bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Are people more connective than political actions? Towards an empirical approach for action participants
Authors: Shehata Mostafa
Published: December 2017

The recent wave of Internet-based social movements in the Arab Spring countries and elsewhere has considerably changed the organizational structure of contentious action. One of the current and most significant theories that has handled this change is the logic of connective action, which distinguishes between two major types of contentious action: collective and connective. In the context of this theory, this article puts forward a new conception of political action participants and attempts to classify them along the categories of collective or connective. This conception, which consists of participants’ orientations and behaviours, is empirically examined through a survey conducted in Egypt on a representative sample of 527 respondents aged 18 to 35. The results show that the Egyptian political actions that occurred after the 2011 revolution were mostly connective actions, and the majority of the actions participants were connective individuals. In addition, a strong significant relationship was found between both actions and participants as collective or connective. This suggests that identifying the nature of action participants provides a mean to better understand the nature of actions themselves.
Citizenship, media and activism in Turkey during Gezi Park protests
Authors: Yanardağoğlu Eylem
Published: December 2017

Research on alternative media indicates the blurring of boundaries between users and producers, thereby increasing the capacity of the ordinary citizens and activists to participate in the production of news and content. During the Gezi Park events in 2013, the news of police brutality spread quickly on social media whilst the mainstream media looked the other way. Thousands of protestors used social media networks to disseminate information, create awareness about police interventions, direct protestors to safe zones and medical help points, as well as mobilize people to support Gezi Park resistance. This article explores the ways in which Twitter as a social platform empowers citizens in democratic participation. It focuses on the motivations of citizens for their involvement in news and content provision during the protests as an act of democratic citizenship and participation. The data reviewed are drawn from an original research project in which a quantitatively driven social network analysis (Twitter) is used to identify the most frequent users who tweeted during Gezi protests and later include these users in qualitative in-depth interviews.
Media audiences and media consumption during political transitions: The case of Egypt
Authors: Jebril Nael , Loveless Matthew
Published: December 2017

This article examines the role of new media in countries in transition. Using original survey data from Egypt (2012), we examine individuals’ use of media to search for information following Egypt’s participation in the Arab Spring. There are two provocative findings. One, different media satisfy informational searches at local, regional and international levels. And two, the profiles of ‘new media’ users are the most distinct among all mediums, matching the participants in non-traditional forms of political participation, namely urban-living males with education and access to income. Thus, in contrast to the technological determinism of some optimistic ‘new media’ supporters, in countries with low access levels to connectivity, this may suggest an analytical shift from medium to user to better facilitate our understanding of the role of new media in countries in transition.
Social media and the re-affirmation of the role of journalism: A cursory discussion of the potential for widening the public sphere in a postcolonial society
Authors: Rodny-Gumede Ylva
Published: December 2017

New media technologies, and the proliferation of social media platforms, have fundamentally changed the way in which the news media interact with their audiences and ultimately the role that the news media play in a democracy – not to mention a nascent democracy and postcolonial society such as South Africa, where audiences are highly fragmented with large segments of the audience still cut-off from the mainstream news media. However, questions must be raised as to what the real impact of social media is with regard to broadening the public sphere and in facilitating access to a wider audience and a more diverse set of debates. A survey conducted with a select group of South African journalists, as well as civil society and media advocacy groups, indicates that the potential for widening the public sphere lies in the synergies that can be created between the traditional news media and new media platforms. This is, however, dependent on how well such synergies can facilitate access to a wider diversity of views and in the extension a broader audience.
Male and female communication, leadership styles and the position of women in public relations
Authors: Tench Ralph , Topić Martina , Moreno Angeles
Published: December 2017

This article discusses results of the largest European survey among communication and public relations (PR) practitioners regarding the position of women in the industry. The survey was conducted online among communication and PR practitioners from 42 European countries. Using communication theories on differences in communication styles among men and women, we present and discuss results on managerial skills, differences in the communication styles and traditional views on differences between men and women in PR. The results suggest differences in communication styles among male and female practitioners, where women prefer non-personal communication methods while men prefer more personal forms of communication. The results thus go directly against data showing that women prefer intimacy and building relationships and against the frequently stated arguments for differentiated approaches to communication styles.
‘You're the least important person in the room and don't forget it’: The intimate relations of subjectivity and the illegitimate everyday
Authors: Edbrook Laura
Published: December 2017

Collaging epistolary passage and theoretical discussion, this article both embodies and investigates the intimate, cerebral and emotional voice as a post-critical device and a politics of the personal-made-public. Critical memoir and autotheory are examined as rhetorical forms where criticality is charged by correlation to one’s own life. First-person critique, or the ‘radically intimate’, is recognized as a post-critical turn and as a revisionist return to poststructuralist critiques of subjectivity and citational practices of self-writing. A particular focus is this mode of enquiry applied to art writing and acting as a meta-critique of the conditions of creative practice. As a self-reflexive research methodology, it is argued that first-person observation, inflected by affect, intimacy and the quotidian, can be understood not only as a countercultural trend but as a radical intervention in the means, production and historiography of contemporary art, literature and its discourses.
Will Internets eat brain?
Authors: Wylde Gillian
Published: December 2017

