bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Characterization of atmospheric trace gases and particle matters in Hangzhou, China
Authors: Zhang Gen , Xu Honghui , Qi Bing , Du Rongguang , Gui Ke , Wang Hongli , Jiang Wanting , Liang Linlin , Xu Wanyun
Published: September 2017

Abstract. The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) is one of the most densely populated regions in China with severe air quality issues, which has not been fully understood. Thus, in this study, based on one-year (2013) continuous measurement at a National Reference Climatological Station (NRCS, 30.22° N, 120.17° E, 41.7 m a.s.l.) in the center of Hangzhou in the YRD, we investigated the seasonal characteristics, interspecies relationships, and the local emissions and the regional potential source contributions of trace gases (including O3, NOx, NOy, SO2 and CO) and particulate matters (PM2.5 and PM10). Results revealed severe two-tier air pollution (photochemical and haze pollution) occurred in this region, with frequent exceedances in O3 (38 days) and PM2.5 (62 days). O3 and PM2.5 both exhibited distinct seasonal variations with reversed patterns: O3 reaching a maximum in warm seasons (May and July) but PM2.5 in cold seasons (November to January). The overall results from interspecies correlation indicated a strong local photochemistry favoring the O3 production under a volatile organic compound (VOC)-limited regime, whereas it moved towards an optimum O3 production zone during warm seasons, accompanying with a formation of secondary fine particles under high O3. The emission maps of PM2.5, CO, NOx, and SO2 demonstrated that local emissions were both significant for these species on seasonal scale. The contributions from the regional transports among inland cities (Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Jiangxi Province) on seasonal scale were further confirmed to be crucial to air pollution at NRCS site by using the backward trajectories simulations. Air masses transported from Yellow Sea, East Sea, and South Sea were also found to be highly relevant to the elevated pollutants, especially for NOx and O3. Case studies of photochemical pollution (O3) and haze (PM2.5) episodes both suggested the combined importance of local atmospheric photochemistry and synoptic conditions during the accumulation (related with anticyclones) and dilution process (related with cyclones). This study supplements a general picture of the air pollution state in the YRD region, specifically elucidates the role of local emission and regional transport, and interprets the physical and photochemical processes during haze and photochemical pollution episodes. Moreover, this work suggests that cross-regional control measures are crucial to improve air quality in the YRD region, and further emphasizes the importance of local thermally induced circulation on air quality.
Tropospheric ozone profiles by DIAL at Maïdo Observatory (Reunion Island): system description, instrumental performance and result comparison with ozone external data set
Authors: Duflot Valentin , Baray Jean-Luc , Payen Guillaume , Marquestaut Nicolas , Posny Francoise , Metzger Jean-Marc , Langerock Bavo , Vigouroux Corinne , Hadji-Lazaro Juliette , Portafaix Thierry , De Mazière Martine , Coheur Pierre-Francois , Clerbaux Cathy , Cammas Jean-Pierre
Published: September 2017

Abstract. In order to recognize the importance of ozone (O3) in the troposphere and lower stratosphere in the tropics, a DIAL (differential absorption lidar) tropospheric O3 lidar system (LIO3TUR) was developed and installed at the Université de la Réunion campus site (close to the sea) on Reunion Island (southern tropics) in 1998. From 1998 to 2010, it acquired 427 O3 profiles from the low to the upper troposphere and has been central to several studies. In 2012, the system was moved up to the new Maïdo Observatory facility (2160 m a.m.s.l. – metres above mean sea level) where it started operation in February 2013. The current system (LIO3T) configuration generates a 266 nm beam obtained with the fourth harmonic of a Nd:YAG laser sent into a Raman cell filled up with deuterium (using helium as buffer gas), generating the 289 and 316 nm beams to enable the use of the DIAL method for O3 profile measurements. The optimal range for the actual system is 6–19 km a.m.s.l., depending on the instrumental and atmospheric conditions. For a 1 h integration time, vertical resolution varies from 0.7 km at 6 km a.m.s.l. to 1.3 km at 19 km a.m.s.l., and mean uncertainty within the 6–19 km range is between 6 and 13 %. Comparisons with eight electrochemical concentration cell (ECC) sondes simultaneously launched from the Maïdo Observatory show good agreement between data sets with a 6.8 % mean absolute relative difference (D) between 6 and 17 km a.m.s.l. (LIO3T lower than ECC). Comparisons with 37 ECC sondes launched from the nearby Gillot site during the daytime in a ±24 h window around lidar shooting result in a 9.4 % D between 6 and 19 km a.m.s.l. (LIO3T lower than ECC). Comparisons with 11 ground-based Network for Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer measurements acquired during the daytime in a ±24 h window around lidar shooting show good agreement between data sets with a D of 11.8 % for the 8.5–16 km partial column (LIO3T higher than FTIR), and comparisons with 39 simultaneous Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) observations over Reunion Island show good agreement between data sets with a D of 11.3 % for the 6–16 km partial column (LIO3T higher than IASI). ECC, LIO3TUR and LIO3T O3 monthly climatologies all exhibit the same range of values and patterns. In particular, the Southern Hemisphere biomass burning seasonal enhancement and the ozonopause altitude decrease in late austral winter–spring, as well as the sign of deep convection bringing boundary layer O3-poor air masses up to the middle–upper troposphere in late austral summer, are clearly visible in all data sets.
Detailed characterisation of AVHRR global cloud detection performance of the CM SAF CLARA-A2 climate data record based on CALIPSO-CALIOP cloud information
Authors: Karlsson Karl-Göran , Håkansson Nina
Published: September 2017

