bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Banks, Firms and Trade Finance Infrastructure in Albania
Authors: Çumani Dorina
Published: July 2017

Firms engaged in international trade face tosome risks, which are either not present or less present for the domestic trade. All, firms- SMEs or Companies contain elements of risk, but when they trade internationally, the risk profile is different than trading home. These include commercial risk, political risk, exchange and the country risks, such asthe possibility ofwar, political unrest, or unexpected import bans or tariffs, act. Banks play a critical role in facilitating international trade by guaranteeing international payments and reducing the risk of trade transactions in exports or imports. The effect of insured trade credit on trade is very strong and remains stable over the cycle, in crisis and non-crisis periods (WTO, 2012). By shortening the time of production, delivery, approved credit, the risk situation can be improved and in the same way as liquidity and profitability (Anders Grath 2008). If Albanian traders control the risks they can expanding exports into new markets and it can be very profitable. Using trade finance and reducing risks Albanian firms will be able to develop and take advantage of business opportunities. The trade finance infrastructure of Albaniaisthe institutions, laws, regulations and other systems related to the following three activities
Microspatial distribution of molluscs and response of species to litter moisture, water levels and eutrophication in moist, alkaline ecosystems
Authors: Książkiewicz-Parulska Zofia , Ablett Jonathan D.
Published: July 2017

We investigated the influence of litter moisture, water levels and eutrophication on the microspatial distribution of terrestrial molluscs as well as their responses to the aforementioned factors. The studies were carried out in two moist, alkaline habitats in western Poland, differing in a range of environmental conditions. Redundancy Analysis showed that litter moisture was the leading factor affecting the microspatial distribution of the snails. To analyse the relationships between species abundance and litter moisture and water levels we determined a generalized linear model (GLM). The results of the analysis show that the abundance of the majority of the species decreased with increasing eutrophication. The abundance of the majority of species increased with increase in litter moisture at the Ilanka site, whereas conversely at the Pliszka site, the majority of the species showed a decreasing abundance with increasing litter moisture. The limiting factor at the Pliszka site was probably local inundations as well as litter and plant cover.
Variation Orders and It's Procedure for Hydropower Construction
Authors: Neupane Abhushan
Published: July 2017

There is lots of construction going in Nepal, of which hydropower construction is also moving in significant pace. As the design and drawings prepared during development of the hydropower project may not fully reflect the construction situation, due to the different circumstances led by the Employer, Engineer or Contractor working for the Project. It has been observed globally that the design during project preparation in hydropower projects needs revision during implementation; hence the basic understanding of Variation Orders is very important to the hydropower professionals. HYDRO Nepal JournalJournal of Water Energy and EnvironmentIssue: 21, July, 2017Page: 15-16Upload Date: July 18, 2017
PHYSICO-CHEMICAL AND BACTERIOLOGICAL COMPOSITION IN A METROPOLITAN DRINKING WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM IN KATHMANDU
Authors: Tamrakar Pratima , Shakya Suman K. , Baniya Chitra B.
Published: July 2017

The study was concentrated on water quality appraisal in metropolitan drinking water distribution system in Kathmandu during 2011 to 2015 AD. The study covers 24 research areas from surface water sources, treatment plants, processing and water supply networks of public, private and community drinking water suppliers in the main city of Kathmandu valley. Water quality was analyzed under six physical, seventeen chemical and two bacteriological parameters. All tests were conducted in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Standard Methods. Total 320 samples collected during two years of periods. The physico-chemical parameters of tested water samples from sources, reservoirs and taps were found to be within the range of National Drinking Water Quality Standard (NDWQS). The turbidity and pH values for most of the tested water samples from sources, reservoirs and taps except for a few source and tap samples were found to be within the NDWQS guideline values. The chemical parameters values of majority of tested source water samples were below the maximum level. The values of iron, manganese, sodium and chloride content of some source samples were found higher than the maximum permissible level recommended by NDWQS and WHO guideline. Bacteriologically, larger proportion of water samples (sources, reservoirs and taps) were found to be unacceptable. The present study disclosed fecal contamination to be the major problem in drinking water from source to the distribution for city water supply systems in selected metropolitan areas. The physico-chemical qualities of water in most cases were within acceptable limit.Journal of Institute of Science and TechnologyVolume 22, Issue 1, July 2017, page: 159-164
Scanning Electron Microscopic Observations of the Digestive Canal of the Great Bustard (Otis Tarda)
Authors: Li Weichi , Liu Yutang , Tian Xiuhua
Published: July 2017

