bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Of the Makaris: A Causerie
Authors: Roy James
Published: March 2013

The Makaris of Scotland have never been entirely forgotten, but even today only a few students of poetry know very much about them. Allan Ramsay reprinted Henryson's Robene and Makyne in the Evergreen (1724); Lord Hailes, Bishop Percy, and John Pinkerton published the piece in their respective collections of Scottish poetry. But apart from that poem, and the Testament of Cresseid, Henryson was forgotten until about the middle of the nineteenth century, when David Laing produced an edition of the complete Works. It was different with Sir David Lyndsay; until Burns's time he was by far the most popular poet in Scotland. The Bible was the only book that was better known and even the Bible had sometimes to take second place to Lyndsay. For instance, when one Scot said to another, “You'll no' fin' that in David Lyndsay” he was simply trying to tell his friend as politely as possible that he was talking arrant nonsense and had not the slightest proof for his statement. We know a good deal about Sir David, but about many others little beyond their names. The main interest in Dunbar's Lament is not in the poetic elaboration of the truism that everybody has to die sooner or later, but in its list of names of the Makaris, though all that we can learn from the greater part of the catalogue is that there were poets in late fifteenth-century Scotland whose names a critical contemporary thought it worth while to record. The best of the Makaris were no mere imitators of Chaucer; they were creative artists in their own right. Scant as our knowledge of the Makaris is, it would be infinitely poorer if it had not been for the chance discovery of a frayed and battered volume which was published by Chepman and Myllar in 1508. Furthermore, if it had not been for the pious care of collectors like John Asloan and George Bannatyne and Sir Richard Maitland, the father of poor Queen Mary's “Secretary,” who is satirized in George Buchanan's Cameleon, we should know hardly anything about the Makaris at all.
Reviews
Authors: Soward  , Woodhouse  , Saunders Doris
Published: March 2013

Harriet L. Moore, Soviet Far Eastern Policy, 1931-1945, reviewed by F. H. Soward

T. A. Bisson, America's Far Eastern Policy, reviewed by F. H. Soward

Walter Jackson Bate, From Classic to Romantic: Premises of Taste in Eighteenth-century England, reviewed by A. S. P. Woodhouse

De Witt T. Starnes and Gertrude E. Noyes, The English Dictionary from Cawdry to Johnson, 1604–1755, reviewed by Doris B. Saunders

Helen Merrell Lynd, England in the Eighteen-Eighties: Toward a Social Basis for Freedom, reviewed by A. S. P. W.

Elkin Calhoun Wilson, Prince Henry and English Literature, reviewed by H. S. W.

Janet E. Brown, “The Saga of Elsie Dinsmore.”, reviewed by R. D.

Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf in collaboration with Elizabeth von Fürer-Haimendorf, The Aboriginal Tribes of Hyderabad. Volume II. The Reddis of the Bison Hills: A Study in Acculturation, reviewed by T. F. McI.
Situational Satire: A Commentary on the Method of Swift
Authors: Quintana Ricardo
Published: March 2013

Much depends on the readiness with which we acknowledge the element of impersonality in literary art. The impersonality of drama we perceive and accept instinctively, since our normal responses to a play are grounded in this very acceptance. We do not confuse the dramatist with his characters; unless we are Romantic critics writing on Shakespeare, we do not take the play as direct expression of the writer's personality. The play stands forth as an artifice; we are willing to think of it and discuss it in terms of structural form. How different in this respect our reactions are to most non-dramatic forms of literary art can be measured by the degree to which we confound the writer and the written work. When we see the work and its author as interchangeable, when we take the work to be an act at the level of every-day behaviour, we have pretty well lost sight of the impersonal element and the presence of anything in the nature of deliberate method and form. For such reasons we often find it hard to come to terms with the lyric poem as a poem, as a construct, with the result that much of our commentary on poetry turns out to be either description of our impressions or reconstruction—largely imaginary—of a precise moment in the poet's emotional history with which we have chosen to equate the poem. Perhaps we find it hardest of all to admit of any distinction between a satirist and his satiric composition—and this despite the fact that satire is much more obviously a form of rhetoric than is lyric poetry. It is scarcely surprising, therefore, that Swift's satiric method, which everywhere stares us in the face, is only dimly recognized to be a method. We praise Swift's style; we speak of his use of allegory and his mastery of disgust; but we do not follow through with conviction. Sooner or later we allow the personality of Swift to take over and in consequence to obscure the artist, the craftsman, who after all is only Jonathan Swift's distant relative.
The German Revolution of 1848
Authors: Coper Rudolf
Published: March 2013

