bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On Drafting a New Architectural Syntax: Case Study of the Great Mosque of Algiers
Authors: Adli Leila Chebaiki , Chemrouk Naima Chabbi
Published: October 2015

The project to build the Great Mosque of Algiers is underway. This will be the largest mosque in the world, after the mosques at Mecca and Medina. Trying to reflect the Algiers’ context, this project refers in his architectural design to Almoravid (11th century) influences, through an abstract way of interpretation. The aim of this paper is to explain this mode of interpretation by using a new approach. This approach combines both syntactic and semantic categories of the architectural object. It consists on the architectural syntax which tries the combination of space syntax and figurative abstract process. It is through a comparative study between the former mosque of Algiers: Djama’ al-A’dam (AH 490/ AD 1096–1097) and the future great mosque of Algiers that will explain this abstract way of interpretation, which seems more expressive than figurative.
Reuse Of Djenane Abd-El-Tif, An Emblematic Islamic Garden In Algiers
Authors: Hocine Malika , Chemrouk Naima Chabbi
Published: October 2015

Djenane Abd-el-Tif is an example of an Algerian summer residence dating from the Ottoman era. This type of building is not very well-known and remains marginalized in research that is more interested in the townhouses of the medina of Algiers. Yet, the gardens, the ingenious irrigation systems, fountains, and other patterns of Islamic gardens make of these djenane a unique typology worth exploring and preserving. Indeed, Islamic garden design is an art in itself and any restoration or conservation work should preserve the authenticity of its characteristics. The djenane Abd-el-Tif was fully restored following the damage caused by the Boumerdès earthquake in 2003. This led to the discovery of various elements that are particularly informative about its architecture and composition. It also highlighted the existence of valuable Islamic garden patterns, together with the djenane’s exceptional flora, which could provide added-value to the tourism potential of such residences. However, if restoration work has saved the djenane Abd-el-Tif,  its garden with its Islamic design characteristics is not yet fully investigated nor listed as a cultural heritage. This article presents the djenane as a cultural heritage and argues that right restoration and reuse could contribute to enhancing knowledge about Islamic garden design in North Africa.
PRAGMATIC DEFICITS OF ASPERGER SYNDROME
Authors: Humaira’ Silmy Arizatul
Published: October 2015

Human being is social creature who needs other people to interact with. One of the ways to interact with others is communication with language. However, communication could be a complicated problem for those who were born with developmental disorder called Asperger Syndrome (AS). The communication challenge of Asperger’s is the difficulty using language appropriately for social purposes or known as pragmatic deficits. Many excellent books about autism are published whereas knowledge on pragmatic deficits are still very limited. Thus, it is expected to be a beneficial reference to understand the pragmatic deficits and to create strategies for them to communicate effectively. Therefore, this study aimed at exploring the kinds of pragmatic deficits of an individual with AS. The verbal language profiles of autism purposed by MacDonald (2004) is used to analyzed the data in depth. The descriptive qualitative method is applied to develop a comprehensive understanding about the AS case in Temple Grandin movie.The finding shows that all of the five types of communication deficits are appearing and the dominant of which is unresponsive.
ROLES AND INDICATION OF POWER RELATIONS BETWEEN INDONESIAN MUSLIM LEADER AND THE AMERICAN CHRISTIANS IN RICHARD LEWIS’ THE FLAME TREE
Authors: Ekawati Rosyida
Published: October 2015

Novel is sometimes more powerful than other types of literature and art, as such novels are directed to the widest possible audience. They are dramatic works which show interesting qualities by drawing the readers’ interest. Novels also cultivate the imagination, contribute to and deepen the capacity for moral reflection. Novel about Indonesian Muslims, written by non-Indonesians, need to get more attention because the novel has the power to create the identity of Indonesian Muslims through its representation. The identity represented will be viewed not only by Indonesian Muslims but also by people all over the world. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) serves as the study’s main theoretical foundation and Fairclough’s Three-Dimensional Model of Discourse is used to analyze the roles of religious leaders and the indication of power relations between the Indonesian Muslim leader and the American Christians. Categorized data are analyzed predominantly using textual analysis, a qualitative method. Results reveal the roles of religious leader are significant in building the character of Indonesian Muslims. Further, power relations between the Indonesian Muslim leader and the American Christians are constructed by language and paralanguage used in their interaction and communication.
Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), Indonesian Muslims, Kiai
MAJAS DALAM AL-QUR’AN (KAJIAN TERHADAP AL-QUR’AN TERJEMAHAN JUZ 30)
Authors: Atmawati Dwi
Published: October 2015