‘Will Internets eat brain?’ is developed from text in some of my recent video installations, performances and writing projects. The writing explores processes of performative assemblage(s) highlighting activities of accumulation, fragmentation and arrangement, together with everyday interactions between body, technology and the Internet. The text appropriates information retrieval and Internet searches taking the form of a series of cut ups and punctured narratives, SMS language/textese and netspeak. It is experimental, situated both within and against various discourses and protocols and established codes. A virus or infective agent, the writing takes up queer practices of dis-identification; the act of rejecting dominant and pervasive ideologies as a strategy to explore and disrupt entrenched power structures of language, image and words. It is stark, it frustrates, drawing to attention non-linearity, multiplicity-ness and nowotony. An algorithmic tone or voice runs throughout the text. Any singular discursive argument scrambles, lacks concentration or is faulty. ‘Will Internets eat brain?’ was commissioned by MAP Magazine, Glasgow, and presented for Glasgow Film Festival 2017. Earlier versions appeared at ISEA International Symposium on Electronic Art, Hong Kong and Arnolfini, Bristol.
‘Bad Retail’: A romantic fiction
Authors: Figgis Laurence
Published: December 2017

‘Bad Retail’ is a work of fiction that I wrote to accompany a series of my own narrative paintings. The text was originally disseminated through a series of exhibitions in the form of printed handouts that were included alongside the visual works. The story evolved from a simultaneous investigation of two related devices in literature and painting: anachronism and collage. These terms are linked by an act of displacement: of objects from history and of images from their source. This compositional tendency is characteristic of late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century romantic fiction, which often refuses to conform to (and remain within) accustomed genre categories. The aforementioned narrative will be accompanied here by a series of illustrations based on the paintings and drawings that I produced in tandem with the text. The aim will be to treat the journal submission as a form of ‘illuminated manuscript’, in which anachronism might be understood as both a verbal and a visual strategy.
Dear Louise (April 2015)
Authors: Tatham Joanne
Published: December 2017

I propose that the conventions of academia may subject the various practices and practitioners of contemporary art to a set of behaviours that privileges certain modes of knowledge and the discovery and presentation of that knowledge over others. This text aims to perform this position through its form, as a means in and of itself to assert the agency of creative practice as a set of processes, and outcomes that are not in any way lacking in rigour, or needing to be brought into line, or licked into shape. The writing you read has been assembled slowly, in pieces, both knowingly and unknowingly, drawing on an array of writing approaches, channeling a spectrum of literary and creative forms, from within and across and around fiction, art writing and other modes of experimental writing. This text is not an academic article, although it was written as a willing acceptance of an invitation to be included in this journal; as with much contemporary art practice, it performs through and in relation to the place that it is encountered within and I expect this to be the case here. This is part two of a two-part article in the form of a letter.
Middle Eastern women, media artists and ‘self-body image’
Authors: Salah Omnia
Published: December 2017

As a conceptual approach in art practice, the female body has represented both a cultural barrier and a source of inspiration throughout art history. The adoption of the female body as an art theme is prevalent across many different artistic movements, using varying conceptual approaches. Women struggle against paradigms of inferiority to this day, though their individual cultural identity varies according to their society’s beliefs and customs – for example, many contemporary Middle Eastern cultures and customs are based on a patriarchal past, when men wielded power over women. Women all over the world experience subjugation to varying degrees in the fields of employment, education, sexuality and reproductive choice. The female body in Middle Eastern societies is a red line that artists are not allowed to cross. Though many Middle Eastern civilizations have dealt freely with the female body, as can be seen in the paintings and sculptures of ancient Egypt, many social and religious factors made the female body taboo in most Middle Eastern cultures. However, on close scrutiny of modern art history in Middle Eastern and Islamic countries, we can identify outstandingly courageous female artists who succeeded in breaking the rules. They chose to express themselves through their own own form of art as an expression of freedom. They chose to use their own bodies as an art medium, which made them pioneers in their countries, and many female artists followed their example. Media art has flourished in Arab countries since the 1990s, especially in Egypt. Many of these female artists distinguished themselves as pioneers, aligning themselves with new art forms and challenging the prevailing stereotypical notion of the female artist at that time. This new mode of female self-expression and identity has developed over time and remains an ongoing process in the twenty-first century. This article considers how Middle Eastern female media artists have struggled to transform stereotypes of women by using their own bodies as an artistic element, and how they have expressed the concept of freedom through their self-body image.
El método de ética como proceso: acogiendo la ambivalencia en investigaciones sobre infancia y deportabilidad
Authors: Lind Jacob
Published: December 2017

