bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Synthesis and Characterization of Cationic Surfactants Based on N‐Hexamethylenetetramine as Active Microfouling Agents
Authors: Mohareb Rafat M. , Badawi Abdelfatah M. , Noor El‐Din Mahmoud R. , Fatthalah Nesreen A. , Mahrous Marian R.
Published: January 2015

Four cationic surfactants of quaternary hexammonium silane chloride based on hexamethylenetetramine and alkyl chloride were synthesized. The chemical structures of the prepared cationic surfactants were elucidated using Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopy and mass spectrometry analysis. The surface and thermodynamic properties of the prepared surfactants were also studied. The performance of these cationic surfactants as microfouling agents against two strains of Gram‐negative bacteria, namely, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli, and two strains of Gram‐positive bacteria, namely, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis, were evaluated as antimicrobial agents. The results showed that the maximum antimicrobial activity was detected for N‐hexamethylenetetramine‐N‐ethyl silane ammonium trichloride (Ah). The maximum and minimum antimicrobial activities were 73 and 60 % against S. aureus and E. coli, respectively, at a concentration of 5 mg/l, pH 7, and 37 °C.
Exploring An Interdisciplinary Expedition in a Global History Class
Authors: DiCamillo Lorrei
Published: January 2015

This qualitative study investigated an interdisciplinary expedition (based on the Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound model) in a Global History Class in an urban charter high school to understand what happens during an expedition and how the students viewed the expedition. Findings indicated students were engaged in learning about issues of security and privacy, but failed to make interdisciplinary connections between global history and their other classes. Additionally, the Global History teacher encountered challenges in enacting interdisciplinary, expeditionary curricula with racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse students. This study highlights the benefits and challenges of implementing an interdisciplinary approach to teaching, as well as the need for additional supports for teachers who want to implement interdisciplinary curricula.
SCRIBAL VARIATION AND THE MEANING OF THE HOUMA AND WENXIAN COVENANT TEXTS' IMPRECATION MA YI FEI SHI 麻夷非是
Authors: Williams Crispin
Published: January 2015

The article presents the findings of a survey of the imprecation phrase ma yi fei shi 麻夷非是 and its variations, as written (using brush and ink) on several thousand excavated covenant texts (mengshu 盟書) from Houma 侯馬 and Wenxian 溫縣. I argue that the findings support Zhu Dexi 朱德熙 and Qiu Xigui 裘錫圭's analysis of the phrase as mi yi bi shi 靡夷彼氏 “Wipe out that shi” (shi, I suggest, referring to the covenantor and his direct male descendants). Through comparison of scribal hands, I demonstrate that those variations which do not fit this analysis were produced by a small number of scribes and, in almost all cases, can be shown to be errors. I conclude that such variations are generally unreliable and do not require us to reject Zhu and Qiu's analysis. These examples suggest that formulaic, possibly archaic, stock phrases, such as this imprecation, were liable to be misinterpreted, even during the period in which they were in use. Identification of scribal hands and scribal errors was essential to this analysis, demonstrating not only the importance of this methodology in such research, but also the potential value of these particular materials for furthering our understanding of scribal habits and text reproduction in early China.
HAIL TO THE KING: A REVIEW OF TWO BOOKS BY DAVID N. KEIGHTLEY
Authors: Fiskesjö Magnus
Published: January 2015

Twelve years after Professor Keightley publishedThe Ancestral Landscape, which was a fascinating, elegant summary of decades of investigations of the Bronze-Age Late Shang dynasty, he has now published another wonderful book on the same era, under the titleWorking for His Majesty. As the title suggests, and as he recounts in a highly personal preface looking back at the origins of this work, he returns in this book to the topic of his doctoral dissertation on Shang labor (Public Work in Ancient China: A Study of Forced Labor in the Shang and Western Chou, Columbia University, 1969).
THE SHAPE OF HISTORY: ON READING LI WAI-YEE
Authors: Vogelsang Kai
Published: January 2015

Ever since Hayden White declared that as a literary artifact the historical text is indistinguishable from fiction, the study of historiography has ceased to be the prerogative of historians. It is thus no accident that we owe some of the finest recent works on theZuo zhuan, China's oldest narrative history, not to historians but to scholars of Chinese literature. In her splendid book onThe Readability of the Past in Early Chinese Historiography(Cambridge 2007) Li Wai-yee demonstrates just how fruitful it is to treat Chinese historiography from a literary perspective. She puts to rest the “idea that kernels of historical truth can or should be separated from the rich verbal fabric” in favor of “what is more germane to the sense of history,” namely “the conscious formulation of patterns and principles to understand the past” (Li 2007, pp. 2–3).
WAI-YEE LI. THE READABILITY OF THE PAST IN EARLY CHINESE HISTORIOGRAPHY
Authors: Henry Eric
Published: January 2015

This book is, as the author says in her introduction, “a systematic study of Zuo zhuan,” a “vast repertory of narratives and speeches spanning the 255 years from 722 to 468 BCE.” This text, which, in the form known to us, is tentatively dated by most to the fourth century b.c.e., is where Chinese historical writing begins. As the author also notes, this work “has been accorded a truth status that eludes many other early Chinese texts.” I would suggest that this status arises from 1) the great masses of minute and seemingly factual detail that occur throughout its narratives and 2) its freedom from the obvious anachronisms and absurdities that afflict all other early Chinese historical works, including the all-but-universally venerated Shi ji, or Records of the Historian.
NEW LIGHT ON THELI JI禮記: THELI JIAND THE RELATED WARRING STATES PERIOD GUODIAN BAMBOO MANUSCRIPTS
Authors: Xing Wen
Published: January 2015