The German revolution of 1848 has been the subject of a vast literature, but it has rarely been studied objectively. Consequently, many people judge it not according to its causes and effects but according to their own emotions. To some it appears as a proof that the Germans are, for some “ racial” reason, either incapable of appreciating liberty, or able to accept its loss or its non-achievement with equanimity. Still others regard the German revolution of 1848 as an isolated event of the past and ignore it in their appraisal of the political, social, and ,economic manifestations of Germany's development in the last hundred years.
Henry IV, a Mirror of Magistrates
Authors: McLuhan H. M.
Published: March 2013

There is a quite simple and consistent structure in the two parts of Henry IV which hasn't been much discussed. Once this structure is seen there need be no more queries about whether Falstaff was a coward or whether he was badly treated. Then Kittredge's observation that “the character of Henry V ... is inconsistent with the character of the Prince in Henry the Fourth” will appear as natural and inevitable.
Moral Progress in Goethe's Faust
Authors: Lewis Cecil
Published: March 2013

The Second Part of Goethe's Faust has from its first appearance excited strong disagreement among the critics. Does it fit together with the First Part to form a continuous and unified whole? Is there a clear idea consistently worked out in the two parts? Almost at the beginning of Faust criticism, George Henry Lewes, an ardent amirer of the poet, condemned the Second Part as strongly as he praised the First. He declared that the "two poems" were separate and distinct, not two parts of one poem. The Second Part was "of mediocre interest, very far inferior to the First Part and both in conception and execution an elaborate mistake." He had not even the patience to complete the analysis of the action, and ignored entirely the long closing scene. Seventy years later, Benedetto Croce expreses, albeit more tolerantly, the same attitude. He, too, considers the two parts to be separate.
Gerhart Hauptmann
Authors: Sinden Margaret
Published: March 2013

The death of Gerhart Hauptmann in the spring of 1946 brought to a close one of the longest and most distinguished literary careers in recent history. The first of the plays which were to make him famous appeared in 1889, and it was followed by a series of works of such power that for the past third of a century Germans in general have regarded him as the first of their living poets. No English author, I should say since Dickens, has occupied a similar place in the mind of any large section of the English public.
Anabase: The Endless Film
Authors: Watts Harold
Published: March 2013

In a letter to Archibald MacLeish, St. John Perse-Alexis Legerwrites: "Of all the museums of Europe through which out of courtesy I have passed ... I have retained a very few impressions . . . " To round out the word "impressions,” Perse mentions objects that range from a crystal skull to ornamental linings of cigar boxes. This vignette that Perse provides — the poet preserving his courteous attention as he wanders among the glass cases that hold up the remnants of a confused past to our view — some readers of Anabase may judge is a further indication that the poet is arbitrary and capricious. Is it not possible to suppose that the author of Anabase — like his other self who, one supposes, strolls through a hall, pauses attentive before a set of armour for an Infante, and then moves on — is guided by what, in more rationalistic ages, would have been called blind whim?
Hydriotaphia And the Garden of Cyrus: A Paradox and a Cosmic Vision
Authors: Heideman Margaret
Published: March 2013

In 1658 Sir Thomas Browne published together Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial; or, a Discourse of the Sepulchral Urns Lately Found in Norfolk, and The Garden of Cyrus,' or, The Quincuncial Lozenge,_ or Net-Work Plantations of the Ancients, Artificially, Naturally, Mystically Considered. Despite the seeming disparity of their titles, the relationship of these two compositions is more one of blood than of water. Basically the subjects have a certain identity, and their expression represents the highest point of artistic perfection reached by a dweller in many worlds: a lover of ancient lore who was a good scientist, a sceptic who was a man of faith, a constant dissector of the microcosm who was also a mental traveler of the macrocosm.
The Dead Sea Scrolls
Authors: Taylor
Published: March 2013

The various scrolls and fragments discovered recently in a cave at the north-western end of the Dead Sea are now by fairly general agreement designated "The Dead' Sea Scrolls." For reasons which will emerge in the course of this paper they constitute one of the most important discoveries of ancient manuscripts in modern times, and, unquestionably, the most important discovery ever made in Hebrew manuscripts. It is also of special archaeological significance that they are the first ancient manuscripts to be found in Palestine. One might compare with them such phenomenal finds as the discovery of the Codex Sinaiticus by Tischendorf one hundred years ago and that of the Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri in 1931, but the contributions of these Greek manuscripts to their field of literature, great as they are recognized to be, are relatively of less fundamental importance than those of these latest documents.
Albert Camus: Toward a Definition of Tragedy
Authors: Block Haskell
Published: March 2013

