detached contemplation and is orchestrated by the functional coherence of the DMN. The article integrates the 2 previous works with the fundamentals of this proposal and thus offers a unique neuropsychological solution to the problem of aesthetic paradox.
Free Association in Psychology and the Grid Elaboration Method
Authors: Joffe Helene , Elsey James W. B.
Published: September 2014

This article traces the history of free association in psychoanalysis, cognitive psychology, and social psychology and builds on these traditions to develop a novel research method for eliciting how people think and feel about social and personal issues. These range from climate change to pandemics, from earthquakes to urban living. The method, termed the grid elaboration method (GEM), is distinctive in tapping the naturalistic thoughts and feelings that people hold in relation to such issues. It provides an instrument that elicits ecologically valid material that minimizes the interference of the investigator's perspective. A further aspect of the method is that it taps chains of association that are often emotive and implicit in nature, in keeping with current trends in psychological research. These facets are elaborated in this article, with reference to an exploration of the history of free association methodologies in psychology. The efficacy of the method is demonstrated using examples drawn from recent empirical work utilizing the GEM in a variety of domains. The method is evaluated, with areas for future exploration elucidated.
Platinum-modified covalent triazine frameworks hybridized with carbon nanoparticles as methanol-tolerant oxygen reduction electrocatalysts
Authors: Kamiya Kazuhide , Kamai Ryo , Hashimoto Kazuhito , Nakanishi Shuji
Published: September 2014

Covalent triazine frameworks, which are crosslinked porous polymers with two-dimensional molecular structures, are promising materials for heterogeneous catalysts. However, the application of the frameworks as electrocatalysts has not been achieved to date because of their poor electrical conductivity. Here we report that platinum-modified covalent triazine frameworks hybridized with conductive carbon nanoparticles are successfully synthesized by introducing carbon nanoparticles during the polymerization process of covalent triazine frameworks. The resulting materials exhibit clear electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction reactions in acidic solutions. More interestingly, the platinum-modified covalent triazine frameworks show almost no activity for methanol oxidation, in contrast to commercial carbon-supported platinum. Thus, platinum-modified covalent triazine frameworks hybridized with carbon nanoparticles exhibit selective activity for oxygen reduction reactions even in the presence of high concentrations of methanol, which indicates potential utility as a cathode catalyst in direct methanol fuel cells.
The role of obesity in the immune response during sepsis
Authors: Kolyva A S , Zolota V , Mpatsoulis D , Skroubis G , Solomou E E , Habeos I G , Assimakopoulos S F , Goutzourelas N , Kouretas D , Gogos C A
Published: September 2014

Background/Objectives:

Sepsis is one of the most important causes of mortality in the developed world, where almost two-thirds of the population suffer from obesity. Therefore, the coexistence of both conditions has become frequent in clinical practice and a growing number of clinical studies attempts to examine the potential effect of obesity on sepsis with controversial results up to now. The present study investigates how obesity influences the immune response of septic patients, by assessing the number and activation state of adipose tissue macrophages, serum and adipose tissue tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) levels and plasma oxidative stress markers.

Subjects/methods:

The study included 106 patients, divided into four groups (control n=26, obesity n=27, sepsis n=27 and sepsis and obesity n=26). The number of macrophages in subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue (SAT and VAT) and their subtypes (M1 and M2) were defined with immunohistochemical staining techniques under light microscopy. TNFα mRNA levels were determined in SAT and VAT using real-time reverse transcription-PCR. Serum levels of TNFα were determined with sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Plasma oxidative stress was evaluated using selective biomarkers (thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS), protein carbonyls and total antioxidant capacity (TAC)).

Results:

Sepsis increased the total number of macrophages and their M2 subtype in (VAT), whereas obesity did not seem to affect the concentration of macrophages in fat. Obesity increased TNFα mRNA levels (P<0.05) in VAT as well as the plasma TBARS (P<0.001) and protein carbonyls (P<0.001) in septic patients. The plasma TAC levels were decreased and the serum TNFα levels were increased in sepsis although they were not influenced by obesity.

