bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Mystery of Jesus' Teaching about “The Son of Man”
Authors: Beckstrom Edward A.
Published: April 2012

For centuries a mystery has surrounded the meaning of Jesus' term “The Son of Man” in his ministry, and today it is often called “The Son of Man Problem.” Studying “Son of Man” in all of its biblical references, and apocryphal usages, together with insights from the Dead Sea Scrolls, I propose a solution that the idiom means “Priest” or “High Priest,” but most especially “Heavenly High Priest” and is framed in the third person by Jesus because it is expressed as his destiny given by God—it is the Will of God. “The Son of Man” is distinct from Jesus own will, but is the destiny he follows. It is also the use of this term that caused Caiaphas to cry “blasphemy” at Jesus' Sanhedrin trial, who then sent him to Pilate for crucifixion, yet asserting that Jesus proclaimed himself “King of the Jews.” Caiaphas, knew, I believe, that “Son of Man” was synonymous with “High Priest.”
Evaluating the Effect of Public investment on Productivity Growth Using an Urban Economics Approach for the Spanish Provinces
Authors: Gómez-Antonio Miguel , Garijo Ana Angulo
Published: April 2012

In this article, the authors examine whether variations in the level of public capital across Spain’s Provinces affect productivity growth over the 1985–2004 period. The analysis is motivated by contemporary urban economics theory, involving a production function for the competitive sector of the economy (industry), which includes the level of composite services derived from “service” firms under monopolistic competition. The authors extend the basic production function in the industry sector by explicitly introducing public capital stock and human capital in order to quantify its impact on regional economic growth. The model is also extended to include additional and necessary factors representing technological externalities and spillovers which are not represented in the basic model. The authors use spatial econometric panel data estimation techniques and when we control for temporal and regional specific effects, overall infrastructural endowment boosts regional labor productivity. The results are not significant when we disaggregate public capital stock into local and transport components, although the magnitude of the coefficient is greater in the former case.
The media and the irony of politically serious situations: consequences of the Muhammed cartoons in Finland
Authors: Ridanpää Juha
Published: April 2012

This article discusses the connections between political conflicts and situational irony and their relationship to the media. The focus is on a continuum of ironic events that started from the crisis following the publication of the Muhammed cartoons in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which led to a satirical comic strip being published on the web pages of Kaltio, a small cultural journal produced in Oulu, Northern Finland, and ended in the dismissal of the journal’s editor. The empirical discussion concentrates on how the newspaper Kaleva, representing the media, functioned as an active participant in the process of making the incidents surrounding the Kaltio comic strip episode appear ironic, even though the matter was in fact politically highly sensitive. The purpose is to illustrate how and with what intentions political discourses and various textual strategies such as explicit and implicit verbal irony are used. The main argument is that making politically sensitive situations appear ironic is a matter of positioning values, in this case raising the value of freedom of speech above religious norms.
Gendered media, changing intimacy: internet-mediated transnational communication in the family sphere
Authors: Kang Tingyu
Published: April 2012

This article explores the ways in which migrants use the internet to maintain family relationships and how the difference in digital knowledge and skills between men and women serves to transform the power dynamics in the family sphere transnationally. It examines the intersection of the research areas of transnationalism, digital inequality and family. While the discussion of digital inequalities is seldom embedded in the context of transnational families, research on migrants and their families rarely investigates the impacts of digital inequality on gendered power dynamics. Focusing on the context of Chinese migrants in London and their ageing parents in China, this study identifies how the supposedly feminine role of care and intimacy is now increasingly reassigned to male family members in a transnational process as the internet has largely replaced other media to become the most significant tool in transborder family communication. Women in transnational families are thus silenced. Three modes of coping skills have been adopted by these women; that is, absence, assistance and empowerment. By identifying modes of resistance, this article highlights spaces of agency under the gendered structure of family communication and their potential limits.
New ways of consumption: the audiences of public service media in Italy and Switzerland
Authors: Cola Marta , Prario Benedetta
Published: April 2012

The digital transformation of the broadcasting industry forces public service broadcasting (PSB) companies to restructure and rethink their offerings. Characteristic today is a keener attention to the preferences and behaviours of audiences, and the importance of the link between the concept of public service and the role of audience participation. PSB companies are engaged in a reconsideration of their audiences. This article discusses the central role of the audience in the transformation from PSB to public service media (PSM), connecting (1) what has been done by PSM companies to grasp opportunities of digitalization to increase their offerings and (2) the public response to these strategies, analysing the consumption of PSM. The article considers two companies as cases: Rai in Italy, a large country and SRG SSR in Switzerland, a small country. Italy and Switzerland differ in the size and structure of their television markets. The market structure, the television distribution systems and the funding schema of the PSM companies analysed have influenced the development of strategies adopted by these companies and also audience responses. Empirical research is based on analysis of relevant policy documents, the case companies’ offerings, interviews with the firms’ operators, and audiences and users data.
The Big Five personality domains as predictors of social wellbeing in Iranian university students
Authors: Joshanloo Mohsen , Rastegar Parviz , Bakhshi Ali
Published: April 2012

