bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Response and toxicity prediction by MALDI‐TOF‐MS serum peptide profiling in patients with non‐small cell lung cancer
Authors: Rovithi Maria , Lind Joline S. W. , Pham Thang V. , Voortman Johannes , Knol Jaco C. , Verheul Henk M. W. , Smit Egbert F. , Jimenez Connie R.
Published: April 2016

Purpose

We validated a previously reported proteomic signature, associated with treatment outcome, in an independent cohort of patients with non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A novel peptide signature was developed to predict toxicity.

Experimental design

Using automated magnetic C18 bead‐assisted serum peptide capture coupled to MALDI‐TOF MS, we conducted serum peptide profiling of 50 NCSLC patients participating in a phase II trial of erlotinib and sorafenib. On the obtained peptide mass profiles, we applied a previously described proteomic classification algorithm. Additionally, associations between observed side effects and peptide profiles were investigated.

Results

Application of the previously acquired algorithm successfully classified the new cohort of patients in groups significantly associated with the outcome. The “poor” group exhibited shorter median progression‐free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of 1.35 and 1.98 months (with p = 0.00677 and p = 0.00002, respectively) while the “good” group had significantly longer PFS and OS (10.63 and 14.4 months with p = 0.00142 and p = 0.00002, respectively), compared to average OS and PFS. Two specific peptides were detected in the sera of all patients that developed severe toxicity.

Conclusions and clinical relevance

Our results provide an algorithm that, following prospective validation in larger cohorts, could assist treatment selection of patients with NSCLC in the first line setting.
Association of microRNA‐21 expression with clinicopathological characteristics and the risk of progression in advanced prostate cancer patients receiving androgen deprivation therapy
Authors: Guan Yangbo , Wu You , Liu Yifei , Ni Jian , Nong Shaojun
Published: April 2016

BACKGROUND

Despite androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) remains the mainstay therapy for advanced prostate cancer (PCa), the patients have widely variable durations of response to ADT. Unfortunately, there is limited knowledge of pre‐treatment prognostic factors for response to ADT. Recently, microRNA‐21 (miR‐21) has been reported to play an important role in development of castration resistance of CaP. However, little is known about the expression of miR‐21 in advanced PCa biopsy tissues, and data on its potential predictive value in advanced PCa are completely lacking.

METHODS

In this study, paraffin‐embedded prostate carcinoma tissues obtained by needle biopsy from 85 advanced PCa patients were evaluated for the expression levels of miR‐21 by quantitative real‐time PCR (qRT‐PCR). In situ hybridization (ISH) analysis was performed to further confirm the qRT‐PCR results. Kaplan–Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression models were performed to investigate the correlation between miR‐21 expression and time to progression of advanced PCa patients.

RESULTS

Compared with adjacent non‐cancerous prostate tissues, the expression level of miR‐21 was significantly increased in PCa tissues (PCa vs. non‐cancerous prostate: 1.3273 ± 0.3207 vs. 0.9970 ± 0.2054, P < 0.001). By and large, in ISH analysis miR‐21 was expressed at a higher level in tumor areas than in adjacent non­cancerous areas. Additionally, PCa patients with higher expression of miR‐21 were significantly more likely to be of high Gleason score and high clinical stage (P < 0.05). There was no significant association between miR‐21 expression and the initial prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) level or age at diagnosis. Moreover, Kaplan–Meier survival analysis found that PCa patients with high miR‐21 expression have shorter progression‐free survival than those with low miR‐21 expression. Furthermore, Multivariate Cox analysis revealed both miR‐21 expression status (P = 0.040) and clinical stage (P = 0.042) were all independent predictive factor for progression‐free survival for advanced PCa.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest for the first time that the up‐regulation of miR‐21 may serve as an independent predictor of progress‐free survival in patients with advanced PCa. Prostate 76:986–993, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Valence‐band electronic structure evolution of graphene oxide upon thermal annealing for optoelectronics
Authors: Yamaguchi Hisato , Ogawa Shuichi , Watanabe Daiki , Hozumi Hideaki , Gao Yongqian , Eda Goki , Mattevi Cecilia , Fujita Takeshi , Yoshigoe Akitaka , Ishizuka Shinji , Adamska Lyudmyla , Yamada Takatoshi , Dattelbaum Andrew M. , Gupta Gautam , Doorn Stephen K. , Velizhanin Kirill A. , Teraoka Yuden , Chen Mingwei , Htoon Han , Chhowalla Manish , Mohite Aditya D. , Takakuwa Yuji
Published: April 2016

We report valence‐band electronic structure evolution of graphene oxide (GO) upon its thermal reduction. The degree of oxygen functionalization was controlled by annealing temperature, and an electronic structure evolution was monitored using real‐time ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. We observed a drastic increase in the density of states around the Fermi level upon thermal annealing at ∼600 °C. The result indicates that while there is an apparent bandgap for GO prior to a thermal reduction, the gap closes after an annealing around that temperature. This trend of bandgap closure was correlated with the electrical, chemical, and structural properties to determine a set of GO material properties that is optimal for optoelectronics. The results revealed that annealing at a temperature of ∼500 °C leads to the desired properties, demonstrated by a uniform and an order of magnitude enhanced photocurrent map of an individual GO sheet compared to an as‐synthesized counterpart.
Stratospheric intrusion into the troposphere during the tropical cyclone Nilam (2012)
Authors: Das Siddarth Shankar , Venkat Ratnam M. , Uma K. N. , Patra A. K. , Subrahmanyam K. V. , Girach I. A. , Suneeth K. V. , Kumar K. K. , Ramkumar G.
Published: April 2016