The language of the Quran raises specified senses to its readers, such as sense of peacefulness and serenity. Even though the readers read it repeatedly, they or their listeners have never been bored. Furthermore, they can feel the beauty of the holy verses recitation. Because of that, the writer examines the beauty of 30th juz of the Quran in Indonesian by studying the use of tropes. The study focuses on the tropes because they imply a politeness and a beauty of language. This study uses stylistics theory and structural method to analyze the data. In collecting data, the writer notes its verses. The result of study shows that the Quran uses parallelism, imagery, metaphor, euphemism, repetition, personification, tautology, antithesis, antonomasia, rhetorical, and enumeration. Moreover, the writer finds that the most numerous type of trope is parallelism. From the 37 surahs of the 30th juz, 36 surahs contain the tropes. There is only Surah Al-Qadr that does not use the tropes.
PENGARUH PENDEKATAN PEMBELAJARAN DAN PENGUASAAN SEMANTIK TERHADAP PENINGKATAN PEMAHAMAN MAKNA PUISI
Authors: Djojosuroto Kinayati
Published: October 2015

The article presents in this research findings is intended to determine the influence of teaching approach and semantic mastery on the increase of students'  achievement of poetry comprehension of the students of the Education of  Language and Literature program of the Language and Art Major of the Manado State University (UNIMA). The teaching approach as an independent variable is divided into three levels: Gestalt, Structural, and Semiotic. The semantic mastery as an attribute variable is divided into high semantic mastery and low semantic mastery. The research method employed in this study was quasi-experiment with before-after design through the factorial of 3 x 2 of the two-way analysis of ariance technique (ANAVA). The sample of this research was the students who were studying the poem appreciation subject. Based on the result of inferential analysis of the data, several conclusions may be drawn. First, there is a difference in the increase of achievements of poetry comprehension of the groups of students who are taught using  Gestalt approach, structural approach, and semiotic approach (p <0.05).  Among the three groups, the Gestalt group shows the highest increase. Second, the group of students with high semantic mastery shows a higher increase of achievement in poetry comprehension than those with low semantic mastery (p <0.05).   Third, there is an interaction between teaching approach and semantic mastery in terms of the increase of the students' achievement (p <0.05).
STABILIZED ERRORS: ATTRIBUTED PROBLEM IN TIMED AND NON-TIMED ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING
Authors: Nur Indah Rohmani
Published: October 2015

This study is a case study seeking the relation between the errors students made in timed and non-timed argumentative writing. The use of good English language influences whether or not the students can develop their claim. The finding shows that students have fifteen types of stabilized errors, the dominant of which are verb tense, word choice and spelling. On language form, the stabilized errors mostly occur are omission and addition. Some students also show stabilized errors with reference to the negative transfer of their first language. In addition, the type of writing task results in different number of stabilized errors. Despite the favor on non-timed writing, some students show more careful language use without using the computer’s spelling and grammar check. However, the type of writing task does not affect the number of errors as there is no significant difference between the two writing tasks. It supports the fact that post systematic errors are caused by several factors such as language transfer, intralingual interference and sociolinguistic situation. Accordingly, process approach writing is needed in which learners are given chance to make progress and, as suggested by Krashen’s theory, to become optimal Monitor users.
Interspecific variation in growth responses to climate and competition of five eastern tree species
Authors: Rollinson Christine R. , Kaye Margot W. , Canham Charles D.
Published: October 2015

Climate and competition are often presented from two opposing views of the dominant driver of individual tree growth and species distribution in temperate forests, such as those in the eastern United States. Previous studies have provided abundant evidence indicating that both factors influence tree growth, and we argue that these effects are not independent of one another and rather that interactions between climate, competition, and size best describe tree growth. To illustrate this point, we describe the growth responses of five common eastern tree species to interacting effects of temperature, precipitation, competition, and individual size using maximum likelihood estimation. Models that explicitly include interactions among these four factors explained over half of the variance in annual growth for four out of five species using annual climate. Expanding temperature and precipitation analyses to include seasonal interactions resulted in slightly improved models with a mean R2 of 0.61 (SD 0.10). Growth responses to individual factors as well their interactions varied greatly among species. For example, growth sensitivity to temperature for Quercus rubra increased with maximum annual precipitation, but other species showed no change in sensitivity or slightly reduced annual growth. Our results also indicate that three‐way interactions among individual stem size, competition, and temperature may determine which of the five co‐occurring species in our study could have the highest growth rate in a given year. Continued consideration and quantification of interactions among climate, competition, and individual‐based characteristics are likely to increase understanding of key biological processes such as tree growth. Greater parameterization of interactions between traditionally segregated factors such as climate and competition may also help build a framework to reconcile drivers of individual‐based processes such as growth with larger‐scale patterns of species distribution.
Racing through life: maturation rate plasticity regulates overcompensation and increases persistence
Authors: Karatayev V. A. , Kraft C. E. , Zipkin E. F.
Published: October 2015