Aunque la ética no debería ser instrumentalizada, la discusión de cuestiones éticas con participantes y gatekeepers (‘guardianes’) puede guiarnos a nuevos conocimientos. A través de ejemplos de una investigación etnográfica con niños y familias con temor a ser deportadas realizada en Birmingham, Reino Unido, y Malmö, Suecia, este artículo reflexiona sobre cómo una aproximación de la ética como proceso puede convertirse en parte de la producción de conocimiento en contextos sensibles y de investigación politizada. Esto es resultado de la naturaleza ambivalente de la investigación etnográfica con grupos vulnerables y, el artículo, por lo tanto, anima a los investigadores a acoger las ambivalencias de co-construir el campo a través del trabajo con gatekeepers (‘guardianes’) y estableciendo confianza y consentimiento para posibilitar una producción de conocimiento más transparente y reflexiva. En conclusión, se sugiere que ante la creciente politización del área de los niños y las familias migrantes será necesario que los investigadores que deseen acoger esta ambivalencia, se alineen con la lucha expresada por los participantes para facilitar el desarrollo de investigación participante de gran calidad entre estos grupos.
La ética relacional de seguridad cultural, derechos y deseo: reflexiones acerca de la realización de investigación con la participación de la comunidad en el caso de familias migrantes en Indonesia
Authors: Ball Jessica , Beazley Harriot
Published: December 2017

Este artículo trata de un estudio exploratorio sobre el proceso decisorio, a la hora de registrar el nacimiento de hijos, de padres y madres indonesios involucrados en migración transnacional. La discusión se realiza en referencia al esfuerzo continuado de las autoras para aplicar una aproximación centrada en la ética relacional de seguridad cultural, derechos y deseo en investigaciones con participación de la comunidad. Los dilemas éticos hallados durante la investigación para la obtención del consentimiento informado y la realización de la investigación – debidos a jerarquías y protocolos sociales y las consideraciones socio-emocionales presentes en el campo – expusieron perspectivas limitadas, a menudo incompatibles, sobre el consentimiento, la privacidad y la protección por parte de los gatekeepers (‘guardianes’), entre investigaciones realizadas en contextos minoritarios y mayoritarios. El artículo considera las adaptaciones “en el momento” de los procedimientos planeados para la colección de datos. Estas adaptaciones se guiaron por la ética relacional con la intención de asegurar no solamente la colección de datos significativos, sino también consentimiento, autenticidad, seguridad socio-emocional y cultural, un legado de buenas relaciones con los líderes de las aldeas y resultados beneficiosos para los miembros de la comunidad.
Pengaruh pesan gizi singkat dan pendidikan gizi terhadap praktik makan pasien rawat inap di Rumah Sakit Umum Daerah Salatiga
Authors: Simanjuntak Rohani Retnauli , Kartasurya Martha Irene , Rosidi Ali
Published: December 2017

Background : the low dietary intake in hospitalized patients impact on low level of energy and protein adequacy. Short nutritional message and nutrition education could influence the patient’s eating practice in order to increase score of knowledge, attitude, level of energy and protein adequacy.Objective : to analyze the effects of short nutritional message and nutrition education on eating practice in hospitalized patients at Salatiga general hospital.Method : this was a quasi experimental study with control group pre-test post-test design. The treatment group (38 respondents) received hospital food (3 days) and nutritional short message and education nutrition from the nutritionist (2 days), meanwhile the control group (38 respondents) received hospital food (3 days) only. Score of knowledge and attitude were obtained from interview with questioner. Energy and protein adequacy level come from hospital food intake and recall.Results : there were no differences in nutritional knowledge score, attitude, protein and energy adequacy level before intervention in both group. Score of knowledge, attitude, level of energy and protein adequacy could be increased by short nutritional message and nutrition education (p=0,00, p=0,00, p=0,00, dan p=0,00). Short nutritional message and nutrition education was no effect on energy and protein adequacy level from food outside hospital (p=0,76 and p =0,86).Conclusion: Short nutritional message and nutrition education was increasing nutritional knowledge and attitude score, energy and protein adequacy level from hospital food and total intake.
Efektivitas ekstrak umbi sarang semut (myrmecodia pendens merr.& perry) sebagai penurun kadar glukosa darah tikus sprague dawley yang diabetes mellitus
Authors: Raya Maxianus Kopong , Legowo Anang M. , Wijayahadi Noor
Published: December 2017

Background : Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a disease associated with pancreatic β cell damage and causes hyperglycemia Antioxidants were effective in reducing the state of hyperglycemia that was triggered by free radicals. Sarang semut contains flavonoids and tannins that act as antioxidants.Objective : The purpose to analyze the effectiveness of sarang semut stem extract as lowering blood glucose on diabetic white male Sprague Dawley rats. Method : True experimental with 30 rats which divided into five groups : negative control (DM+ water), positive control (DM+glibenklamid) and 3 treatment groups of DM + water extract of  sarang semut stem powder 90 mg/200gBW, 180 mg/200g BW and 360/200g BW respectively. DM was induced by 65mg/kgBW Streptozotocin and 230 mg/kgBW Nicotinamide intraperitonealy. Extract was given by sonde. The data was analyzed by Kruskall-Wallis and Mann-Whitney. Results : IC50 value of  sarang semut stem extract were 6,56-10,07 mg/ml in powder and 9,12-15,62 mg/ml whole. The average rats weight alteration on groups of negative control, positive control,  and 3 treatment groups of DM + water extract of  sarang semut stem powder 90 mg/200gBW, 180 mg/200g BW and 360/200g BW before and after treatment were -7,60± -0,40; 25,80±0,51; 16,40±0,44; 17,20±1,28 dan 19,20±0,06 gram respectively (ρ=0,001). The average fasting blood glucose level on groups of negative control, positive control,  and 3 treatment groups of DM + water extract of  sarang semut stem powder 90 mg/200gBW, 180 mg/200g BW and 360/200g BW before and after treatment were 3,33±2,42; -122,44±-0,51; -79,42±-11,38; -94,08±-11,97 and -134,66±-2,59 mg/dL respectively (ρ=0,001). Conclusion : The IC50­ value in sarang semut stem powder was higher than a whole form. Dose of 360 mg/200g BW lowered blood glucose better than 90 and 180 /200g BW dosage.
Perbandingan pemberian air kelapa muda (cocos nucifera l) dengan isotonik terhadap denyut nadi dan VO2maks atlet remaja
Authors: Hatta Muhammad , Susanto Hardhono , Rahfilludin M. Zen
Published: December 2017