This article discusses different plausible mechanisms to account for the intrusion of dry ozone‐rich stratospheric air into the troposphere during the passage of the tropical cyclone Nilam‐2012. The present study shows that the overshooting convection associated with Nilam is found to be the prime candidate for the generation of turbulence in the vicinity of tropopause (VOT). In addition, the presence of strong updraughts and downdraughts in the VOT weakened the stability of the tropopause which allowed the dry ozone‐rich stratospheric air to penetrate downwards to the troposphere. Significant modulation of the tropopause structure is observed which is found to be accompanied by structures linked with shear instability. Concurrent ozone measurements also indicate the intrusion of stratospheric air mass into the upper and middle troposphere.
An XPS investigation on the thermal stability of the insulating surface layer of soft magnetic composite powder
Authors: Oikonomou C. , Hryha E. , Nyborg L.
Published: April 2016

Ferromagnetic powder particles coated with electrical insulating inorganic layers constitute composite materials used as powdered iron cores in electromagnetic applications. The aforementioned surface layers of these soft magnetic composites (SMC) are responsible for their high electrical resistivity. The perseverance of the coating through annealing processing step is crucial to the performance of finalized SMC products. In the present study, the thermal stability and microstructure of an iron phosphate based surface layer from a commercially available SMC powder were investigated by coupling various analytical techniques. The material was annealed at different temperature regimes, both in oxidizing (air) and inert (N2) conditions in order to isolate the effect of temperature from the atmosphere composition on the chemical state of the coating. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was utilized to assess the composition of the surface layer at all conditions. Moreover, phosphate‐based chemical standards were processed and analyzed in a similar manner so as to facilitate the interpretation of the observed XPS spectra from the SMC powder. High resolution scanning electron microscopy, energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectrometry and X‐ray diffraction were implemented in order to fully characterize the material under question. The results indicated the transition of the insulating layer from an amorphous state to fully crystalline under annealing in inert atmospheric conditions. Moreover, it was observed that phosphates are still present in the coating in mixture of valance states. Conversely, a thick iron oxide scale was formed under treatment in air, and no phosphorus signal was detected, indicating a total decomposition of the layer. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Synthesis and antibacterial activity of surface‐coated catechol‐conjugated polymer with silver nanoparticles on versatile substrate
Authors: Kim Sung Han , Lee Sangkug , In Insik , Park Sung Young
Published: April 2016

In the present study, 2‐chloro‐3′,4′‐dihydroxyacetophenone (CCDP), a catechol derivative, was quaternized with poly(propylene oxide)‐g‐poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PPO‐g‐PDMA, PgP) to prepare surface coatings for various substrates. The surfaces of noble metals, oxides, and synthetic polymers were coated by immersion in an aqueous solution of CCDP quaternized with PgP (C‐PgP). The catechol functional groups that remained on the surface were used for deposition of Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) on the coated surface, to provide a water‐resistant antibacterial polymer with long‐term antimicrobial activity. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed deposition of C‐PgP and AgNPs on the surface coated with the antibacterial polymer. Surface‐immobilized C‐PgP/AgNPs showed outstanding antibacterial activities againstStaphylococcus aureus, a Gram‐positive bacterium, andEscherichia coli, a Gram‐negative bacterium. C‐PgP/AgNPs can be applied to a variety of substrates and can therefore be used as antibacterial materials in various fields. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
XPS investigations of graphene surface cleaning using H2‐ and Cl2‐based inductively coupled plasma
Authors: Ferrah D. , Renault O. , Petit‐Etienne C. , Okuno H. , Berne C. , Bouchiat V. , Cunge G.
Published: April 2016

It is known that graphene surface contaminations by residues affect drastically its intrinsic properties and cannot be avoided when chemical vapor deposited (CVD) graphene is transferred on other substrates. In this work, we investigate by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and work function measurements using X‐ray photoemission electron microscopy the capabilities of high‐density plasmas to clean graphene. The evolution of different chemical species at surface is monitored as a function of plasma exposure. H2 plasmas are shown to clean efficiently PMMA residues from CVD graphene on Cu. However, when the same plasma is used on graphene transferred on SiO2/Si substrate a liftoff of the graphene layer is observed before the end of cleaning procedure. These results are discussed in terms of H+ penetration through graphene and H2 formation between the SiO2 substrate and graphene. Using Cl‐based chemistries, we found that the plasma is able to etch polymeric contamination at the graphene surface. It is also found that the plasma induces spreading of the Si nanoparticle contamination that hampers the cleaning process. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Adsorption and adhesion studies of PdSn‐nanoparticles on protonated amine and carboxylic acid‐terminated surfaces
Authors: Mosebach Bastian , Bayer Frank Markus , Fels Carl‐Christian , Voigt Markus , Oezkaya Berkem , Pomorska Agata , Torun Boray , Keller Adrian , Grundmeier Guido
Published: April 2016