This study focussed on the microstructure of the digestive canal of the Great Bustard ( Otis tarda). Under scanning electron microscopy (SEM), different morphological plicae (rounded protrusions about 10 μm in height) were observed at different locations along the inner surface of the oesophagus. Concentrated microvilli can be seen on the surface of the protrusions in high-power fields. There are papillae in the mucosal fold on the inner surface of the glandular stomach, with openings of about 250 μm in diameter. In high-power fields, the tops of rod cells could be seen in somewhat circular forms with microvilli on them. Inside the muscular stomach, the scraggly- or wavy-formed surface of the cuticle layer could be seen. Stripping off the cuticle layer, at the tops of mucosal folds row- or rope-like forms could be seen. The mucosa of the small intestine is thrown into ridges running longitudinally in a zigzag pattern along the intestine, rather than the finger-like intestinal villi observed in mammals. There are villi on the inner surface of the caecum with impressions on their domes (the troughs between which have diameters of about 200 μm). Villi on the inner surface of the rectum are even thicker, ranging from 200–500 μm in diameter, and could be seen on the inner surface of the caecum and rectum. Outlines of cell domes are clearer on the inner surface of the caecum than those on the rectum. Studies on the fine structures of the inner surface of the Great Bustard digestive canal will enrich the knowledge of the comparative histology of birds, and provide a reference for raising bustards, as well as preventing and curing its diseases.
Big Deal. Die Übernahme des amerikanischen Agrokonzerns Monsanto durch Bayer Crop Science
Authors: Budrich Edmund
Published: July 2017

Mit der Fusion der beiden Konzerne entsteht das weltgrößte Unternehmen des Agro-Bereichs, was aus wirtschaftlicher, unternehmerischer Sicht überwiegend positiv beurteilt wird. Doch es melden sich auch skeptische Stimmen, nach denen Bayer sich bei der Transaktion überheben könnte. Der Unternehmerseite gegenüber stehen die Konsumenten, die die weltweite monopolähnliche Markt(über)macht des Konzerns fürchten. Die Auswahl aus kontroversen Positionen aus Wirtschaft, Politik und Gesellschaft zeigt in Beispielen, wo und wie pro und contra des Deals argumentiert wird.
Discourse relations: Genre-specific degrees of overtness in argumentative and narrative discourse
Authors: Hofmockel Carolin , Fetzer Anita , Maier Robert M.
Published: July 2017

Based on a contrastive approach that compares the argumentative genre of editorial with the narrative genre of personal narrative across two production modes, single-authored data and data elicited in an editing-based task, this paper examines the impact of genre on the realizations of discourse relations, paying particular attention to the argumentative genre and its preferential realizations of Contrast, Continuation, Elaboration and Explanation/Result. Discourse relations are conceived of as sociocognitive constructs that are encoded in coherence strands and may additionally be signalled overtly with discourse connectives, metacomments and/or pragmatic word order. Quantitative analyses of single-authored and co-constructed data reveal systematic differences in the variation of degrees of overtness between editorials and personal narratives. In the argumentative genre, Explanation, Continuation and Comment tend to be realized with a lower degree of overtness, Elaboration with a higher degree of overtness. Contrast is realized overtly throughout the data, irrespective of genre.
Argumentation mining: How can a machine acquire common sense and world knowledge?
Authors: Moens Marie-Francine
Published: July 2017

Argumentation mining is an advanced form of human language understanding by the machine. This is a challenging task for a machine. When sufficient explicit discourse markers are present in the language utterances, the argumentation can be interpreted by the machine with an acceptable degree of accuracy. However, in many real settings, the mining task is difficult due to the lack or ambiguity of the discourse markers, and the fact that a substantial amount of knowledge needed for the correct recognition of the argumentation, its composing elements and their relationships is not explicitly present in the text, but makes up the background knowledge that humans possess when interpreting language. In this article 1 1 The article is the written version of a keynote lecture given at COMMA 2016, the 6th International Conference on Computational Models of Argument, on September 13, 2016 at Potsdam University, Germany. we focus on how the machine can automatically acquire the needed common sense and world knowledge. As very few research has been done in this respect, many of the ideas proposed in this article are tentative, but start being researched.

We give an overview of the latest methods for human language understanding that map language to a formal knowledge representation that facilitates other tasks (for instance, a representation that is used to visualize the argumentation or that is easily shared in a decision or argumentation support system). Most current systems are trained on texts that are manually annotated. Then we go deeper into the new field of representation learning that nowadays is very much studied in computational linguistics. This field investigates methods for representing language as statistical concepts or as vectors, allowing straightforward methods of compositionality. The methods often use deep learning and its underlying neural network technologies to learn concepts from large text collections in an unsupervised way (i.e., without the need for manual annotations). We show how these methods can help the argumentation mining process, but also demonstrate that these methods need further research to automatically acquire the necessary background knowledge and more specifically common sense and world knowledge. We propose a number of ways to improve the learning of common sense and world knowledge by exploiting textual and visual data, and touch upon how we can integrate the learned knowledge in the argumentation mining process.
Knowledge-driven argument mining based on the qualia structure
Authors: Saint-Dizier Patrick
Published: July 2017