Background: Football players requires a high level of VO2max which is influenced by the available of energy. Tender coconut water and branded isotonic are as energy drinks containing of carbohydrates and the body’s electrolyte ions that can prevent dehydration. The increasing pulse describes a the condition of dehydrated players during match or training. Objective: To Examine comparison of tender hybrid coconut water and branded isotonic to pulse and the plyer’s level of VO2max in the Diponegoro University Football School in Tembalang, Semarang. Methods: Experimental study with an approach of randomized pretest - post test control group design at 41 soccer’s player aged 13-15 years at Diponegoro University Football School Tembalang in August 2015. The treatment group consumed consumed 250 mL tender coconut water (n=13) and branded isotonic (n=14) and group control consumed mineral water (n=14) every 15-30 minutes for 5 times. Observation  pre test and post test 1,2,3 with interval of 3 day after physical training, athlets test the pulse to palpation techniques for 15 seconds and VO2max test with multistage fitness test. Result: The VO2max and pulse recovery in the beginning of research for 3 group was similar (p = 0,454 and p = 0,294). Post test 1 VO2max on three group are same (p = 0,841) but the recovery pulse is better on the group of tender coconut water and branded isotonic (p = 0.006). Post test 2, VO2max and recovery pulse is more good by players who were given tender hybrid coconut water and branded isotonic (p = 0,004 and p = 0,017), as the same post test 3 VO2max and recovery pulse (p = 0.000 and p = 0,004).Conclusion: Giving the tender hybrid coconut water and branded isotonic to same to recovery pulse and increased VO2maks on athlete school football diponegoro unversity
Pengaruh susu kedelai dan jahe terhadap kadar kolesterol total pada wanita hiperkolesterolemia
Authors: Fitranti Deny Yudi , Marthandaru Diassafons
Published: December 2017

Background: Hypercholesterolemia is one of the risk factor of coronary heart disease. Soy contains protein, fiber and isoflavones which can reduce total cholesterol levels. Soy milk added by ginger might increase antioxidant activity. Ginger consist of oleoresin that can  reduce total cholesterol level.Objective: To investigate the effect of soy milk and ginger to the total cholesterol levels in hypercholesterolemic women Methods: The study was true experiment with the control group pre-post test design. Subjects were 16 women aged 30-55 years with serum total cholesterol level 200-250 mg / dl. Subject were divided into two group. The intervention group receive 430 ml soy milk with 3 gram ginger and control group receive placebo. Total cholesterol level was measured by CHOD-PAP method. Food intake during the intervention was measured using food records and 24-hours food recall.. Data was analyzed by using  Independent t test, Wilcoxon and Multiple Linear Regression.Results: Mean of total cholesterol level in treatment group decreased 5,50 mg/dl and the placebo group had increased total cholesterol l9.44 mg/dl. There were no differences in total cholesterol levels before and after intervention in the treatment group (p = 0.204) and control group (p = 0.093). There were differences in variations in total cholesterol levels between the two groups (p = 0.041). Conclusion: Consumed soy milk with ginger as much as 430ml/day during 14 days there was no difference in total cholesterol levels before and after intervention with decreased total cholesterol by 5,50 mg/dl.
PELANGGARAN KODE ETIK BERAT OLEH ANGGOTA KPU KABUPATEN/KOTA DI PROVINSI SUMATERA BARAT PADA PEMILU TAHUN 2014 DAN PILKADA TAHUN 2015
Authors: Zerra Aidinil , Chatra Emeraldy , Sari Yulia
Published: December 2017

Pelanggaran kode etik penyelenggara pemilu mengalami peningkatan yang sangat signifikan dari periode pemilu sebelumnya. Hal ini dapat terlihat dari jumlah anggota KPU Kabupaten/Kota se Provinsi Sumatera Barat yang diberhentikan oleh DKPP selama pelaksanaan pemilu tahun 2014 dan pemilihan kepela daerah tahun 2015. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menggambarkan proses terjadinya pelanggaran kode etik berat tersebut. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dan mengikuti model penelitian studi kasus. Pengambilan data dilakukan dengan cara wawancara mendalam dan studi dokumen. Penelitian ini menggambarkan bahwa pelanggaran kode etik oleh lima orang anggota KPU kabupaten/Kota di Provinsi Sumatera Barat dilakukan karena ada kejadian – kejadian khusus dalam pelaksanaan tahapan pemilu atau pilkada. Kejadian-kejadian khusus tersebut tidak sesuai dengan ketentuan peraturan tentang pemilu atau pilkada. Penelitian ini juga menggambarkan bahwasanya tindakan pelanggaran kode etik yang dilakukan oleh anggota KPU Kabupaten/Kota di Provinsi Sumatera Barat dikarenakan pengetahuan tentang kepemiluan.
Die Deutsche Biographie zu Gast in Amerika
Authors: Scholz  , Schrott Maximilian
Published: December 2017