Electroless plating of acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene‐terpolymers (ABS‐plastics) is used for decorative applications and relies on the immobilization of catalytic palladium‐tin nanoparticles. We used chemical force microscopy to measure the adhesion force of palladium‐tin nanoparticles on a patterned amine and carboxyl‐terminated surface prepared by micro‐contact printing. The kinetics of the adsorption process and the population density of the nanoparticles on amine and carboxyl‐terminated surfaces were monitored by quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation analysis. The surface chemistry was investigated by means of polarization‐modulated infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Enhanced adhesion and population density of PdSn nanoparticles on protonated amine‐terminated surfaces compared with carboxyl‐terminated surfaces is observed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
pH‐ and NIR Light‐Responsive Polymeric Prodrug Micelles for Hyperthermia‐Assisted Site‐Specific Chemotherapy to Reverse Drug Resistance in Cancer Treatment
Authors: Li Zuhong , Wang Haibo , Chen Yangjun , Wang Yin , Li Huan , Han Haijie , Chen Tingting , Jin Qiao , Ji Jian
Published: April 2016

Despite the exciting advances in cancer chemotherapy over past decades, drug resistance in cancer treatment remains one of the primary reasons for therapeutic failure. IR‐780 loaded pH‐responsive polymeric prodrug micelles with near infrared (NIR) photothermal effect are developed to circumvent the drug resistance in cancer treatment. The polymeric prodrug micelles are stable in physiological environment, while exhibit fast doxorubicin (DOX) release in acidic condition and significant temperature elevation under NIR laser irradiation. Phosphorylcholine‐based biomimetic micellar shell and acid‐sensitive drug conjugation endow them with prolonged circulation time and reduced premature drug release during circulation to conduct tumor site‐specific chemotherapy. The polymeric prodrug micelles combined with NIR laser irradiation could significantly enhance intracellular DOX accumulation and synergistically induce the cell apoptosis in DOX‐resistant MCF‐7/ADR cells. Meanwhile, the tumor site‐specific chemotherapy combined with hyperthermia effect induces significant inhibition of MCF‐7/ADR tumor growth in tumor‐bearing mice. These results demonstrate that the well‐designed IR‐780 loaded polymeric prodrug micelles for hyperthermia‐assisted site‐specific chemotherapy present an effective approach to reverse drug resistance.
Multinomial probit Bayesian additive regression trees
Authors: Kindo Bereket P. , Wang Hao , Peña Edsel A.
Published: April 2016

This article proposes multinomial probit Bayesian additive regression trees (MPBART) as a multinomial probit extension of Bayesian additive regression trees. MPBART is flexible to allow inclusion of predictors that describe the observed units as well as the available choice alternatives. Through two simulation studies and four real data examples, we show that MPBART exhibits very good predictive performance in comparison with other discrete choice and multiclass classification methods. To implement MPBART, theRpackagempbartis freely available from CRAN repositories. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Modellbildung und Berechnung von Steuerstäben des Systems Meyer/Wunstorf
Authors: Mensinger Martin , Näßl Andreas , Hofbeck Alexander
Published: April 2016

Das Steuerstabsystem Meyer/Wunstorf stellt ein seit vielen Jahrzehnten bewährtes System zur Abtragung von Brems‐ und Beschleunigungskräften bei schwimmend gelagerten Eisenbahnbrücken dar. Eine schwimmende Lagerung führt zu einem zentrierten thermischen Fixpunkt, somit zu einer geringeren Dehnlänge des Überbaus und ermöglicht im besten Falle die Einsparung der kosten‐ und wartungsintensiven Schienenauszüge. Diese werden im Regelfall bei Überbaulängen von mehr als 60 m notwendig. Die Auslegung des Steuerstabsystems Meyer/Wunstorf erfolgt in den meisten Fällen anhand eines vereinfachten statisch bestimmten Ersatzmodells (2D‐Stabwerk), das die bei Zugüberfahrten auftretenden Zwängungen und Steifigkeitseinflüsse aus der Gleis‐Tragwerks‐Interaktion nicht abbilden kann. Die genannten Einflüsse werden anhand von Berechnungen an einem Beispielbauwerk diskutiert und es wird eine Empfehlung zur zukünftigen Modellierung von Steuerstäben im Rahmen einer Schienenspannungsberechnung gegeben.