Let us admit that violence and suffering do not in themselves constitute tragedy. Camus' description of the treatment of innocent Frenchmen, including a youth of sixteen, on the way to execution by the Germans, may evoke pathos and indignation, but tragedy calls for a larger canvas. The reader or spectator cannot feel himself to be outside the action; he must be caught up in the tensions and pressures that impel struggling man toward destruction, a consummation wherein he finds his definition and his stature.
“Of Man's First Disobedience”: Rousseau and Modern Pessimism
Authors: Steinhauer H.
Published: March 2013

The year 1949 belonged to Goethe as the bi-centenary of his birth. It brought back to our minds the humanist way of life and gave the orators and eulogists an opportunity to indulge in wistful dreams of a golden age that lies far behind us. The year 1950, a bi-centenary of another sort, belongs to Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Two hundred years ago Rousseau published his first, epoch-making essay on the corrupting influence of the arts and sciences. We should therefore be celebrating, this year, the bi-centenary of what the Germans call Kulturpessimismus. And it must be admitted that rarely have men been so ready to enter into the spirit of such a celebration as in this “sour year” 1950. The peculiar brand of irrational pessimism which is raging like a swollen river, fed by political and social anxieties and existentialist philosophy, can be traced back through the nineteenth century to the tiny mountain spring which is Rousseau's essay. The First Discourse (Discours sur les sciences et les arts), a pamphlet of some thirty pages, is without doubt one of the documents that have changed our world.
The Meaning of The Winter's Tale
Authors: Hoeniger F.
Published: March 2013

The Winter's Tale has been curiously neglected in Shakespearean criticism. Scholarly articles on this play are scarce, and in general works on Shakespeare it is seldom given serious treatment. The only major studies on The Winter's Tale in recent years are those by Wilson Knight and S. L. Bethell, and these have, in my opinion, not solved the essential problem, though Mr. Knight has thrown some significant light on it. The purpose of the present article is to stimulate greater interest in the play by attempting a revaluation based on a new and revolutionary interpretation of its meaning. But it is especially at variance with the still prevailing view first formulated by Lytton Strachey: that towards the end of his life Shakespeare was getting weary and satisfied himself with writing idyllic but unprofound poetic drama. H. B. Charlton calls the romances “the products of an old man,” and even E. K. Chambers and Dover Wilson have encouraged a similar attitude. Yet is it at all convincing that a man of the creative energy of Shakespeare should, when he had only reached his late forties, develop signs of senility and soothe himself “after the tempest of Timon and King Lear with the fairytales of youth”? In this paper, first the general thesis will be put forth that only if we approach The Winter's Tale as an allegory can we do justice to its greatness. Then will follow an outline of what I understand to be its meaning and significance.
The Mail from Tunis
Authors: MacLean Kenneth
Published: March 2013

The love story in Emily Dickinson's life has been told by Professor George Whicher of Amherst College in his memorable study, This was a Poet. After attending Mary Lyon's Seminary in South Hadley, where she distinguished herself partly by a refusal to make a public declaration of her faith, Emily Dickinson returned to her family's home in Amherst where she saw something of a young man who was a student in her father's law offices. It would seem that to Ben Newton she owed much of her intellectual awakening, for he gave her the better books, among them the Poems of Emerson whom she was perhaps to see shortly when he came to Amherst on the first of several visits. Ben Newton soon left her father's office to begin his own practice in Worcester. Here he was married to a woman somewhat older than himself. Not long after he succumbed to an illness. Hearing of his death, Emily Dickinson wrote a letter to his minister in Worcester to ask in what state of mind her thoughtful friend had died. In the spring of the year following Newton's death, she, now a girl of twenty-three, went to Washington to visit her father who was then a member of the Congress. The trip may have been planned with the intention of giving a lift for her spirits.
Peter Stolypin: Progressive Statesman
Authors: Strakhovsky Leonid
Published: March 2013