Die von der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft geförderte Deutsche Biographie erhielt im Dezember 2016 die Möglichkeit, sich auf dem Treffen der Coalition of Networked Information (CNI) vorzustellen. Als Kooperationsprojekt von Forschung und Bibliothek passte es gut in den Rahmen der CNI, zu deren Mitgliedern Verlage, Behörden und Forschungseinrichtungen ebenso gehören wie Bibliotheken, Archive und Museen. In den weit überwiegend amerikanisch geprägten Vorträgen wurden alle Aspekte der digitalen Prozesskette von der Produktion bis zur Langzeitarchivierung angesprochen. Es zeigte sich, dass die Aufgabenstellungen auf beiden Seiten des Atlantiks die gleichen sind und nur durch eine möglichst früh einsetzende Zusammenarbeit aller Bereiche effektiv gelöst werden können.
10. Wildauer Bibliothekssymposium im Rückspiegel
Authors: Seeliger Frank
Published: December 2017

Im September fand das 10. Wildauer Bibliothekssymposium statt und stellte sich in ganzer thematischer Breite dem Angebotsspektrum Innovation bzw. womit sich Bibliotheken aktuell dazu beschäftigen. Die Palette reicht von Stegreiftheater bis institutioneller Neuaufstellung, vom Einsatz humanoider Roboter bis zur Anwendung von Algorithmen des maschinellen Lernens für Suchanfragen.
Approximate Solution of a Singular Integral Equation with a Cauchy Kernel on the Euclidean Plane
Authors: Pylak Dorota , Karczmarek Paweł , Wójcik Paweł
Published: December 2017

Multidimensional singular integral equations (SIEs) play a key role in many areas of applied science such as aerodynamics, fluid mechanics, etc. Solving an equation with a singular kernel can be a challenging problem. Therefore, a plethora of methods have been proposed in the theory so far. However, many of them are discussed in the simplest cases of one–dimensional equations defined on the finite intervals. In this study, a very efficient method based on trigonometric interpolating polynomials is proposed to derive an approximate solution of a SIE with a multiplicative Cauchy kernel defined on the Euclidean plane. Moreover, an estimation of the error of the approximated solution is presented and proved. This assessment and an illustrating example show the effectiveness of our proposal.
On some classes of negligible subsets of the Euclidean plane
Authors: Kharazishvili Alexander
Published: December 2017

For certain groups of isometric transformations of the Euclidean plane

ℝ
2

{\mathbb{R}^{2}}

, negligible and absolutely negligible subsets of this plane are considered and
compared with each other.
Analysis of the Long Time Behavior of Enzymatic Cellulose Hydrolysis Kinetics
Authors: Ramakrishnan S , Brodeur G , Telotte J. C
Published: December 2017

Enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass to produce sugars that can be converted to fuels and other valuable chemicals, is viewed as the prime technology for utilization of this renewable resource. To accelerate technology development, models are needed that are able to accurately predict the hydrolysis rate so that reactors can be tailored to the multitude of processing conditions and substrates that can be used. Of particular interest is the ability to predict the long time conversion in the hydrolysis reaction which dictates the maximum possible sugar concentration. It is our aim in this article to develop a simple model which is able to predict the long-term conversion of cellulose to soluble sugars. Drawing on the analogy from the theory of reactions in continuous mixtures, it is shown that analysis of the long time kinetics of hydrolysis by examining the behavior of the “lump” of the reacting material results in a simple expression which is capable of predicting the kinetics. Many features of actual enzyme systems can be included in the development of the hydrolysis model, such as the large size of the enzyme molecules, adsorption onto substrate, inhibition by different factors (solvent, glucose etc.), but, when the analysis is carried out to calculate the total sugar concentration, it is shown that the equations reduce to a simple expression. Analysis of this model is given with comparison to other models and experimental data available in the literature. In addition to predicting the long-term kinetics, it is shown that the model does a surprising job of predicting the initial hydrolysis rates as well.
Antinociceptive and antioxidant activities of Hunteria umbellata stem bark: possible role of the serotonergic, opioidergic and dopaminergic pathways
Authors: Edosuyi Osaze , Igbe Ighodaro , Iniaghe Loretta Oghenekome
Published: December 2017

Background

Hunteria umbellata (HU) (K. Schum) is used in ethnomedicine for the management of pain, diabetes mellitus and dysmenorrhoea. This study evaluated the analgesic and antioxidant activities of aqueous extract of HU stem bark and the possible mechanism(s) of action.

Methods

The antinociceptive effect of HU was evaluated using acetic acid mouse writhing, tail flick, hot plate and formalin-induced paw licking models. To establish the possible mechanism(s) of action of HU, separate group of animals were pretreated with naloxone (1 mg/kg, i.p.), atropine (1 mg/kg, i.p.), haloperidol (0.1 mg/kg, i.p.), ondansetron (1 mg/kg, i.p.) and phenoxybenzamine (0.1 mg/kg, i.p.), 15 min before HU. The in vivo and in vitro antioxidant potential was evaluated using established methods.

