bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
3D inversion of airborne gravity gradiometry data in mineral exploration: A case study in the Quadrilátero Ferrífero, Brazil
Authors: Martinez Cericia , Li Yaoguo , Krahenbuhl Richard , Braga Marco Antonio
Published: December 2012

We present a case study of applying 3D inversion of gravity gradiometry data to iron ore exploration in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The ore bodies have a distinctly high-density contrast and produce well-defined anomalies in airborne gravity gradiometry data. We have carried out a study to apply 3D inversion to a [Formula: see text] subarea of data from a larger survey to demonstrate the utility of such data and associated inversion algorithm in characterizing the deposit. We examine multiple density contrast models obtained by first inverting [Formula: see text]; then [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] jointly; and finally all five independent components to understand the information content in different data components. The commonly discussed [Formula: see text] component is sufficient to produce geologically reasonable and interpretable results, while including additional components involving horizontal derivatives increases the resolution of the recovered density model and improves the ore delineation. We show that gravity gradiometry data can be used to delineate the iron ore formation within this study area.
Disruption of Rorα1 and Cholesterol 25-Hydroxylase Expression Attenuates Phagocytosis in Male Rorαsg/sg Mice
Authors: Tuong Zewen K. , Lau Patrick , Yeo Jeremy C. , Pearen Michael A. , Wall Adam A. , Stanley Amanda C. , Stow Jennifer L. , Muscat George E.O.
Published: December 2012

We and others have previously demonstrated that congenital deficiency of the nuclear hormone receptor, Rorα1, in staggerer (sg/sg) mice results in resistance to diet-induced obesity and increased insulin sensitivity. Paradoxically, the sg/sg mice are susceptible to atherosclerosis and display impaired innate immunity, underscoring the regulatory links between metabolic disease, inflammation, and susceptibility to infection. Here, we present novel evidence that Rorα1 regulates innate immune function by demonstrating impaired phagocytosis in sg/sg mice. The early stages of Fc-γ receptor-mediated phagocytosis in lipopolysaccharide-activated sg/sg bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMs) were significantly impaired compared with wild-type cells. Moreover, in sg/sg BMMs, the phagocytic cup membranes had reduced levels of cholesterol. Expression profiling revealed dysregulated expression of genes involved in inflammation and lipid metabolism in sg/sg BMMs. Notably, we identified decreased expression of the mRNA encoding cholesterol 25-hydroxylase (Ch25h), an enzyme that converts cholesterol to 25-hydroxycholesterol (25HC), an oxysterol with emerging roles in immunity. Treatment of sg/sg BMMs with 25HC rescued phagocytosis in a dose-dependent manner, whereas small interfering RNA knockdown of Ch25h mRNA expression in wild-type cells attenuated phagocytosis. Hence, we propose that 25HC is essential for optimizing membrane internalization during phagocytosis and that aberrant Ch25h expression in Rorα1-deficient sg/sg macrophages disrupts phagocytosis. Our studies reveal new roles for Rorα1, Ch25h, and 25HC in phagocytosis. Aberrant 25HC underpins the paradoxical association between insulin sensitivity and impaired innate immunity in Rorα1-deficient mice, heralding a wider and essential role for this oxysterol at the nexus of metabolism and immunity.
Possible Mechanisms of Circulating PYY-Induced Satiation in Male Rats
Authors: Stadlbauer Ulrike , Arnold Myrtha , Weber Elisabeth , Langhans Wolfgang
Published: December 2012

Peptide tyrosine-tyrosine (PYY) is implicated in eating control, but the site(s) and mechanism(s) of its action remain uncertain. We tested acute effects of intrameal hepatic portal vein (HPV) PYY3-36 infusions on eating in adult, male rats and measured HPV and jugular vein (JV) plasma levels of PYY in response to a solid, mixed-nutrient meal. We also examined the effects of HPV PYY3-36 infusions on JV plasma levels, flavor acceptance, and neuronal activation. Intrameal HPV PYY3-36 infusions [1 and 3 nmol/kg body weight (BW)] selectively reduced (P < 0.05) ongoing meal size. HPV PYY levels increased (P < 0.05) during a chow (12.5 kcal) or an isocaloric high-fat meal. JV PYY levels were generally lower than HPV levels but also increased in response to the chow meal. HPV PYY3-36 infusion (1 nmol/kg BW) caused a greater increase in JV PYY than a meal, but neither 1 nor 3 nmol/kg BW PYY3-36 caused conditioned flavor avoidance. HPV PYY3-36 (1 nmol/kg BW) increased the number of c-Fos-expressing cells in the nucleus tractus solitarii, the hypothalamic arcuate and paraventricular nuclei, the central area of the amygdala, and the nucleus accumbens but not in the area postrema and parabrachial nucleus. These data show that HPV infusions of PYY3-36 inhibit eating in rats without causing avoidance, and they identify some brain areas that might be involved. Endogenous PYY may induce satiation by acting directly in the brain, but further studies should examine whether PYY3–36 administrations that mimic the meal-induced increase in plasma PYY are sufficient to inhibit eating.
Figures Taken for Signs: Symbol, Allegory, Mise En Abyme
Authors: Emery Jacob
Published: December 2012