This study investigated the relationship between the Big Five personality domains and the dimensions of social wellbeing among Iranian students. Participants were 236 university students at the University of Tehran. Bivariate correlations showed a modest overlap between personality factors and dimensions of social wellbeing. Among the Big Five personality domains, neuroticism was negatively related to social acceptance, social contribution, and social coherence. Conscientiousness was positively related to social contribution. Openness was positively related to social contribution and social coherence. Agreeableness was related to social acceptance and social contribution. No significant correlation was observed between extraversion and dimensions of social wellbeing. Results of regression analysis and canonical correlation analysis mainly converged with those of bivariate correlation analysis in showing that there was a modest relationship between the predictors and social wellbeing dimensions. Results of canonical correlation analysis indicated that the full model explained about 28% of the variance shared between the personality factors and social wellbeing variables. Results also revealed that male students scored significantly higher than female students on social wellbeing. However, gender did not moderate the relation between the Big Five personality domains and social wellbeing. Implications of the results are discussed with reference to prior studies on the relation among personality traits, gender, and hedonic and eudaimonic components of wellbeing in Iran and other countries.
The Woman between Public Order and Disorder: The Ambiguities of Modernity
Authors: Diaw Aminata
Published: April 2012

In this paper, Aminata Diaw invites discussion on contemporary women’s struggle for equality, more equitable representation and complete parity. She argues that effective expression of democracy is dependent on taking gender factors properly into account. She discusses classical Rousseau’s position, and observes that the Social Contract needs to be integrated by a Gender Contract. She concludes that the question of the citizenship of women shows that the advent of Modernity did not constitute a veritable rupture with past thought. Modernity has not produced an integration of women into the political dimension and into citizenship.
Power and Deterrence in Alliance Relationships
Authors: Langlois Catherine C.
Published: April 2012

I investigate the rationality of challenge and escalation when a third party, allied either to defender or challenger, is uncertain about the enemy’s power. The analysis illustrates how third-party ally power impacts general and immediate deterrence and willingness to intervene. In alliances with the defender, uncertainty about the enemy’s strength leads the third party to support the defender with a probability that decreases with the benefits that his intervention would provide although the likelihood that he is facing a strong challenger in war has increased. If the third party is allied to the challenger, ally behavior is more nuanced.
PRIO Conflict Site 1989–2008: A Geo-Referenced Dataset on Armed Conflict
Authors: Dittrich Hallberg Johan
Published: April 2012

This article presents PRIO Conflict Site, a geo-referenced dataset on armed conflict, which provides geographic information on the location, scope, and size of all conflicts in the UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset, 1989–2008. In contrast to earlier efforts to map the incidence of conflicts, this dataset is structured in a country-year format that accounts for the temporal dynamics of conflicts. The article reveals that unlike the well-known post-Cold War decline of conflict, there is no contemporaneous decline in the spatial extent of conflict. Furthermore, it is shown that governmental conflicts are more dynamic, both in terms of location and scope, than separatist conflicts.
Early antioxidative defence responses in the aquatic worms (Limnodrilus sp.) in Porsuk Creek in Eskisehir (Turkey)
Authors: Oztetik Elif , Cicek Arzu , Arslan Naime
Published: April 2012

Certain oligochaeta specimens have been universally applied as bioindicators to reflect the organic and inorganic pollution in rivers and play a major role in the decomposition of pollutants. The aim of this study was to investigate the water quality in Porsuk Creek in Eskisehir (Turkey) through the specimens from two different species that belong to Limnodrilus genus, using their biomonitoring compatibilities for the accumulated trace element concentrations and to describe the applicability of antioxidative systems as biomarkers of pollution in Tubificinae. Therefore, some parameters that serve as biomarkers for antioxidative defence, total protein, glutathione (GSH) contents and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities, were determined in Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri and Limnodrilus udekemianus. The study was completed with the chemical analysis of the trace elements from these specimens and also from the water samples. As a conclusion, the observed elevation in GSH levels and GST activities reflect the contribution of oxidative stress in toxicity mechanisms due to the accumulation of trace elements, and the study also suggests a general induction of detoxification metabolisms in the presence of several pollutants in benthic sediment–dwelling worms. According to the average value, the trace element levels for two species are as follows: Fe > Al > Zn > Mn > Pb > Cu > Ni > B > Cd = Cr = Hg. As Porsuk Creek is used for many purposes, such as irrigation, drinking water and fish production, discharges of all types of wastes should be under stringent control to avoid the unwanted health effects to its habitants and to humans.
The Context of the Demand for Special Education Faculty
Authors: Robb Susan Mortorff , Smith Deborah Deutsch , Montrosse Bianca Elizabeth
Published: April 2012