Results

The extract at 150 and 300 mg/kg, significantly (p<0.05) reduced the number of writhes and paw licking times and increased pain threshold in writhing assay, paw licking and hotplate tests respectively. Pretreatment of animals with ondansetron, naloxone and haloperidol, significantly (p<0.05 and p<0.01) attenuated the analgesic activity of HU. The extract demonstrated significant (p<0.05) radical scavenging activity (IC50 0.39 µg/mL), with high phenol content and reducing property. The total phenol content was 124.19 per gram of gallic acid. In vivo antioxidant assay showed significant (p<0.05) increase in catalase and superoxide levels.

Conclusions

Results obtained in this study suggest the involvement of serotonergic, opioidergic and dopaminergic pathways in the analgesic effect of HU stem bark, in addition to its potent antioxidant potential.
On decompositions of estimators under a general linear model with partial parameter restrictions
Authors: Jiang Bo , Tian Yongge , Zhang Xuan
Published: December 2017

A general linear model can be given in certain multiple partitioned forms, and there exist submodels associated with the given full model. In this situation, we can make statistical inferences from the full model and submodels, respectively. It has been realized that there do exist links between inference results obtained from the full model and its submodels, and thus it would be of interest to establish certain links among estimators of parameter spaces under these models. In this approach the methodology of additive matrix decompositions plays an important role to obtain satisfactory conclusions. In this paper, we consider the problem of establishing additive decompositions of estimators in the context of a general linear model with partial parameter restrictions. We will demonstrate how to decompose best linear unbiased estimators (BLUEs) under the constrained general linear model (CGLM) as the sums of estimators under submodels with parameter restrictions by using a variety of effective tools in matrix analysis. The derivation of our main results is based on heavy algebraic operations of the given matrices and their generalized inverses in the CGLM, while the whole contributions illustrate various skillful uses of state-of-the-art matrix analysis techniques in the statistical inference of linear regression models.
Bile leakage after liver transplantation
Authors: Fang Cheng , Yan Sheng , Zheng Shusen
Published: December 2017

Objective

To evaluate the risk factors and outcome of bile leak after liver transplantation.

Methods

We undertook a retrospective study of patients who underwent liver transplantation in our institution between January 2010 and January 2014. The characteristics and survival rate of patients with or without bile leak were compared.

Results

Bile leak was observed in sixteen patients after liver transplantation (2.7% of the total number of patients transplanted). Total operating time and bile duct reconstruction technique (duct-to-duct anastomosis or Rouxen-Y cholangiojejunostomy) were found to differ significantly between patients with and without bile leak in univariate (p = 0.001 and 0.024, respectively) and multivariate analyses (p = 0.012 and 0.026, respectively). There was no difference in the one-year patient survival rate between the two groups. However, two-year patient survival rate was significantly lower in the bile leak group (p = 0.003). Both one-year and two-year graft survival rates were significantly lower in the bile leak group (p = 0.049 and <0.001, respectively).

Conclusions

Cholangiojejunostomy and prolonged total operating time are risk factors for bile leak after deceased donor liver transplantation. Bile leak reduces graft and patient survival rates after deceased donor liver transplantation.
Crystal structure of trans-diaqua-bis(1H-pyrazole-3-carboxylato-κ2
N,O)manganese(II), C8H10N4O6Mn
Authors: Wang Hui , Gao Yang , Lü Lei
Published: December 2017

C8H10N4O6Mn, monoclinic, P21/c (no. 14), a = 5.1531(5) Å, b = 11.7052(11) Å, c = 9.4154(7) Å, β = 95.1540(10)°, V = 565.62(9) Å3, Z = 2, R
gt(F) = 0.0227, wR
ref(F
2) = 0.0611, T = 298 K.
Crystal structure of (OC-6-13)-diaqua-bis(3,5-di(pyridin-3-yl)-4H-1,2,4-triazol-4-amine-κ1
N)-bis(dicyanamido-κ1
N)zinc(II) tetrahydrate, ZnC28H32N18O6
Authors: Wang Xue-Yuan , Zhu Xia , Lu Xin , Wang Jian-Qiao
Published: December 2017

ZnC28H32N18O6, monoclinic, P21/c (no. 14), a = 10.472(2) Å, b = 21.668(4) Å, c = 8.1282(15) Å, β = 105.763(5)°, V = 1775.0(6) Å3, Z = 2, R
gt(F) = 0.0459, wR
ref(F
2) = 0.1133, T = 298 K.
The crystal structure of (E)-N′-(pyridin-2-ylmethylene)pyrazine-2-carbohydrazide, C11H9N5O
Authors: Xi-Shi Tai , Peng-Fei Li
Published: December 2017

C11H9N5O, monoclinic, P21/n (no. 14), a = 14.203(3) Å, b = 11.036(2) Å, c = 14.303(3) Å, β = 109.91(3)° V = 2107.9(7) Å3, Z = 8, R
gt(F) = 0.0381, wR
ref(F
2) = 0.1119, T = 293(2) K.
Tellabilities – Diatopic/Diachronic: Where and When a Story Is Worth Telling and Where and When It Is Not
Authors: Mahler Andreas
Published: December 2017