Modelling and design of the control‐rod‐system Meyer/Wunstorf. The control‐rod‐system Meyer/Wunstorf represents a for many decades proven system for the load transfer of braking and acceleration forces on railway bridges with floating support. A floating bearing arrangement offers the advantage of a centered fixed‐point in case of thermal expansion of the superstructure and therefore a shorter expansion length. In the best case cost and maintenance‐intensive rail expansion joints can be avoided, which are usually necessary for superstructures with lengths of more than 60 m. In the majority of cases the design of the control‐rod‐system Meyer/Wunstorf is based on a simplified, statically determinate system. Therefore restraints caused by traffic loads and stiffness influences due to track‐structure‐interaction cannot be considered. These effects are discussed using calculations of an example structure and a recommendation for the modelling of control‐rod systems for rail stress analyses is given.
Structural identification of alkyl glycosides obtained from the conversion of canna starch by immobilized α‐amylase from Aspergillus oryzae
Authors: Lan Xiaohong , Liu Jianhua , Tang Yafang , Wu Jinhong , Xie Fan , Liu Xing , Wang Zhengwu
Published: April 2016

In this study, a novel route using immobilized α‐amylase from Aspergillus oryzae as a catalyst for the preparation of alkyl glycosides (AGlys) from canna starch and methanol in water has been demonstrated. The effects of the experimental conditions on the conversion yield of AGlys were investigated. The optimized conditions were a canna starch concentration of 100 g/L, an enzyme concentration of 82.8 U/mL, and a reaction time of 24 h. A crude yield of 2.01% of AGlys was obtained under the optimal experimental conditions corresponding to an in‐between situation of a donor‐limiting and an acceptor‐limiting regime. The products were then characterized by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results showed that methyl‐maltoside was the major product of the alcoholysis reaction.
Effect of chemical modifications on morphological and functional characteristics of water‐chestnut starches and their utilization as a fat‐replacer in low‐fat mayonnaise
Authors: Ansari Lubna , Ali Tahira Mohsin , Hasnain Abid
Published: April 2016

Isolated water‐chestnut starches were subjected to succinylation, hydroxypropylation, and acetylation followed by evaluation of their morphological and physicochemical properties. The Pakistani water‐chestnut starch granules were oval in shape while the granular size of the starch was found to be between 4.5 and 37 μm. The solubility of the starches followed the order SWS (succinylated water‐chestnut starch) > HPWS (hydroxypropylated water‐chestnut starch) > AWS (acetylated water‐chestnut starch) > NWS (native water‐chestnut starch). The breakdown viscosity of the chemically modified starches was significantly higher than NWS at p < 0.05. The pasting temperature and setback viscosity also reduced significantly due to chemical treatment of the chestnut starches. The hardness of SWS was less than that of native starch after 7 days of storage at 4°C indicating reduced percent retrogradation in these starches. The chemically modified starches were also used to prepare low‐fat mayonnaise. The use of 10% starch paste (native/chemically modified) resulted in 80% oil replacement in mayonnaise. The low‐fat mayonnaise prepared using chemically modified chestnut starches were found to have quite similar textural and sensory properties compared to full‐fat mayonnaise. However, in terms of overall‐acceptability the low‐fat mayonnaise prepared from HPWS was the least preferred by sensory panelists because of its runny texture.
Physicochemical transformation of cassava starch during fermentation for production of sour starch in Colombia
Authors: Alonso‐Gomez Leonardo , Niño‐López Ana María , Romero‐Garzón Ana Maria , Pineda‐Gomez Posidia , del Real‐Lopez Alicia , Rodriguez‐Garcia Mario E.
Published: April 2016

This work focused on the study of the physicochemical changes that take place during the fermentation of cassava starch for stepping times of 15–90 days. SEM studies on starch showed special attack while X‐ray diffraction analysis showed that cassava starch is mainly formed by amylopectin and that the acidification process produce significant structural changes in amylose and amylopectin as a function of the steeping time. Module Differential Scanning Calorimetry analysis showed that the acidification process produces an increase in the peak gelatinization for particular steeping times that are directly associated with changes in the acid condition of the samples and re‐crystallization process. Thermogravimetric analysis showed the non‐intentional contamination of the tanks due to the increase in the residue for long steeping times. The periodic reproduction of bacteria in the reservoir govern the changes in the pasting properties of the acid starch.
The development and validation of a learning progression for argumentation in science
Authors: Osborne Jonathan F. , Henderson J. Bryan , MacPherson Anna , Szu Evan , Wild Andrew , Yao Shi‐Ying
Published: April 2016

Given the centrality of argumentation in the Next Generation Science Standards, there is an urgent need for an empirically validated learning progression of this core practice and the development of high‐quality assessment items. Here, we introduce a hypothesized three‐tiered learning progression for scientific argumentation. The learning progression accounts for the intrinsic cognitive load associated with orchestrating arguments of increasingly complex structure. Our proposed learning progression for argumentation in science also makes an important distinction between construction and critique. We present validity evidence for this learning progression based on item response theory, and discuss the development of items used to test this learning progression. By analyzing data from cognitive think‐aloud interviews of students, written responses on pilot test administrations, and large‐scale test administrations using a Rasch analysis, we discuss the refinement both of our items and our learning progression to improve construct validity and scoring reliability. Limitations to this research as well as implications for future work on assessment of scientific argumentation are discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 821–846, 2016
Originalism about Word Types
Authors: Gasparri Luca ,   Philosophy Documentation Center
Published: April 2016