Forty years ago the bullet of an assassin ended the life and work of one of Russia's greatest statesmen. Peter Arkadievich Stolypin, Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, was mortally wounded in the evening of September 14, 1911, by two bullets fired by a Jewish revolutionary, Mordka Bogrov, who also served as a secret agent of the Russian police. Stolypin died four days later. The assassination took place while he was attending a performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera Tsar Saltan in Kiev in the presence of the Emperor and members of the Imperial family. Before he slumped into his chair he turned toward the Imperial box and made the sign of the cross in its direction, thus imparting his blessing upon the Sovereign to whom he was devoted, but who by then did not understand any more, nor trust, the one man who could have saved the Russian monarchy from the catastrophe which was to come. The forces of revolution and of reaction rejoiced alike at Stolypin's death, because his progressive constitutionalism and enlightened statesmanship were hated and feared by both extremes. Lenin called him “super-hangman” and “organizer of pogroms” in his article “Stolypin and the Revolution” written one month after Stolypin's death. The reactionary newspaper the Russian Banner echoed the words it had printed several years before: “Some time a day will come, and this will be soon, when we shall not permit the drugging of Russian citizens with promises of an overseas constitution.” Such venomous attacks from both the extreme left and the extreme right, whose leaders were aware that the success of Stolypin's policies would have completely transformed Russia into a free capitalistic country and thus doomed both revolution and reaction, pursued him all his life, but they merely strengthened his conviction that he was following the right path.
Poetry
Authors: Frye Northrop
Published: March 2013

Reviews of poetry published in Canada in 1950.
Fiction
Authors: Bissell Claude
Published: March 2013

Reviews of fiction published in Canada in 1950.
Fiction
Authors: Bissell Claude
Published: March 2013

Reviews of fiction published in Canada in 1955.
Literary and Philosophical Studies
Authors: Priestley  , Wilson  , Knox  , McDougall  , Goudge  , Hanes
Published: March 2013

Reviews of literary and philosophical studies published in Canada in 1955.
Publications in French
Authors: Collin
Published: March 2013

Reviews of works published in French in Canada in 1955.
Publications in Other Languages
Authors: Kirkconnell Watson
Published: March 2013

Reviews of works published in other languages (besides French and English) in Canada in 1955.
The Canadian Poet's Predicament
Authors: Reaney James
Published: March 2013

I suppose that you can be more and also less self-conscious about this sort of thing. Part of the predicament I am about to describe is that no one seems to know, no one seems to be able to tell you, whether you should be self-conscious or unconscious about the craft of poetry, whether you should really tackle literary criticism as a help or intuitively arrive at the same goal. I will admit that when I was even younger than I am now I thought that literary critics were big bad wolves who ate you up, but I've changed my mind about them since. However, here, in this essay I'd like to try out self-consciousness about the whole problem of writing poetry in Canada just to see if it gets you anywhere at all.
Fiction
Authors: Bissell Claude
Published: March 2013

Reviews of fiction published in Canada in 1956.
Publications in French
Authors: Collins
Published: March 2013

Reviews of publications in French published in Canada in 1956.
Publications in Other Languages
Authors: Kirkconnell Watson
Published: March 2013

Reviews of publications in other languages published in Canada in 1956.
L'Age équivoque: Marivaux and the Middle-Aged Woman
Authors: Whatley Janet
Published: March 2013

In Le Cabinet du philosophe (1734), Marivaux tells the story of a rich and handsome widow of forty-five or fifty who goes tovisita magician to find out why her suitor, a man of forty, is neglecting her. The magician shows her a mirror in which appears the image of a lovely girl of twenty — her rival, he says. Nonsense, says the widow, how could he prefer that skinnyI insipid dwarf? The magician excuses himself and produces an image of another beautiful young girl, whom the widow denounces as a rude, hard-eyed giantess. But now she is caught: for the first image was indeed that of the actual rival, and the second image is that of the widow herself as a young woman. The self-protective mechanism of illusion has cut her off from the recognition of her loss.
Gerard Hopkins and His Influence
Authors: Binyon Laurence
Published: March 2013