This article starts by examining how “Li ji” was used as a title in early China. In addition to theLi,Li jing,Shi li,Li yiandYi li, etc., “Li ji” was used as an alternative title for theLicanon, and the “Li” as a title was used to indicate what we now refer to as theLi jior theXiao Dai Li jias well. By discussing how the Guodian bamboo slip texts are related to the transmitted version of theLi ji, this article argues that the writing styles of the related excavated bamboo manuscripts are the particularLi gujing-orLi guji-styles, that the “Li gujing” or “Li guji” is more a description of those ancient retrieved texts than an actual title, and that many of the Guodian bamboo-slip texts are theLi guji- orLi gujing-style writings. According to theLi guji-styleZi yitext, it is evident that the material in theLi jicomes from creditable pre-Qin textual sources. Although theLi jitext came to its current shape as a result of later editing work, it does not mean that the receivedLi jisections have higher textual value than the excavated manuscripts do. On the contrary, the excavated manuscripts could have many valuable early textual sources that the transmittedLi jihas lost.
Risk Factors for Central-Line–Associated Bloodstream Infections: A Focus on Comorbid Conditions
Authors: Pepin Christopher S. , Thom Kerri A. , Sorkin John D. , Leekha Surbhi , Masnick Max , Preas Michael Anne , Pineles Lisa , Harris Anthony D.
Published: January 2015

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) risk adjustment methods for central-line–associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) only adjust for type of intensive care unit (ICU). This cohort study explored risk factors for CLABSI using 2 comorbidity classification schemes, the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and the Chronic Disease Score (CDS). Our study supports the need for additional research into risk factors for CLABSI, including electronically available comorbid conditions.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2014;00(0): 1–3
Drop impact into a deep pool: vortex shedding and jet
formation
Authors: Agbaglah G. , Thoraval M.-J. , Thoroddsen S. T. , Zhang L. V. , Fezzaa K. , Deegan R. D.
Published: January 2015

One of the simplest splashing scenarios results from the impact of a single drop on a
deep pool. The traditional understanding of this process is that the impact generates
an axisymmetric sheet-like jet that later breaks up into secondary droplets. Recently
it was shown that even this simplest of scenarios is more complicated than expected
because multiple jets can be generated from a single impact event and there are
transitions in the multiplicity of jets as the experimental parameters are varied.
Here, we use experiments and numerical simulations of a single drop impacting on a
deep pool to examine the transition from impacts that produce a single jet to those
that produce two jets. Using high-speed X-ray imaging methods we show that vortex
separation within the drop leads to the formation of a second jet long after the
formation of the ejecta sheet. Using numerical simulations we develop a phase diagram
for this transition and show that the capillary number is the most appropriate order
parameter for the transition.
Fat digestibility is reduced in old cats with subnormal cobalamin concentrations
Authors: Salas Anna , Manuelian Carmen-Loreto , Garganté Marta , Sanchez Núria , Fernández Sonia , Compagnucci Marco , Cerón Jose Joaquín , Jeusette Isabelle , Vilaseca Lluís , Torre Celina
Published: January 2015

Fat digestibility is decreased in old cats for unknown reasons. Subclinical gastrointestinal diseases and pancreatic dysfunction, both related to ageing, can affect food digestibility. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the prevalence of subnormal cobalamin concentration and pancreatic disease in old cats and study the relationship between both markers and fat digestibility. A total of sixty-four cats without evident signs of gastrointestinal disease were included and grouped according to age: (1) fifteen middle-aged (MA), aged 3–7 years; and (2) forty-nine old, aged 10–17 years. All cats were tested for serum cobalamin, specific feline pancreatic lipase (fPL) and feline trypsin-like immunoreactivity. Then, sixteen of the old cats were selected and grouped according to cobalamin and fPL concentrations: control (normal cobalamin and fPL); low vitamin B12 (cobalamin <290 ng/l; normal fPL); and high fPL (normal cobalamin; fPL >4 µg/ml). A food digestibility trial with a high-fat diet (21·6 %) was performed. In the old group, cobalamin was lower and fPL higher than in MA cats. Of the old cats (n 49), 14 % had subnormal cobalamin, 8 % had a severe increase in fPL, 2 % had both alterations and 14 % had a slight increase in fPL. By contrast, MA cats did not have cobalamin deficiency or an increase in fPL concentrations. Fat digestibility was lower in low vitamin B12 cats than control cats. Decreased fat digestibility is not present in all old cats but could be a characteristic of subclinical chronic gastrointestinal disease. Cobalamin concentration, as a marker of gastrointestinal disease, could be useful for the routine evaluation of old cats.
Evaluation of eight commercial dog diets
Authors: Daumas Caroline , Paragon Bernard-Marie , Thorin Chantal , Martin Lucile , Dumon Henri , Ninet Samuel , Nguyen Patrick
Published: January 2015