According to Originalism, word types are non-eternal continuants which are individuated by their causal-historical lineage and have a unique possible time of origination. This view collides with the intuition that individual words can be added to the lexicon of a language at different times, and generates other problematic consequences. The paper shows that such undesired results can be accommodated without abandoning Originalism.
The Cauchy–Dirichlet problem for a general class of parabolic equations
Authors: Baroni Paolo , Lindfors Casimir
Published: April 2016

We prove regularity results such as interior Lipschitz regularity and boundary continuity for the Cauchy–Dirichlet problem associated to a class of parabolic equations inspired by the evolutionary
p
-Laplacian, but extending it at a wide scale. We employ a regularization technique of viscosity-type that we find interesting in itself.
Investigating nature within different discursive and ideological contexts: case studies of Chinese and Indian coal capitals
Authors: WU PIN-HSIEN
Published: April 2016

Given that purely scientific accounts of ‘environmental performance’ and ‘development’ cannot fully explain the environment and its interactions with people, this paper investigates how nature has been historically and sociopolitically defined in different societies. The analyses and observations presented in this paper are based on a critical literature review and on case studies of two ‘coal capitals’, one in Guizhou in China and the other in Jharkhand in India. The study examines the historical representations of environmental campaigns (particularly from the 1950s to the 1990s) in the two countries, and discusses how historical, sociopolitical and ideological factors have affected conceptualizations of nature and how they are reflected nowadays in people's narratives concerning the environment. The paper concludes that the Chinese pattern of development, as well as of knowledge construction, reflects a greater intention of homogenizing the public with the language of development deployed by the centralized power; meanwhile, the Indian pattern allows a greater space for the representation of conflicts, including people's struggles against the state. The comparative analysis enriches our understanding of people's responses to official perceptions of the environment endorsed by modern science and governance.
Ottoman studies triumphant: the success story of Rethymno, Crete
Authors: Ursinus Michael
Published: April 2016

Ottoman Studies, in particular what we might call ‘hard-core’ or ‘archive-based’ Ottoman Studies with its considerable emphasis on Ottoman palaeography, Ottoman diplomatics and/or the cataloguing and editing of archival holdings (not necessarily as an end in itself but a first step towards advancing document-based studies on Ottoman history and culture) is a field that has come under considerable strain in recent years across (most of) Europe. This prompts the following question: Will the subject as we have known it still be able to reproduce itself in future?
Social anthropology: openings and expansions in the age of exclusion
Authors: Herzfeld Michael
Published: April 2016

A sign of anthropology's Greek coming-of-age is the inevitability of omitting significant contributions from this account. In the 1970s, omission would have been perceived as an insult. Today it is the happy effect of a proliferation that makes it impossible to represent the entire spectrum in one short overview. Anthropology's most substantive contributions to Greek studies, then as now, were detailed ethnographies, providing a counterweight to the generalizations of more top-down, model-building social sciences while constituting an important bridge between social-science and humanities disciplines. There has been less interest in meeting the challenge of the discipline's own commitment to cross-cultural comparison, although Danforth's comparison of firewalking rituals in Greece and the United States1was an early exception – subverted, as Bakalaki points out, by his Greek publisher's omission of the American material.2Internal comparison was present as soon as anthropologists themselves began to proliferate,3but few initially questioned the presupposition of a reified common national culture.
The study of modern Greece in a changing world: fading allure or potential for reinvention?
Authors: Tziovas Dimitris
Published: April 2016

Periodically reviewing developments in a subject area and reflecting on the past and future directions of a discipline can be useful and instructive. In the case of Modern Greek Studies, this has rarely been done, and most of the reviews of the field come from USA.1So I take this opportunity to offer some thoughts on what has propelled changes in the field over the last forty years, on the fruitful (and occasionally trenchant) dialogue between Neohellenists inside and outside Greece and on the future of modern Greek studies as an academic discipline. During this period modern Greek studies have flourished with a number of new trends, debates and scholarly preoccupations emerging. At the same time many research students received their doctorates from departments of Modern Greek Studies, particularly in the United Kingdom, and were subsequently appointed to teaching posts at Greek, Cypriot or other European, American and Australian universities. Modern Greek departments in the UK have often been the driving force behind the discipline since the early 1980s. New approaches were introduced, challenging ideas were debated and influential publications emerged from those departments, which shaped the agenda for the study of modern Greek language, literature and culture. It should be noted that the influence of those departments in shaping the direction of modern Greek Studies has been out of all proportion to the number of staff teaching in them.
Modern Greek Studies since 1975: a personal retrospect
Authors: Beaton Roderick
Published: April 2016

In 1975 interest in contemporary Greece in the UK was at its height. The launch ofByzantine and Modern Studiescoincided almost exactly with the ‘Greek Month in London’, when venues all over the city simultaneously hosted a series of cultural and academic events that brought together artists, writers, historians, diplomats, Greeks and philhellenes from many walks of life in a month-long celebration. It was advertised on buses and in the Underground. You couldn't miss it. It was so successful that the organizers followed it up a year later with an ‘Islamic Month in London’. That’s how big the contemporary Greek world and its culture were, back then.
The festival of Saint Demetrios, the Timarion, and the Aithiopika
Authors: MacDougall Byron
Published: April 2016