In the summer term of 1890, when I was half-way through my time at Oxford, I was invited by the President of my College and his wife (Margaret L. Woods, the poet and novelist), to dine and meet Robert Bridges, whose name I then heard for the first time. The President had a cottage on Boar's Hill, the only house then existing on that heathy ridge which has since become thick-sown with the dwellings of dons and poets. We dined at this cottage and walked down after dinner to Oxford in the midsummer twilight. Bridges impressed at first sight by his splendid presence, his lean stature, handsome features, thick black hair and beard, and leonine eye. In talk he was friendly and encouraging. Before parting, he and his wife asked me to stay for a night at their home, an eighteenth-century manor-house at Yattendon village in Berkshire. There we had much talk on poetry; and in the evening Bridges brought out and read me some poems by his friend Gerard Hopkins, who had died the year before, and who, Bridges said, had invented a new prosody for English verse, a prosody which he himself had experimented in. Among the poems I then heard were one or two of the “tragic” sonnets, which greatly impressed me. Manifestly this unknown poet who had never published was a poet of extraordinary originality, utterly unlike any other. I did not see at this time examples of Hopkins' more difficult manner, which I probably should not have appreciated. I was especially interested by his new prosody; it seemed to promise scope for fresh effects and for admitting a fresh kind of matter into verse; and very soon I ventured on experiments in it myself.
Fiction
Authors: MacGillivray
Published: March 2013

Reviews of fiction published in Canada in 1938.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging of the visual cortex performed in children under sedation to assist in presurgical planning
Authors: Li Weier , Wait Scott D. , Ogg Robert J. , Scoggins Matt A. , Zou Ping , Wheless James , Boop Frederick A.
Published: March 2013

Object

Advances in brain imaging have allowed for more sophisticated mapping of crucial neural structures. Functional MRI (fMRI) measures local changes in blood oxygenation associated with changes in neural activity and is useful in mapping cortical activation. Applications of this imaging modality have generally been restricted to cooperative patients; however, fMRI has proven successful in localizing the motor cortex for neurosurgical planning in uncooperative children under sedation. The authors demonstrate that the use of fMRI to localize the visual cortex in sedated children can be safely and effectively performed, allowing for more accurate presurgical planning to spare visual structures.

Methods

Between 2007 and 2009, 11 children (age range 1–11 years) underwent fMRI for neurosurgical planning while under sedation. Blood oxygen level–dependent fMRI was performed to detect visual cortex activation during stimulation through closed eyelids. Visual stimulation was presented in block design with periods of flashing light alternated with darkness.

Results

Functional MRI was successful in identifying visual cortex in each of the 11 children tested. There were no complications with propofol sedation or the fMRI. All children suffered from epilepsy, 5 had brain tumors, and 1 had tuberous sclerosis. After fMRI was performed, 6 patients underwent surgery. Frameless stereotactic guidance was synchronized with fMRI data to design an approach to spare visual structures during resection. There were no cases where a false negative led to unexpected visual field deficits or other side effects of surgery. In 2 cases, the fMRI results demonstrated that the tracts were already disrupted: in one case from a prior tumor operation and in another from dysplasia.

Conclusions

Functional MRI for evaluation of visual pathways can be safely and reproducibly performed in young or uncooperative children under light sedation. Identification of primary visual cortex aids in presurgical planning to avoid vision loss in appropriately selected patients.
Full endoscopic endonasal extreme far-medial approach: eustachian tube transposition
Authors: Simal-Julián Juan-Antonio , Miranda-Lloret Pablo , Beltrán-Giner Andres , Plaza-Ramirez Estela , Botella-Asunción Carlos
Published: March 2013

The complex anatomical relationships within the skull base have been described from an endoscopic point of view. However, systematic surgical, not just anatomical, management of the eustachian tube (ET) and the approach to the styloid and parapharyngeal spaces have not yet been described. The authors describe the full endoscopic endonasal extreme far-medial approach used in their surgical practice and show how they applied it to a case. To the authors' knowledge, from a strictly surgical viewpoint, this work is the first to describe a fundamental endonasal approach to the inferior clivus, the condylar and tubercular compartments, the prestyloid and poststyloid spaces, and ET transposition to expose the aforementioned structures without disrupting the ET. For lesions with mediolateral growth patterns, the authors consider the extreme far-medial approach to be superior to the pure transmaxillary approach. Additional cases and more evidence are needed to refine this surgical technique.
Fiber-Optic Fluoroimmunoassay System with a Flow-Through Cell for Rapid On-Site Determination of Escherichia coli O157:H7 by Monitoring Fluorescence Dynamics
Authors: Miyajima Kumiko , Koshida Tomoyuki , Arakawa Takahiro , Kudo Hiroyuki , Saito Hirokazu , Yano Kazuyoshi , Mitsubayashi Kohji
Published: March 2013