Conclusions:

Obesity is associated with elevated TNFα adipose tissue production and increased oxidative stress biomarkers, promoting the proinflammatory response in septic patients.
Discrimination and classification of liver cancer cells and proliferation states by Raman spectroscopic imaging
Authors: Tolstik T. , Marquardt C. , Matthäus C. , Bergner N. , Bielecki C. , Krafft C. , Stallmach A. , Popp J.
Published: September 2014

Discrimination of nodular lesions in cirrhotic liver is a challenge in the histopathologic diagnostics.
Two-dimensional inverse opal hydrogel for pH sensing
Authors: Xue Fei , Meng Zihui , Qi Fenglian , Xue Min , Wang Fengyan , Chen Wei , Yan Zequn
Published: September 2014

Two-dimensional (2D) inverse opal hydrogels with well-ordered macroporous monolayer on the surface are prepared by polymerization of hydrogel monomers on 2D array templates and show a prompt response to pH stimuli by the change of diffraction color.
Highly selective enrichment of phosphopeptides using aluminum silicate
Authors: Güzel Yüksel , Hussain Shah , Rainer Matthias , Bonn Günther K.
Published: September 2014

This study presents a novel strategy for highly selective enrichment of phosphopeptides using aluminium silicate (mullite) powder.
In situ stabilization of hydroxylamine via electrochemical immobilization of 4-nitrophenol on GCE/MWCNT electrodes: NADH electrocatalysis at zero potential
Authors: Sundaram Sornambikai , Senthil Kumar Annamalai , Jagannathan Madhanagopal , Abdul Kadir Mohammed Rafiq
Published: September 2014

The ØNHOH@p-MWCNT immobilized GCE through electrochemical cycling showed surface confined redox peaks with stabilized ØNHOH intermediate species and NADH electrocatalysis at 0.02 Vvs.Ag/AgCl.
Using AuCo alloy nanoparticles/HS-graphene modified electrode for the selective determination of dopamine, ascorbic acid and uric acid
Authors: Liu Zhe , Wang Xueliang , Sun Li , Yu Zhangyu
Published: September 2014

An electrochemical method for the selective determination of dopamine (DA), ascorbic acid (AA) and uric acid (UA) was set up using an AuCo alloy nanoparticle/HS-graphene modified electrode.
Synthesis and characterization of vinyl-functionalized magnetic nanofibers for protein imprinting
Authors: Li Yanxia , Bin Qiu , Lin Zhenyu , Chen Yiting , Yang Huanghao , Cai Zongwei , Chen Guonan
Published: September 2014

One kind of surface protein imprinting method was developed by a more convenient, simpler and cheaper approach based on vinyl-functionalized magnetic nanofibers (NFs).
Morphology-mediated tailoring of the performance of porous nanostructured Mn2O3as an anode material
Authors: Pal Provas , Giri Arnab Kanti , Mahanty Sourindra , Panda Asit Baran
Published: September 2014

The experiments determined the effects of different morphologies of synthesized porous Mn2O3on its performance as an anode material in Li-ion batteries.
Transition metal inclusion in RhoZMOF materials
Authors: Calleja Guillermo , Martos Carmen , Orcajo Gisela , Botas Juan A. , Villajos José A.
Published: September 2014

Porous RhoZMOF is a negatively charged zeolite-like MOF material susceptible to post-synthesis modification by an ion-exchange process replacing as-synthesized organic cations with transition metals.
Direct sampling of multiple single-molecular rupture dominant pathways involving a multistep transition
Authors: Jiang Huijun , Ding Huai , Hou Zhonghuai
Published: September 2014

We report a novel single-molecular rupture mechanism revealed by direct sampling of the dominant pathway using a self-optimized path sampling method.
Destructuring ionic liquids in ionogels: enhanced fragility for solid devices
Authors: Guyomard-Lack A. , Delannoy P.-E. , Dupré N. , Cerclier C. V. , Humbert B. , Le Bideau J.
Published: September 2014