Abstract. The cloud detection performance of the cloud mask being used in the CM SAF cloud, albedo and surface radiation dataset from AVHRR data (CLARA-A2) cloud climate data record (CDR) has been evaluated in detail using cloud information from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) onboard the CALIPSO satellite. Validation results, including their global distribution, have been calculated from collocations of AVHRR and CALIOP measurements over a ten-year period (2006–2015). The sensitivity of the results to the cloud optical thicknesses of CALIOP-observed clouds were studied leading to the conclusion that the global cloud detection sensitivity (defined as the minimum cloud optical thickness for which 50 % of clouds could be detected) was estimated to 0.225. After applying this optical thickness threshold to the CALIOP cloud mask, results were found to be basically unbiased over most of the globe except over the polar regions where a considerably underestimation of cloudiness could be seen during the polar winter. The probability of detecting clouds in the polar winter could be as low as 50 % over the highest and coldest portions of Greenland and Antarctica, showing that also a large fraction of optically thick clouds remains undetected here. The study included an in-depth analysis of the probability of detecting a cloud as a function of the vertically integrated cloud optical thickness as well as of the cloud’s geographical position. Best results were achieved over oceanic surfaces at mid-to-high latitudes were at least 50 % of all clouds with an optical thickness down to a value of 0.075 were detected. Corresponding cloud detection sensitivities over land surfaces outside of the polar regions were generally larger than 0.2 with maximum values of approximately 0.5 over Sahara and the Arabian Peninsula. For polar land surfaces the values were close to 1 or higher with maximum values of 4.5 over the geographically highest parts of Greenland and Antarctica. The validation method is suggested to be applied also to other satellite-based CDRs and validation results are proposed to be used in Cloud Feedback Model Intercomparison Project (CFMIP) Observation Simulation Package (COSP) simulators for cloud detection characterisation of various cloud CDRs from passive imagery.
Comparisons of bispectral and polarimetric cloud microphysical
retrievals using LES-Satellite retrieval simulator
Authors: Miller Daniel J. , Zhang Zhibo , Platnick Steven , Ackerman Andrew S. , Werner Frank , Cornet Cèline , Knobelspiesse Kirk
Published: September 2017

Abstract. Many passive remote sensing techniques have been developed to retrieve cloud microphysical properties from satellite-based sensors, with the most common approaches being the bispectral and polarimetric techniques. These two vastly different retrieval techniques have been implemented for a variety of polar-orbiting and geostationary satellite platforms, providing global climatological datasets. Prior instrument comparison studies have shown that there are systematic differences between the droplet size retrieval products (effective radius) of bispectral (e.g. MODIS, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and polarimetric (e.g. POLDER, Polarization and Directionality of Earth’s Reflectances) instruments. However, intercomparisons of airborne bispectral and polarimetric instruments have yielded results that do not appear to be systematically biased relative to one another. Diagnosing this discrepancy is complicated, because it is often difficult for instrument intercomparison studies to isolate differences between retrieval technique sensitivities and specific instrumental differences such as calibration, atmospheric correction, etc. In addition to these technical differences the polarimetric retrieval is also sensitive to the dispersion of the droplet size distribution (effective variance), which could influence the interpretation of the droplet size retrieval. To avoid these instrument-dependent complications, this study makes use of a cloud remote sensing retrieval simulator. Created by coupling a large eddy simulation (LES) cloud model with radiative transfer models, the simulator serves as a test bed for understanding differences between bispectral and polarimetric retrievals. With the help of this simulator we can not only compare the two techniques to one another (retrieval intercomparison), but also validate retrievals directly against the LES cloud properties. Using the satellite retrieval simulator we are able to verify that at high spatial resolution (50 m) the bispectral and polarimetric retrievals are indeed highly correlated with one another. The small differences at high spatial resolution can be attributed to different sensitivity limitations of the two retrievals. In contrast, a systematic difference between the two retrievals emerges at coarser resolution. This bias largely stems from differences related to sensitivity of the two retrievals to unresolved inhomogeneities in effective variance and optical thickness. The influence of coarse angular resolution is found to increase uncertainty in the polarimetric retrieval, but generally maintains a constant mean value.
Reconstruction of global gridded monthly sectoral water withdrawals for 1971–2010 and analysis of their spatiotemporal patterns
Authors: Huang Zhongwei , Hejazi Mohamad , Li Xinya , Tang Qiuhong , Leng Guoyong , Liu Yaling , Döll Petra , Eisner Stephanie , Gerten Dieter , Hanasaki Naota , Wada Yoshihide
Published: September 2017