This essay examines situations where a single trope is implicated in two traditionally opposed rhetorical structures: mise en abyme, in which an internal text provides a miniature model of the framing text, and allegory, a figure in which the text at hand is only the key to some single and essentially external reading. Where mise en abyme is typically associated with the self-enclosed autonomy of the artwork, allegory tends in the opposite direction by treating the text as a disposable means to a proper meaning. Through readings of the chess motifs in Vladimir Nabokov's The Real Life of Sebastian Knight and statuary tropes in an Edna St. Vincent Millay sonnet, the essay argues that the two tropes are better thought of as versions of each other, not least because allegories signal their presence precisely through interpolated texts that resist paraphrase.

Our difficulty in reconciling them relates to our inevitable temptation to reduce undecidable figures to mechanically decodable signs and involves a complex of related binaries: figure and sign, symbol and allegory, inside and outside. The essay traces these binaries from the German Romantics into more contemporary theory in an effort to make their dynamic a productive one — first by treating the interaction of mise en abyme and allegory as analogous to the relation of part to whole in the hermeneutic circle, and then by relating texts as metaphors of production processes to texts as metonymically resulting from those same production processes. Approached in this way, mise en abyme generates a model by which we can conceptualize the artwork in relation to the larger work of economic production in which it participates and of which it is a miniature model.
The Everyday's Fabulous Beyond: Nonsense, Parable, and the Ethics of the Literary in Kafka and Wittgenstein
Authors: Zumhagen-Yekplé Karen
Published: December 2012

This essay takes up the significance of Wittgenstein's philosophy for our understanding of literature (and vice versa) through a comparative reading of the stakes and aims of Kafka's and Wittgenstein's respective circa 1922 puzzle texts “Von den Gleichnissen” (“On Parables”) and the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. The essay builds upon the so-called resolute program of Wittgenstein interpretation developed by Cora Diamond, James Conant, and others, bringing its insights to bear on Kafka's perplexing work. The essay explores the ethical weight of these two writers' investment in the philosophical depth of riddles, irony, and parabolic and nonsensical expression as unorthodox modes of indirect instruction about ordinary language and world, the yearning for transcendence, and the failure to achieve it. Both demanding works deal with the ethical difference between “getting” the philosophical import of a story or joke and not getting it in the context of an examination of the relationship (or lack thereof) between the activities and difficulties of everyday life, on the one hand, and those of literary expression and/or spiritual or philosophical teaching, on the other. Both strive to open readers to experience — as revealed through everyday language — by leading us beyond the dichotomy of facticity and transcendence, away from the urge to transcend the limits of language, and toward a recognition of the possibility of seeing our ordinary dealing with things as presenting a face of significance that is at once linguistically meaningful and ethically valuable. The central aim of this discussion of Wittgenstein's Tractatus and “Lecture on Ethics” alongside Kafka's parable is to examine the ways in which Wittgenstein's philosophical outlook, writing, and method (shaped by his general attraction to the Book and book writing as well as by his reading of certain works of literature) are deeply relevant to literary studies, and particularly to our understanding of literary modernism.
Introduction: The Inchoative Moment
Authors: Wagner-Pacifici Robin
Published: December 2012

This contribution to the Common Knowledge symposium “Fuzzy Studies: On the Consequence of Blur” is the introduction to its fourth installment. The piece elaborates a new approach, termed “political semiosis,” to tracking event emergence, event formation, and event deformation. This approach enables event analysts to capture the formation and flow of events as they move, take shape, intersect, and form eddies of undecidability. Taking seriously the need to calibrate the dynamic between interpretation and action in event development, political semiosis seeks to construct tools able to assess the capacities of diverse genres to carry events forward or to block events in the paths of their development.
TIEPOLO
Authors: Andersen Wayne
Published: December 2012

This review essay emphasizes the distinction between academic art history, based ultimately on the model of scientific research, and the sort that Roberto Calasso practices in his 2009 study Tiepolo in Pink. It is difficult to locate the book's genre, and the reviewer rejects identifying it as a biography (of the sort practiced by Irving Stone, Somerset Maugham, and Dimitri Merejkovski), since Calasso, like most other writers on Tiepolo, stresses how little we know about his personality, which was elusive, and about his private life, which was undramatic. What chiefly interests both Calasso and the reviewer is whether Tiepolo, whose ceiling frescoes are without gravity—their “antigravity” draws the painted figures upward—is an artist without gravitas. The reviewer supports Calasso's argument that the thirty-two etchings comprising the Capricci and Scherzi make it absurd to consider Tiepolo artistically, intellectually, or morally frivolous. “Scientific” art historians have applied the category of “decoration” to these somber etchings, with their incomprehensible allegories, but Calasso, himself an artist (a novelist), approaches these pictures without scientific prejudice. The reviewer traces the dour attitude of mainstream art historians toward Tiepolo to his rivalry for commissions in the 1760s with Anton Raphael Mengs, a representative of the rising Enlightenment cult of virtue and the austere aesthetics of a rising neoclassicism. From that time on, art historians have treated Tiepolo's work as unhealthy, lightweight, and bizarre, but this review supports Calasso's claim that his work is actually sober and moving. The review concludes that there are artists whom the narrow sensibility of standard art historians will never be able to accommodate, Tiepolo being only one among several.
Direct and correlated responses to laboratory selection for body melanisation inD. melanogaster: support for melanism- desiccation resistance hypothesis.
Authors: Ramniwas Seema , Kajla Babita , Dev Kapil , Parkash Ravi
Published: December 2012