Induced changes in the demographic traits of harvested populations produce ecological responses to mortality that are not generally predicted by traditional models. Strong plasticity in maturation rates—commonly observed among intensely harvested populations—varies the time between birth and reproduction of an individual, thereby affecting a population's growth rate. We developed a general model to explore how density‐dependent maturation rates affect both population persistence and overcompensation, the situation in which population abundance increases in response to harvest. We find that plasticity in maturation rates generally dampens or eliminates overcompensation in populations. However stage‐specific harvest strategies, rather than those that target a population evenly, could elicit or strengthen an overcompensatory response. Therefore, occurrence of overcompensation in a species may be context‐dependent. Our results also demonstrate that faster maturation in response to harvest allows populations with low juvenile survival to persist under much greater harvest pressures and maintain higher levels of adult abundance than when maturation rates are not plastic. Strong compensatory responses in age at maturity can greatly amplify the harvest effort required to reduce or collapse populations with low survival rates. Accounting for this effect can be critical to invasive species control or eradication, as well as to the conservation of ecologically and/or economically important populations.
Phenological responses of prairie plants vary among species and year in a three‐year experimental warming study
Authors: Whittington Heather R. , Tilman David , Wragg Peter D. , Powers Jennifer S.
Published: October 2015

As temperature is a common regulator of temperate plant phenology, future increases in global temperatures are likely to cause shifts in the timing of plant phenophases such as flowering and senescence, with potential feedbacks on species interactions and carbon cycling. We used a 3‐year field warming study in a temperate grassland to investigate the effects of two levels of warming (+ ~1.5°C and + ~3°C) on the phenology of budding, flowering onset, and peak flowering of ten perennial plant species at both individual and population scales. We also examined the effect of warming on green‐up and senescence by measuring normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for one year. Populations and individuals of Amorpha canescens, Dalea purpurea (Petalostemum purpureum), and Andropogon gerardii flowered five to eight days earlier under high warming. For seven species, interannual variability in flowering time equaled or exceeded experimental warming treatment effects in any given year. Responses to warming were not consistent among years for several species, especially Liatris aspera. Warming led to higher NDVI values in the spring, indicating that warming accelerated spring biomass growth but did not significantly affect senescence. These results suggest that the community flowering profile may be altered under warming, potentially affecting pollinator, trophic and competitive interactions, and indicate that the timing to peak biomass may be accelerated, possibly affecting ecosystem carbon cycling.
Snow cover, freeze‐thaw, and the retention of nutrients in an oceanic mountain ecosystem
Authors: Wipf Sonja , Sommerkorn Martin , Stutter Marc I. , Wubs E. R. Jasper , van der Wal René
Published: October 2015

As the climate warms, winters with less snow and therefore more soil freeze‐thaw cycles are likely to become more frequent in oceanic mountain areas. It is a concern that this might impair the soil's ability to store carbon and nutrients, and lead to increased leaching losses of dissolved C and nutrients and subsequent changes in nutrient cycling and ecosystem productivity.

Through a combination of laboratory and field experiments, we studied short‐term effects of changing winter conditions on carbon and nutrient leaching from two plant‐soil systems with contrasting snow conditions (shallow/intermittent vs. deep/persistent snow). In the laboratory we exposed cores (soil and vegetation) from sites with either intermittent or persistent winter snow cover to five different freeze‐thaw scenarios of realistic frequency and duration. Additionally, we set up a transplant experiment at our field site by reciprocally transplanting soil‐plant monoliths between sites with intermittent and persistent snow. Together, the field and laboratory experiments aimed to assess how carbon and nutrient leaching was affected by both historical snow conditions and short‐term (through freeze‐thaw scenarios and transplantation) changes in snow cover and thermal conditions.

Both a greater number of freeze‐thaw cycles and longer duration of sub‐zero temperatures increased carbon and nutrient leaching from incubated soil cores. Cores from sites with persistent snow generally had lower nutrient losses under control conditions, but greater losses following induced freeze‐thaw cycles than cores from intermittent snow sites. The character of the leached dissolved organic carbon (DOC) suggested fresh organic material, such as live plant roots or microbes, as the source of carbon and nutrients. Nutrient losses from the plant‐soil systems in the field were greater at sites with persistent winter snow due to greater volumes of percolating water in spring. This suggests that increasingly severe and frequent soil freeze‐thaw events in oceanic mountain ecosystems can enhance the mobilization of C, N and P in labile forms but, in the absence of water fluxes, these nutrients would remain available for in‐situ cycling. Thus, under future warmer winter conditions, increased carbon and nutrient losses from oceanic mountain ecosystems could occur if winters with little snow coincide with wet spring conditions.
Grief as a Border Diagnosis
Authors: Kofod Ester Holte
Published: October 2015