Given a controversial issue, argument mining from texts in natural language is extremely challenging: besides linguistic aspects, domain knowledge is often required together with appropriate forms of inferences to identify arguments. Via the analysis of various corpora, this contribution explores the types of knowledge that are required to develop an efficient argument mining system. We show that the Qualia structure of the Generative Lexicon with some extensions and a specific interpretation has some expressive capabilities which are appropriate for this task.
Effect of Constitutive miR164 Expression on Plant Morphology and Fruit Development in Arabidopsis and Tomato
Authors: Rosas Cárdenas Flor , Ruiz Suárez Yolanda , Cano Rangel Rosa , Luna Garcia Valentín , González Aguilera Karla , Marsch Martínez Nayelli , De Folter Stefan
Published: July 2017

Several miRNAs are conserved in different plant families, but their abundance and target genes vary between species, organs, and stages of development. Target genes of miRNAs are mostly transcription factors, involved in the control of many plant developmental processes, including fruit development. MiR164 is a conserved miRNA, highly expressed in fruits, and is validated to target a subset of genes of the NAC-domain transcription factor gene family. The objective of this work was to analyze the phenotypic effects of the constitutive expression of miR164 during the life cycle of Arabidopsis and tomato. MiR164 overexpression (164-OE) lines for Arabidopsis and tomato were generated and analyzed during plant development. The constitutive miR164 expression showed that miR164 affected the morphology of Arabidopsis and tomato, and it affected the transition from the vegetative to the reproductive phase in Arabidopsis. Moreover, the miR164 overexpression affected the time required for each developmental stage of tomato fruit. These results suggest that miR164 plays general and specific roles during development in Arabidopsis and tomato, including fruit development, which could be exploited for the improvement of traits of agronomic interest in important species.
Evaluating the Impact of the Sudden Collapse of Major Freeway Connectors on Rapid Transit and Adjacent Freeway Systems: San Francisco Bay Area Case Study
Authors: Oh Yoonseok , Chung Koohong , Park Shin , Kim Cheolsun , Kang Seungmo
Published: July 2017

The early Sunday morning collapse of two sections of the multi-level freeway interchange, known as the MacArthur Maze, resulted in a month-long closure of the interchange, which connects several major California cities: San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley. This paper evaluates the impacts of this unplanned, extended closure on Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and the remaining freeway system based on empirical data and reports on the findings. Among the findings were that BART was instrumental in keeping commuters moving during the freeway repair. In addition, ridership counts at some stations remained significantly elevated after the repairs were completed. This may be due to the fact that many of the riders using those BART stations had not previously traveled via transit and, having discovered its convenience and benefits during the repair phase, continued to use BART even after the repairs. The impact of the closure on BART demand was not uniform across the stations.
Special Issue on Advances in Integrated Energy Systems Design, Control and Optimization
Authors: Anvari-Moghaddam Amjad , Guerrero Josep
Published: July 2017

In the face of climate change and resource scarcity, energy supply systems are on the verge of a major transformation, which mainly includes the introduction of new components and their integration into the existing infrastructures, new network configurations and reliable topologies, optimal design and novel operation schemes, and new incentives and business models. This revolution is affecting the current paradigm and demanding that energy systems be integrated into multi-carrier energy hubs [1]. [...]
Effects of Radial Gap Ratio between Impeller and Vaned Diffuser on Performance of Centrifugal Compressors
Authors: Hosseini Mohammadjavad , Sun Zhenzhong , He Xiao , Zheng Xinqian
Published: July 2017

A high-performance centrifugal compressor is needed for numerous industry applications nowadays. The radial gap ratio between the impeller and the diffuser vanes plays an important role in the improvement of the compressor performance. In this paper, the effects of the radial gap ratio on a high-pressure ratio centrifugal compressor are investigated using numerical simulations. The performance and the flow field are compared for six different radial gap ratios and five rotational speeds. The minimal radial gap ratio was 1.04 and the maximal was 1.14. Results showed that reducing the radial gap ratio decreases the choke mass flow rate. For the tip-speed Mach number (impeller inlet) with Mu < 1, the pressure recovery and the loss coefficients are not sensitive to the radial gap ratio. However, for Mu ≥ 1, the best radial gap ratio is 1.08 for the pressure recovery and the loss coefficients. Furthermore, the impeller pressure ratio and efficiency are reduced by increasing the radial gap ratio. Finally, the compressor efficiency was compared for different radial gap ratios. For Mu < 1, the radial gap ratio does not have noticeable effects. In comparison, the radial gap ratio of 1.08 has the best performance for Mu ≥ 1.
Widely-Tunable Ring-Resonator Semiconductor Lasers
Authors: Komljenovic Tin , Liang Linjun , Chao Rui-Lin , Hulme Jared , Srinivasan Sudharsanan , Davenport Michael , E. Bowers John
Published: July 2017