Man/woman has been described as the meaning-generating, story-telling animal (‘homo narrans’). In developing narratives, we continuously (and communally) attempt to make sense of life: to turn the contingent into some common coherent form, apt to bring order into the indiscrete flow of events and to (meaningfully) explain to us the ‘world.’ This has been addressed under the concept of ‘tellability.’ Tellability seems to transform something that can be told into something that is worth telling – that has some hermeneutical or cognitive or even only phatic value in that it invites us to understand (again and again) what (and why it) ‘happened.’ The article traces this process of creating community through telling first diatopically, by exploring forms and practices of narrating in different contexts and cultures, and then diachronically, by focusing on what makes a story a ‘good’ story in different periods of time. Drawing on pragmatic and functionalist theories of language and literature, it attempts to show that the idea of a story that is ‘worth it’ – or, as for that, ‘relatable’ – is largely dependent precisely upon the story’s ‘relation’ to its users and, by extension, to its embedding culture as well as to its point in time.
History, Time, and Lived Experience in Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987), Jazz (1992), and Paradise (1997)
Authors: Brandt Stefan L.
Published: December 2017

My essay interprets Toni Morrison’s works as ‘timeless,’ not so much from the perspective of their presumable universal appeal, but from that of their narrative composition, which denies established forms of temporal arrangement and facilitates new ways of textual experience. Focusing on Morrison’s Trilogy (Beloved, Jazz, and Paradise), I will argue that the three novels challenge conventional ideas of history and time to create a narrative space situated in the living present. While filled with numerous references to concrete timelines, Morrison’s writings also insist on a quasi-universal ‘truth’ that takes the reader beyond the boundaries of objective history. Beloved first limits the narrative perspective to the year 1873, but then invites its readers to embark on a virtual ‘time travel’ through various periods of the protagonist’s life. Memories and subjective lapses back into the past dominate the narration, thus focusing on experience and imaginary time. Jazz and Paradise both situate literary ‘truth’ in the sentient dynamic of the reading experience. Following the claim of phenomenological theory that perception is always a kind of action in which the world appears “afresh from the perspective of […] ‘lived’ experience” (Chaplin, A.D. [2002]. “Phenomenology: Merleau-Ponty and Sartre.” B. Gaut and D.M. Lopes, eds. The Routledge Companion to Aesthetics. London and New York, NY: Routledge, 159), I will examine Morrison’s novels as ‘living events’ that reconstruct the narrated occurrences as haptic experiences. Through mnemonic elements within the esthetics of her texts, Morrison transforms the novels’ story time into a very subjective discourse time that engages readers immediately. In the phenomenological sense, these strategies enable us to lose ourselves in Morrison’s novels and, instead of perceiving them as mere textual constructions, indulge in the illusion of “re-achieving a direct and primitive contact with the world” (Merleau-Ponty, Maurice (1996 [1945]). Phenomenology of Perception. Trans. Colin Smith. London and New York, NY: Routledge, vii).
Alice Munro and ‘Alternate Realities’
Authors: Kluge Walter
Published: December 2017

The critical discussion of Alice Munro’s short stories began under the heading of realism but has moved on to recognize her combination of the ordinary with the amazing. This has continued to move towards the exploration of ‘alternate realities’ in human life which may lead to double or multiple lives of originally single characters in the same story. This division does not happen in Gothic fantasy but in Munro’s ordinary and commonplace (fictional) reality.
Shaking Table Test of a Half-Scale Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Bridge Abutment
Authors: Zheng Yewei , Sander Andrew C. , Rong Wenyong , Fox Patrick J. , Shing P. Benson , McCartney John S.
Published: December 2017

This paper presents an experimental study on the dynamic response of a half-scale geosynthetic-reinforced soil (GRS) bridge abutment system using a shaking table. Experimental design of the model specimen followed established similitude relationships for shaking table tests on reduced-scale models in a 1-g gravitational field, including scaling of model geometry, geosynthetic-reinforcement stiffness, backfill soil modulus, bridge load, and characteristics of the earthquake motions. The 2.7-m-high GRS bridge abutment was constructed using well-graded sand backfill, modular facing blocks, and uniaxial geogrid reinforcements with a vertical spacing of 0.15 m in both the longitudinal and transverse directions. A bridge beam was placed on the GRS bridge abutment at one end and on a concrete support wall resting on a sliding platform off the shaking table at the other end. The GRS bridge abutment system was subjected to a series of input motions in the longitudinal direction. Results indicate that the testing system performed well, and that the GRS bridge abutment experienced small deformations. For two earthquake motions, the maximum incremental residual facing displacement in model scale was 1.0 mm, and the average incremental residual bridge seat settlement in model scale was 1.4 mm, which corresponds to a vertical strain of 0.7 %.
Improvement of Measuring Accuracy for Coating Covered on Conical Steel Shells by Correction of Eddy Current Signals
Authors: Wu Meixian , Zhang Dongli , Chen Zhenmao , Li Yong
Published: December 2017