The description of the festival for Saint Demetrios in Thessaloniki in the Timarion has long been used as a source for regional and liturgical history. It is in fact a literary rewriting of a festival at Delphi in Heliodoros’ Aithiopika. This paper demonstrates how the description of the Demetria represents a moment in Byzantine humanism as well as a reflection on the process of literary composition itself. An explanation is also proposed here for why Heliodoros’ festival at Delphi in particular, out of all descriptions of festivals in ancient literature, appealed to the author of the Timarion.
Res publica Byzantina? State formation and issues of identity in medieval east Rome
Authors: Haldon John
Published: April 2016

It is a great pleasure and an honour to be writing for the fortieth anniversary volume ofByzantine and Modern Greek Studies. As editor of the journal for some twenty years, from 1984 until 2004, I have watched the journal grow in stature and in esteem over that period, and I am delighted to see it continuing to do so in the hands of its current editors. In the first issue I edited, I also contributed an article that attempted to reconcile some very different approaches to the history of Byzantine society and culture, or at least, to show that such different approaches were not necessarily mutually exclusive. If now rather out-of-date in its content, that article remains a useful baseline for discussing the relationship between empirical research and writing and theoretical reflection.‘“Jargon” vs. “the facts”‘?was a comment about the confrontation that at the time appeared to exist between, very broadly speaking, those who were interested in questioning the theoretical assumptions underlying and informing their research, and those who were not interested in such debates, preferring to see them either as irrelevant or as inaccessible. In my concluding remarks, I suggested that Byzantine Studies in the mid-1980s was in the process of what T. S. Kuhn would have called a ‘paradigm shift‘, that is to say, a process through which a traditional set (or sets) of assumptions and priorities, as well as theories and approaches, is replaced by different sets of ideas. While the changes in the nature of the subject that have occurred since then have not been particularly marked, there have nevertheless been some interesting and important developments that have altered the framework within which some ways of looking at the medieval eastern Roman world are carried on. The so-called ‘linguistic turn‘, for example, pushed Byzantinists, in particular, scholars of Byzantine literature and visual culture, to grapple with various aspects of what might very broadly be termed post-modernist and post-structuralist theory. This is evident in some of the writing and publishing of the later 1980s and 1990s in particular, and in some respects has now been incorporated into our ‘ways of seeing’ the Byzantine world.2In particular issues of intertextuality, of authorial intention, of reception, and of the relativizing of cultural interpretive possibilities (in respect of our own perspective) have become part and parcel of scholarly discourse, thus greatly enriching our discipline.3Represented by more recent work in literary studies and art history especially, I believe this shift also facilitated a much greater degree of cross-disciplinary reading, comparative thinking, and in respect of historical context and setting, a generally more open approach to the medieval west and the Islamic world in terms of both material and method.4
Forty years on: the political ideology of the Byzantine empire
Authors: Magdalino Paul
Published: April 2016

Byzantine and Modern Greek Studieswas launched in the middle of a decade that saw many landmark events in Byzantine scholarship. I remember them well, because this was the decade when I became a Byzantinist, and attended my first two international congresses of Byzantine Studies, the 14thin Ceauşescu's Bucharest (1971), and the 15th, in post-Junta Athens (1976). Apart from the acts of these congresses, the 1970s produced many memorable publications that shaped our field. It would take too long to list them all, and it would be invidious to make, and justify, a small selection. I have chosen to focus my retrospective look on one small monograph of 1975 that makes a comprehensive statement about Byzantium and is therefore a representative illustration of where Byzantine studies were forty years ago and how far they have come, or not come, since then. My book of the decade isL’idéologie politique de l’Empire byzantinby Hélène Ahrweiler (Paris 1975).
A half century of Syriac studies
Authors: Brock Sebastian
Published: April 2016

In 1964, when Anthony Bryer and I both started teaching at Birmingham University, Syriac studies were generally considered to be little more than an appendage to Biblical Studies, and any idea of a journal or a conference specifically focused on them was unthinkable. Fifty years later the situation has changed dramatically for the better, although the number of universities (at least in Britain) where Syriac is taught has lamentably decreased.
The traditional style of thirteenth-century Greek ‘politikos stichos’ poetry and the search for its origins
Authors: Jeffreys Elizabeth , Jeffreys Michael
Published: April 2016

It is with great pleasure that we join in salutingBMGSon the fortieth anniversary of its inception: it is a stalwart, valued presence in the international academic arena. Long may it continue!
The Renaissance literature of Crete and Cyprus: looking back over forty years
Authors: Holton David
Published: April 2016

My subject is the relatively small body of literary texts written on the islands of Crete and Cyprus, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, under the influence of the Italian Renaissance. As a matter of fact, the two articles I published in BMGS during the first ten years of its existence had nothing to do with Renaissance literature. My delayed appearance in my chosen field offers me a personal angle to comment on one of the ways the subject has changed since the mid-1970s.
Examining Public Health Workers’ Perceptions Toward Participating in Disaster Recovery After Hurricane Sandy: A Quantitative Assessment
Authors: Errett Nicole A. , Thompson Carol B. , Rutkow Lainie , Garrity Stephanie , Stauss-Riggs Kandra , Altman Brian A. , Walsh Lauren , Freeman Jeffrey D. , Balicer Ran D. , Schor Kenneth W. , Barnett Daniel J.
Published: April 2016

Objective

We aimed to quantitatively gauge local public health workers’ perceptions toward disaster recovery role expectations among jurisdictions in New Jersey and Maryland affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Methods

An online survey was made available in 2014 to all employees in 8 Maryland and New Jersey local health departments whose jurisdictions had been impacted by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. The survey included perceptions of their actual disaster recovery involvement across 3 phases: days to weeks, weeks to months, and months to years. The survey also queried about their perceptions about future involvement and future available support.