For Drosophila melanogaster, cuticular melanisation is a quantitative trait, varying from no melanin to complete dark. Variation in melanisation has been linked with stress resistance, especially desiccation, in D. melanogaster and other species. As melanism has a genetic component, we selected melanic and non- melanic phenotypes of D. melanogaster, in order to confirm the association of desiccation resistance and rate of water loss with cuticular melanisation previously reported for this species. A bidirectional selection experiment for dark (D1- D4) and light (L1- L4) body color in D. melanogaster was conducted for 60 generations. In 60 generations of selection for pigmentation, an increase of 1.6 fold in selected dark strain and decrease of 14 folds in selected light strain was observed as compared to control populations. Desiccation hour increased significantly in the dark selected morphs as compared with control. The observed increase in desiccation resistance appeared as a consequence of decrease in cuticular permeability. Our results show that water balance related traits were significantly correlated with abdominal melanisation and were simultaneously selected bidirectionally along with melanisation.
Spontaneous magnetic orientation in larval Drosophila shares properties with learned magnetic compass responses in adult flies and mice.
Authors: Painter Michael S. , Dommer David H. , Altizer William W. , Muheim Rachel , Phillips John B.
Published: December 2012

We provide evidence for spontaneous quadramodal magnetic orientation in a larval insect. Second instar Berlin, Canton-S, and Oregon-R X Canton-S strains of Drosophila melanogaster exhibited quadramodal orientation with clusters of bearings along the four anti-cardinal compass directions (i.e. 45°, 135°, 225°, 315°). In double-blind experiments, Canton-S Drosophila larvae exhibited quadramodal orientation in the presence of an earth-strength magnetic field, while this response was abolished when the horizontal component of the magnetic field was cancelled, indicating that the quadramodal behavior is dependent on magnetic cues, and may reflect properties of the underlying magnetoreception mechanism. In addition, a reanalysis of data from studies of learned magnetic compass orientation by adult Drosophila melanogaster and C57BL/6 mice reveals patterns of response similar to those exhibited by larval flies suggesting that a common magnetoreception mechanism(s) may underlie these behaviors. Therefore, characterizing the mechanism(s) of magnetoreception in flies may hold the key to understanding the magnetic sense in a wide array of terrestrial organisms.
Phenotypic plasticity in blood-oxygen transport in highland and lowland deer mice
Authors: Tufts Danielle M. , Revsbech Inge G. , Cheviron Zachary A. , Weber Roy E. , Fago Angela , Storz Jay F.
Published: December 2012

In vertebrates living at high altitude, arterial hypoxemia may be ameliorated by reversible changes in the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood (regulated by erythropoiesis) and/or changes in blood-oxygen affinity (regulated by allosteric effectors of hemoglobin function). These hematological traits often differ between taxa that are native to different elevational zones, but it is often unknown whether the observed physiological differences reflect fixed, genetically based differences or environmentally induced acclimatization responses (phenotypic plasticity). Here we report measurements of hematological traits related to blood-O2 transport in populations of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) that are native to high- and low-altitude environments. We conducted a common-garden breeding experiment to assess whether altitude-related physiological differences were attributable to developmental plasticity and/or physiological plasticity during adulthood. Under conditions prevailing in their native habitats, high-altitude deer mice from the Rocky Mountains exhibited a number of pronounced hematological differences relative to low-altitude conspecifics from the Great Plains: higher hemoglobin concentrations, higher hematocrits, higher erythrocytic concentrations of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (an allosteric regulator of hemoglobin-oxygen affinity), lower mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentrations, and smaller red cells. However, these differences disappeared after 6-weeks of acclimation to normoxia at low altitude. The measured traits were also indistinguishable between the F1 progeny of highland and lowland mice, indicating that there were no persistent differences in phenotype that could be attributed to developmental plasticity. These results indicate that the naturally occurring hematological differences between highland and lowland mice are environmentally induced and are largely attributable to physiological plasticity during adulthood.
Analysis and Branch-and-Cut Algorithm for the Time-Dependent Travelling Salesman Problem
Authors: Cordeau Jean-François , Ghiani Gianpaolo , Guerriero Emanuela
Published: December 2012