Estimation of the quality of commercial diets is a topic of interest for the majority of dog owners. Recently, in a French consumer association magazine, an evaluation of eight dog commercial dry diets (from super-premium, basic-nutrition, private-label and economy brands) according to several nutritional criteria was published. The aims of the study were: (1) to evaluate the apparent digestibility of these diets; (2) to score these diets according to digestibility results; and (3) to compare these data with the scoring of the magazine. Six adult Beagle dogs were enrolled for the digestibility trials. Diets were scored according to energy, crude protein and crude fat (CF) apparent digestibility coefficients, digestible protein-to-energy ratios and ash content. Each of the five criteria was scored from 4 to 20 points. The ranges of crude protein, CF, crude fibre and ash content were 20·9–30·6 %, 6·8–19·7 %, 2·2–3·3 % and 4·6–9·7 % on a DM basis, respectively. The ranges of energy, crude protein and CF apparent digestibility coefficients were 72·6–87·7 %, 70·4–82·5 % and 76·1–95·4 %, respectively. The range of the protein-to-energy ratio was 10–14 digestible crude protein per MJ metabolisable energy. Little overlap in the scoring systems was found, but the private-label brand and economy brand diets presented the lowest scores in the two systems. These results showed that the evaluation of commercial diets should take into account multiple nutritional aspects. In particular, analytical and biological (digestibility) criteria should be considered as complementary in the evaluation of dry dog commercial diets.
Modelling particle-size distributions from operator estimates of sediment particle-size
Authors: Roberson S. , Weltje G.J.
Published: January 2015

Estimates of particle-size made by operators in the field and laboratory represent a vast and relatively untapped data archive. The wide spatial distribution of particle-size estimates makes them ideal for constructing geological models and soil maps. This study uses a large data set from the Netherlands (n = 4837) containing both operator estimates of particle-size and complete particle-size distributions measured by laser granulometry. Operator estimates are inaccurate and imprecise relative to measured laser data; only 16.68% of samples were successfully classified using the Dutch classification scheme for fine sediment. Operator estimates of sediment particle-size encompass the same range of percentage values as particle-size distributions measured by laser analysis. However, the distributions measured by laser analysis show that most of the sand percentage values lie between 0 and 1, so the majority of the variability in the data is lost because operator estimates are made to the nearest 1% at best, and more frequently to the nearest 5%. Operator estimates made by three technicians trained by the Geological Survey of the Netherlands are found not to be influenced by bias, rather they exhibit very similar levels of accuracy and precision. This study compares five different methods of modelling complete particle-size distributions from sparse data: (i) a four-part Pearson's probability distribution function, (i) a log-linear interpolation, (iii) a logit-linear interpolation, (iv) a logistic probability distribution function and (v) a logit constrained cubic-spline (logit-CCS) interpolation. The logit-CCS interpolation performed best across all the samples used, although the performance of all models was very similar for normal Gaussian, skewed and peaked distributions. Predictions for bimodal distributions using the Pearson's, logit-linear and logistic models are markedly less accurate than both log-linear and logit-CCS interpolation models. Although the logit-CCS interpolation model produces the best predictions of continuous particle-size distributions, the low accuracy and precision of operator estimates does not warrant the use of such a complex algorithm. Given this, it is suggested that a standard log-linear interpolation is the most effective means of modelling complete particle-size distributions from sparse data. Interpolation-based models are recommended over probability distribution functions because they allow for a greater degree of flexibility and will always honour the available input data.
New material of Prognathodon (Squamata, Mosasauridae) from the type Maastrichtian of the Netherlands
Authors: Schulp A.S. , Jagt J.W.M.
Published: January 2015

A partial quadrate, here assigned to the globidensine mosasaur Prognathodon cf. saturator, is recorded from the basal Valkenburg Member (Maastricht Formation) in the type area of the Maastrichtian Stage (southeast Netherlands, northeast Belgium). Occurrences of Prognathodon saturator in this area are extremely rare, which might well be linked to the offshore habitat preferred by this species.
Mosasaurs from Germany – a brief history of the first 100 years of research
Authors: Sachs Sven , Hornung Jahn J. , Reich Mike
Published: January 2015

In Germany, mosasaur remains are very rare and only incompletely known. However, the earliest records date back to the 1830s, when tooth crowns were found in the chalk of the Isle of Rügen. A number of prominent figures in German palaeontology and geosciences of the 19th and 20th centuries focused on these remains, including, among others, Friedrich von Hagenow, Hermann von Meyer, Andreas Wagner, Hanns Bruno Geinitz and Josef Pompeckj. Most of these works were only short notes, given the scant material. However, the discovery of fragmentary cranial remains in Westphalia in 1908 led to a more comprehensive discussion, which is also of historical importance, as it illustrates the discussions on the highly controversial and radical universal phylogenetic theory proposed by Gustav Steinmann in 1908. This theory saw the existence of continuous lines of descent, evolving in parallel, and did not regard higher taxonomic units as monophyletic groups but as intermediate paraphyletic stages of evolution. In this idea, nearly all fossil taxa form part of these lineages, which extend into the present time, and natural extinction occurs very rarely, if ever. In Steinmann's concept, mosasaurs were not closely related to squamates but formed an intermediate member in a anagenetic chain from Triassic thalattosaurs to extant baleen whales. The newly found specimen led Josef Pompeckj to write a vehement rebuttal to Steinmann's theory, published in 1910, showing that his conclusions were conjectural and speculative, being based on convergence and not supported by scientific evidence. This particular specimen, housed in Göttingen, later also inspired a piece of palaeoart by Franz Roubal under the instructions of Othenio Abel.