Dynamic fluoroimmunoassay with a flow-through system using optical fiber probes consisting of polystyrene was developed and applied to a quantitative detection of E. coli O157:H7. The system measures E. coli as fluorescence of sandwich-type immune complexes formed by capture antibodies immobilized on the surface of the probe, E. coli cells, and fluorescently labeled detection antibodies. Excitation was carried out using an evanescent wave from the probe. Resulting fluorescence recoupled into the probe was detected by a photodiode. The assay system was constructed with a flow cell which was available for sequential injection of experimental reagents. In vitro characterization was performed using the flow cell, and the calibration range of E. coli O157:H7 was from 103 to 107 cells/mL. The measurement for each sample was completed within 12 min. Furthermore, it was also possible to estimate the concentrations of E. coli O157:H7 by the increasing rate of fluorescence during binding reaction of detection antibodies to antigens. This minimized the time for measurement down to 6 min. The system is suitable for rapid and direct determination for microorganisms or bacteria in food, clinical, and environmental sources.
Far Field Extrapolation from Near Field Interactions and Shielding Influence Investigations Based on a FE-PEEC Coupling Method
Authors: Clavel Edith , Tran Thanh-Son , Aimé Jérémie , Meunier Gérard , Roudet James
Published: March 2013

Regarding standards, it is well established that common mode currents are the main source of far field emitted by variable frequency drive (VFD)-cable-motor associations. These currents are generated by the combination of floating potentials with stray capacitances between these floating potential tracks and the mechanical parts connected to the earth (the heatsink or cables are usual examples). Nowadays, due to frequency and power increases, the systematic compliance to EMC (ElectroMagnetic Compatibility) becomes increasingly difficult and costly for industrials. As a consequence, there is a well-identified need to investigate practical and low cost solutions to reduce the radiated fields of VFD-cable-motor associations. A well-adapted solution is the shielding of wound components well known as the major source of near magnetic field. However, this solution is not convenient, it is expensive and may not be efficient regarding far field reduction. Optimizing the components placement could be a better and cheaper solution. As a consequence, dedicated tools have to be developed to efficiently investigate not easy comprehendible phenomena and finally to control EMC disturbances using component placement, layout geometry, shielding design if needed. However, none of the modeling methods usually used in industry complies with large frequency range and far field models including magnetic materials, multilayer PCBs, and shielding. The contribution of this paper is to show that alternatives regarding modeling solutions exist and can be used to get in-deep analysis of such complex structures. It is shown in this paper that near field investigations can give information on far field behavior. It is illustrated by an investigation of near field interactions and shielding influence using a FE-PEEC hybrid method. The test case combining a common mode filter with the floating potentials tracks of an inverter is based on an industrial and commercialized VFD. The near field interactions between the common mode inductance and the tracks with floating potentials are revealed. Then, the influence of the common mode inductance shielding is analyzed.
Fibrous Polymeric Composites Based on Alginate Fibres and Fibres Made of Poly-ε-caprolactone and Dibutyryl Chitin for Use in Regenerative Medicine
Authors: Boguń Maciej , Krucińska Izabella , Kommisarczyk Agnieszka , Mikołajczyk Teresa , Błażewicz Marta , Stodolak-Zych Ewa , Menaszek Elżbieta , Ścisłowska-Czarnecka Anna
Published: March 2013

This work concerns the production of fibrous composite materials based on biodegradable polymers such as alginate, dibutyryl chitin (DBC) and poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL). For the production of fibres from these polymers, various spinning methods were used in order to obtain composite materials of different composition and structure. In the case of alginate fibres containing the nanoadditive tricalcium phosphate (TCP), the traditional method of forming fibres wet from solution was used. However in the case of the other two polymers the electrospinning method was used. Two model systems were tested for biocompatibility. The physicochemical and basic biological tests carried out show that the submicron fibres produced using PCL and DBC have good biocompatibility. The proposed hybrid systems composed of micrometric fibres (zinc and calcium alginates containing TCP) and submicron fibres (DBC and PCL) meet the requirements of regenerative medicine. The biomimetic fibre system, the presence of TCP nanoadditive, and the use of polymers with different resorption times provide a framework with specific properties on which bone cells are able to settle and proliferate.
High Pressure Extraction of Antioxidants from Solanum stenotomun Peel
Authors: Cardoso Lourdes , Serrano Casimiro , Quintero Edwin , López Clara , Antezana Ruder , Martínez de la Ossa Enrique
Published: March 2013