Grief is sometimes poetically described as the price of love: An inescapable existential condition of human life. However, throughout the 20th century, grief has increasingly come to be understood as a pathological condition that requires psychological and/or medical intervention. With the release ofDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(5th ed.,DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013), grief came close to being included as a separate mental disorder. However, the diagnostic revisions concerning bereavement have been met with criticism of medicalizing grief and of exceeding the territory of psychiatry beyond its legitimate borders. On this basis, I argue that grief is currently a border diagnosis, that is, a condition whose meanings are informed in heterogeneous ways by medical, psychiatric, and psychological understandings yet constantly challenged by alternative, nonmedicalizing discourses. Drawing on empirical findings from an ongoing interview study with bereaved parents after infant loss, I analyze and discuss 4 different accounts concerning the question of diagnosing grief: (a) diagnosis as a legitimating and normalizing practice, (b) diagnosis as a demarcation practice, (c) diagnosis as pathologization, and (d) diagnosis as a normative ideal. Through the examples, I attempt to demonstrate how bereaved individuals do not merely passively adopt but reflectively use these kinds of understandings to deal with their grief.
Continuing Breastfeeding With Paid Employment: Breastfeeding and Support From Women’s Informal Social Network
Authors: Hirani Shela Akbar Ali
Published: October 2015

Social support is essential to enable employed mothers to continue their breastfeeding practices. In Pakistan, where child daycare facilities are rare, employed women are mostly dependent on offered support from people in their social network to fulfill their child care responsibilities.
The aim of this research was to study the availability of support from informal social network (spouses, mothers/mothers-in-law, and child caretaker) to employed women having babies, up to 12 months of age, and to analyze the breastfeeding practices of these mothers. This quantitative descriptive
study among 200 employed women revealed that 63.5% of mothers received encouragement from people in their informal social network to enable them to continue breastfeeding with employment. Employed women received help from family members (79.5%), husbands (83.5%), and mothers/mothers-in-law
(74%). Employed women who received support from their informal social network were able to sustain their breastfeeding practices as compared to women who did not receive that support or received conflicting healthcare advice from their family members.
Cross‐Sectional Association Between Number of Teeth and High‐Sensitivity C‐Reactive Protein Among Middle‐Aged Germans
Authors: Oluwagbemigun Kolade , Bergmann Manuela , Pischon Nicole , Dietrich Thomas , Boeing Heiner
Published: October 2015

Background: The association between number of teeth and low‐grade systemic inflammation deserves consideration within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)‐Potsdam since the association between number of teeth and myocardial infarction has been established.

Methods: Two subsamples (n = 2,439 and 728) were randomly selected from EPIC‐Potsdam. Participants provided information on number of natural teeth, anthropometry, lifestyle factors, and illness‐related factors. High‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein (hsCRP) was measured from serum. Adjusted means of hsCRP across five categories of numbers of teeth in each subsample and in the combined sample were determined, and linear trends were checked. Non‐linear associations were investigated with restricted cubic spline (RCS) regression.

Results: In the first subsample, the full multivariable‐adjusted model showed that participants with 28 to 32, 24 to 27, 18 to 23, 1 to 17, and 0 teeth had mean hsCRP values of 1.32, 1.39, 1.54, 1.38, and 1.48 mg/L, respectively; in the second subsample, mean hsCRP values were 1.64, 1.67, 1.73, 1.47, and 1.87 mg/L; combined hsCRP values were 1.49, 1.53, 1.64, 1.44, and 1.65 mg/L. No linear trend was observed in these models, and RCS regression showed no non‐linear association.

Conclusion: This study shows that number of teeth has a weak association with hsCRP, if any, thereby excluding this marker of low‐grade systemic inflammation as a possible explanation for the association between number of teeth and myocardial infarction.
Myxoid Liposarcoma of the Thigh with Metastasis to the Left Ventricle of the Heart
Authors: Farmer Ryan P. , Schowinsky Jeffrey T. , Lindeque Bennie G.P.
Published: October 2015

Case:

This report describes a sixty-one-year old man who was diagnosed with a myxoid liposarcoma of the left thigh that was resected and then treated with radiation therapy. He underwent yearly surveillance imaging but presented seventeen years after initial resection with symptoms of heart failure. He was found to have a cardiac abnormality that was first thought to be a pseudoaneurysm but was later shown to be a myxoid liposarcoma, presumably metastatic.

Conclusion:

Myxoid liposarcoma can present with late metastasis, including to the heart.
Obesity in MENX Rats Is Accompanied by High Circulating Levels of Ghrelin and Improved Insulin Sensitivity
Authors: Wiedemann Tobias , Bielohuby Maximilian , Müller Timo D. , Bidlingmaier Martin , Pellegata Natalia S.
Published: October 2015