With the exception of a vertebra from the Campanian of former East Prussia (now Russian Federation), and a possible vertebra from the Cenomanian of Dresden, Saxony, all datable material – today partly lost – originated from the northern part of present-day Germany and stratigraphically from the Campanian–Maastrichtian. The purported record from the Cenomanian of Bavaria (southeastern Germany) was most probably an error, based on Upper Jurassic crocodilian material.
A late Cretaceous elasmosaurid of the Tethys Sea margins (southern Negev, Israel), and its palaeogeographic reconstruction
Authors: Rabinovich R. , Ginat H. , Schudack M. , Schudack U. , Ashckenazi-Polivoda S. , Rogolsky G.
Published: January 2015

Recent research on the late Cretaceous (Santonian), Menuha Formation of the southern Negev, Israel, has revealed several unconformities in its exposures, spatial changes in its lithofacies, agglomerations of its carbonate concretions and nodules at a variety of localities. At Menuha Ridge Site 20, portions of a new elasmosaurid skeleton were found within deposits of laminated bio-micritic muddy limestone with thin phosphatic layers. The sediments are rich in microfossils – foraminifera and ostracods preserved in the carbonate mud. Planktic foraminifera species (e.g.Dicarinella asymetrica,D.concavata,Sigalia decoratissima carpatica) appear as well as species indicative of opportunistic life strategies typical of a forming upwelling system in the region. Marine ostracods (e.g.Brachycythere angulata,Cythereis rosenfeldi evoluta) and many echinoid spines suggest an open marine environment. Using a multidisciplinary approach, we offer here a reconstruction of the micro-regional palaeogeography along a segment of the ancient shoreline of the Tethys Sea during the Santonian, and explain the environmental conditions under which the various fauna lived. This new elasmosaurid is examined in light of the above and compared with evidence from the adjacent areas along the margins of the southern Tethys Sea.
A mosasaur from the Maastrichtian Fox Hills Formation of the northern Western Interior Seaway of the United States and the synonymy of Mosasaurus maximus with Mosasaurus hoffmanni (Reptilia: Mosasauridae)
Authors: Harrell T.L. , Martin J.E.
Published: January 2015

We report here a large mosasaur skull, preserved three-dimensionally in a concretion recovered from Ziebach County, South Dakota, USA. This fossil represents the first articulated mosasaur skull from the Trail City Member of the Fox Hills Formation and the first definitive occurrence of Mosasaurus hoffmanni Mantell, 1829 from that area and the northernmost occurrence in the Western Interior Seaway, greatly extending the paleobiogeographic range of this taxon. The age of this specimen is determined to be between 68.3 and 67.6 Ma based on the associated invertebrate fauna. Although previous authors have suggested synonomy of the North American Mosasaurus maximus Cope, 1869 and the European M. hoffmanni, this is the most comprehensive analysis to date and is based on comparisons with Mosasaurus specimens recovered across the Northern Hemisphere, allowing an emended diagnosis of the species M. hoffmanni. Minor differences are considered individual variation or to reflect ontogenetic stage, including slender dentaries in some individuals, range of development of the C-shaped notch of the coronoid and differences in the shape of the supratemporal fenestra.
Larvicidal activity of Bacillus circulans against the gastrointestinal nematode Haemonchus contortus in sheep
Authors: Sinott M.C. , de Castro L.L. Dias , Leite F.L.L , Gallina T. , De-Souza M.T. , Santos D.F.L. , Leite F.P.L.
Published: January 2015

Efficient control of gastrointestinal parasites is necessary in sheep breeding. However, the available chemically based anthelmintics are becoming less effective due to the development of parasite resistance. An alternative to this problem is biological control. In the present study, we tested the larvicidal effect of Bacillus circulans by administering a spore suspension (2 × 109 colony forming units/ml) orally to lambs naturally infected with Haemonchus contortus. The number of faecal larvae was quantified daily and a significant reduction (~87%, P< 0.05) of larval development was observed after administration of B. circulans. Using a transformed B. circulans with green fluorescent protein, we were able to detect B. circulans in the faeces at 4 h post-administration and 72 h after cessation of its administration. These results suggest the use of B. circulans as a promising biological alternative for parasite control.
Parasites infecting the cultured oyster Crassostrea gasar (Adanson, 1757) in Northeast Brazil
Authors: QUEIROGA FERNANDO RAMOS , VIANNA ROGÉRIO TUBINO , VIEIRA CAIRÉ BARRETO , FARIAS NATANAEL DANTAS , DA SILVA PATRICIA MIRELLA
Published: January 2015

The oyster Crassostrea gasar is a species widely used as food and a source of income for the local population of the estuaries of Northeast Brazil. Perkinsus marinus and Perkinsus olseni are deleterious parasites for oyster farming and were recently detected in Brazil. In this study, a histopathologic survey of the oyster C. gasar cultured in the estuary of the River Mamanguape (Paraíba State) was performed. Adult oysters were collected in December 2011 and March, May, August and October 2012 and processed for histology and Perkinsus sp. identification by molecular analyses. Histopathological analysis revealed the presence of parasitic organisms including viral gametocytic hypertrophy, prokaryote-like colonies, protozoans (Perkinsus sp. and Nematopsis sp.) and metazoans (Tylocephalum sp. and cestodes). Other commensal organisms were also detected (the protozoan Ancistrocoma sp. and the turbellarian Urastoma sp.). The protozoan parasite Perkinsus sp. had the highest overall prevalence among the symbiotic organisms studied (48·9%), followed by Nematopsis sp. (36·3%). The other organisms were only sporadically observed. Only the protozoan Perkinsus sp. caused alterations in the oysters’ infected organs. Molecular analyses confirmed the presence of P. marinus, P. olseni and Perkinsus beihaiensis infecting the oyster C. gasar. This is the first report of P. beihaiensis in this oyster species.
DARMSTADT: THE ‘ARTISTIC LABORATORY’
Authors: Jones Stephanie
Published: January 2015