The ionogel approach harnesses ionic liquid’s properties and strikingly enhances them. Confined ionic liquids show high fragility and good lithium transport, in relation to the percolating silica interface.
Experimental and first-principles study of guanine adsorption on ZnO clusters
Authors: Chandraboss V. L. , Karthikeyan B. , Senthilvelan S.
Published: September 2014

Electronic structure for interaction of guanine with Zn2O2 cluster and the most preferred N1-site to form a stable G–Zn2O2 model.
Capture of heliophobic atoms by 4He nanodroplets: the case of cesium
Authors: Leal Antonio , Mateo David , Hernando Alberto , Pi Martí , Barranco Manuel
Published: September 2014

Within Density Functional Theory (DFT), we address the capture of a Cs atom by a superfluid helium nanodroplet using models of different complexity.
Flexible electronics based on inorganic nanowires
Authors: Liu Zhe , Xu Jing , Chen Di , Shen Guozhen
Published: September 2014

This review summarizes the latest research for exploiting the flexible electronic applications of inorganic nanowires.
Infrared spectroscopic study of dimethyl ether carbonylation catalysed by TiO2-supported rhodium carbonyls
Authors: Flores-Escamilla G. A. , Fierro-Gonzalez J. C.
Published: September 2014

The carbonylation of dimethyl ether to give methyl acetate in the presence of a TiO2-supported Rh catalyst was investigated byin situinfrared spectroscopy. Data indicate intermediate species that are analogous to those observed during methanol carbonylation.
Calcium carbonate crystal growth beneath Langmuir monolayers of acidic β-hairpin peptides
Authors: Gong Haofei , Yang Yi , Pluntke Manuela , Marti Othmar , Majer Zsuzsa , Sewald Norbert , Volkmer Dirk
Published: September 2014

Four amphiphilic peptides with designed hairpin structure were synthesized and their monolayers were employed as model systems to study biologically inspired calcium carbonate crystallization.
Facile synthesis of CuInGaS2 quantum dot nanoparticles for bilayer-sensitized solar cells
Authors: Zhao Jinjin , Zhang Jiangbin , Wang Wenna , Wang Peng , Li Feng , Ren Deliang , Si Huanyan , Sun Xiuguo , Ji Fengqiu , Hao Yanzhong
Published: September 2014

TiO2@CuIn0.7Ga0.3S2 QDs (2–5 nm) were firstly synthesised by a vacuum one-pot-nanocasting process without long-chain ligands.
Analysis of trivalent cation complexation to functionalized mesoporous silica using solid-state NMR spectroscopy
Authors: Shusterman Jennifer , Mason Harris , Bruchet Anthony , Zavarin Mavrik , Kersting Annie B. , Nitsche Heino
Published: September 2014

The first comprehensive study of Al(iii) and Sc(iii) interactions with a novel hybrid material, N-[5-(trimethoxysilyl)-2-aza-1-oxopentyl]caprolactam functionalized mesoporous silica, was conducted using solid-state NMR spectroscopy.
Construction of iridium and rhodium cyclometalated macrocycles based on p-carborane and N,N′-donor bridging ligands
Authors: Shen Xu-Yu , Zhang Long , Lin Yue-Jian , Jin Guo-Xin
Published: September 2014

Construction of shape controllable macrocycles with stacking channels fromp-carborane and pyridine-imine ligands.
Structural and magnetic studies of perovskite YCr0.5Mn0.5O3
Authors: James Hannah , Kennedy Brendan J. , Whittle Thomas A. , Avdeev Maxim
Published: September 2014

Neutron powder diffraction demonstrates cation disorder in YCr0.5Mn0.5O6 in a G-type antiferromagnetic arrangement.
Throwing light on platinized carbon nanostructured composites for hydrogen generation
Authors: Mangrulkar Priti A. , Kotkondawar Abhay V. , Mukherjee Sumanta , Joshi Meenal V. , Labhsetwar Nitin , Sarma D. D. , Rayalu Sadhana S.
Published: September 2014

Platinized carbon nanostructured composites for photocatalytic hydrogen generation: synergism of carbon and platinum in nano forms.