Given a graph whose arc traversal times vary over time, the time-dependent travelling salesman problem (TDTSP) consists in finding a Hamiltonian tour of least total duration covering the vertices of the graph. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, we describe a lower and upper bounding procedure that requires the solution of a simpler (yet NP-hard) asymmetric travelling salesman problem (ATSP). In addition, we prove that this ATSP solution is optimal for the TDTSP if all the arcs share a common congestion pattern. Second, we formulate the TDTSP as an integer linear programming model for which valid inequalities are devised. These inequalities are then embedded into a branch-and-cut algorithm that is able to solve instances with up to 40 vertices.
The Status of General Aviation Airports in Disaster Response Planning
Authors: Smith James Fielding
Published: December 2012

This study takes three approaches to discover historical and potential future roles of general aviation (GA) airports in disaster response. A national survey was attempted with 500 randomly selected public use airports. 20 airports were asked the same questions in interviews and site visits, but these airports were selected on the basis of past involvement in disaster response or self-selected for the study. The third approach was an analysis of the seven state aviation disaster operations plans existing in 2010. The main conclusions are that GA airports are willing to serve in disaster response, that many of them actively seek response roles, and that GA airports are better reflected in local disaster plans than in state plans, and in state plans than in national plans. Several types of further research are recommended.
The Use of Imagery by Successful Hockey Players: A Comparison Among Skill Levels
Authors: Short Sandra E. , Zostautas Nick , Monsma Eva V.
Published: December 2012

The study provides a comprehensive examination of how successful hockey players use imagery and replicates and extends other imagery research by considering skill level (high school, college and professional). The key variables of interest were the frequency of imagery use, the perceived function of imagery, imagery direction, and confidence in using imagery. Results are presented from the subscale and individual item level as based on the Sport Imagery Questionnaire. Overall, MG-M imagery was used the most, and most images were considered to serve this function. Some images were debilitative - but they were not used very often. Athletes were confident in their ability to use imagery and in most cases confidence was positively correlated with imagery use.
The Prostitute's Allure: The Return to Beauty in Commercial Sex Work
Authors: Arunachalam Raj , Shah Manisha
Published: December 2012

We estimate the earnings premium for beauty in an occupation where returns to physical attractiveness are likely to be important: commercial sex work. Using data from sex workers in Ecuador and Mexico, we find that a one standard deviation increase in attractiveness yields 10-15 percent higher earnings. Including controls for personal characteristics (communication ability and desirability of personality) cuts the beauty premium by up to one-half. Beautiful sex workers earn higher wages, have more clients, and enjoy a larger compensating differential for disease risk.
Hypothetical Bias in Choice Experiments: Is Cheap Talk Effective at Eliminating Bias on the Intensive and Extensive Margins of Choice?
Authors: Bosworth Ryan , Taylor Laura O.
Published: December 2012

We use an experimental approach to evaluate the effectiveness of the most commonly employed bias-mitigation tool in nonmarket valuation surveys: the cheap talk script. Our experimental design allows us to estimate treatment effects on two margins of choice separately: the decision to enter the market at all (the extensive margin) and the choices among alternatives offered (the intensive margin). The key result of this study is to show that a cheap talk script appears to affect both margins in ways distinctly different than when choices involve actual payments. Specifically, participants in hypothetical choice experiments including cheap talk are more inclined to enter the market but are also more price-sensitive as compared to when payments are real. Interestingly, the average influence of cheap talk on market participation and price-sensitiveness could result in total willingness to pay (WTP) estimates that are similar to real payment treatments since the two effects identified act in opposite directions when computing WTP. However, they may do so by inducing behavior that is distinctly different than those of consumers facing real choices. Our results highlight that future reliance on cheap talk as a bias mitigation tool requires extensive testing for empirical regularities to gain any confidence that the tool can be effective, and under what circumstances.
Impact of Asset Specificity on Inter-firm Transaction Structure: A Case Study
Authors: Azarian Reza
Published: December 2012

This article reports on the results of a case study that examines the characteristics of the transaction between a plastic producer firm and its supplier of steel injection mold in order to explore the possible effects of asset specificity on the firm�s choice of the transaction structure. The main findings indicate that once the dependence of the firm on the supplier and the ensuing vulnerability induced by the high specificity of the inter-firm trade is remedied by trust, the comparative advantages of the existing and well-functioning inter-firm relationship provide a sufficiently strong rationale of preferring it as the most adequate and satisfactory structure for the transaction.
A systematic procedure for finding Perfect Bayesian Equilibria in Incomplete Information Games
Authors: Munoz-Garcia Felix
Published: December 2012

This paper provides a non-technical introduction to a procedure to find Perfect Bayesian equilibria (PBEs) in incomplete information games. Despite the rapidly expanding literature on industrial organization that uses PBE as its main solution concept, most undergraduate and graduate textbooks still present a relatively theoretical introduction to PBEs. This paper offers a systematic five-step procedure that helps students find all pure-strategy PBEs in incomplete information games. Furthermore, it illustrates a step-by-step application of this procedure to a signaling game, using a worked-out example.
Grounding Public Reasons in Rationality: The Conditionally-Compassionate Medical Student and Other Challenges
Authors: Nir Eyal
Published: December 2012