Throughout the 2014 International Summer Course for New Music, the correlations between Darmstadt's scientific and artistic nuclei resonated. In his ‘Greeting’ note in the Summer Course programme booklet, the Mayor of Darmstadt, Jochen Partsch, describes the Summer Course as ‘an artistic laboratory … in which new works are presented and developed, in which musicians from all over the world find a forum for exchange and experimentation’. As in previous years, the Summer Course took place at various locations around Darmstadt city, which ensured the establishment of a vibrant learning environment. In turn, Darmstadt the ‘Wissenschaftsstadt’, or ‘City of Science’, also inspired old and new musical debate.
DARMSTADT 2014: THE COMPOSER-PERFORMER
Authors: Yip Viola
Published: January 2015

It seems clear that, by a certain point in the twentieth century, the roles of composer and performer had become increasingly separated, but when we think of composers such as JS Bach, Beethoven and Rachmaninov, we are reminded that the idea of the musician as composer-performer is not new. Today, we can see an increasing number of musicians running a double life as composer and performer. What does it mean to be a composer-performer in the twenty-first century? How does the relationship of compositions to their performances change when the composer is the performer?
BBC PROMS 2014: Panufnik and Tavener
Authors: Dixon Gavin
Published: January 2015

Cultures collide and combine in the new works presented in the opening weeks of the 2014 BBC Proms. In music by Roxanna Panufnik and Sir John Tavener, ideas from different religious traditions are brought together. Both composers acknowledge the resulting tensions, but seek to transcend them. Various resolutions are proposed, and with them models for mutual understanding. Utopian ideals, indeed, and none of the works quite reach the lofty goals to which they aspire; but, in each case, the journey proves more interesting than the destination.
BBC Proms 2014: Gabriel Prokofiev and Brett Dean
Authors: Young Toby
Published: January 2015

A traditional four-movement violin concerto might seem a departure from the grime-influenced crossover language of the composer of the infamous Concerto for Turntables (given its Proms premiere in 2011). However, in many ways Gabriel Prokofiev's first Violin Concerto, commissioned by the BBC for Daniel Hope and the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, is a highly satisfactory step in the composer's artistic trajectory.
BBC Proms 2014: Dove, Mason and Ranjbaran
Authors: Chadburn Leo
Published: January 2015

Its nature as a festival that is fundamentally about standard orchestral repertoire means that the Proms continues to exhibit a slippery relationship with new music. Challenging works still appear to be sidelined while showy, more conservative pieces end up in prime slots with big audiences. Whether or not this is the right way round remains open to debate and, indeed, the bustle of social media has provided an interesting platform this year for discussion around the issue.
BBC Proms 2014: Weir, Zhou and Rands
Authors: Miller Malcolm
Published: January 2015

Three new piano works premiered at the 2014 Proms showed an intriguing variety of styles and idioms in twenty-first-century music with varying levels of success. Paradoxically the more inventive piano techniques emerged in the more vividly characterised and communicative works by Judith Weir and Zhou Long, while Bernard Rands' neo-modernist concerto lacked a clear identity.
Proms 2014: Holt and Widmann
Authors: Stein Robert
Published: January 2015

How many flutes are there in Simon Holt's flute concerto Morpheus Wakes? Nominally one, here the amazing Emanuel Pahud, but more usefully two or more. Scored for alto as well as standard flute, Holt exploits the timbral possibilities of both while ensuring that the orchestra's own flautist (doubling bass flute) and alto flautist (doubling piccolo) continue the idea of ‘two-in-one’ so central to his other recent concerto Centauromachy for clarinet, flugelhorn and orchestra written in 2010 and given its London premiere at the 2011 Proms.
Presteigne Festival 2014
Authors: Power Stephanie
Published: January 2015

Based in a small market town just inside the Welsh border, the Presteigne Festival annually punches well above its weight in contemporary music terms. The conductor George Vass has been Artistic Director at Presteigne for 22 of its 32 years, and his tireless advocacy of living and lesser-known composers has garnered not only increasing international respect, but a loyal and substantial audience, including many locals for whom encountering ‘new music’ has clearly become something to relish rather than suffer.
Geschichten aus dem Wiener Wald (Tales from the Vienna Woods), Bregenzer Festspiele 2014
Authors: Power Stephanie
Published: January 2015

Over the past five years, Austria's Bregenzer Festspiele has given some 22 world premieres, including five major new operas at the Festspielhaus. It is an impressive record for a festival that has had its government subsidy frozen since 1997, and that relies for 80 per cent of its funding on box office receipts and private investment. Hence, the theme chosen by David Pountney for his eleventh and final year as Intendant, ‘Bittersweet Vienna’, felt tinged with added irony.
Morton Feldman Neither; Samuel Beckett Footfalls. Staatskapelle Berlin cond. François Xavier Roth; Katie Mitchell, director; Julia Wieninger, actor; Laura Aikin, soprano; Staatsoper im Schiller Theater, Berlin
Authors: Sholdice Garrett
Published: January 2015