Abstract. Human water withdrawal has increasingly altered the global water cycle in past decades, yet our understanding of its driving forces and patterns is limited. Reported historical estimates of sectoral water withdrawals are often sparse and incomplete, mainly restricted to water withdrawal estimates available at annual and country scale, due to a lack of observations at local and seasonal time scales. In this study, through collecting and consolidating various sources of reported data and developing spatial and temporal statistical downscaling algorithms, we reconstruct a global monthly gridded (0.5 degree) sectoral water withdrawal dataset for the period 1971–2010, which distinguishes six water use sectors, i.e. irrigation, domestic, electricity generation (cooling of thermal power plants), livestock, mining, and manufacturing. Based on the reconstructed dataset, the spatial and temporal patterns of historical water withdrawal are analyzed. Results show that global total water withdrawal has increased significantly during 1971–2010, mainly driven by the increase of irrigation water withdrawal. Regions with high water withdrawal are those densely populated or with large irrigated cropland production, e.g., the United States (US), eastern China, India, and Europe. Seasonally, irrigation water withdrawal in summer for the major crops contributes a large percentage of annual total irrigation water withdrawal in mid and high-latitude regions, and the dominant season of irrigation water withdrawal is also different across regions. Domestic water withdrawal is mostly characterized by a summer peak, while water withdrawal for electricity generation has a winter peak in high-latitude regions and a summer peak in low-latitude regions. Despite the overall increasing trend, irrigation in the western US and domestic water withdrawal in western Europe exhibit a decreasing trend. Our results highlight the distinct spatial pattern of human water use by sectors at the seasonal and annual scales. The reconstructed gridded water withdrawal dataset is open-access, and can be used for examining issues related to water withdrawals at fine spatial, temporal and sectoral scales.
Improvement of an index oriented methodology for consequence analysis of natural hazards: application to the Upper Guil Catchment (Southern French Alps)
Authors: Carlier Benoît , Puissant Anne , Dujarric Constance , Arnaud-Fassetta Gilles
Published: September 2017

Abstract. Vulnerability is a complex concept involving a variety of disciplines from physical and socio-economic sciences. Currently, two opposite trends exist: the physical approach in which vulnerability is analysed as potential impacts on the exposed elements; and the social approach in which vulnerability is viewed as a combination of socio-economic variables determining people’s ability to anticipate before a catastrophic event, to react during it, and to recover after it. Finding a way to combine these two approaches is a key issue for a global vulnerability assessment. The objective of this paper is to improve the Potential Damage Index (Puissant et al., 2013) originally developed to assess the physical, structural and functional consequences of landslide hazard, by including social and institutional criteria. These criteria, derived from INSEE French census data and risk perception survey were selected to represent the three main phases of risk management: preparedness, crisis management and recovery. The new Global Potential Damage Index is then applied on the Upper Guil Catchment to assess torrential floods. Results of the PDI are compared with the GPDI and show significant differences. GPDI scores are globally lower than PDI scores indicating that resilient population may qualify results obtained for physical consequences.
The Poetics of the Orphan in Abdelkébir Khatibi's Early Work
Authors: Reeck Matt
Published: September 2017

Like many North African, Francophone, and world writers whose lives span the historic divide of independence from colonialism, Abdelkébir Khatibi’s work focuses in large part upon the idea of encounter, or, in French, “rencontre.” In this paper I focus upon the figure of the orphan in La mémoire tatouée and Le lutteur de classe à la manière taoïste, two of his earliest texts. By focusing upon the orphan as a multivalent term, and by following Khatibi’s emphasis upon language, literature, and even life itself as a game or experiment, we can see how Khatibi creates an ethics of encounter that derives its meaning from recuperating a negatively connotated word and transforming it into a term of positive value. With the term “orphan,” he shows how through encountering the Other, by extending beyond into the unknown, by exceeding the circumscriptions of ancestry, identity, and national culture, the individual rises into a new status of free living. Moreover, it is equally through the practice of writing that life redounds with life; writing for Khatibi is never a mimetic representation of life per se but a space for experimenting, for discovery, and for exceeding the parochial nature of an individual’s physical placement in the world. In this sense, the orphan status of his writing shows itself through his aggressively restless, polyphonic, and ageneric writing that uses the localization of genre only as a hinge to push against in the quest to articulate a new relation to the world.
The Hidden Source of Hermeneutics: The Art of Reading in Hugh of St. Victor
Authors: Falque Emmanuel
Published: September 2017

It might be surprising to find in a journal of contemporary philosophy a text that is mostly about Hugh of St. Victor (1096-1141). The hermeneutic question, however, did not begin only yesterday. While this question has its actual sources in Origen (concerning the meaning of Scripture) and Saint Augustine (the firmament of Scripture), it is in the Didascalicon or The Art of Reading by Hugh of St. Victor that it first finds its clearest formulation and its most methodical development. This “hidden source of hermeneutics” allows for a questioning of the foundations of the hermeneutics of the text from its outset (in weighing the short route versus the long route), and also for a return of hermeneutics, or better to turn it, to its primordial origin: a hermeneutics of the “world” or of “creation” [liber mundi], rather than of the “text” and of “Scripture” [liber Scripturae]. A “Catholic” hermeneutics of “the body and the voice” should, in my opinion, take the place of the “Protestant” hermeneutics of “the meaning of the text” (Ricœur) and the “Jewish” hermeneutics of the “body of the letter” (Levinas). This thesis, which is stated and developed in my book Crossing the Rubicon, has its roots and justification in this historical essay on Hugh of St. Victor.
Husserl and Ricoeur: The Influence of Phenomenology on the Formation of Ricoeur’s Hermeneutics of the ‘Capable Human’
Authors: Moran Dermot
Published: September 2017