Understanding the context of the demand for special education (SE) teacher education (TE) faculty is important because it can provide faculty at doctoral-granting universities with useful information for program planning. Knowing more about SE teacher preparation programs currently in place and program revisions being planned allows doctoral programs to be more responsive to their consumers. Doctoral students seeking careers in academe will be better able to prepare for the jobs they fill in the future. With this intent in mind, in fall of 2009, the Special Education Faculty Needs Assessment (SEFNA) surveyed a sample of SE TE coordinators. The survey requested information about past, present, and future concentrations or programmatic offerings. It also asked questions about projected need for new faculty resulting from attrition, program expansion, and expanded faculty roles. In addition, the survey gathered information about current staffing patterns at these college and university preparation programs. A two-phased, nonprobability, purposeful sampling approach was employed. Programs in small and large states were sampled, and the survey obtained a 78.1% response rate ( n = 57). Results indicate that SE teacher preparation programs are not closing. Rather, the roles of SE faculty and the programs they offer will expand greatly in the upcoming 5 years. This expansion is expected at a time of significant attrition, some 21% annually due to retirements alone, making it clear that demand for new faculty will far outstrip the supply in the next few years.
Market Demand for Special Education Faculty
Authors: Montrosse Bianca Elizabeth , Young Christopher J.
Published: April 2012

Since 1988, researchers have monitored the extent and severity of the chronic special education (SE) faculty shortage. The present study sought to add to this knowledge base by (a) gathering data on the supply and demand of leadership personnel in SE since the 2001 Faculty Shortage Study; (b) combining and comparing these data with other sources (e.g., Survey of Earned Doctorates [SED]); (c) producing evidence to assess what changes, if any, have occurred in leadership personnel in SE over the past 10 years; (d) describing the characteristics of the SE faculty job market, including recent faculty search trends; and (e) identifying emerging issues as it relates to the demand for SE faculty. Data to answer these questions came from a random sample of job-search coordinators ( n = 36) for SE faculty position advertisements posted in The Chronicle of Higher Education between June and November, 2010. Other sources of data include the Survey of Doctoral Training Programs in Special Education and the Survey of Teacher Education Training Programs in Special Education. The most important finding from this study indicates that although demand markers have improved in the last 10 years, retirements across all SE programs are predicted to increase by 21% per year between 2011 and 2017. Implications of and solutions for the predicted shortage are discussed.
Experimental studies on incremental forming of stainless steel AISI 304 sheets
Authors: Chezhian Babu Subramanian , Senthil Kumar Velukkudy Santhanam
Published: April 2012

Conventional sheet metal forming operations require component-specific and costly tooling, and their design and fabrication add to the lead time. Incremental forming is one of the technologies that has emerged as an alternative to the conventional sheet-metal forming processes for mass customization, where the necessary part is obtained by gradually tracing its contours on a sheet of required thickness using stepwise tool indents. In this investigation, stainless steel AISI 304 sheets were incrementally formed using a hemispherical tool under varying step depths, spindle speeds and horizontal feeds. The limit of formability and thickness distribution of the formed sheet were characterized. The microstructure of the formed specimens was studied using an optical microscope.
A novel fault diagnosis approach based on environmental stress level evaluation
Authors: Deng Guanqian , Qiu Jing , Liu Guanjun , Lv Kehong
Published: April 2012

Misjudging intermittent faults as permanent faults is the major cause of the problems of false alarms, Cannot Duplication and No Fault Found in aircraft avionics. To address this problem, we propose an approach for diagnosis of PFs and IFs in the context of discrete event systems models. Since fault events are usually unobservable, it is difficult to discriminate PF from IF events captured in succeeding sensors. Thereafter, the environmental stresses are treated as fault events and a stress level evaluation algorithm based on interval grey relational degree is given to identify the fault events by evaluating the level of the correlative environmental stresses. Finally, an example of aeronautic gyroscope is presented to demonstrate the proposed approach, and the analysis results show the approach is effective and feasible. It is a novel and effective way to discriminate both PFs and IFs of discrete event systems without the assumption of knowing the fault types (permanent faults and intermittent faults) a priori.
Auctoritatis Interpositio: How Systems Theory Deconstructs Decisionism
Authors: Fischer-Lescano Andreas , Christensen Ralph
Published: April 2012