Neither is Morton Feldman's only opera. The libretto is a single page of text by Samuel Beckett. British director Katie Mitchell has paired her new staging of this single act work, premiered in 1977, with her staging of Beckett's 1975 short play, Footfalls. This new production was presented as part of the Infektion! festival of new music theatre at the Berlin Staatsoper in June of this year.
CLARENCE BARLOW'S TECHNIQUE OF ‘SYNTHRUMENTATION’ AND ITS USE IN IM JANUAR AM NIL
Authors: Poller Tom Rojo
Published: January 2015

‘Synthrumentation’ is a technique for the resynthesis of speech with acoustic instruments developed by the composer Clarence Barlow in the early 1980s. Over the past decade instrumental speech synthesis has been thematised by a diverse range of composers (e.g. Peter Ablinger and Jonathan Harvey); however, Barlow's work is rarely accorded the credit it deserves for the pioneering role it played in this field. This article seeks to explain the basic mechanics of the synthrumentation technique and to demonstrate its practical application through an analysis of Barlow's ensemble piece Im Januar am Nil composed between 1981 and 1984. It should become apparent that Barlow never uses synthrumentation in its conceptually pure form, but rather its realisation is always integrated into an overarching musical context, which reflects Barlow's general approach to musical invention allowing different factors to interact.
OWNING OVERTONES: GRÁ AGUS BÁS AND SPECTRAL TRADITIONS
Authors: Dennehy Donnacha
Published: January 2015

In this article the Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy reflects upon the research and composition process of his 2006–07 composition Grá agus Bás, written for the Irish sean nós singer Iarla Ó Lionáird. The piece is the first to bring together this traditional Irish singing style (literally, ‘old tradition’) with techniques derived from spectral music. In the second part of the article Dennehy reflects on his own relationship with spectralism, his points of inspiration and points of departure from what have come to seem spectral orthodoxies.
MORTON FELDMAN: INTERVIEW WITH FRANÇOISE ESSELIER (1970)
Authors: Ilić Ivan
Published: January 2015

This interview with American composer Morton Feldman (1926–1987) has never before been available in English. Recorded in Paris in 1970, when Feldman's music was just at the point of significant change, it was published (in French) by the interviewer, critic Françoise Esselier, in the short-lived journal VH 101 which she co-ran with the Austrian critic Otto Hahn, in a translation by Nicole Tisserand. The original recording seems not to have survived. Here re-translated into English by the pianist and Feldman specialist Ivan Ilić, the interest of its content makes it a valuable addition to the literature on Feldman.
DARMSTADT'S NEW WAVE MODERNISM
Authors: Oram Celeste
Published: January 2015

This year's Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music were plugged-in, wired-up, mixed-down, line-out. Scarcely a main-stage concert wasn't amplified, at the very least. More often, new works synthesised spatialised sound design, video material, lighting and electronics in high-tech, high-concept performances.
Inverse and forward dynamics of N-3RPS manipulator with lockable joints
Authors: Taherifar Ali , Salarieh Hassan , Alasty Aria , Honarvar Mohammad
Published: January 2015

The N-3 Revolute-Prismatic-Spherical (N-3RPS) manipulator is a kind of serial-parallel manipulator and has higher stiffness and accuracy compared with serial mechanisms, and a larger workspace compared with parallel mechanisms. The locking mechanism in each joint allows the manipulator to be controlled by only three wires. Modeling the dynamics of this manipulator presents an inherent complexity due to its closed-loop structure and kinematic constraints. In the first part of this paper, the inverse kinematics of the manipulator, which consists of position, velocity, and acceleration, is studied. In the second part, the inverse and forward dynamics of the manipulator is formulated based on the principle of virtual work and link Jacobian matrices. Finally, the numerical example is presented for some trajectories.
From Post-Communism to Civil Society: The Reemergence of History and the Decline of the Western Model
Authors: Gray John
Published: January 2015

For virtually all the major schools of Western opinion, the collapse of the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union, between 1989 and 1991, represents a triumph of Western values, ideas, and institutions. If, for triumphal conservatives, the events of late 1989 encompassed an endorsement of “democratic capitalism” that augured “the end of history,” for liberal and social democrats they could be understood as the repudiation by the peoples of the former Soviet bloc of Marxism-Leninism in all its varieties, and the reemergence of a humanist socialism that was free of Bolshevik deformation. The structure of political and economic institutions appropriate to the transition from post-Communism in the Soviet bloc to genuine civil society was, accordingly, modeled on Western exemplars—the example of Anglo-American democratic capitalism, of Swedish social democracy, or of the German social market economy— or on various modish Western academic conceptions, long abandoned in the Soviet and post-Soviet worlds, such as market socialism. No prominent school of thought in the West doubted that the dissolution of Communist power was part of a process of Westernization in which contemporary Western ideas and institutions could and would successfully be exported to the former Communist societies. None questioned the idea that, somewhere in the repertoire of Western theory and practice, there was a model for conducting the transition from the bankrupt institutions of socialist central planning, incorporated into the structure of a totalitarian state, to market institutions and a liberal democratic state. Least of all did anyone question the desirability, or the possibility, of reconstituting economic and political institutions on Western models, in most parts of the former Soviet bloc.
Comparison of resistance to third-generation cephalosporins inShigellabetween Europe-America and Asia-Africa from 1998 to 2012
Authors: GU B. , ZHOU M. , KE X. , PAN S. , CAO Y. , HUANG Y. , ZHUANG L. , LIU G. , TONG M.
Published: January 2015