The phenomenology of Edmund Husserl had a permanent and profound impact on the philosophical formation of Paul Ricoeur. One could truly say, paraphrasing Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s brilliant 1959 essay ‘The Philosopher and his Shadow’,that Husserl is the philosopher in whose shadow Ricoeur, like Merleau-Ponty, also stands, the thinker to whom he constantly returns. Husserl is Ricoeur’s philosopher of reflection, par excellence. Indeed, Ricoeur always invokes Husserl when he is discussing a paradigmatic instance of contemporary philosophy of ‘reflection’ and also of  descriptive, ‘eidetic’ phenomenology. Indeed, I shall argue in this chapter that Husserl’s influence on Ricoeur was decisive and provided an eidetic, descriptive methodology which is permanently in play, even when it has to be concretized and mediated by hermeneutics, as Ricoeur proposes after 1960.
Letting-be: Dwelling, Peace and Violence in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Petals of Blood
Authors: Farred Grant
Published: September 2017

It is dwelling that allows mortals to initiate themselves in time and space. As such, dwelling constitutes the event of being. In his essay “Building Dwelling Thinking,” Martin Heidegger stipulates that dwelling can only be achieved through harmonious relations among the constituents, earth, sky, mortals and gods (“divinities”), of the “fourfold.” Heidegger writes, “To preserve the fourfold, to save the earth, to receive the sky, to await the divinities, to initiate mortals – this fourfold preserving is the simple essence of dwelling.” Initiating themselves in time and space is the great difficulty that the residents of Ilmorog, the remote village in postcolonial Kenya in which Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s novel Petals of Blood is set, experience; in Petals of Blood, dwelling is what defines mortals’ being.
La negatividad de Kant a Hegel: juicio estético y lenguaje especulativo”.
Authors: M. Pérez Berta
Published: September 2017

Este artículo presenta una interpretación de la proposición especulativa de Hegel que, subrayando el “contragolpe” que el sujeto heredado de la tradición moderna sufre en ella, permite vincular el movimiento del sujeto hegeliano a la negatividad reconocida por Kant en el fondo de la capacidad de juzgar a propósito de la dimensión estética. De este modo se pretende, en primer lugar, cuestionar la lectura que ve en Hegel un retroceso respecto a la conciencia ganada por Kant en relación a la finitud o a la fisura constitutiva del sujeto moderno, y, en última instancia, en sintonía con relecturas recientes de Hegel como las de Žižek y Malabou, contribuir al cuestionamiento de la interpretación tradicional de la dialéctica hegeliana como superación de la negatividad en una síntesis final reconciliadora.
The Criminological Construction of Female Mediumship in Early Twentieth-Century Germany
Authors: Wolffram Heather
Published: September 2017

During the early twentieth century, several prominent fraud trials that featured mediums as defendants captured public attention in Germany. Of particular note were the trials of the “flower medium” Anna Rothe in 1902 and the criminal-telepath Else Günther-Geffers in 1928, which were given substantial coverage in the German daily press. While these sensational trials focused the public on the question of the reality of mediumistic phenomena and psychical researchers on discovering the mechanism by which mediums achieved their supernormal feats, a small number of jurists and criminologists used such cases to explore the nature of female criminality. Among them was the criminologist Erich Wulffen, whose books Psychologie des Verbrechers (Psychology of the criminal) and Das Weib als Sexualverbrecherin (Woman as sexual criminal) used Rothe and Günther-Geffers as examples of a particular type of criminal: the hysterical female swindler.
What drives firm profitability? A multilevel approach to the Spanish agri-food sector
Authors: Zouaghi Ferdaous , Sánchez-García Mercedes , Hirsch Stefan
Published: September 2017

Strategic management research has demonstrated the importance of firm- and industry structure as drivers of firm profitability. However, less is known about how firms´ geographical locations affect profitability. Applying a multi-level approach of hierarchical linear modeling we estimated firm-, industry-, and region-specific effects on profitability of 3,273 agri-food firms operating in different Spanish districts over the time span 2006-2013. The results reveal the dominance of firm-specific effects which contribute up to 48.8% to variance in firm profitability while the contribution of industry effects (0.8-4.2%), geographical location (0.1-1.8%), and year effects (0.1-2.5%) is rather small. Moreover, firm size, risk, and innovative activity turn out as significant profit drivers at the firm level. Although firm-effects outweigh industry- and region-specific factors, the results indicate that industry concentration as well as regional education and unemployment influence profitability. In addition, proximity to technological institutes as well as the degree of urbanization of the region in which a firm operates can be drivers of profitability. Hence, despite the superiority of firm effects the results indicate that agri-food managers should also consider possible advantages from location-based resources in order to ensure competitiveness.
Management Issues of SMEs in Turkey from the Perspective of Sustainability
Authors: Turegun Nida , Turegun Orcun
Published: September 2017