Chip-scale widely-tunable lasers are important for both communication and sensing applications. They have a number of advantages, such as size, weight, and cost compared to mechanically tuned counterparts. Furthermore, they allow for integration in more complex integrated photonic chips to realize added functionality. Here we give an extensive overview of such lasers realized by utilizing ring resonators inside the laser cavity. Use of ring resonators for tuning allows for wide-tunability by exploiting the Vernier effect, and at the same time improves the laser linewidth, as effective cavity length is increased at ring resonance. In this review, we briefly introduce basic concepts of laser tuning using ring resonators. Then, we study a number of laser cavity configurations that utilize two ring resonators, and compare their tuning performance. We introduce a third ring resonator to the laser cavity, study three different cavity configurations utilizing three ring resonators, and select the optimal one, for which we show that laser tuning is straightforward, provided there are monitor photodetectors on-chip. Finally, we give a literature overview showing superior linewidth performance of ring-based widely-tunable lasers.
Observed and Model-Derived Ozone Production Efficiency over Urban and Rural New York State
Authors: Ninneman Matthew , Lu Sarah , Lee Pius , McQueen Jeffery , Huang Jianping , Demerjian Kenneth , Schwab James
Published: July 2017

This study examined the model-derived and observed ozone production efficiency (OPE = ∆Ox/∆NOz) in one rural location, Pinnacle State Park (PSP) in Addison, New York (NY), and one urban location, Queens College (QC) in Flushing, NY, in New York State (NYS) during photo-chemically productive hours (11 a.m.–4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)) in summer 2016. Measurement data and model predictions from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Air Quality Forecast Capability (NOAA NAQFC)—Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model versions 4.6 (v4.6) and 5.0.2 (v5.0.2) were used to assess the OPE at both sites. CMAQ-predicted and observed OPEs were often in poor agreement at PSP and in reasonable agreement at QC, with model-predicted and observed OPEs, ranging from approximately 5–11 and 10–13, respectively, at PSP; and 4–7 and 6–8, respectively, at QC. The observed relationship between OPE and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) was studied at PSP to examine where the OPE downturn may have occurred. Summer 2016 observations at PSP did not reveal a distinct OPE downturn, but they did indicate that the OPE at PSP remained high (10 or greater) regardless of the [NOx] level. The observed OPEs at QC were found by using species-specific reactive odd nitrogen (NOy) instruments and an estimated value for nitrogen dioxide (NO2), since observed OPEs determined using non-specific NOx and NOy instruments yielded observed OPE results that (1) varied from approximately 11–25, (2) sometimes had negative [NOz] concentrations, and (3) were inconsistent with CMAQ-predicted OPE. This difference in observed OPEs at QC depending on the suite of instruments used suggests that species-specific NOx and NOy instruments may be needed to obtain reliable urban OPEs.
Physicochemical Stability, Antioxidant Activity, and Acceptance of Beet and Orange Mixed Juice During Refrigerated Storage
Authors: Porto Maria , Okina Vivian , Pimentel Tatiana , Prudencio Sandra
Published: July 2017

The objective of this study was to mix beet juice and orange juice in two proportions (1:1 and 1:2 v/v), evaluate their physicochemical stability and antioxidant activity during storage (4 °C for 30 days), and evaluate their acceptance by consumers. Beet juice (with or without pasteurization) and pasteurized orange juice were used as controls. The presence of orange juice contributed to the pH, betacyanin, betaxanthin, and antioxidant capacity stabilities during storage, whereas the presence of beet improved the color stability. The mixed juices showed high total phenolic compounds (484–485 µg gallic acid/mL), DPPH scavenging capacity (2083–1930 µg Trolox/mL), and ABTS (1854–1840 µg Trolox/mL), as well as better sensory acceptance than the pasteurized beet juice. However, the mixed juices had a more significant reduction in the ascorbic acid content (completely lost at 15 days of storage) than the pasteurized orange juice (25% reduction at 30 days). The beet and orange mixed juice is an alternative functional beverage that can contribute to an increase in the consumption of beet and orange.
Aspirin Prevention of Colorectal Cancer: Focus on NF-κB Signalling and the Nucleolus
Authors: Chen Jingyu , Stark Lesley
Published: July 2017

Overwhelming evidence indicates that aspirin and related non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have anti-tumour activity and the potential to prevent cancer, particularly colorectal cancer. However, the mechanisms underlying this effect remain hypothetical. Dysregulation of the nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) transcription factor is a common event in many cancer types which contributes to tumour initiation and progression by driving expression of pro-proliferative/anti-apoptotic genes. In this review, we will focus on the current knowledge regarding NSAID effects on the NF-κB signalling pathway in pre-cancerous and cancerous lesions, and the evidence that these effects contribute to the anti-tumour activity of the agents. The nuclear organelle, the nucleolus, is emerging as a central regulator of transcription factor activity and cell growth and death. Nucleolar function is dysregulated in the majority of cancers which promotes cancer growth through direct and indirect mechanisms. Hence, this organelle is emerging as a promising target for novel therapeutic agents. Here, we will also discuss evidence for crosstalk between the NF-κB pathway and nucleoli, the role that this cross-talk has in the anti-tumour effects of NSAIDs and ways forward to exploit this crosstalk for therapeutic purpose.
Structural and Functional Neuroimaging of Visual Hallucinations in Lewy Body Disease: A Systematic Literature Review
Authors: Pezzoli Stefania , Cagnin Annachiara , Bandmann Oliver , Venneri Annalena
Published: July 2017