A deconstructivist interpretation of Luhmann’s systems theory can provide a new basis for the understanding of legal decision-making. While legal scholars traditionally describe the process of judgement either as a stylized conclusion whose content educes from legal sources (judicial deduction) or – in the tradition of Carl Schmitt – as an act of will, whose normative content entails a creatio ex nihilo (judicial will), contemporary legal thought supports, for the most part, some form of compromise between the two theories. In a systems theoretical perspective, however, the opposing notions of will and deduction have to be traced back to a fundamental paradox of law, the paradox of legal decision-making. We argue that this paradox-oriented approach is not just another variation of decisionism of a Schmittian nature. Rather it goes well beyond decisionism in that it takes account of the societal context of the decision-making process and insists on the importance of the legal form and the autonomy of law as a social system. A deconstructivist interpretation further sets the stage for a new conception of the political dimension within law, by pointing out that legal decision-making in the light of undecidability is itself a political act. This conceptionalization calls for an identification of real-world social conflicts and their reformulation within the quaestio iuris.
Legitimating Business Improvement Districts in Johannesburg: a discursive perspective on urban regeneration and policy transfer
Authors: Peyroux Elisabeth
Published: April 2012

This article considers the transfer of the Business Improvement District model to South Africa from a discursive perspective. It examines the ways in which the private sector (property and business owners) has justified the adoption of the model and how it has moulded the concept to Johannesburg’s inner city. Drawing on critical discourse analysis, this article focuses on legitimation strategies, locating them within broader social practices and power relations within the framework of urban revitalization policies implemented after the democratic transition. By focusing on legitimation strategies, and more particularly on their linguistic and semiotic aspects at the micro level, the article shows how the analysis of language use, particularly through a socio-cognitive approach (Van Dijk, 2009), can contribute to uncovering the opinions, attitudes, ideologies, norms and values of social actors. It can also offer insights into a local reinterpretation of a globally circulating model. The comparative analysis of two case studies highlights changing assumptions and attitudes, at least in local rhetoric, and demonstrates how the imported model has been reshaped not only by different discourses associated with various social practices but also by changing policy demands. By considering discourse as an instrument of the social construction of reality as well as an instrument of power and control, the chosen approach also underlines the way in which inequalities are reproduced and maintained in Johannesburg.
Changes in Pharmaceutical Treatment of Diabetes and Family Financial Burdens
Authors: Sarpong Eric M. , Bernard Didem M. , Miller G. Edward
Published: April 2012

Recent changes in diabetes treatment guidelines and the introduction of new, more expensive pharmaceuticals appear to increase the financial challenges for nonelderly adults with diabetes. The authors used Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data to examine changes in the prevalence of diabetes and comorbidities, diabetes treatment, financial burdens, and the relationship between high financial burdens and patient characteristics. From 1997-1998 to 2006-2007, the total number of nonelderly adults treated for diabetes nearly doubled, from 5.4 to 10.7 million, and the proportion of diabetes patients using multiple drugs to treat their condition increased significantly. About a fifth of diabetes patients spent 10% or more of their family income on health care, and about one in nine spent 20% or more of their family income on health care. In 2006-2007, diabetes patients who were older, female, in poor health, or lacked insurance were more likely than others to have high burdens.
Stem Cell Therapy for the Inner Ear
Authors: Okano Takayuki , Kelley Matthew W.
Published: April 2012

In vertebrates, perception of sound, motion, and balance is mediated through mechanosensory hair cells located within the inner ear. In mammals, hair cells are only generated during a short period of embryonic development. As a result, loss of hair cells as a consequence of injury, disease, or genetic mutation, leads to permanent sensory deficits. At present, cochlear implantation is the only option for profound hearing loss. However, outcomes are still variable and even the best implant cannot provide the acuity of a biological ear. The recent emergence of stem cell technology has the potential to open new approaches for hair cell regeneration. The goal of this review is to summarize the current state of inner ear stem cell research from a viewpoint of its clinical application for inner ear disorders to illustrate how complementary studies have the potential to promote and refine stem cell therapies for inner ear diseases. The review initially discusses our current understanding of the genetic pathways that regulate hair cell formation from inner ear progenitors during normal development. Subsequent sections discuss the possible use of endogenous inner ear stem cells to induce repair as well as the initial studies aimed at transplanting stem cells into the ear.
Geographic location, sex and nutritional status play an important role in body image concerns among Brazilian adolescents
Authors: Laus Maria Fernanda , Miranda Valter Paulo Neves , Almeida Sebastião Sousa , Braga Costa Telma Maria , Ferreira Maria Elisa Caputo
Published: April 2012

This study compared body image concerns among adolescents from different geographic locations in Brazil, and the influence of sex and nutritional status. Seven hundred eighty-eight adolescents completed the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) and had their weight and height measured. There were significant cross-regional differences in BSQ scores. Also, body image concerns were more prevalent among girls and among overweight adolescents. It is suggested that sex and nutritional status may play an important role in body image concerns, which is more common between adolescents from urban areas. Furthermore, our findings contribute to the literature by examining patterns of body image concerns within subgroups of adolescents who have received little research attention on these issues.
Modeling perceived professional autonomy in Chilean journalism
Authors: Mellado Claudia , Humanes María Luisa
Published: April 2012