We conducted a systematic review to compare resistance to third-generation cephalosporins (TGCs) inShigellastrains between Europe-America and Asia-Africa from 1998 to 2012 based on a literature search of computerized databases. In Asia-Africa, the prevalence of resistance of total and different subtypes to ceftriaxone, cefotaxime and ceftazidime increased markedly, with a total prevalence of resistance up to 14·2% [95% confidence interval (CI) 3·9–29·4], 22·6% (95% CI 4·8–48·6) and 6·2% (95% CI 3·8–9·1) during 2010–2012, respectively. By contrast, resistance rates to these TGCs in Europe-America remained relatively low – less than 1·0% during the 15 years. A noticeable finding was that certain countries both in Europe-America and Asia-Africa, had a rapid rising trend in the prevalence of resistance ofS. sonnei, which even outnumberedS. flexneriin some periods. Moreover, comparison between countries showed that currently the most serious problem concerning resistance to these TGCs appeared in Vietnam, especially for ceftriaxone, China, especially for cefotaxime and Iran, especially for ceftazidime. These data suggest that monitoring of the drug resistance ofShigellastrains should be strengthened and that rational use of antibiotics is required.
Formalization of real analysis: a survey of proof assistants and libraries
Authors: BOLDO SYLVIE , LELAY CATHERINE , MELQUIOND GUILLAUME
Published: January 2015

In the recent years, numerous proof systems have improved enough to be used for formally verifying non-trivial mathematical results. They, however, have different purposes and it is not always easy to choose which one is adapted to undertake a formalization effort. In this survey, we focus on properties related to real analysis: real numbers, arithmetic operators, limits, differentiability, integrability and so on. We have chosen to look into the formalizations provided in standard by the following systems: Coq, HOL4, HOL Light, Isabelle/HOL, Mizar, ProofPower-HOL, and PVS. We have also accounted for large developments that play a similar role or extend standard libraries: ACL2(r) for ACL2, C-CoRN/MathClasses for Coq, and the NASA PVS library. This survey presents how real numbers have been defined in these various provers and how the notions of real analysis described above have been formalized. We also look at the methods of automation these systems provide for real analysis.
Information flow safety in multiparty sessions
Authors: CAPECCHI SARA , CASTELLANI ILARIA , DEZANI-CIANCAGLINI MARIANGIOLA
Published: January 2015

We consider a calculus for multiparty sessions enriched with security levels for messages. We propose a monitored semantics for this calculus, which blocks the execution of processes as soon as they attempt to leak information. We illustrate the use of this semantics with various examples, and show that the induced safety property is compositional and that it is strictly included between a typability property and a security property proposed for an extended calculus in previous work.
Single- and Multi-Frequency Detection of Surface Displacements via Scanning Probe Microscopy
Authors: Romanyuk Konstantin , Luchkin Sergey Yu. , Ivanov Maxim , Kalinin Arseny , Kholkin Andrei L.
Published: January 2015

Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) provides a novel opportunity to detect picometer-level displacements induced by an electric field applied through a conducting tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM). Recently, it was discovered that superb vertical sensitivity provided by PFM is high enough to monitor electric-field-induced ionic displacements in solids, the technique being referred to as electrochemical strain microscopy (ESM). ESM has been implemented only in multi-frequency detection modes such as dual AC resonance tracking (DART) and band excitation, where the response is recorded within a finite frequency range, typically around the first contact resonance. In this paper, we analyze and compare signal-to-noise ratios of the conventional single-frequency method with multi-frequency regimes of measuring surface displacements. Single-frequency detection ESM is demonstrated using a commercial AFM.
First Diagnose, Then Treat: What Ails the Doha Round?
Authors: WOLFE ROBERT
Published: January 2015

The commonplace tendency is to blame the difficulties of the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations on the World Trade Organization (WTO) itself. In contrast, I suggest in the first section of this article that exogenous structural factors, especially changing commodity prices and trade flows, fatally undermined the Round. In the second section, I discount the significance of endogenous institutional factors such as the number of participants, the size of the agenda, or the Single Undertaking, although design failures, notably in the ‘modalities’ for negotiation, did hurt. But what hurt even more was the way the WTO, in common with most multilateral organizations, has not caught up with the shifting centre of gravity in global governance. The trading system is no longer a transatlantic bargain. The regulatory issues on the twenty-first century trade policy agenda will inevitably be negotiated in Geneva, but only after a new trans-Pacific accommodation recognizes China's central role.
Embracing Diversity: Plurilateral Agreements and the Trading System*
Authors: HOEKMAN BERNARD M. , MAVROIDIS PETROS C.
Published: January 2015