Sustainability for SMEs is a process of development target to be achieved by increasing the competitiveness in theglobal market. In this context, the purpose of this study is to investigate the SMEs in Turkey within the framework ofmanagement issues and corporate governance viewpoint and to present an outline of possible solutions. Anotherpurpose of this study is to contribute management literature in terms of shedding lights on the relations ofsustainability and management practices on SMEs to raise awareness. In order to conduct this study method ofdetailed literature review is used. Detected management issues and solutions are examined into four main categories,which are (a) the lack of awareness of the sustainability and failure of implementation of this concept to themanagement practices, (b) lack of understanding of the relationship between the expectations of stakeholders onsustainability and company's future interests, (c) lack of the vision about sustainability and presence of unclearlydefined rules, roles and processes within the companies, (d) lack of skills to analyze the short and long term effects tothe company of not taking sustainability concept into decision making mechanisms.
Meeting the Felt-Need of Married Couples: The Case of a Diocesan Family Planning Program
Authors: Asiones Noel G. , Flores-Carlos Fides
Published: September 2017

Drawing on the concept of program integrity, this paper assessed whether or not the Natural Family Planningprogram of a church organization met the felt-need for family planning of married couples as its intended clients.Program integrity is the practical concept that programs should be organizationally and structurally sound to meet theneeds of their intended recipients. It includes the five key elements of fidelity, dosage, reception, quality of serviceand program differentiation. Multiple focus group discussions were conducted with the service providers and marriedcouples to gather data on its objectives, processes and outcomes. Except for the element of fidelity to the program’sexplicit objectives and values, the data clearly and consistently suggest that, in the case under observation, theprogram did not adequately meet the felt-need of the married couples for family planning in terms of the fourelements of dosage, reception, quality of service delivery and program differentiation. Related to the five elements ofprogram integrity, implications to theory and pastoral practice were drawn and specific recommendations made toenhance processes and achieve desired outcomes.
Socio-Structural Intergroup Characteristics as Predictors of Intention to Join University Alumni Association
Authors: Mazambani Gideon , Reysen Stephen , Gibson Shonda , Hendricks LaVelle
Published: September 2017

We examined the association between socio-structural intergroup characteristics (i.e., permeability of groupboundaries, legitimacy of status difference between ingroup and outgroups, stability of status difference) andstudents’ intention to join the university alumni association. Prior theory and research suggests that group membersassess the intergroup context to direct identity management strategies (e.g., leave group, collective action). Collegestudents in their last semester at a university were asked to rate the perceived socio-structural characteristics of theingroup (compared to other universities) and their intention to join the alumni association. The results showed thatperceiving one’s ingroup as legitimately high status and in a stable intergroup context predicted greater intention tojoin the alumni association. Consistent with prior theory, the results suggest that viewing one’s ingroup aslegitimately high status predicts endorsement of actions to maintain a positive and distinct identity.
Over toekomstbestendige policing
Authors: Devroe E.
Published: September 2017

About future-proof policing: The dilemmas of security regimes in big cities

In this article we identify the political agency and discretion available to metropolises to define and accomplish their own policing agendas and to question what the role of public police forces can be in executing such agendas. Results of a comparative case study of 24 metropolises illustrate a major focus on risk management strategies like environmental opportunity oriented measures, hot spot hot time predictive policing actions and preventative community oriented policing. Also programs like Top 600 in Amsterdam and other early intervention efforts oriented towards ‘groups at risk’ (youngsters, nomads and criminal careers) find a place in the risk assessment regime. This article classifies all urban programs in 5 different ‘urban regimes’ and sheds light on the role the police should take in order to execute stated policy goals, summarized in urban policy coalition plans and security plans.
Een insidersanalyse van de Franse politieorganisatie
Authors: Meershoek G.
Published: September 2017

An insider’s view on the French police organisation

This contribution offers a review of the recently published book Sécurité. Ce qu’on vous cache (‘Security. What is being hidden for you’) written by Patrice Bergougnoux (with Frédéric Ploquin). Bergougnoux has had a long career inside the French police organisation. His book comes out at a crucial moment, now the French police has become subject of a fierce debate due to its expanded powers during the state of emergency in place since the terrorist attacks in Paris in november 2016 up to today. Bergougnoux gives an insider’s view on the police organisation and how it became a subject of power struggle between various French political forces. While the French have had a national police for 75 years, the Netherlands only recently formed a national force. This book entails a national vision on how to structure the police services and as such could be inspiring for the Dutch debate on the national police.
Comparison of Spectrophotometric Methods for the Determination of Copper in Sugar Cane Spirit
Authors: Soares Sarah Adriana R , Costa Silvânio Silvério L , Araujo Rennan Geovanny O , Teixeira Leonardo Sena Gomes , Dantas Alailson Falcão
Published: September 2017