Gillian Hadfield and Stephen Macedo argue that late-Rawlsian stability for the right reasons, that is, stability based on participants’ reciprocal cooperation, can arise even if participants start out only economically rational and indifferent to justice. As they explain, even purely rational actors have an interest in having a neutral “shared logic” to coordinate decentralized enforcement of social cooperation and in internalizing that logic. Once developed and internalized, they add, that logic renders their reasoning public, and their persons, reasonable and responsive to Rawlsian justice considerations. Hadfield and Macedo’s account seeks to lend Rawlsian contractualism a contractarian foundation. I raise five challenges to their account, focusing on the sense in which actors “start out” purely rational; on illiberal means that may serve rational citizens’ joint ends; on the counterexample of Martin Luther King; on the difficulty of specifying the mechanism for shared logic-internalization; and on the further counterexample of a medical student who internalizes compassion, only upon the condition that it serves his rational aims.
Religious Exemptions: An Egalitarian Demand?
Authors: White Stuart G.
Published: December 2012

To what extent does the case for exemptions from laws to accommodate religious (and perhaps other conscientious) commitments rest specifically on egalitarian arguments? To what extent should specifically egalitarian or anti-discrimination concerns be used to determine when such exemptions should be granted? This Article considers both of these questions. It argues that while egalitarian considerations have a role to play in both the general justification and case-by-case evaluation of exemption claims, neither the justification, nor the evaluation of exemptions, properly rests solely on specifically egalitarian considerations. At the level of justification, there is an important, independent role for something akin to the principle of respect for conscience recently put forward by Martha Nussbaum; and, when citizens come to evaluate particular claims for exemptions, the anti-discrimination approach put forward by Christopher Eisgruber and Lawrence Sager in the context of the U.S. and its constitutional tradition is more plausibly seen as a complement to the “balancing test” which has been used historically rather than as an alternative to it.
Public Justification and the Right to Private Property: Welfare Rights as Compensation for Exclusion
Authors: Brettschneider Corey
Published: December 2012

The right to private property is among the most fundamental in liberal theory. For many liberals the idea of the state is grounded in its role as a protector of private property. If the liberal state is justified by its ability to protect property, the modern welfare state is often justified by its ability to meet needs. According to a view commonly referred to as “welfarism,” the very fact that needs exist implies there is a moral obligation to meet them. In this Article I appeal to Rawlsian contractualist justification, including the “criterion of reciprocity,” in developing a third manner of thinking about the relationship between property and welfare. I argue that welfare rights are necessary conditions for justifying a role for the state in enforcing the “right to exclude,” a fundamental element of private ownership. My Article thus aims to use Rawls’ account of justification, outlined in his later works, to theorize the notion of property-owning democracy from Theory of Justice.
Logit Regression Based Bankruptcy Prediction of Korean Firms
Authors: Han Chulwoo , Kang Hyeongmook , Kim Gamin , Yi Joseph
Published: December 2012

In this article, we develop a bankruptcy prediction model for Korean firms that utilize logit regression. We find that not only financial accounting ratios but equity market inputs and macro-economic variables are also important predictors of bankruptcy. However, unlike the findings of Campbell et al. (2008), using market value of equity in computing total assets did not improve the model. We compare the model with a Merton-type structural model and find that our model demonstrates a higher prediction power in distinguishing distressed firms from healthy firms. Though our model proves to perform better, we are careful to make a conclusion and rather suggest using several models for the purpose of risk management to reduce model risk.
Integrating Helms’s White Racial Identity Development Model with Cognitive- Experiential Self-Theory: Implications for Multicultural Education
Authors: Suthakaran V.
Published: December 2012

With the increased focus on multicultural education in colleges and universities, there is a need for educators to have a profound knowledge of White racial identity development to better understand White students’ resistance to multicultural topics and to facilitate their racial identity development. An integration of Helms’s White racial identity development model with Epstein’s cognitive-experiential self-theory (CEST) is presented in this article. It is proposed that the integration of Helms’ White racial identity development model with CEST enhances the potential for Helms’s model to more deeply explain White racial identity development among White students. Implications for multicultural education are provided.
Reliability, Validity, Effects Sizes, and Confidence Intervals in Multicultural Teaching and Learning Research and Scholarship
Authors: Sapp Marty
Published: December 2012

Like many journals within education, for Multicultural Learning and Teaching, this writer found little written on measurement, effect sizes, and confidence intervals; therefore, the purpose of this article is to address these factors. The effect of not addressing these issues is that a basic foundation of science cannot be established without them (Thompson, 2002). It is hoped that researchers and scholars can adapt these concepts to their multicultural learning and teaching research and scholarship. Reliability, validity, effect sizes, and confidence intervals are necessary for multicultural learning, teaching, research and scholarship. Reliability and validity are the pillars of good research, and effect sizes allow one to determine the degree to which the null hypothesis may be false. Also, effect sizes are point estimates and they describe sample data, while confidence intervals describe what happen within populations through repeated sampling or repeated testing. This article describes reliability, validity, effect sizes, confidence intervals and how to calculate them using the SPSS statistical software. Individuals who understand multicultural issues will be able to apply these ideas to their research and scholarship. Finally, to aid understanding, few formulas are used, but narratives are used to aid in presenting these ideas.
Nachhaltigkeit beim Bibliotheksbau
Authors: Sommer Dorothea , Feldsien-Sudhaus Inken
Published: December 2012