Plurilateral agreements in the WTO context allow sub-sets of countries to agree to commitments in specific policy areas that only apply to signatories, and thus allow for ‘variable geometry’ in the WTO. Current WTO rules make it much more difficult to pursue the plurilateral route than to negotiate a preferential trade agreement outside the WTO. We argue that this is inefficient from a global welfare and trading system perspective and that WTO Members should facilitate the negotiation of new plurilateral agreements on regulatory matters.
How Should the WTO Launch and Negotiate a Future Round?
Authors: ODELL JOHN S.
Published: January 2015

If WTO Members wish to launch a new round to follow Doha, setting the agenda will require a complex negotiation as in the past, however Doha ends. To reduce the serious information problems they face and prepare the way, advocates should commission an independent research team to produce a comprehensive negotiation analysis before they decide to move further. Reaching an agreement on an agenda will depend on the procedural rules that apply in the agenda negotiation and the subsequent Round. They should consider four rules that seem legitimate today and most likely to help Members find a joint-gain agenda. Reaching an agenda agreement could also depend in part on decisions by WTO chairs during this negotiation. Experience illustrates the potentials and possible pitfalls for them to avoid.
Prospects for Constitutionalization of the WTO
Authors: NELSON DOUGLAS R.
Published: January 2015

This paper seeks to evaluate the prospects for constitutional reform of the WTO by drawing on the broader literature on constitutionalization. In particular, it argues that constitutionalization implies a coherent civil society, linked to the constitutionalized entity via democratic politics. While there may be an emergent global civil society around international trade, there is no framework for democratic politics. Thus, constitutional reform seems problematic.
Special and Differential Treatment of Developing Countries in the WTO
Authors: CONCONI PAOLA , PERRONI CARLO
Published: January 2015

In this paper, we examine the theoretical rationale for WTO rules on the special and differential treatment (SDT) of developing countries. We describe a model of bilateral trade between a small country and a large trading partner, in which the small country suffers from a domestic commitment problem in trade policy. This problem arises because investors in the import-competing sector lobby the government to enact and maintain protectionist policies. We show that a reciprocal trade agreement, in which the large country lowers its tariffs conditionally on the small country doing the same, creates a ‘carrot and stick’ mechanisms that helps the small country to overcome its commitment problem. If capacity in the import-competing sector can only be reduced gradually, the agreement may need to allow the small country to delay the implementation of its trade liberalization commitments, in line with SDT provisions in the WTO. Our analysis suggests that, if reconciled with the principle of reciprocity, SDT can help developing countries to liberalize and improve their trading prospects.
A simple and rapid method for the determination of mercury in gas condensates by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry
Authors: Liu Ya Xuan , Zhou Tuo , Wang Jian Yi , Wang Yan Li , Zhao Dan , Zhang Qin
Published: January 2015

A method for the accurate determination of mercury content in gas condensates is of significance in the applications of condensates.
Simple one-step preconcentration and cleanup with a micellar system for high performance liquid chromatography determination of pyrethroids in traditional Chinese medicine
Authors: Chen Ligang , Xing Wenjuan
Published: January 2015

One-step preconcentration and cleanup using a micellar system for the extraction and preconcentration of four pyrethroids including beta-cyfluthrin, cyhalothrin, cyphenothrin and permethrin in traditional Chinese medicine with the use of Triton™ X-114.
A simplified vortex-assisted emulsification microextraction method for determining personal care products in environmental water samples by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography
Authors: González-Hernández Providencia , Pino Verónica , Ayala Juan H. , Afonso Ana M.
Published: January 2015

The extraction of ten personal care products from waters is accomplished for the first time using a VAEME method followed by UHPLC, without any dispersive solvent or surfactants.
A highly sensitive fluorescence assay for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene using amine-capped silicon quantum dots as a probe
Authors: Ban Rui , Zheng Fenfen , Zhang Jianrong
Published: January 2015

A simple and effective fluorescence method for the detection of TNT has been developed based on the recognition of amine-capped silicon quantum dots (SiQDs) to TNT.
Accelerated healing of cutaneous wounds using phytochemically stabilized gold nanoparticle deposited hydrocolloid membranes
Authors: Kim Ji Eun , Lee Jaewook , Jang Minji , Kwak Moon Hwa , Go Jun , Kho Eun Kyoung , Song Sung Hwa , Sung Ji Eun , Lee Jaebeom , Hwang Dae Youn
Published: January 2015

Rapid healing of dermatological wounds is of vital importance in preventing infection and reducing post-treatment side-effects.
Dynamics of a caged imidazolium cation–toward understanding the order-disorder phase transition and the switchable dielectric constant
Authors: Zhang Xi , Shao Xiu-Dan , Li Si-Chao , Cai Ying , Yao Ye-Feng , Xiong Ren-Gen , Zhang Wen
Published: January 2015

A molecular compass-like behaviour is found in a perovskite-type cage compound (HIm)2[KCo(CN)6], leading to the switchable and anisotropic dielectric constants.
A novel rechargeable battery with a magnesium anode, a titanium dioxide cathode, and a magnesium borohydride/tetraglyme electrolyte
Authors: Su Shuojian , Huang Zhenguo , NuLi Yanna , Tuerxun Felure , Yang Jun , Wang Jiulin
Published: January 2015

Commercial TiO2 in a compatible electrolyte of 0.5 mol L−1 Mg(BH4)2/LiBH4/TG ([LiBH4] = 1.5 mol L−1) delivers high specific capacity, and excellent cycling stability and rate capability. This work opens up a new alternative for the development of rechargeable magnesium batteries.