Three spectrophotometric methods were developed for the determination of copper (Cu) in sugar cane spirit using the chromogenic reagents neocuproine, cuprizone, and bathocuproine. Experimental conditions, such as reagent concentration, reducer concentration, pH, buffer concentration, the order of addition of reagents, and the stability of the complexes, were optimized. The work range was established from 1.0 to 10.0 µg/mL, with correlation coefficients of >0.999 for all three optimized methods. The methods were evaluated regarding accuracy by addition and recovery tests at five concentration levels, and the obtained recoveries ranged from 91 to 105% (n = 3). Precision was expressed as RSD (relative standard deviation), with values ranging from 0.01 to 0.17% (n = 10). The method using the chromogenic reagent cuprizone presented the greatest molar absorptivity, followed by bathocuproine and neocuproine. The methods were applied for the determination of Cu in sugar cane spirit, and the results were compared with a reference method by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). Calibration curve solutions for FAAS analysis were prepared in a 40% (v/v) alcohol medium in a range of concentrations from 0.5 up to 5 µg/mL. Measurements for Cu determination were carried out at a wavelength of 324.7 nm. The concentrations obtained for Cu in sugar cane spirit samples from Brazil were between 1.99 and 12.63 µg/mL, and about 75% of the samples presented Cu concentrations above the limit established by Brazilian legislation (5.0 µg/mL or 5.0 mg/L).
Broken to the Hope
Authors: Mikochik Stephen L. ,   The National Catholic Bioethics Center
Published: September 2017

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a landmark international agreement recognizing the rights and equal status of disabled people. States Parties commit to protect the right to life of all such people and to promote their equal dignity. Canada ratified the convention in 2010. However, Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying Act, which received royal assent in 2016, allows for assisted suicide and euthanasia of those dis­abled people who have a grievous and irremediable medical condition. This essay contends that the act violates Canada’s treaty obligations not to enact legislation inconsistent with the convention by jeopardizing the right to life of such people and placing them in a significantly unequal status within Canadian society.
A Smoother Road to AMI: Leveraging Applicable Lessons Learned From the Power Industry
Authors: Bui Ann , Imlah Tim
Published: September 2017

In 2007, the Energy Independence and Security Act helped jump start smart grid programs across the electric industry in the United States and promoted that industry's transition to incorporate advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). As is the case with any transformative technology, early adopters stumbled upon significant challenges unique to AMI programs, such as data analytics and system integration, but addressing these issues ultimately led to today's robust systems.
Effect of Centaurea pullata Methanolic Extract on the Growth of Portulaca oleracea
Authors: Wasi Ullah Khan  , Rahmat Ali Khan  , Safir Ullah Khan
Published: September 2017

Phytotoxicity or allelopathy means poisonous results by a composite onplantgrowth, composites may be trace metals, pesticides salinity or phytotoxins. Some of the medicinal plants have phytotoxic activities which inhibit the growth of weeds and unwanted plants which are not of our desire. The present study is aimed to investigate the phytotoxic assessment of Centaurea pullata methanolic extract (CPME) roots. Dried plant were ground and extracted with methanol to prepare methanol crude extract. In-vitro phytotoxicity activity was conducted using these methanolic extracts as per standard procedures. The inhibitory effect of Centaurea pullata extract is tested on stalk and root of Portulaca oleracea and using four concentrations (3, 1.5, 0.75 and 0.37mg/ml) of plant extract and distal water in control. The result is noted on 5th and 10th days. The results obtained from these experiments showed that the crude methanolic extract of Centaurea pullata slightly inhibits the roots and shoots of Portulaca oleracea seeds as compared to the control plate which was not treated by the above mentioned sample extracts shown in Figures as. From the results obtained that, Phytotoxicity activity of Centaurea pullata methanolic extract showed non-significant results. Purification and in vivo studies of these plant are required for further verification.
A causal role for right frontopolar cortex in directed, but not random, exploration
Authors: Zajkowski Wojciech K , Kossut Malgorzata , Wilson Robert C
Published: September 2017

The explore-exploit dilemma occurs anytime we must choose between exploring unknown options for information and exploiting known resources for reward. Previous work suggests that people use two different strategies to solve the explore-exploit dilemma: directed exploration, driven by information seeking, and random exploration, driven by decision noise. Here, we show that these two strategies rely on different neural systems. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation to inhibit the right frontopolar cortex, we were able to selectively inhibit directed exploration while leaving random exploration intact. This suggests a causal role for right frontopolar cortex in directed, but not random, exploration and that directed and random exploration rely on (at least partially) dissociable neural systems.
Cortex-wide BOLD fMRI activity reflects locally-recorded slow oscillation-associated calcium waves
Authors: Schwalm Miriam , Schmid Florian , Wachsmuth Lydia , Backhaus Hendrik , Kronfeld Andrea , Aedo Jury Felipe , Prouvot Pierre-Hugues , Fois Consuelo , Albers Franziska , van Alst Timo , Faber Cornelius , Stroh Albrecht
Published: September 2017