Patients with Lewy body disease (LBD) frequently experience visual hallucinations (VH), well-formed images perceived without the presence of real stimuli. The structural and functional brain mechanisms underlying VH in LBD are still unclear. The present review summarises the current literature on the neural correlates of VH in LBD, namely Parkinson’s disease (PD), and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Following a systematic literature search, 56 neuroimaging studies of VH in PD and DLB were critically reviewed and evaluated for quality assessment. The main structural neuroimaging results on VH in LBD revealed grey matter loss in frontal areas in patients with dementia, and parietal and occipito-temporal regions in PD without dementia. Parietal and temporal hypometabolism was also reported in hallucinating PD patients. Disrupted functional connectivity was detected especially in the default mode network and fronto-parietal regions. However, evidence on structural and functional connectivity is still limited and requires further investigation. The current literature is in line with integrative models of VH suggesting a role of attention and perception deficits in the development of VH. However, despite the close relationship between VH and cognitive impairment, its associations with brain structure and function have been explored only by a limited number of studies.
Sensory and Physico-Psychological Metaphor Comprehension in Children with ASD: A Preliminary Study on the Outcomes of a Treatment
Authors: Melogno Sergio , Pinto Maria , Di Filippo Gloria
Published: July 2017

Recent research into difficulties in figurative language in children with ASD highlighted that it is possible to devise training interventions to overcome these difficulties by teaching specific strategies. This study describes how children with ASD can improve their capability to explain metaphors with a treatment. Two types of metaphors, in the “X is Y” form, were addressed: sensory and physico-psychological. To face the difficulties posed by these metaphors, the adult taught two strategies: inserting the connective “is like” between “X” and “Y”, which transforms the metaphor into a simile; comparing “X” and “Y” by means of thinking maps. Two tests of metaphor comprehension were used, one based on sensory and the other on physico-psychological metaphors. Sixteen 10 year-old children participated into the study, including an experimental group formed by 8 children with ASD (n = 4) which had received the treatment, and a control group (n = 4) which had not, and 8 typically-developing (TD) children. At the post-test, the experimental group significantly outperformed the controls in explaining both types of metaphors, but only in the sensory metaphors did their performances reach TD children’s levels. These results illuminate how clinical treatment can positively influence the developmental trajectories of metaphor comprehension.
Bilinguals’ Working Memory (WM) Advantage and Their Dual Language Practices
Authors: Yang Eunju
Published: July 2017

The present study investigates a possible working memory (WM) difference between monolingual and bilingual groups and explores the relationship between their WM advantage and language practices. A mixed methods design was employed for the study. To measure participants’ WM, auditory and visual digit span tasks were conducted on the different language groups: 20 Korean near-monolinguals, and 40 Korean–English bilinguals with two different levels of second language (L2) proficiency. Bilinguals’ daily language practices were explored through semi-structured interviews with eight bilinguals. The convergence of the findings from both tests and interview data suggests that knowing two languages does not guarantee bilingual WM advantages over monolinguals, but the advantage might be linked to bilinguals’ unique L2 use environment where they need to hold incoming L2 information while decoding it.
Interactivity and Trust as Antecedents of E-Training Use Intention in Nigeria: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach
Authors: Alkali A. , Abu Mansor Nur
Published: July 2017

Background: The last few decades saw an intense development in information technology (IT) and it has affected the ways organisations achieve their goals. Training, in every organisation is an ongoing process that aims to update employees’ knowledge and skills towards goals attainment. Through adequate deployment of IT, organisations can effectively meet their training needs. However, for successful IT integration in training, the employees who will use the system should be positively disposed towards it. This study predicts employees’ intention to use the e-training system by extending the technology acceptance model (TAM) using interactivity and trust. Methods: Two hundred and fourteen employees participated in the study and structural equation modelling was used in the analysis. Results: The findings of the structural equation modelling reveal that interactivity, trust, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use have direct and positive effects on employees’ intention to use e-training. It was also shown that perceived ease of use had no effects on perceived usefulness, while trust has the strongest indirect effects on employees’ intention. In addition, the results of Importance-Performance Map Analysis (IPMA), which compares the contributions of each construct to the importance and performance of the model, indicate that to predict intention to use e-training, priorities should be accorded to trust and perceived usefulness.
Complex DNA Damage: A Route to Radiation-Induced Genomic Instability and Carcinogenesis
Authors: Mavragani Ifigeneia , Nikitaki Zacharenia , Souli Maria , Aziz Asef , Nowsheen Somaira , Aziz Khaled , Rogakou Emmy , Georgakilas Alexandros
Published: July 2017