Based on a survey of 570 Chilean new media journalists, this article examines how they perceive autonomy in their everyday work, the importance they give to autonomy as a professional value, as well as the factors that influence their perceived editorial freedom. The results show that Chilean journalists acknowledge a high level of freedom in making news decisions, but that their conception of autonomy follows two different paths: while the importance given to autonomy is related to the profession’s ideal of public service, their satisfaction with editorial freedom fits into a pragmatic context, associated with their professional and job development. The results also reveal that the factors that better predict professional autonomy are having an editorial position within the media, the assignment of a news beat, perceived political and organizational influences, and the media’s political orientation and geographical location. Economic factors, meanwhile, do not have any direct effect on the journalists’ perceptions.
Practicing Liberatory Pedagogy
Authors: Rodriguez Dalia , Boahene Afua O. , Gonzales-Howell Nicole , Anesi Juliann
Published: April 2012

Following the works of Patricia Williams, bell hooks, and other feminist scholars of color, we address what it means for women of color teaching social justice issues in predominantly white classrooms. Very little research has been done to illuminate the challenges women of color face in classrooms and what this means for liberatory practice. We grapples with the question, “What are the particular experiences of women of color from various racial and ethnic backgrounds with white student resistance, specifically in relation to issues of authority?” We also provide recommendations for classroom practice as well as address policy recommendations to structurally support women of color.
Larsen Syndrome
Authors: Ghazle Hamad H.
Published: April 2012

Larsen syndrome is a rare inherited disorder of collagen formation with multiple joint dislocations, cardiac abnormalities, short stature, talipes equinovarus, short and broad fingertips, spatula-like thumbs, supernumerary ossification center in the calcaneus, hearing loss, neurologic impairment, cryptorchidism, and characteristic craniofacial abnormalities. The sonographic prenatal findings in a case of Larsen syndrome at 26 weeks’ gestation, which demonstrated joint dislocations, hypertelorism, frontal bossing, micrognathia, and upper and lower limb shortening and confirmed at both 29 and 30 weeks’ gestation, are presented and discussed. When evaluating patients with a positive family history of Larsen syndrome, sonographers should carefully scan and meticulously assess the fetal extremities for signs of dislocation and the face for signs of flat features, hypertelorism, micrognathia, and depressed nasal bridge, distinctive features of the syndrome.
Tissue transglutaminase treatment leads to concentration-dependent changes in dendritic cell phenotype - implications for the role of transglutaminase in coeliac disease
Authors: Dalleywater William J , Chau David YS , Ghaemmaghami Amir M
Published: April 2012

Dendritic cells (DCs) are part of the innate immune system with a key role in initiating and modulating T cell mediated immune responses. Coeliac disease is caused by inappropriate activation of such a response leading to small intestinal inflammation when gluten is ingested. Tissue transglutaminase, an extracellular matrix (ECM) protein, has an established role in coeliac disease; however, little work to date has examined its impact on DCs. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of small intestinal ECM proteins, fibronectin (FN) and tissue transglutaminase 2 (TG-2), on human DCs by including these proteins in DC cultures.

The study used flow cytometry and scanning electron microscopy to determine the effect of FN and TG-2 on phenotype, endocytic ability and and morphology of DCs. Furthermore, DCs treated with FN and TG-2 were cultured with T cells and subsequent T cell proliferation and cytokine profile was determined.

The data indicate that transglutaminase affected DCs in a concentration-dependent manner. High concentrations were associated with a more mature phenotype and increased ability to stimulate T cells, while lower concentrations led to maintenance of an immature phenotype.

These data provide support for an additional role for transglutaminase in coeliac disease and demonstrate the potential of in vitro modelling of coeliac disease pathogenesis.
Antitumor effects of the investigational selective MEK inhibitor TAK733 against cutaneous and uveal melanoma cell lines
Authors: von Euw Erika , Atefi Mohammad , Attar Narsis , Chu Connie , Zachariah Sybil , Burgess Barry L , Mok Stephen , Ng Charles , Wong Deborah JL , Chmielowski Bartosz , Lichter David I , Koya Richard C , McCannel Tara A , Izmailova Elena , Ribas Antoni
Published: April 2012

Background

TAK733 is a novel allosteric, non-ATP-binding, inhibitor of the BRAF substrates MEK-1/2.

Methods

The growth inhibitory effects of TAK733 were assessed in a panel of 27 cutaneous and five uveal melanoma cell lines genotyped for driver oncogenic mutations. Flow cytometry, Western blots and metabolic tracer uptake assays were used to characterize the changes induced by exposure to TAK733.