The 16th seminar of the LIBER Architecture Group, which took place in Prague in 2012, offered its participants a range of different topics dealing with library architecture. Special focus of the seminar was the reuse and refurbishment of existing buildings with regard to issues of sustainability. The presentations included general principles of the planning process in connection with the functions and roles of libraries within urban planning. They also informed on current developments in teaching and research at European universities. Projects were presented, which showed energy saving planning approaches as well as the reconstruction and complete reorganization of existing buildings in order to adapt them to current demands of library buildings. In addition, a crash course in acoustics was provided. Libraries as learning spaces were not only shown in the presentations during the seminar, but could be explored during the visits of the Technical National Library in Prague as well as in other Czech libraries. The program of the conference concluded with presentations, which focused in particular on the preservation of collections.
Tropomodulins and tropomyosins – organizers of cellular microcompartments
Authors: Fath Thomas
Published: December 2012

Eukaryotic cells show a remarkable compartmentalization into compartments such as the cell nucleus, the Golgi apparatus, the endoplasmic reticulum, and endosomes. However, organelle structures are not the only means by which specialized compartments are formed. Recent research shows a critical role for diverse actin filament populations in defining functional compartments, here referred to as microcompartments, in a wide range of cells. These microcompartments are involved in regulating fundamental cellular functions including cell motility, plasma membrane organization, and cellular morphogenesis. In this overview, the importance of two multigene families of actin-associated proteins, tropomodulins and tropomyosins, their interactions with each other, and a large number of other proteins will be discussed in the context of generating specialized actin-based microcompartments.
Blood protein and blood cell interactions with gold nanoparticles: the need for in vivo studies
Authors: Shah Neha B. , Bischof John C.
Published: December 2012

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have gained in prominence within the field of nanomedicine with recent advancement of several embodiments to clinical trials. To ensure their success in the clinic it has become increasingly clear that a deeper understanding of the biological interactions of GNPs is imperative. Since the majority of GNPs are intended for systemic intravenous use, an immediate and critical biological interaction is between the blood and the GNP. Blood is composed of plasma proteins and cells. Both of these components can induce downstream effects upon interacting with GNPs that ultimately influence their medical impact. For instance, proteins from the blood can cover the GNP to create a biological identity through formation of a protein corona that is quite different from the originally synthesized GNP. Once in the bloodstream this protein coated GNP evokes both positive and negative physiological responses such as biodistribution into tissue for therapy (i.e., cancer) and toxicity or off target accumulation in the reticuloendothelial system (RES) that must be controlled for optimal use. In this review, we summarize predominantly in vitro studies of GNP interactions with blood plasma proteins and blood cells and make the case that more in vivo study is urgently needed to optimal design and control GNP use in medicine. In some cases where no specific GNP blood studies exist, we draw the readers’ attention to studies conducted with other types of nanoparticles as reference.
Diabetes as a complication of adipose tissue dysfunction. Is there a role for potential new biomarkers?
Authors: Bergmann Katarzyna , Sypniewska Grazyna
Published: December 2012

Increasing incidence of type 2 diabetes is a major health problem of the modern world and requires new diagnostic tools to assess early metabolic disorders, particularly insulin resistance. The link between obesity, inflammation and insulin resistance indicates the important secretory role of adipose tissue. Proinflammatory factors (cytokines, adipokines) produced by enlarged adipose tissue are related to impaired glucose metabolism. Adipokines act as paracrine factors in adipose tissue and as endocrine hormones in the liver, muscles and central nervous system. Novel adipokines secreted from adipocytes such as retinol binding protein-4 (RBP-4), vaspin, omentin, chemerin, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (A-FABP) and dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) demonstrate pleiotropic activity and their insulin-sensitizing or enhancing insulin resistance properties have not been clearly confirmed yet. In spite of the lack of standardized automated assay methods currently available for these novel biomarkers, promising results from several studies emphasize that they might potentially be useful prognostic factors for diabetes and its complications, especially in individuals without the typical symptoms of metabolic syndrome.
A proficiency testing program of hemoglobin analysis in prevention and control of severe hemoglobinopathies in Thailand
Authors: Karnpean Rossarin , Fucharoen Goonnapa , Pansuwan Anupong , Changtrakul Duangrudee , Fucharoen Supan
Published: December 2012

Background:No external quality assessment program for hemoglobin (Hb) analysis in the prevention and control of thalassemia has been established in Thailand. To improve the first line provisional diagnostics, the first proficiency testing (PT) program has been established.

Methods:External Hb controls prepared at our center were sent to Hb analysis laboratories all over the country. Three cycles per year were performed in 2010 and 2011. In each cycle, two control samples with corresponding hematological parameters, designated as husband and his pregnant wife were supplied for Hb analysis. Each member analyzed the control samples in their routine practices. The results of Hb analysis, laboratory interpretation and risk assessment of the expected fetus for severe thalassemia diseases targeted for prevention and control were entered into the report form and sent back to our center. Participants reports were analyzed and classified into four different quality groups; Excellent (when all the three parameters are correct), Good (correct Hb analysis and interpretation but incorrect risk assessment), Fair (correct Hb analysis but incorrect interpretation and risk assessment) and Needs improvement (incorrect Hb analysis).