In the work described here, two techniques for the recovery of anthocyanins from potato peel were studied and compared. One of the techniques employed was supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) with pure CO2 or with CO2 and ethanol as cosolvent and the other technique was pressurized liquid extraction (PLE), where the solvent used was ethanol in water acidified to pH 2.6. The effects of pressure and temperature were studied and the anthocyanin contents obtained were statistically analyzed. In SFE the use of low pressure (100 bar) and high temperature (65 °C) was desirable for the anthocyanin extraction. With PLE the anthocyanin contents are increased considerably, and the best yields were obtained at 100 bar and 80 °C. This result is in correspondence with antioxidant activity index values (1.66) obtained in a DPPH antioxidant activity assay. In the extracts obtained with PLE the phenolic compounds were also determined, but the main compounds presented in the extract are anthocyanins.
Selective Serial Multi-Antibody Biosensing with TOPAS Microstructured Polymer Optical Fibers
Authors: Emiliyanov Grigoriy , Høiby Poul , Pedersen Lars , Bang Ole
Published: March 2013

We have developed a fluorescence-based fiber-optical biosensor, which can selectively detect different antibodies in serial at preselected positions inside a single piece of fiber. The fiber is a microstructured polymer optical fiber fabricated from TOPAS cyclic olefin copolymer, which allows for UV activation of localized sensor layers inside the holes of the fiber. Serial fluorescence-based selective sensing of Cy3-labelled α-streptavidin and Cy5-labelled α-CRP antibodies is demonstrated.
Reconfigurable, Defect-Free, Ultrahigh-Q Photonic Crystal Microcavities for Sensing
Authors: Tomljenovic-Hanic Snjezana , De Sterke C.
Published: March 2013

We propose a new approach for creating reconfigurable high-Q cavities in defect-free photonic crystal slabs (PCSs). The approach relies on selective air-hole infiltration in otherwise defect-free PCSs. We show that using this method we can design ultrahigh-Q microcavities, with Q~106. Numerical calculations indicate a large number of high-Q modes with high sensitivity, which are ideal for simultaneous, multi-parameter refractive index-based sensing.
Creating a Learning Environment to Promote Food Sustainability Issues in Primary Schools? Staff Perceptions of Implementing the Food for Life Partnership Programme
Authors: Weitkamp Emma , Jones Mat , Salmon Debra , Kimberlee Richard , Orme Judy
Published: March 2013

There is increasing interest in the role that schools can play in promoting education for sustainable development (ESD), and evidence is emerging that schools can be influential in the emerging agenda around the ecological, ethical and social aspects of food, diet and nutrition. With regard to such food sustainability issues, this paper analyses the role of the Food for Life Partnership national programme in supporting garden and farm-based learning activities in 55 primary schools in England, UK. Using a mixed methods approach, the study examined the programme’s implementation through staff perceptions and a range of school change indicators. The study found that the programme delivery was associated with widespread institutional reforms. According to staff, implementation of the programme provided a range of opportunities for pupils to learn about food production and sustainability, but addressing these issues was challenging for teachers and raised a number of questions concerned with effective, equitable and on-going implementation. At a pedagogical level, teachers also reflected on conceptually challenging aspects of food sustainability as a topic for primary school education. The study identified ways that ESD programmes could support schools to think about and implement learning opportunities as well as identifying significant barriers related to resourcing such programmes.
Multi-Mycotoxin Screening Reveals the Occurrence of 139 Different Secondary Metabolites in Feed and Feed Ingredients
Authors: Streit Elisabeth , Schwab Christina , Sulyok Michael , Naehrer Karin , Krska Rudolf , Schatzmayr Gerd
Published: March 2013

The development of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)/mass spectrometry (MS) methods for the simultaneous detection and quantification of a broad spectrum of mycotoxins has facilitated the screening of a larger number of samples for contamination with a wide array of less well-known “emerging” mycotoxins and other metabolites. In this study, 83 samples of feed and feed raw materials were analysed. All of them were found to contain seven to 69 metabolites. The total number of detected metabolites amounts to 139. Fusarium mycotoxins were most common, but a number of Alternaria toxins also occurred very often. Furthermore, two so-called masked mycotoxins (i.e., mycotoxin conjugates), namely deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside (75% positives) and zearalenone-4-sulfate (49% positives), were frequently detected. Although the observed median concentrations of the individual analytes were generally in the low μg/kg range, evaluating the toxicological potential of a given sample is difficult. Toxicity data on less well-known mycotoxins and other detected metabolites are notoriously scarce, as an overview on the available information on the most commonly detected metabolites shows. Besides, the possible synergistic effects of co-occurring substances have to be considered.
Cotransplantation of Glial Restricted Precursor Cells and Schwann Cells Promotes Functional Recovery after Spinal Cord Injury
Authors: Hu Jian-Guo , Wang Xiao-Fei , Deng Ling-Xiao , Liu Nai-Kui , Gao Xiang , Chen Jinhui , Zhou Feng C. , Xu Xiao-Ming
Published: March 2013