Cellular effects of ionizing radiation (IR) are of great variety and level, but they are mainly damaging since radiation can perturb all important components of the cell, from the membrane to the nucleus, due to alteration of different biological molecules ranging from lipids to proteins or DNA. Regarding DNA damage, which is the main focus of this review, as well as its repair, all current knowledge indicates that IR-induced DNA damage is always more complex than the corresponding endogenous damage resulting from endogenous oxidative stress. Specifically, it is expected that IR will create clusters of damage comprised of a diversity of DNA lesions like double strand breaks (DSBs), single strand breaks (SSBs) and base lesions within a short DNA region of up to 15–20 bp. Recent data from our groups and others support two main notions, that these damaged clusters are: (1) repair resistant, increasing genomic instability (GI) and malignant transformation and (2) can be considered as persistent “danger” signals promoting chronic inflammation and immune response, causing detrimental effects to the organism (like radiation toxicity). Last but not least, the paradigm shift for the role of radiation-induced systemic effects is also incorporated in this picture of IR-effects and consequences of complex DNA damage induction and its erroneous repair.
Pure and Fe-Doped Mesoporous Titania Catalyse the Oxidation of Acid Orange 7 by H2O2 under Different Illumination Conditions: Fe Doping Improves Photocatalytic Activity under Simulated Solar Light
Authors: Freyria Francesca , Compagnoni Matteo , Ditaranto Nicoletta , Rossetti Ilenia , Piumetti Marco , Ramis Gianguido , Bonelli Barbara
Published: July 2017

A sample of mesoporous TiO2 (MT, specific surface area = 150 m2·g−1) and two samples of MT containing 2.5 wt.% Fe were prepared by either direct synthesis doping (Fe2.5-MTd) or impregnation (Fe2.5-MTi). Commercial TiO2 (Degussa P25, specific surface area = 56 m2 g−1) was used both as a benchmark and as a support for impregnation with either 0.8 or 2.5 wt.% Fe (Fe0.80-IT and Fe2.5-IT). The powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction, N2 isotherms at −196 °C, Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) Spectroscopy, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Diffuse Reflectance (DR) ultra-violet (UV)-Vis and Mössbauer spectroscopies. Degradation of Acid Orange 7 (AO7) by H2O2 was the test reaction: effects of dark-conditions versus both UV and simulated solar light irradiation were considered. In dark conditions, AO7 conversion was higher with MT than with Degussa P25, whereas Fe-containing samples were active in a (slow) Fenton-like reaction. Under UV light, MT was as active as Degussa P25, and Fe doping enhanced the photocatalytic activity of Fe2.5-MTd; Fe-impregnated samples were also active, likely due to the occurrence of a photo-Fenton process. Interestingly, the Fe2.5-MTd sample showed the best performance under solar light, confirming the positive effect of Fe doping by direct synthesis with respect to impregnation.
Thin 2D: The New Dimensionality in Gas Sensing
Authors: Neri Giovanni
Published: July 2017

Since the first report of graphene, thin two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials with atomic or molecular thicknesses have attracted great research interest for gas sensing applications. This was due to the distinctive physical, chemical, and electronic properties related to their ultrathin thickness, which positively affect the gas sensing performances. This feature article discusses the latest developments in this field, focusing on the properties, preparation, and sensing applications of thin 2D inorganic nanomaterials such as single- or few-layer layered double hydroxides/transition metal oxides/transition metal dichalcogenides. Recent studies have shown that thin 2D inorganic nanomaterials could provide monitoring of harmful/toxic gases with high sensitivity and a low concentration detection limit by means of conductometric sensors operating at relatively low working temperatures. Promisingly, by using these thin 2D inorganic nanomaterials, it may open a simple way of improving the sensing capabilities of conductometric gas sensors.
Structural Aspects of Porphyrins for Functional Materials Applications
Authors: Cook Lawrence P. , Brewer Greg , Wong-Ng Winnie
Published: July 2017

Porphyrinic compounds comprise a diverse group of materials which have in common the presence of one or more cyclic tetrapyrroles known as porphyrins in their molecular structures. The resulting aromaticity gives rise to the semiconducting properties that make these compounds of interest for a broad range of applications, including artificial photosynthesis, catalysis, molecular electronics, sensors, non-linear optics, and solar cells. In this brief review, the crystallographic attributes of porphyrins are emphasized. Examples are given showing how the structural orientations of the porphyrin macrocycle, and the inter-porphyrin covalent bonding present in multiporphyrins influence the semiconducting properties. Beginning with porphine, the simplest porphyrin, we discuss how the more complex structures that have been reported are described by adding peripheral substituents and internal metalation to the macrocycles. We illustrate how the conjugation of the π-bonding, and the presence of electron donor/acceptor pairs, which are the basis for the semiconducting properties, are affected by the crystallographic topology.
Effect of the Surface Treatment Method Using Airborne-Particle Abrasion and Hydrofluoric Acid on the Shear Bond Strength of Resin Cement to Zirconia
Authors: Lee Ju-Hyoung , Lee Cheong-Hee
Published: July 2017