Ghrelin, the natural ligand of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor type 1a (GHS-R1a), is mainly secreted from the stomach and regulates food intake and energy homeostasis. p27 regulates cell cycle progression in many cell types. Here, we report that rats affected by the multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome MENX, caused by a p27 mutation, develop pancreatic islet hyperplasia containing elevated numbers of ghrelin-producing ε-cells. The metabolic phenotype of MENX-affected rats featured high endogenous acylated and unacylated plasma ghrelin levels. Supporting increased ghrelin action, MENX rats show increased food intake, enhanced body fat mass, and elevated plasma levels of triglycerides and cholesterol. Ghrelin effect on food intake was confirmed by treating MENX rats with a GHS-R1a antagonist. At 7.5 months, MENX-affected rats show decreased mRNA levels of hypothalamic GHS-R1a, neuropeptide Y (NPY), and agouti-related protein (AgRP), suggesting that prolonged hyperghrelinemia may lead to decreased ghrelin efficacy. In line with ghrelin’s proposed role in glucose metabolism, we find decreased glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in MENX rats, while insulin sensitivity is improved. In summary, we provide a novel nontransgenic rat model with high endogenous ghrelin plasma levels and, interestingly, improved glucose tolerance. This model might aid in identifying new therapeutic approaches for obesity and obesity-related diseases, including type 2 diabetes.
Variations in Brain Volume and Growth in Young Children With Type 1 Diabetes
Authors: Mazaika Paul K. , Weinzimer Stuart A. , Mauras Nelly , Buckingham Bruce , White Neil H. , Tsalikian Eva , Hershey Tamara , Cato Allison , Aye Tandy , Fox Larry , Wilson Darrell M. , Tansey Michael J. , Tamborlane William , Peng Daniel , Raman Mira , Marzelli Matthew , Reiss Allan L. ,   for the Diabetes Research in Children Network (DirecNet)
Published: October 2015

Early-onset type 1 diabetes may affect the developing brain during a critical window of rapid brain maturation. Structural MRI was performed on 141 children with diabetes (4–10 years of age at study entry) and 69 age-matched control subjects at two time points spaced 18 months apart. For the children with diabetes, the mean (±SD) HbA1c level was 7.9 ± 0.9% (63 ± 9.8 mmol/mol) at both time points. Relative to control subjects, children with diabetes had significantly less growth of cortical gray matter volume and cortical surface area and significantly less growth of white matter volume throughout the cortex and cerebellum. For the population with diabetes, the change in the blood glucose level at the time of scan across longitudinal time points was negatively correlated with the change in gray and white matter volumes, suggesting that fluctuating glucose levels in children with diabetes may be associated with corresponding fluctuations in brain volume. In addition, measures of hyperglycemia and glycemic variation were significantly negatively correlated with the development of surface curvature. These results demonstrate that early-onset type 1 diabetes has widespread effects on the growth of gray and white matter in children whose blood glucose levels are well within the current treatment guidelines for the management of diabetes.
High power disk laser-metal active gas arc hybrid welding of thick high tensile strength steel plates
Authors: Pan Qinglong , Mizutani Masami , Kawahito Yousuke , Katayama Seiji
Published: October 2015

In this study, welding with hybrid heat sources combined with a high power disk laser and a metal active gas (MAG) arc was carried out on 780 MPa high strength steel plates of 12 mm in thickness. The effects of respective welding conditions, such as laser power, root gap and welding speed on the penetration, geometry, and defects of weld beads, were investigated. The results showed that the process window of welding conditions for the production of good welded joints was narrow. Also, the laser keyhole behavior, the molten pool geometry, and the melt flows inside the molten pool were observed by the high-speed x-ray transmission real-time imaging system. It was confirmed that the melt flows inside the molten pool during hybrid welding were different between humping and good weld beads. The melt flowed from the bottom tip of a keyhole to the humping portion and did not flow forward to the keyhole bottom tip, resulting in the formation of the humping defect. On the other hand, in the case of good weld beads, the tungsten particle flowed to the back part of the molten pool but then flowed to the forward keyhole. It was clarified that a good weld bead without humping nor underfilling could be produced due to the forward melt flow.
Assessment of an implant-skin interface scoring system for external skeletal fixation of dogs
Authors: McDonald-Lynch Mischa B. , Marcellin-Little Denis J. , Roe Simon C. , Lascelles B. Duncan X. , Trumpatori Brian J. , Griffith Emily H.
Published: October 2015

OBJECTIVE To assess intraobserver repeatability and interobserver and in vivo versus photographic agreement of a scoring system for the implant-skin interface (ISI) of external skeletal fixation (ESF).

SAMPLE 42 photographs of ISIs from 18 dogs for interobserver agreement and intraobserver repeatability and 27 photographs of ISIs from 6 dogs for in vivo versus photograph agreement.

PROCEDURES An ISI inflammation scoring system was developed. It included scales for 6 metrics (erythema, drainage amount, drainage type, swelling, hair loss or lack of hair regrowth, and granulation tissue). Photographs of the ISI of ESF were obtained by use of a standard protocol and evaluated to determine intraobserver repeatability and interobserver agreement (Cronbach α; 4 raters) of the ISI score. Agreement between in vivo and photographic ISI scores (2 raters) and correlation between median scores across metrics were evaluated.