Results:It was found that most participants could report correct Hb types and quantifications but some misinterpretations and risk assessments were noted. These were clearly seen when control samples with more complexity were supplied.

Conclusions:These results indicate a further improvement is required in the laboratory interpretation and knowledge of the laboratory diagnosis of thalassemia. The established system should facilitate the prevention and control program of thalassemia in the region.
Glycemic control in the clinical management of diabetic patients
Authors: Mosca Andrea , Lapolla Annunziata , Gillery Philippe
Published: December 2012

In clinical practice, glycemic control is generally assessed by measuring and interpreting glycated hemoglobin levels, however, this test should be run under standardized conditions. We focus here on the crucial steps to ensure IFCC standardized HbA1c results, pointing out several residual weak points, mostly relating to the laboratory end-user (calibration, quality control materials, and EQAS). We also review the use of HbA1c for diagnosing diabetes and the various indicators useful for assessing glucose variability because in some cases they seem to represent a patient’s glucose profile more accurately than one-off HbA1c assays. Finally, the potential utility of glycated albumin and the glycation gap, the costs involved and the laboratory management issues are briefly discussed.
Thrombotic stroke in association with ovarian hyperstimulation and early pregnancy rescued by thrombectomy
Authors: Chua Natalie W.L. , Wang Junjie , Loh Seong-Feei , Chan Jerry K.Y. , Brent Robert L.
Published: December 2012

Severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) affects 2–4% of in vitro fertilization (IVF) patients, which may rarely result in an ischemic stroke secondary to a hypercoagulable state. We describe a case of a 38-year-old IVF patient who developed early-onset OHSS with a viable pregnancy who presented at 18 days post embryo transfer with an ischemic stroke resulting from a thrombus in the right middle cerebral artery. As the use of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator was relatively contraindicated owing to a recent intra-abdominal drain placement, a radiologically guided thrombectomy was performed. This resulted in neurological improvement in the mother and the birth of a normal term infant, without significant ionizing effects to the developing embryo.
Three-dimensional power Doppler assessment of pelvic structures after unilateral uterine artery embolization for postpartum hemorrhage
Authors: Tullius Thomas G. , Ross Jason Robert , Eziefule Akwugo , Ghaleb Melhem , Plavsic Sanja Kupesic
Published: December 2012

Delayed postpartum hemorrhage, defined as bleeding following delivery up to 6 weeks postpartum, is a risk following cesarean or vaginal delivery. Episodes most commonly occur between 8 and 14 days postpartum. Here, we present a case of a 24-year-old woman presenting with delayed postpartum hemorrhage 14 days after delivery, which later proved to be caused by left uterine artery hemorrhage. The hemorrhage was refractory to local treatment and required invasive measures to prevent hypotensive shock. In lieu of a hysterectomy, a unilateral uterine artery embolization (UAE) was performed to preserve fertility in this 24-year-old patient. Three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasonography was performed 3 weeks after UAE to assess the volume and vascularity of the pelvic structures. This case illustrates a viable intervention for women with postpartum hemorrhage who desire to preserve future fertility, as well as a method to detect structural and vascular changes after the treatment to evaluate their future fertility prospects.
Prenatal surgery in a triplet pregnancy complicated by a double twin reversed arterial perfusion (TRAP) sequence
Authors: Smet Maria-Elisabeth , Smet Dirk , DeKoninck Philip , De Catte Luc , Deprest Jan , Devlieger Roland
Published: December 2012

To the best of our knowledge, we report the first case of a successful antenatal intervention in a double twin reversed arterial perfusion (TRAP) sequence in a monoamniotic monochorial triplet pregnancy. After diagnosis during first-trimester ultrasound, fetoscopic coagulation and transection of the umbilical cords of both acardiac members was performed at 16 weeks of gestation. The immediate postoperative course was complicated with iatrogenic preterm premature rupture of membranes, which was successfully reversed with an amniopatch procedure. Consequent sonographic assessments showed a healthy fetus with normal growth and development, together with progressive atrophy of the acardiac fetuses. Owing to placental abruption, an urgent cesarean section was performed at 32 weeks. A baby girl of 1600 g was born in good general condition. Except for the butts of the transected umbilical cords, there were no remnants of the TRAP twins to be distinguished. After a neonatal follow up of 64 days, the baby girl could be discharged.
Irreducible representations of Leavitt path algebras
Authors: Chen Xiao-Wu
Published: December 2012

We construct some irreducible representations of the Leavitt path algebra of an arbitrary
quiver. The constructed representations are associated to certain algebraic branching systems. For a row-finite quiver, we
classify algebraic branching systems, to which irreducible representations of the Leavitt path algebra are associated. For
a certain quiver, we obtain a faithful completely reducible representation of the Leavitt path
algebra. The twisted representations of the constructed ones under the scaling action are studied.
Conservation property of symmetric jump-diffusion processes
Authors: Shiozawa Yuichi
Published: December 2012