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the shear bond strength (SBS) of two different resin cements (Panavia F 2.0 (Kuraray Medical Inc, Okayama, Japan) and Variolink N (Ivoclar Vivadent AG, Schaan, Liechtenstein)) to 112 zirconia specimens with airborne-particle abrasion and 20%, 30%, or 40% hydrofluoric acid (HF) for 1 or 2 h. A total of eight specimens were used to observe the phase transformation after surface treatments. Six specimens were treated only with HF etching and the average surface roughness (Ra) was analyzed. A one-way ANOVA test was applied for SBS and the effect of HF concentration on Ra. An independent t-test was performed for the comparison of Panavia F 2.0 and Variolink N, and the influence of the HF application time on Ra. A higher HF solution increased SBS and Ra. HF etching produced a lower rate of monoclinic phase transformation. Panavia F 2.0 showed a higher SBS than Variolink N.
Testing the Interacting Dark Energy Model with Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy and Observational Hubble Data
Authors: Yang Weiqiang , Xu Lixin , Li Hang , Wu Yabo , Lu Jianbo
Published: July 2017

The coupling between dark energy and dark matter provides a possible approach to mitigate the coincidence problem of the cosmological standard model. In this paper, we assumed the interacting term was related to the Hubble parameter, energy density of dark energy, and equation of state of dark energy. The interaction rate between dark energy and dark matter was a constant parameter, which was, Q = 3 H ξ ( 1 + w x ) ρ x . Based on the Markov chain Monte Carlo method, we made a global fitting on the interacting dark energy model from Planck 2015 cosmic microwave background anisotropy and observational Hubble data. We found that the observational data sets slightly favored a small interaction rate between dark energy and dark matter; however, there was not obvious evidence of interaction at the 1 σ level.
On the Interpretation of Instrumental Variables in the Presence of Specification Errors: A Reply
Authors: Swamy P.A.V.B. , Hall Stephen , Tavlas George , Von zur Muehlen Peter
Published: July 2017

We appreciate the effort and thoughtfulness of Raunig’s (2017) attempted critique of Swamy et al. (2015).[...]
Proposal for an Experimental Methodology for Evaluation of Natural Lighting Systems Applied in Buildings
Authors: Spacek Anderson Diogo , Neto João Mota , Biléssimo Luciano Dagostin , Junior Oswaldo Hideo Ando , Neto Gustavo Pedro De Freitas , Giansella Rodrigo Da Silva , Santana Marcus Vinícius Ferreira De , Malfatti Celia De Fraga
Published: July 2017

This work has the objective of developing a methodology for the evaluation of indoor natural lighting systems, which, with speed and practicality, provides from real conditions of use a reliable result about the quality and performance of the proposed system. The methodology is based on the construction of two real-size test environments, which will be subjected to a natural light system through reflexive tubes made from recycled material, and to a commercial system already certified and consolidated, creating the possibility of comparison. Furthermore, the data acquired in the test environments will be examined in light of the values of solar radiation obtained from a digital meteorological station, such that it is possible to stipulate the lighting capacity of the systems at different times of the year.
Finite Element Computation of Transient Parameters of a Salient-Pole Synchronous Machine
Authors: Xiao Yang , Zhou Libing , Wang Jin , Yang Rui
Published: July 2017

This paper presents a novel method for calculating the transient parameters of a saturated salient-pole synchronous machine (SPSM) with damper cage using finite element analysis. All detailed leakage inductances in a modified d-q model are discussed and separately extracted. In addition; the frozen permeability method is used in a 2-D finite element analysis to consider saturation and skin effects for determining the inductances. The terminal reactance parameters are obtained from all elements of the d- and q-axis equivalent circuits in all the chosen time constants during the transient process. The variation of leakage inductances of the SPSM in transient processes is also investigated and discussed. To determine transient time constant parameters; the Prony algorithm is applied in the presented method. A program developed to automatically solve the simulation and computation with the proposed method is described. This method is applied to a prototype and validated by experimental results. Some discussion about the relationship between rotor geometric design and the transient parameters of SPSMs is provided. The variation of leakage magnetic field of SPSMs in transient processes is also investigated. This method can be applied in transient parameter estimation and optimization of SPSMs in the design stage.
Post-Fire Salvage Logging Imposes a New Disturbance that Retards Succession: The Case of Bryophyte Communities in a Macaronesian Laurel Forest
Authors: Hernández-Hernández Raquel , Castro Jorge , Del Arco-Aguilar Marcelino , Fernández-López Ángel , González-Mancebo Juana María
Published: July 2017