RESULTS 42 photographs met the inclusion criteria. Overall intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.922 to 0.975. Interobserver overall Cronbach α ranged from 0.835 to 0.943. For in vivo versus photographic assessment, 27 ISIs in 6 dogs and their photographs were evaluated. The Cronbach α for both raters ranged from 0.614 to 0.938. Overall, the Cronbach α ranged from 0.725 to 0.932. Mean photographic scores were greater than mean in vivo scores for each metric. Pearson correlation coefficients ranged from 0.221 to 0.923. Erythema, swelling, and granulation were correlated with all other metrics.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE In this study, an ISI scoring system used in this study had high repeatability and agreement and may therefore be considered for use in clinical situations. Photographic scores were not equivalent to in vivo scores and should not be used interchangeably.
Risk factors for carriage of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella spp and Escherichia coli in pet dogs from volunteer households in Ontario, Canada, in 2005 and 2006
Authors: Leonard Erin K. , Pearl David L. , Janecko Nicol , Finley Rita L. , Reid-Smith Richard J. , Weese J. Scott , Peregrine Andrew S.
Published: October 2015

OBJECTIVE To determine pet-related management factors associated with the carriage of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella spp and Escherichia coli in a population of pet dogs.

SAMPLE 138 dogs from 84 households in Ontario, Canada.

PROCEDURES From October 2005 through May 2006, dogs and households in Ontario, Canada, were recruited to participate in a cross-sectional study. Fecal samples were submitted for culture of Salmonella spp and E coli, which provided 515 bacterial isolates for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Multilevel logistic regression models with random effects for household and dog were created to identify pet-related management factors associated with antimicrobial resistance.

RESULTS Bacterial species, feeding a homemade diet or adding homemade food to the diet, feeding a raw diet or adding anything raw to the diet, feeding a homemade raw food diet, and feeding raw chicken in the past week were significant risk factors for antimicrobial resistance in this population of dogs.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE In this study, several potentially important pet-related risk factors for the carriage of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella spp and E coli in pet dogs were identified. Further evaluation of risk factors for antimicrobial resistance in dogs may lead to development of evidence-based guidelines for safe and responsible dog ownership and management to protect the public, especially pet owners who are immunocompromised.
Effect of leukoreduction on concentrations of interleukin-8, interleukin-1β, and tumor necrosis factor-α in canine packed red blood cells during storage
Authors: Purcell Sarah L. , Claus Melissa , Hosgood Giselle , Smart Lisa
Published: October 2015

OBJECTIVE To measure changes in interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) concentrations in stored canine packed RBCs (PRBCs) over time and assess the effect of leukoreduction on these cytokine concentrations.

ANIMALS 12 anesthetized healthy Greyhounds.

PROCEDURES 1 unit of whole blood from each dog was processed into PRBCs. Half of each PRBCs unit was passed through a leukoreduction filter to produce a leukoreduced unit, and the remaining blood was kept as a nonleukoreduced unit. All units had a CBC performed on day 0 (day of collection) and were stored at 2° to 6°C. Samples were collected from leukoreduced and nonleukoreduced units on days 0, 10, 20, 30, and 37 and centrifuged; the supernatant was stored at −80°C until analysis. Canine TNF-α and IL-8 concentrations were assessed with a multiplexed genomic and proteomic biomarker analyzer, and canine IL-1β concentration was measured by ELISA.

RESULTS Leukocyte counts were decreased by ≥ 99.9% in all leukoreduced units. Median TNF-α and IL-1β concentrations were not significantly different between leukoreduced and nonleukoreduced units and did not change significantly during storage; median IL-8 concentration was significantly higher in nonleukoreduced versus leukoreduced units on all days, and was greater at all time points after ≥ 10 days of storage than on day 0. Median IL-8 concentration in leukoreduced units did not increase during storage.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results indicated that leukoreduction was effective for the removal of leukocytes from canine PRBCs and prevented significant increases in IL-8 concentration during storage. Further studies are needed to evaluate whether leukoreduction reduces cytokine-associated complications of transfusion.
Evaluation of species differences and the effects of storage duration and temperature on the anticollagenase efficacy of canine, feline, and equine serum on in vitro corneal degradation
Authors: Conway Emily D. , Stiles Jean , Townsend Wendy M. , Weng Hsin-Yi
Published: October 2015

OBJECTIVE To evaluate species differences and effects of storage duration and temperature on the anticollagenase efficacy of canine, feline, and equine serum on in vitro corneal degradation.

SAMPLES Corneas and serum from dogs, cats, and horses.

PROCEDURES Clinically normal corneas from dogs, cats, and horses were harvested within 2 hours after euthanasia. Serum samples from dogs, cats, and horses were collected and pooled by species. Corneal specimens were incubated with collagenase derived from Clostridium histolyticum, 5mM calcium chloride in saline (0.9% NaCl) solution, and feline, canine, or equine serum that had been stored for 0, 30, 90, or 180 days at −20° or −80°C. Following incubation, the corneal weight loss percentage and hydroxyproline concentration in the incubation fluid were calculated and compared among experimental combinations.