In the petroleum industry and other fields, the thickness of the layer coated on the inner surface of containers is an important indicator to ensure the containers work in a safe or normal state. To acquire an accurate measurement, some appropriate corrections are necessary, especially for the eddy current sensor scanning over an irregular surface. The sensor’s inclining or deviating state might cause much lift-off signal to be mixed in the testing signals, which would lead to an inaccurate result. To solve this problem, this paper analyzed the influencing factors of measuring accuracy for the coating on the conical steel shells. An effective correction method was proposed based on the characteristic of testing signals. Its effectiveness for enhancing the measuring accuracy was confirmed by simulation results.
Performance Evaluation of PV-Supported STATCOM for Voltage and Frequency Regulation of Standalone SEIG System
Authors: Tamilselvan K. , Anita R.
Published: December 2017

This paper deals with a static compensator (STATCOM) incorporated with a photovoltaic (PV) system for the regulation of voltage and frequency in the standalone Wind Energy Conversion System (WECS). This standalone WECS is employed with the self-excited induction generator and flywheel energy storage system. The PV power-generating system is interfaced into the dc link of the STATCOM to provide long-duration compensation against voltage and frequency deviation. The synchronous reference frame control scheme with a fuzzy logic controller is employed to extract the reference source current signal and generate the gating pulses to the STATCOM. A coordinating logic has been proposed to handle the different situation, and it makes the system energy efficient. For an ideal utilization of electrical energy produced by renewable energy sources, this system is constructed with physical energy storage devices such as a flywheel and battery. The surplus amount of power generated by the PV system and WECS is stored in the battery and flywheel, respectively. The simulation and experimental study are carried out for different load conditions to confirm the effectiveness of the PV–supported STATCOM.
Shank Proteins Differentially Regulate Synaptic Transmission
Authors: Shi Rebecca , Redman Patrick , Ghose Dipanwita , Hwang Hongik , Liu Yan , Ren Xiaobai , Ding Lei J. , Liu Mingna , Jones Kendrick J. , Xu Weifeng
Published: December 2017

Shank proteins, one of the principal scaffolds in the postsynaptic density (PSD) of the glutamatergic synapses, have been associated with autism spectrum disorders and neuropsychiatric diseases. However, it is not known whether different Shank family proteins have distinct functions in regulating synaptic transmission, and how they differ from other scaffold proteins in this aspect. Here, we investigate the role of Shanks in regulating glutamatergic synaptic transmission at rat hippocampal SC-CA1 synapses, using lentivirus-mediated knockdown and molecular replacement combined with dual whole-cell patch clamp in hippocampal slice culture. In line with previous findings regarding PSD-MAGUK scaffold manipulation, we found that loss of scaffold proteins via knockdown of Shank1 or Shank2, but not Shank3, led to a reduction of the number but not the unitary response of AMPAR-containing synapses. Only when both Shank1 and Shank2 were knocked down, were both the number and the unitary response of active synapses reduced. This reduction was accompanied by a decrease in NMDAR-mediated synaptic response, indicating more profound deficits in synaptic transmission. Molecular replacement with Shank2 and Shank3c rescued the synaptic transmission to the basal level, and the intact sterile α-motif (SAM) of Shank proteins is required for maintaining glutamatergic synaptic transmission. We also found that altered neural activity did not influence the effect of Shank1 or Shank2 knockdown on AMPAR synaptic transmission, in direct contrast to the activity dependence of the effect of PSD-95 knockdown, revealing differential interaction between activity-dependent signaling and scaffold protein families in regulating synaptic AMPAR function.
The Maintenance of Synaptic Homeostasis at theDrosophilaNeuromuscular Junction Is Reversible and Sensitive to High Temperature
Authors: Yeates Catherine J. , Zwiefelhofer Danielle J. , Frank C. Andrew
Published: December 2017

Homeostasis is a vital mode of biological self-regulation. The hallmarks of homeostasis for any biological system are a baseline set point of physiological activity, detection of unacceptable deviations from the set point, and effective corrective measures to counteract deviations. Homeostatic synaptic plasticity (HSP) is a form of neuroplasticity in which neurons and circuits resist environmental perturbations and stabilize levels of activity. One assumption is that if a perturbation triggers homeostatic corrective changes in neuronal properties, those corrective measures should be reversed upon removal of the perturbation. We test the reversibility and limits of HSP at the well-studiedDrosophila melanogasterneuromuscular junction (NMJ). At theDrosophilaNMJ, impairment of glutamate receptors causes a decrease in quantal size, which is offset by a corrective, homeostatic increase in the number of vesicles released per evoked presynaptic stimulus, or quantal content. This process has been termed presynaptic homeostatic potentiation (PHP). Taking advantage of the GAL4/GAL80TS/UAS expression system, we triggered PHP by expressing a dominant-negative glutamate receptor subunit at the NMJ. We then reversed PHP by halting expression of the dominant-negative receptor. Our data show that PHP is fully reversible over a time course of 48–72 h after the dominant-negative glutamate receptor stops being genetically expressed. As an extension of these experiments, we find that when glutamate receptors are impaired, neither PHP nor NMJ growth is reliably sustained at high culturing temperatures (30–32°C). These data suggest that a limitation of homeostatic signaling at high temperatures could stem from the synapse facing a combination of challenges simultaneously.