Spontaneous slow oscillation-associated slow wave activity represents an internally generated state which is characterized by alternations of network quiescence and stereotypical episodes of neuronal activity - slow wave events. However, it remains unclear which macroscopic signal is related to these active periods of the slow wave rhythm. We used optic fiber-based calcium recordings of local neural populations in cortex and thalamus to detect neurophysiologically defined slow calcium waves in isoflurane anesthetized rats. The individual slow wave events were used for an event-related analysis of simultaneously acquired whole-brain BOLD fMRI. We identified BOLD responses directly related to onsets of slow calcium waves, revealing a cortex-wide BOLD correlate: the entire cortex was engaged in this specific type of slow wave activity. These findings demonstrate a direct relation of defined neurophysiological events to a specific BOLD activity pattern and were confirmed for ongoing slow wave activity by independent component and seed-based analyses.
Inferring ‘weak spots’ in phylogenetic trees: application to mosasauroid nomenclature
Authors: Madzia Daniel , Cau Andrea
Published: September 2017

Mosasauroid squamates represented the apex predators within the Late Cretaceous marine and occasionally also freshwater ecosystems. Proper understanding of the origin of their ecological adaptations or paleobiogeographic dispersals requires adequate knowledge of their phylogeny. The studies assessing the position of mosasauroids on the squamate evolutionary tree and their origins have long given conflicting results. The phylogenetic relationships within Mosasauroidea, however, have experienced only little changes throughout the last decades. Considering the substantial improvements in the development of phylogenetic methodology that have undergone in recent years, resulting, among others, in numerous alterations in the phylogenetic hypotheses of other fossil amniotes, we test the robustness in our understanding of mosasauroid beginnings and their evolutionary history. We re-examined a data set that results from modifications assembled in the course of the last 20 years and performed multiple parsimony analyses and Bayesian tip-dating analysis. Following the inferred topologies and the ‘weak spots’ in the phylogeny of mosasauroids, we revise the nomenclature of the ‘traditionally’ recognized mosasauroid clades, to acknowledge the overall weakness among branches and the alternative topologies suggested previously, and discuss several factors that might have an impact on the differing phylogenetic hypotheses and their statistical support.
Association of rs1801157 single nucleotide polymorphism of CXCL12 gene in breast cancer in Pakistan andin-silicoexpression analysis of CXCL12–CXCR4 associated biological regulatory network
Authors: Khalid Samra , Hanif Rumeza
Published: September 2017

Background

C-X-C chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12) has important implications in breast cancer (BC) pathogenesis. It is selectively expressed on B and T lymphocytes and is involved in hematopoiesis, thymocyte trafficking, stem cell motility, neovascularization, and tumorigenesis. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)rs1801157of CXCL12 gene has been found to be associated with higher risk of BC.

Methods

Our study focuses on the genotypic and allelic distribution of SNP (rs1801157; G/A) in Pakistani population as well as its association with the clinico-pathological features. The association betweenrs1801157genotypes (G/A) and BC risks was assessed by a multivariate logistic regression (MLR) analysis. Genotyping was performed in both healthy individuals and patients of BC using PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Furthermore,in-silicoapproaches were adapted to investigate the association of CXCL12 and its receptor CXCR4 with genes/proteins involved in BC signalling.

Results

Significant differences in allelic and genotypic distribution between BC patients and healthy individuals of genotype (G/G) and (A/G) (p < 0.05) were observed. The frequency of the allele G in the BC group (77%) was significantly higher as compared to control group (61%) (p = 0.01). The association of genotype GG with clinico-pathological features including age, stages of cancer and organ (lung, liver, bones and brain) metastasis (p > 0.05) was assessed. In a MLR analysis, a number of variables including age, weight of an individual, affected lymph nodes, hormonal status (estrogen and progesterone receptor), alcohol consumption and family history associated with the GG genotype (GG:AA, odds ratio (OR) = 1.30, 95% CI [1.06–1.60]) were found to be independent risk factors for BC. Ourin-vitroresults suggest that genotype GG is possibly increasing the risk of BC in Pakistani cohorts.in-silicoanalysis finds that CXCL12–CXCR4 is associated with an increased expression of PDZK1, PI3k and Akt which lead the breast tumor towards metastasis.

Conclusion

Multiple targets such as CXCL12, CXCR4, PDZK1, PI3k and Akt can be inhibited in combined strategies to treat BC metastasis.
Bio‐inspired Dry Adhesives: Contact Electrification and Electrostatic Interactions
Authors: Izadi Hadi , Zandieh Azadeh , Penlidis Alexander
Published: September 2017