Post-fire salvage logging (SL) is a common management action that involves the harvesting of burnt trees. As a consequence, a large amount of biological legacies in the form of logs and other coarse woody debris are removed from the post-fire habitat, creating a more simplified landscape. Therefore, SL could act as an additional disturbance over that produced by fire. In this study, we seek to determine the effect of SL on the regeneration of the bryophyte community of a laurel forest from the Canary Islands (Spain). We hypothesized that SL will act as an additional disturbance and, consequently, salvaged areas will have a higher difference in community composition with respect to a reference ecosystem (RE). Mosses and liverworts were sampled 22 months after the salvage operations in salvaged plots, non-salvaged, and in an RE represented by areas of the original forest. Species richness did not differ between salvage and non-salvaged treatments. However, multivariate analysis and species-indicator analysis showed that non-salvaged plots had a composition closer to that of the RE, with a higher proportion of closed-canopy, perennial, and long-lived species, as well as some epiphytes. By contrast, salvaged plots were dominated by early-successional terrestrial species and species preferring open habitats. We conclude that post-fire SL represents an additional disturbance that further delays succession, a result that is consistent with previous studies using other taxonomic groups. SL should therefore be avoided or, if implemented, the possibility of leaving part of the post-fire biological legacies in situ should be considered.
A Novel Hybrid-Copy Algorithm for Live Migration of Virtual Machine
Authors: Lei Zhou , Sun Exiong , Chen Shengbo , Wu Jiang , Shen Wenfeng
Published: July 2017

Live migration of virtual machines is an important approach for dynamic resource scheduling in cloud environment. The hybrid-copy algorithm is an excellent algorithm that combines the pre-copy algorithm with the post-copy algorithm to remedy the defects of the pre-copy algorithm and the post-copy algorithm. Currently, the hybrid-copy algorithm only copies all memory pages once in advance. In a write-intensive workload, copy memory pages once may be enough. However, more iterative copy rounds can significantly reduce the page faults in a read-intensive workload. In this paper, we propose a new parameter to decide the appropriate time to stop the iterative copy phase based on real-time situation. We use a Markov model to forecast the memory access pattern. Based on the predicted results and the analysis of the actual situation, the memory page transfer order would be adjusted to reduce the invalid transfers. The novel hybrid-copy algorithm is implemented on the Xen platform. The experimental results demonstrate that our mechanism has good performance both on read-intensive workloads and write-intensive workloads.
Interaction of the Longwave and Finite-Wavelength Instability Modes of Convection in a Horizontal Fluid Layer Confined between Two Fluid-Saturated Porous Layers
Authors: Lyubimova Tatyana , Muratov Igor
Published: July 2017

The onset of convection in a three-layer system consisting of two fluid-saturated porous layers separated by a homogeneous fluid layer is studied. It is shown that both a longwave convective regime developing in the whole system and a finite-wavelength regime of convection concentrated in the homogeneous fluid layer are possible. Due to the hydraulic resistance of the porous matrix, the flow intensity in the longwave convective regime is much lower than that in the finite-wavelength regime. Moreover, it grows at a much slower pace with the increase of the Grashof number. Because of that, the long-wave convective regime becomes unstable at small supercriticalities and is replaced by a finite-wavelength regime.
Μetal Uptake by Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) Irrigated with Water Polluted with Chromium and Nickel
Authors: Stoikou Vasiliki , Andrianos Vangelis , Stasinos Sotiris , Kostakis Marios , Attiti Sofia , Thomaidis Nikolaos , Zabetakis Ioannis
Published: July 2017

The water aquifers of the regions of Asopos River in Viotia and Messapia in Evia (Greece) have been contaminated with hexavalent chromium (Cr (VI)) and bivalent nickel (Ni (II)). Given that these areas are the two biggest tuber producing regions of Greece, in our previous work, the cross-contamination of the food chain with these two heavy metals was quantified. In the present study, the potential of sunflower (Helianthus annuus) cultivation in these regions is evaluated. The scope of our study was to investigate the uptake of chromium and nickel by sunflower, in a greenhouse experiment. The study included two cultivation periods of plants in six irrigation lines with different levels of Cr (VI) and Ni (II) ranging from 0 μg/L (control) to 10,000 μg/L. In all plant parts, statistically significant increased levels of Cr (VI) and Ni (II) were found when compared to control ones. Also, a positive correlation, both for Cr and Ni, between levels of heavy metals in irrigation water and plants was observed. Following European Food Safety Authority recommendations, the obtained oil was evaluated as safe for consumption, therefore, sunflower cultivation could be a valid bioremediation solution for the Asopos and Messapia regions.
Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications: Cellulose, Chitosan, and Protein/Peptide Derivatives
Authors: Del Valle Luís , Díaz Angélica , Puiggalí Jordi
Published: July 2017

Hydrogels based on polysaccharide and protein natural polymers are of great interest in biomedical applications and more specifically for tissue regeneration and drug delivery. Cellulose, chitosan (a chitin derivative), and collagen are probably the most important components since they are the most abundant natural polymers on earth (cellulose and chitin) and in the human body (collagen). Peptides also merit attention because their self-assembling properties mimic the proteins that are present in the extracellular matrix. The present review is mainly focused on explaining the recent advances on hydrogels derived from the indicated polymers or their combinations. Attention has also been paid to the development of hydrogels for innovative biomedical uses. Therefore, smart materials displaying stimuli responsiveness and having shape memory properties are considered. The use of micro- and nanogels for drug delivery applications is also discussed, as well as the high potential of protein-based hydrogels in the production of bioactive matrices with recognition ability (molecular imprinting). Finally, mention is also given to the development of 3D bioprinting technologies.