Results

Fourteen cutaneous melanoma cell lines with different driver mutations were sensitive to the antiproliferative effects of TAK733, with a higher proportion of BRAF

V600E
mutant cell lines being highly sensitive with IC50s below 1 nM. The five uveal melanoma cell lines had GNAQ or GNA11 mutations and were either moderately or highly sensitive to TAK733. The tested cell lines wild type for NRAS, BRAF, GNAQ and GNA11 driver mutations were moderately to highly resistant to TAK733. TAK733 led to a decrease in pERK and G1 arrest in most of these melanoma cell lines regardless of their origin, driver oncogenic mutations and in vitro sensitivity to TAK733. MEK inhibition resulted in increase in pMEK more prominently in NRAS

Q61L
mutant and GNAQ mutant cell lines than in BRAF

V600E
mutant cell lines. Uptake of the metabolic tracers FDG and FLT was inhibited by TAK733 in a manner that closely paralleled the in vitro sensitivity assays.

Conclusions

The MEK inhibitor TAK733 has antitumor properties in melanoma cell lines with different oncogenic mutations and these effects could be detectable by differential metabolic tracer uptake.
Study on cerium-doped nano-TiO2 coatings for corrosion protection of 316 L stainless steel
Authors: Li Suning , Wang Qian , Chen Tao , Zhou Zhihua , Wang Ying , Fu Jiajun
Published: April 2012

Many methods have been reported on improving the photogenerated cathodic protection of nano-TiO2 coatings for metals. In this work, nano-TiO2 coatings doped with cerium nitrate have been developed by sol–gel method for corrosion protection of 316 L stainless steel. Surface morphology, structure, and properties of the prepared coatings were investigated by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The corrosion protection performance of the prepared coatings was evaluated in 3 wt% NaCl solution by using electrochemical techniques in the presence and absence of simulated sunlight illumination. The results indicated that the 1.2% Ce-TiO2 coating with three layers exhibited an excellent photogenerated cathodic protection under illumination attributed to the higher separation efficiency of electron–hole pairs and higher photoelectric conversion efficiency. The results also showed that after doping with an appropriate concentration of cerium nitrate, the anti-corrosion performance of the TiO2 coating was improved even without irradiation due to the self-healing property of cerium ions.
Salivary uric acid as a noninvasive biomarker of metabolic syndrome
Authors: Soukup Maria , Biesiada Izabela , Henderson Aaron , Idowu Benmichael , Rodeback Derek , Ridpath Lance , Bridges Edward G , Nazar Andrea M , Bridges Kristie Grove
Published: April 2012

Background

Elevated serum uric acid is associated with obesity, hypertension and metabolic syndrome. Because a linear relationship exists between serum and salivary uric acid (SUA) concentration, saliva testing may be a useful noninvasive approach for monitoring cardiometabolic risk. The goal of this pilot study was to determine if SUA is increased in patients with metabolic syndrome and to investigate correlations between SUA and individual cardiometabolic risk factors.

Findings

Volunteers between the ages of 18 and 65 without conditions known to affect serum uric acid levels were recruited. Height, weight, blood pressure and waist circumference were measured and a full lipid panel along with fasting blood glucose was obtained. Saliva samples were collected and uric acid levels were determined. 78 volunteers, 35% of whom had metabolic syndrome, completed the study. SUA was significantly elevated in patients with metabolic syndrome (p=.002). The incidence of metabolic syndrome in the 4th quartile for SUA was 67% compared to 25% in quartiles1-3 combined. Significant correlations were seen between SUA and systolic blood pressure (r=.440, p=.000), diastolic blood pressure ( r=.304, p=.007), waist circumference (r=.332, p=.003), BMI ( r=.269, p=.018), fasting blood glucose ( r=.341, p=.002), triglycerides (r=.410, p=.000), HDL ( r=.237, p=.036) and the number of cardiometabolic risk factors present (r=0.257, p=.023).

Conclusions

These results suggest that SUA may be a useful biomarker for noninvasive monitoring of cardiometabolic risk. Larger studies are needed to validate this approach.
Nucleobindin-2 Is a Positive Modulator of EGF-Dependent Signals Leading to Enhancement of Cell Growth and Suppression of Adipocyte Differentiation
Authors: Tagaya Yuko , Miura Atsuko , Okada Shuichi , Ohshima Kihachi , Mori Masatomo
Published: April 2012