We establish a conservativeness criterion for symmetric jump-diffusion processes
generated by regular Dirichlet forms. Using this criterion, we characterize the conservation property
in terms of the volume growth of the underlying measure
and the growth of the canonical coefficients.
Moisture-dependent orthotropic tension-compression asymmetry of wood
Authors: Ozyhar Tomasz , Hering Stefan , Niemz Peter
Published: December 2012

The influence of moisture content (MC) on the tension-compression (Te-Co) asymmetry of beech wood has been examined. The elastic and strength parameters, including Te and Co Young’s moduli, Poisson’s ratios, and ultimate and yield stress values, were determined and compared in terms of different MCs for all orthotropic directions. The results reveal a distinctive Te-Co strength asymmetry with a moisture dependency that is visualized clearly by the Te to Co yield stress ratio. The Te-Co asymmetry is further shown by the inequality of the elastic properties, known as the “bimodular behavior”. The latter is proven for the Young’s moduli values in the radial and tangential directions and for individual Poisson’s ratios. Although the bimodularity of the Young’s moduli is significant at low MC levels, there is no evidence of moisture dependency on the Te-Co asymmetry of the Poisson’s ratios.
Partial agonist, but not pure antiestrogens stimulate doming, a marker of normal differentiation, in the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line
Authors: Butler W. Barkley , D’Amico Stephen C. , Glassford William J. , Wu Weizhen
Published: December 2012

Background: The mechanisms by which tamoxifen inhibits breast tumor growth are not completely understood. Partial agonist antiestrogens such as tamoxifen may cause the estrogen receptor (ER) to interact with genes different from those activated by ER bound to estradiol. Doming is a property often associated with, and considered a marker of, differentiation in mammary epithelial cells in culture. This study compared the ability of pure and partial agonist antiestrogens to stimulate doming.

Materials and methods: MCF-7 cells grown in medium with 10% calf serum were treated with antiestrogens. Domes were counted in three rows (width of the 4× field) across the flask.

Results: Three partial agonist antiestrogens [4-hydroxytamoxifen (OHT), H1285 and RU 39,411] caused dome formation. None of the pure antiestrogens tested (ICI 164,384, ICI 182,780 and RU 58,668) caused doming. Doming was stimulated in a dose-dependent manner starting at 1 nM OHT with maximum stimulation at 10–100 nM. Estradiol did not stimulate doming, but blocked doming at 1%–10% of the OHT concentration. Trichostatin A (TSA) reduced the level of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and adding it 24 h before adding OHT prevented dome formation.

Conclusions: OHT and the other partial agonist antiestrogens appear to act through the ER to stimulate doming. The ability of tamoxifen to induce a marker of differentiation may play a role in its inhibition of breast tumors. If so, then the fact that other partial agonist antiestrogens share this ability, but that pure antiestrogens lack it, may be an important consideration in developing new antiestrogens for breast cancer therapy.
Bifunctional epitope-agonist ligands of the bradykinin B2 receptor
Authors: Gera Lajos , Roy Caroline , Marceau François
Published: December 2012

Two bradykinin (BK) B2 receptor agonists N-terminally extended with the myc epitope were synthesized and evaluated: myc-KPG-BK and myc-KGP-B-9972. The latter was modeled on the inactivation-resistant agonist B-9972 (D-Arg0, Hyp3, Igl5, Oic7, Igl8-BK) and is also resistant to endosomal inactivation. Despite a large loss of affinity relative to the parent peptide, the tagged analogs are conventional agonists in the umbilical vein contractility assay and compete for [3H]BK binding at the rabbit B2 receptor. Endocytosed myc-KGP-B-9972 most effectively carried AlexaFluor-488-conjugated anti-myc monoclonal antibodies into intact cells expressing the B2 receptor. Results support the prospects of functionally-active cargoes entering cells in a pharmacologically controlled manner.
Expression in non-melanogenic systems and purification of soluble variants of human tyrosinase
Authors: Cordes Petra , Sun Wei , Wolber Rainer , Kolbe Ludger , Klebe Gerhard , Röhm Klaus-Heinrich
Published: December 2012

Mammalian tyrosinases are key enzymes of melanin formation. Their native forms undergo complex maturation and sorting processes before being integrated into the melanosomal membrane, which greatly complicates their heterologous expression in other cell types. In the present work, we constructed several differently truncated, soluble variants of human tyrosinase and studied their properties after expression in HEK 293 cells. In addition, we prepared two affinity-tagged forms of the enzyme for expression in the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis and HEK cells, respectively. A Strep-tagged variant was secreted by K. lactis in excellent yields but found to be inactive, whereas a His-tagged variant secreted by HEK 293 cells in an active state could be purified from cell supernatants to near homogeneity. The resulting preparation consisted of an inactive, probably unglycosylated species of about 57 kDa and several glycosylated forms with masses between 63 and 75 kDa, as confirmed by activity staining, Western blotting and mass spectrometry.