Results

Sixty-four percent of the 1047 potential staff responded to the survey (n=669). Across the 3 phases, 72% to 74% of the pre-Hurricane Sandy hires knew their roles in disaster recovery, 73% to 75% indicated confidence in their assigned roles (self-efficacy), and 58% to 63% indicated that their participation made a difference (response efficacy). Of the respondents who did not think it likely that they would be asked to participate in future disaster recovery efforts (n=70), 39% indicated a willingness to participate.

Conclusion

The marked gaps identified in local public health workers’ awareness of, sense of efficacy toward, and willingness to participate in disaster recovery efforts after Hurricane Sandy represent a significant infrastructural concern of policy and programmatic relevance. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:371–377)
Taking uncertainty seriously: Classical realism and national security
Authors: Porter Patrick
Published: April 2016

If we can’t reliably predict the future, how can we be wise when preparing for it? Examining the UK’s ‘Strategic Defence and Security Review’ of 2010, I demonstrate that though planners often rightly invoke uncertainty, they also imply a highly certain ideology about Western power and foresight. Modern ‘national security states’ describe the world as dangerously uncertain, yet fall prey to a misplaced confidence in their ability to anticipate and prevent threats. I argue that classical realism, especially that of Clausewitz and Morgenthau, is a valuable resource for handling uncertainty more reflexively. Classical realism counsels that governments should go beyond attempts to improve foresight. They should try to check against the fallibility of their assumptions, marshal their power more conservatively, insure against the likelihood of predictive failure by developing the intellectual capability to react to the unknown, and avoid misplaced confidence in their ability to bring order into chaos.
Associations of gender inequality with child malnutrition and mortality across 96 countries
Authors: Marphatia A. A. , Cole T. J. , Grijalva-Eternod C. , Wells J. C. K.
Published: April 2016

National efforts to reduce low birth weight (LBW) and child malnutrition and mortality prioritise economic growth. However, this may be ineffective, while rising gross domestic product (GDP) also imposes health costs, such as obesity and non-communicable disease. There is a need to identify other potential routes for improving child health. We investigated associations of the Gender Inequality Index (GII), a national marker of women's disadvantages in reproductive health, empowerment and labour market participation, with the prevalence of LBW, child malnutrition (stunting and wasting) and mortality under 5 years in 96 countries, adjusting for national GDP. The GII displaced GDP as a predictor of LBW, explaining 36% of the variance. Independent of GDP, the GII explained 10% of the variance in wasting and stunting and 41% of the variance in child mortality. Simulations indicated that reducing GII could lead to major reductions in LBW, child malnutrition and mortality in low- and middle-income countries. Independent of national wealth, reducing women's disempowerment relative to men may reduce LBW and promote child nutritional status and survival. Longitudinal studies are now needed to evaluate the impact of efforts to reduce societal gender inequality.
Hegel on the Idealism of Practical Life
Authors: Ciavatta David V.
Published: April 2016

This paper investigates Hegel’s thesis that we are, in our practical relation to the world, inherently committed to certain aspects of idealistic metaphysics. For Hegel, our practical attitude is fundamentally at odds with a naïve realism that would take the world to consist ultimately of self-contained, self-sufficient individuals whose relations to one another are fundamentally external to their identities. Hegel contends that our practical attitude is premised upon an overcoming of this mutual externality, and especially the externality which is supposed to hold between individual agent and world. It is shown that his argument hinges on conceiving of external things as inadequately individuated, as compared to living agents, and that it is precisely this ontological deficiency that conditions and motivates our action. Hegel’s discussions of morality and property ownership are appealed to in order to illustrate how we might better understand the nature and practical role of this purported deficiency.
Right and Trust in Hegel’sPhilosophy of Right
Authors: Houlgate Stephen
Published: April 2016

According to Hegel, true freedom consists not just in arbitrariness, but in the free willing of right. Right in turn is fully realised in the laws and institutions of ethical life. The ethical subject, for Hegel, is a practical subject that acts in accordance with ethical laws; yet it is also a theoretical, cognitive subject that recognizes the laws and institutions of ethical life as embodiments of right. Such recognition can be self-conscious and reflective; but it can, and indeed must, also be a felt recognition and as such it takes the form of trust. In Hegel’s view, therefore, the proper stance to adopt towards ethical institutions is that of trust; moreover, there is a distinctive freedom to be found in trust itself. Trust is appropriate, however, only when the institutions of ethical life are themselves worthy of it. Hegel is well aware that not all states and their institutions merit trust, but in his view a life without trust in institutions is a life without true freedom.
The Value of Practical Knowledge: Against Engstrom’s Constructivism
Authors: Saunders Joe
Published: April 2016