Nucleobindin-2 is a 420-amino-acid EF-hand calcium-binding protein that undergoes proteolytic processing to generate an 82-amino-acid amino-terminal peptide termed nesfatin-1. To determine whether nucleobindin-2 has any biological function, nucleobindin-2 was either overexpressed or knocked down by short hairpin RNA in cultured CHO cells expressing the human insulin and epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptors (CHO/IE) and in 3T3-L1 cells. Reduction in nucleobindin-2 expression inhibited EGF-stimulated MAPK kinase (S217/S221) and Erk phosphorylation (T202/Y204). In contrast, there was no significant effect on EGF-stimulated EGF receptor phosphorylation, EGF receptor internalization, or 52-kDa Shc and c-Raf phosphorylation. Although kinase suppressor of Ras-1 and protein phosphatase 2A expression was not changed, intracellular calcium concentrations and PP2A activity was significantly increased in nucleobindin-2 knocked-down cells. Concomitant with these alterations in EGF-stimulated signaling, cell proliferation was significantly reduced in nucleobindin-2 knocked-down cells. Moreover, reduced nucleobindin-2 expression in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes resulted in a greater extent of 3T3-L1 cell adipocyte differentiation. Taken together, these data indicate that nucleobindin-2 regulates EGF-stimulated MAPK kinase/Erk signaling, cell proliferation, and adipocyte differentiation.
A Social Approach to the Financial Derivatives Markets
Authors: LiPuma Edward , Lee Benjamin
Published: April 2012

This essay uses the credit crisis as an example to illuminate what a social approach to the financial markets would look like. We sketch out a theoretical and thematic journey whose end is to make the social so visible that a better appreciation of the financial field comes into focus. To do this, we foreground the issues of the production of the market (as a socially imagined totality), the evolution of a habitus of work founded on a speculative ethos, and the construction of an economistic ideology (or illusio) that conceals the social character of financial markets and financial work. Theoretically, we fashion a more social account by developing a notion of performativity that does away with the (now conventional) opposition between the objective structure of the market and the subjective agency of its participant.
Sociability and Market Making: A Response to LiPuma and Lee
Authors: Herrigel Gary
Published: April 2012

Edward LiPuma and Benjamin Lee emphasize performativity to a fault in their characterization of action within financial markets. Though valuable, their reproduction oriented approach misses financial actors' awareness and self-conscious manipulation of sociability in the destabilizing process of market making. More recognition of complexity in financial realms can be a lever for the identification of critical alternatives for its organization.
The regenerative capacity of the zebrafish heart is dependent on TGFβ signaling
Authors: Chablais Fabian , Jaźwińska Anna
Published: April 2012

Mammals respond to a myocardial infarction by irreversible scar formation. By contrast, zebrafish are able to resolve the scar and to regenerate functional cardiac muscle. It is not known how opposing cellular responses of fibrosis and new myocardium formation are spatially and temporally coordinated during heart regeneration in zebrafish. Here, we report that the balance between the reparative and regenerative processes is achieved through Smad3-dependent TGFβ signaling. The type I receptor alk5b (tgfbr1b) is expressed in both fibrotic and cardiac cells of the injured heart. TGFβ ligands are locally induced following cryoinjury and activate the signaling pathway both in the infarct area and in cardiomyocytes in the vicinity of the trauma zone. Inhibition of the relevant type I receptors with the specific chemical inhibitor SB431542 qualitatively altered the infarct tissue and completely abolished heart regeneration. We show that transient scar formation is an essential step to maintain robustness of the damaged ventricular wall prior to cardiomyocyte replacement. Taking advantage of the reversible action of the inhibitor, we dissected the multifunctional role of TGFβ signaling into three crucial processes: collagen-rich scar deposition, Tenascin C-associated tissue remodeling at the infarct-myocardium interface, and cardiomyocyte proliferation. Thus, TGFβ signaling orchestrates the beneficial interplay between scar-based repair and cardiomyocyte-based regeneration to achieve complete heart regeneration.
The NHS reform agenda and patient safety
Authors: Ramsden Stephen
Published: April 2012

Most of the current attention on the Health and Social Care Bill is on commissioning, structural changes and competition. Yet there are fundamental new duties for the Secretary of State that will have potential implications for patient safety and quality. The Francis report will add to this renewed attention to patient safety and the risk is that the NHS faces more and more regulation rather than a call for more transformational approaches that may help change the mindset from one that currently continues to ‘accept the unacceptable’ failures that are taking place in our hospitals and other healthcare settings. This article explores the relationship between the traditional governance-based approach and more proactive transformational approaches that utilize improvement science.
Solid pseudopapillary tumours of the pancreas: spectrum of imaging findings with histopathological correlation
Authors: Sunkara S , Williams T R , Myers D T , Kryvenko O N
Published: April 2012

Solid pseudopapillary tumour (SPT) is an uncommon cystic exocrine pancreatic neoplasm. The typical patient is a female in the third decade of life presenting with pain and/or palpable mass. Classic imaging characteristics include large size, mixed solid and cystic nature, encapsulation and haemorrhage. A pancreatic mass with these features in a young adult female should raise suspicion for an SPT. Although typically a non-aggressive neoplasm with surgery curative in most cases, SPT may exhibit more aggressive features such as local invasion, metastases or recurrence in up to 20% of cases.
Electronic Health Records Assimilation and Physician Identity Evolution: An Identity Theory Perspective
Authors: Mishra Abhay Nath , Anderson Catherine , Angst Corey M. , Agarwal Ritu
Published: April 2012