RESULTS Feline serum was more effective than canine or equine serum for minimizing corneal weight loss. Incubation with feline or equine, but not canine, serum significantly reduced hydroxyproline production. Serum storage duration did not affect corneal weight loss, but the hydroxyproline concentration was greater for corneal specimens that were incubated with serum that was stored for 90 days, compared with that for corneal specimens incubated with serum that was stored for 0, 30, or 180 days. Serum storage temperature did not affect corneal weight loss or hydroxyproline concentration.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results suggested that serum reduced corneal degradation in vitro, and the duration and temperature at which serum was stored did not affect its anticollagenase efficacy.
Gender Equality in Public Higher Education Institutions of Ethiopia: The Case of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
Authors: Egne Robsan Margo
Published: October 2015

Ensuring gender equality in higher education system is high on the agenda worldwide particularly in science disciplines. This study explores the problems and prospects of gender equality in public higher education institutions of Ethiopia, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Descriptive survey and analytical research methods were used in the study. Subjects of the study consisted of university instructors, higher education institutions gender affairs officers, and female students. Gender-related policy documents were also used as sources of data. Questionnaire, interviews, and documents analyses were employed as tools of data collection. The data were analysed using mixed methods. The study revealed a serious under representation of female students in science disciplines in the contemporary Ethiopian public higher learning institutions. The paper discusses both the core factors that discourage women from pursuing sciences and suggestions which may assist them join and succeed in sciences.
Academic Library as the Space for the Development of Future Specialists’ Competence
Authors: Kardeliene Laimute , Kardelis Kęstutis , Bakutyte Rima
Published: October 2015

The article discloses the value of academic library. This value is deriving from the university purpose to prepare students to be able to deal with the increasing the flow of information in the society (Owusu - Ansah, 2001). Research was carried out in Utena University of applied science. First-year students (n = 140) made 48,3% of the sample, and third-year students (n = 150) - 51,7% of the investigated sample; males - 33,8% (n=98), and females - 66,2% (n=192). The conditions of academic library as student and future specialist empowered environment are validated: communicational, physical, pragmatic. The interpretation of research data disclosed that the academic library as learning environment and as environment which is empower the student to a professional qualification less or more improve future specialist professional, academically and as a personality. The future development of specialist competence effectiveness criteria can be considered as the nature of those experiences, which causes him to preparation for examinations and various settlements, preparation of projects and the search for the global academic community material created a topic of interest. The nature of experiences can reduce the educational impact of library. While improving learning environments are necessary to guide students with higher academic achievement and those who are spending more time in the library view.
A Case Study of ESD Implementation: Signs of Sustainable Leadership
Authors: Iliško Dzintra , Badyanova Yelena
Published: October 2015

This article presents a case study of two schools that were identified as a result of UNESCO associated schools survey as cases of sustainable leadership and governance. The aim of the study is to present the two cases that were crystalized in the survey carried out at end of the United Nationsí Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). Prior to the in-depth study of two schools, the authors have carried out a survey of the heads and deputy heads of 26 UNSECO associated schools in Latvia on how schools are succeeding in improving educational outcomes, school development, cooperation with multiple stakeholders, and innovation. The authors have carried out semi structured interviews with the heads and deputy heads of two schools on the following questions: How has ESD updated and improved educational purposes and outcomes in your school? Does ESD improve test scores and/or achieve other desired outcomes? How does ESD help to improve and enrich school curriculum development in your school? How does ESD guide students to have the knowledge, skills and values to care for and solve the sustainable development issues that arise in your school? How does ESD help to strengthen the partnerships between schools and other stakeholders, including the surrounding community? How does ESD promote innovation in the teaching-learning conceptual framework?
Sedimentary fractions of phosphorus before and after drainage of an urban water body (Maltański Reservoir, Poland)
Authors: Rzymski Piotr , Sobczyński Tadeusz , Klimaszyk Piotr , Niedzielski Przemysław
Published: October 2015

Urban reservoirs can receive high loads of chemicals, including persistent contaminants and eutrophication-promoting nutrients. To maintain their economic and recreational use, implementation of various restoration methods is often required. The Maltański Reservoir (Poland, Europe), a small, shallow and dammed urban water body, undergoes complete draining every four years as part of its restoration procedure. Here, we investigated the phosphorus (P) content and its fractions just before the reservoir was drained and after it had been completely filled with water again. As demonstrated, the highest accumulation of P occurred at sites through which the main water flow is directed. Calcium-bound and residual P constituted the largest proportion of P fractions. A shift in P fractions after the reservoir was drained and sediments were left without water for at least 4 months was observed. A decrease in phytoplankton utilized NH4Cl-P, Fe-P and NaOH-P fractions was found and followed a simultaneous increase in nearly biologically inaccessible HCl-P and practically biologically inactive residual P fractions. Our study demonstrates that complete drainage of the Maltański Reservoir may additionally decrease the risk of internal P loading through shifts in its fractions.
Gender Gaps in High School Students’ Homework Time
Authors: Gershenson Seth , Holt Stephen B.
Published: October 2015