Stephen Engstrom has recently offered an excellent account of morality as practical cognition. He emphasizes the formal conditions of practical knowledge, which he finds in Kant. Engstrom also aligns his account with constructivism, claiming that value is constructed through these formal conditions, chiefly universalisability. In this paper, I employ a variant of Hegel’s empty-formalism objection to challenge the moral significance of the mere form of practical knowledge. I hope to show that Engstrom’s constructivism is neither philosophically compelling, nor required by the rest of his position. In its place, I propose a realist understanding of the value of practical knowledge.
Improving Hand Hygiene Practices in a Rural Hospital in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Holmen Ian C. , Seneza Celestin , Nyiranzayisaba Berthine , Nyiringabo Vincent , Bienfait Mugisha , Safdar Nasia
Published: April 2016

OBJECTIVE

To improve hand hygiene (HH) compliance among physicians and nurses in a rural hospital in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) using the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care.

DESIGN

This study was a quasi-experimental design divided into 4 phases: (1) preparation of materials and acquisition of the hospital administration’s support, (2) baseline evaluation, (3) intervention, and (4) follow-up evaluation.

SETTING

A 160-bed, non-referral hospital in Gitwe, Rwanda

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 12 physicians and 54 nurses participated in this study.

METHODS

The intervention consisted of introducing locally produced alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR); educating healthcare workers (HCWs) on proper HH practice; providing pocket-sized ABHR bottles for HCWs; placing HH reminders in the workplace; and surveying HCWs at surrounding health centers regarding HH compliance barriers. Hand hygiene infrastructure, compliance, and knowledge were assessed among physicians and nurses using baseline observations and a follow-up evaluation survey.

RESULTS

Overall, HH compliance improved from 34.1% at baseline to 68.9% post intervention (P<.001), and HH knowledge was significantly enhanced (P<.001). The 3 departments included in this study had only 1 sink for 29 patient rooms, and 100% of HH opportunities used ABHR. Hand hygiene compliance was significantly higher among physicians than nurses both before and after the intervention. All measures of HH compliance improved except for “after body fluid exposure,” which was 51.7% before intervention and 52.8% after intervention (P>.05).

CONCLUSION

Hand hygiene campaigns using WHO methods in SSA have been implemented exclusively in large, referral hospitals. This study shows that an HH program using the WHO tools successfully improved HH in a low-income, rural hospital in SSA.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol2016;37:834–839
Sensitivity of Saffman–Taylor fingers to channel-depth perturbations
Authors: Franco-Gómez Andrés , Thompson Alice B. , Hazel Andrew L. , Juel Anne
Published: April 2016

We examine the sensitivity of Saffman–Taylor fingers to controlled variations in channel depth by investigating the effects of centred, rectangular occlusions in Hele-Shaw channels. For large occlusions, the geometry is known to support symmetric, asymmetric and oscillatory propagation states when air displaces a more viscous fluid from within the channel. A previously developed depth-averaged model is found to be in quantitative agreement with laboratory experiments once the aspect ratio (width/height) of the tube’s cross-section reaches a value of 40. We find that the multiplicity of solutions at finite occlusion heights arises through interactions of the single stable and multiple unstable solutions already present in the absence of the occlusion: the classic Saffman–Taylor viscous fingering problem. The sequence of interactions that occurs with increasing occlusion height is the same for all aspect ratios investigated, but the occlusion height required for each interaction decreases with increasing aspect ratio. Thus, the system becomes more sensitive as the aspect ratio increases in the sense that multiple solutions are provoked for smaller relative depth changes. We estimate that the required depth changes become of the same order as the typical roughnesses of the experimental system ($1~{\rm\mu}\text{m}$) for aspect ratios beyond 155, which we conjecture underlies the extreme sensitivity of experiments conducted in such Hele-Shaw channels.
Ultra-high resolution snapshots of three multi-decadal periods in an Antarctic ice core
Authors: HAINES SKYLAR A. , MAYEWSKI PAUL A. , KURBATOV ANDREI V. , MAASCH KIRK A. , SNEED SHARON B. , SPAULDING NICOLE E. , DIXON DANIEL A. , BOHLEBER PASCAL D.
Published: April 2016

We offer the first sub-seasonal view of glacial age archives from the Siple Dome-A (SDMA) ice core using the ultra-high resolution capabilities of a newly developed laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS; 121 µm sampling resolution) system capable of conducting multi-element glaciochemical analysis. Our ultra-high resolution data demonstrates that: (1) the SDMA ice core record can be annually dated based on seasonality in chemical inputs at a depth not previously possible using previous glaciochemical sampling methods, (2) winter accumulation at the SD site was greater than summer accumulation during the three late glacial periods selected (~15.3, 17.3, 21.4 Ka ago) in this study and (3) resulting annual layer thicknesses results show greater variability than the current SD ice core depth/age model (Brook and others, 2005), possibly due to depositional effects such as wind scouring and/or decadal variability in snow accumulation that is not captured by the resolution of the current depth/age model.