With the lack of timely and relevant patient information at the point of care increasingly being linked to adverse medical outcomes, effective management and exchange of patient data has emerged as a strategic imperative for the healthcare industry. Healthcare informaticians have suggested that electronic health record systems (EHRS) can facilitate information sharing within and between healthcare stakeholders such as physician practices, hospitals, insurance companies, and laboratories. We examine the assimilation of EHRS in physician practices through a novel and understudied theoretical lens of physicians' identities. Physician practices and the physicians that lead them occupy a central position in the healthcare value chain and possess a number of unique characteristics that differentiate them from other institutional contexts, including a strong sense of affiliation with other physicians, potent professional identities, and a desire for autonomy. We investigate two salient physician identities, those of careprovider and physician community, grounded in the roles physicians play and the groups with which they affiliate. We argue that these identities and their evolution, triggered by EHRS, manifest as both identity reinforcement and deterioration, and are important drivers of EHRS assimilation. We use survey data from 206 physician practices, spread across the United States, to test our theoretical model. Results suggest that physician community identity reinforcement and physician community identity deterioration directly influence the assimilation of EHRS. We further find that the effects of careprovider identity reinforcement and careprovider identity deterioration on EHRS assimilation are moderated by governmental influence. Theoretical and pragmatic implications of the findings are discussed.
Research Note—Effects of Individual Self-Protection, Industry Self-Regulation, and Government Regulation on Privacy Concerns: A Study of Location-Based Services
Authors: Xu Heng , Teo Hock-Hai , Tan Bernard C. Y. , Agarwal Ritu
Published: April 2012

This study seeks to clarify the nature of control in the context of information privacy to generate insights into the effects of different privacy assurance approaches on context-specific concerns for information privacy. We theorize that such effects are exhibited through mediation by perceived control over personal information and develop arguments in support of the interaction effects involving different privacy assurance approaches (individual self-protection, industry self-regulation, and government legislation). We test the research model in the context of location-based services using data obtained from 178 individuals in Singapore. In general, the results support our core assertion that perceived control over personal information is a key factor affecting context-specific concerns for information privacy. In addition to enhancing our theoretical understanding of the link between control and privacy concerns, these findings have important implications for service providers and consumers as well as for regulatory bodies and technology developers.
Combinatorial Auctions for Procurement: An Empirical Study of the Chilean School Meals Auction
Authors: Olivares Marcelo , Weintraub Gabriel Y. , Epstein Rafael , Yung Daniel
Published: April 2012

In this paper we conduct an empirical investigation of a large-scale combinatorial auction (CA)—the Chilean auction for school meals in which the government procures half a billion dollars worth of meal services every year. Our empirical study is motivated by two fundamental aspects in the design of CAs: (1) which packages should bidders be allowed to bid on and (2) diversifying the supplier base to promote competition. We use bidding data to uncover important aspects of the firms' cost structure and their strategic behavior, both of which are not directly observed by the auctioneer; these estimates inform the auction design. Our results indicate that package bidding that allows firms to express their cost synergies due to economies of scale and density seems appropriate. However, we also found evidence that firms can take advantage of this flexibility by discounting package bids for strategic reasons and not driven by cost synergies. Because this behavior can lead to inefficiencies, it may be worth evaluating whether to prohibit certain specific combinations in the bidding process. Our results also suggest that market share restrictions and running sequential auctions seem to promote competition in the long run, without significantly increasing the short-run cost for the government due to unrealized cost synergies. Our results highlight that the simultaneous consideration of the firms' operational cost structure and their strategic behavior is key to the successful design of a CA. More broadly, our paper is the first to provide an econometric study of a large-scale CA, providing novel and substantive insights regarding bidding behavior in this type of auction.

This paper was accepted by Martin Lariviere, operations management.
Fostering Creativity in Service Development: Facilitating Service Innovation by the Creative Cognition Approach
Authors: Zeng Liang , Proctor Robert W. , Salvendy Gavriel
Published: April 2012

This article focuses on analysis of the human aspect in service systems and investigates the role of creativity in enhancing service innovation. Applying the creative cognition approach, a conceptual framework of creative process for service development is constructed to demonstrate the general process of designing creative services, with the emphasis on consumer satisfaction and business success. Five strategies are proposed to facilitate creative service generation: abstraction and multi-perspective, conceptual expansion, conceptual combination, analogical thinking, and meta-design. Concrete examples are provided to illustrate the application of the general creative service design process and the proposed strategies.

[Service Science, ISSN 2164-3962 (print), ISSN 2164-3970 (online), was published by Services Science Global (SSG) from 2009 to 2011 as issues under ISBN 978-1-4276-2090-3.]