Gender differences in human capital investments made outside of the traditional school day suggest that males and females consume, respond to, and form habits relating to education differently. We document robust, statistically significant one-hour weekly gender gaps in secondary students’ non-school study time using time diary data from the 2003–2012 waves of the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) and transcript data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS). These complementary data sets provide consistent evidence of gender gaps that favor females and are not explained by gender differences in after-school time use, parental involvement, educational expectations, course taking, past academic achievement, or cognitive ability.
Breast cancer statistics, 2015: Convergence of incidence rates between black and white women
Authors: DeSantis Carol E. , Fedewa Stacey A. , Goding Sauer Ann , Kramer Joan L. , Smith Robert A. , Jemal Ahmedin
Published: October 2015

In this article, the American Cancer Society provides an overview of female breast cancer statistics in the United States, including data on incidence, mortality, survival, and screening. Approximately 231,840 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 40,290 breast cancer deaths are expected to occur among US women in 2015. Breast cancer incidence rates increased among non‐Hispanic black (black) and Asian/Pacific Islander women and were stable among non‐Hispanic white (white), Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native women from 2008 to 2012. Although white women have historically had higher incidence rates than black women, in 2012, the rates converged. Notably, during 2008 through 2012, incidence rates were significantly higher in black women compared with white women in 7 states, primarily located in the South. From 1989 to 2012, breast cancer death rates decreased by 36%, which translates to 249,000 breast cancer deaths averted in the United States over this period. This decrease in death rates was evident in all racial/ethnic groups except American Indians/Alaska Natives. However, the mortality disparity between black and white women nationwide has continued to widen; and, by 2012, death rates were 42% higher in black women than in white women. During 2003 through 2012, breast cancer death rates declined for white women in all 50 states; but, for black women, declines occurred in 27 of 30 states that had sufficient data to analyze trends. In 3 states (Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin), breast cancer death rates in black women were stable during 2003 through 2012. Widening racial disparities in breast cancer mortality are likely to continue, at least in the short term, in view of the increasing trends in breast cancer incidence rates in black women. CA Cancer J Clin 2016;31–42. © 2015 American Cancer Society.
Moroccan medical students’ perceptions of their educational environment
Authors: Belayachi Jihane , Razine Rachid , Boufars Amina , Saadi Asma , Madani Naoufal , Chaouir Souad , Abouqal Redouane
Published: October 2015

This study aimed to assess students’ perceptions of their educational environment in the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of Rabat, Morocco, using the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM). A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of Rabat, Morocco, in which medical students’ perceptions of their educational environment were assessed using the DREEM criteria during the 2013-2014 academic years. The DREEM inventory encompasses 50 items divided into five subdomains: perceptions of learning, perceptions of teaching, academic self-perceptions, perceptions of atmosphere, and social self-perceptions. The DREEM has a maximum score of 200, which would correspond to a perfect educational environment. The mean scores (±standard deviation) of students’ responses were compared according to their year of study and gender. The responses of 189 postgraduate medical students were included. The mean total DREEM score was 90.8 (45.4%). The mean total scores for five subdomains were 21.2/48 (44.2%), 21.8/44 (49.6%), 13.1/32 (40.9%), 19.0/48 (39.6%), and 15.6/28 (55.7%) respectively. Female students reported higher perceptions of teaching scores than males (P=0.002), and students in their fifth year of study reported significantly higher social self-perceptions scores than those in their fourth year (P=0.03). In this study of the oldest faculty of medicine in Morocco, students perceived the educational environment as having many problems.
The role of prehealth student volunteers at a student-run free clinic in New York, United States
Authors: Shabbir Syed H. , Santos Maria Teresa M.
Published: October 2015

Purpose: The medical student-run Einstein Community Health Outreach Clinic provides free healthcare to the uninsured adult population of New York, the United States. During the summer, prehealth student volunteers are recruited to assist with clinic operations. Methods: We designed a survey study to identify the baseline characteristics of the volunteers between June and August of 2013 and 2014 in order to evaluate the influence of working in a medical student-run free clinic on their education, impressions, and career goals. Results: A total of 38 volunteers (response rate, 83%) participated in the study. The volunteers were demographically diverse and interested in primary care specialties and community service. Conclusion: After the Einstein Community Health Outreach program, the volunteers showed an improved understanding of the healthcare process and issues relevant to uninsured patients. They also developed favorable attitudes towards primary care medicine and an increased level of interest in pursuing careers in primary care.