This article discusses contact electrification and related electrostatic forces as they pertain to the adhesive properties of gecko foot pads and gecko‐inspired adhesives. Following an introduction to gecko adhesion and gecko‐inspired adhesives, fundamentals of contact electrification‐driven electrostatic interactions are discussed, along with electrostatic phenomena that can affect these interfacial interactions. Particular attention has been given to three special phenomena: electrostatic discharge, surface charge leakage, and charge penetration into the matrix of fibrillar dry adhesives. Through the analysis of the effects of these three phenomena, it is demonstrated how the general characteristics of fibrillar dry adhesives, such as strong attachment, easy detachment, and self‐cleaning, can be considered and explained in terms of contact electrification‐driven electrostatic interactions of these materials. In this connection, the effects of many factors (electrical conductivity, dielectric properties, and geometrical properties) on contact electrification‐driven electrostatic interactions of fibrillar dry adhesives have also been discussed. The ensuing discussion on the magnitude of electrostatic adhesion forces that fibrillar dry adhesives can develop via contact electrification has been carried out with respect to three key parameters (surface roughness, humidity, and tip geometry) and the effects that these can have on the strength of the contact electrification‐driven electrostatic interactions of gecko and gecko‐inspired adhesives.
Studies on cyanobacterial protein PipY shed light on structure, potential functions, and vitamin B6‐dependent epilepsy
Authors: Tremiño Lorena , Forcada‐Nadal Alicia , Contreras Asunción , Rubio Vicente
Published: September 2017

The Synechococcus elongatus COG0325 gene pipY functionally interacts with the nitrogen regulatory gene pipX. As a first step toward a molecular understanding of such interactions, we characterized PipY. This 221‐residue protein is monomeric and hosts pyridoxal phosphate (PLP), binding it with limited affinity and losing it upon incubation with D‐cycloserine. PipY crystal structures with and without PLP reveal a single‐domain monomer folded as the TIM barrel of type‐III fold PLP enzymes, with PLP highly exposed, fitting a role for PipY in PLP homeostasis. The mobile PLP phosphate‐anchoring C‐terminal helix might act as a trigger for PLP exchange. Exploiting the universality of COG0325 functions, we used PipY in site‐directed mutagenesis studies to shed light on disease causation by epilepsy‐associated mutations in the human COG0325 gene PROSC.
Simulation of Optical Properties and Direct and Indirect Radiative Effects of Smoke Aerosols Over Marine Stratocumulus Clouds During Summer 2008 in California With the Regional Climate Model RegCM
Authors: Mallet M. , Solmon F. , Roblou L. , Peers F. , Turquety S. , Waquet F. , Jethva H. , Torres O.
Published: September 2017

The regional climate model RegCM has been modified to better account for the climatic effects of biomass‐burning particles. Smoke aerosols are represented by new tracers with consistent radiative and hygroscopic properties to simulate the direct radiative forcing (DRF), and a new parameterization has been integrated for relating the droplet number concentration to the aerosol concentration for marine stratocumulus clouds (Sc). RegCM has been tested during the summer of 2008 over California, when extreme concentration of smoke, together with the presence of Sc, is observed. This work indicates that significant aerosol optical depth (AOD) (~1–2 at 550 nm) is related to the intense 2008 fires. Compared to Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, the regional pattern of RegCM AOD is well represented although the magnitude is lower than satellite observations. Comparisons with Polarization and Directionality of Earth Reflectances (POLDER) above‐clouds aerosol optical depth (ACAOD) show the ability of RegCM to simulate realistic ACAOD during the transport of smoke above the Pacific Ocean. The simulated single scattering albedo is ~0.90 (at 550 nm) near biomass‐burning sources, consistent with OMI and POLDER, and smoke leads to shortwave heating rates ~1.5–2°K d−1. RegCM is not able to correctly resolve the daily patterns in cloud properties notably due to its coarse horizontal resolutions. However, the changes in the sign of the DRF at top of atmosphere (TOA) (negative to positive) from clear‐sky to all‐sky conditions is well simulated. Finally, the “aerosol‐cloud” parameterization allows simulating an increase of the cloud optical depth for significant concentrations, leading to large perturbations of radiative fluxes at TOA.
Prokaryotic
DNA
Transposons: Classes and Mechanism
Authors: Chandler Michael
Published: September 2017

Transposition plays a major role in genome plasticity causing chromosome rearrangements, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) insertion and deletion mutations and is key in gene sequestration and transmission by horizontal gene transfer. The processes play important roles in genome evolution and function. Transposable elements (TR) can be classified according to the chemistry of the transposition process itself: the nature of the catalytic mechanisms involved in the DNA cleavages necessary to liberate a copy of the transposon from its donor DNA and DNA strand transfer events (involved in insertion into a target DNA).

This chapter is centred on prokaryotic TE, which use DNA intermediates for their movement. DNA transposable elements are extremely diverse, but, with a few exceptions, the mechanisms they use in their movement are common to both prokaryotic and eukaryotic TE.

There are only a limited number of enzyme types that carry out DNA transposition. They are DDE (DED), Y, S, Y1 (HUH), Y2 (HUH) transposases, names of which are based on the active‐site residues involved in catalysis. More recently, an additional class, the casposons, has been identified in archaea and bacteria, which use a different type of sequence‐specific endonuclease.

Transposition requires assembly of precise protein DNA complexes called transpososomes.

Key Concepts

Transposons are found in all living organisms.

Transposons are diverse in organisation.

Transposons use a limited number of enzyme types (transposases) for their movement.

Transposases catalyse DNA cleavage in the donor DNA molecule and DNA strand transfer into the target DNA.

Transposition requires an assembly of a precise protein–DNA complex, the transpososome.

Transpososomes are assembled through a strictly ordered series of events in which the DNA–protein interactions position the DNA for catalysis.