Oligodendrocyte (OL) replacement can be a promising strategy for spinal cord injury (SCI) repair. However, the poor posttransplantation survival and inhibitory properties to axonal regeneration are two major challenges that limit their use as donor cells for repair of CNS injuries. Therefore, strategies aimed at enhancing the survival of grafted oligodendrocytes as well as reducing their inhibitory properties, such as the use of more permissive oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs), also called glial restricted precursor cells (GRPs), should be highly prioritized. Schwann cell (SC) transplantation is a promising translational strategy to promote axonal regeneration after CNS injuries, partly due to their expression and secretion of multiple growth-promoting factors. Whether grafted SCs have any effect on the biological properties of grafted GRPs remains unclear. Here we report that either SCs or SC-conditioned medium (SCM) promoted the survival, proliferation, and migration of GRPs in vitro. When GRPs and SCs were cografted into the normal or injured spinal cord, robust survival, proliferation, and migration of grafted GRPs were observed. Importantly, grafted GRPs differentiated into mature oligodendrocytes and formed new myelin on axons caudal to the injury. Finally, cografts of GRPs and SCs promoted recovery of function following SCI. We conclude that cotransplantation of GRPs and SCs, the only two kinds of myelin-forming cells in the nervous system, act complementarily and synergistically to promote greater anatomical and functional recovery after SCI than when either cell type is used alone.
Autologous Bone Marrow-Derived Cell Therapy Combined with Physical Therapy Induces Functional Improvement in Chronic Spinal Cord Injury Patients
Authors: El-Kheir Wael Abo , Gabr Hala , Awad Mohamed Reda , Ghannam Osama , Barakat Yousef , Farghali Haithem A. M. A. , Maadawi Zeinab M. El , Ewes Ibrahim , Sabaawy Hatem E.
Published: March 2013

Spinal cord injuries (SCI) cause sensory loss and motor paralysis. They are normally treated with physical therapy, but most patients fail to recover due to limited neural regeneration. Here we describe a strategy in which treatment with autologous adherent bone marrow cells is combined with physical therapy to improve motor and sensory functions in early stage chronic SCI patients. In a phase I/II controlled single-blind clinical trial ( clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT00816803), 70 chronic cervical and thoracic SCI patients with injury durations of at least 12 months were treated with either intrathecal injection(s) of autologous adherent bone marrow cells combined with physical therapy or with physical therapy alone. Patients were evaluated with clinical and neurological examinations using the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale (AIS), electrophysiological somatosensory-evoked potential, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and functional independence measurements. Chronic cervical and thoracic SCI patients (15 AIS A and 35 AIS B) treated with autologous adherent bone marrow cells combined with physical therapy showed functional improvements over patients in the control group (10 AIS A and 10 AIS B) treated with physical therapy alone, and there were no long-term cell therapy-related side effects. At 18 months posttreatment, 23 of the 50 cell therapy-treated cases (46%) showed sustained functional improvement. Compared to those patients with cervical injuries, a higher rate of functional improvement was achieved in thoracic SCI patients with shorter durations of injury and smaller cord lesions. Therefore, when combined with physical therapy, autologous adherent bone marrow cell therapy appears to be a safe and promising therapy for patients with chronic SCI of traumatic origin. Randomized controlled multicenter trials are warranted.
Factors Affecting Successful Isolation of Human Corneal Endothelial Cells for Clinical Use
Authors: Choi Jin San , Kim Eun Young , Kim Min Jeong , Khan Faraaz A , Giegengack Matthew , D'agostino Ralph , Criswell Tracy , Khang Gilson , Soker Shay
Published: March 2013

Corneal transplantation is a common transplant procedure used to improve visual acuity by replacing the opaque or distorted host tissue with clear healthy donor tissue. However, its clinical utility is limited due to a lack of donor supply of high-quality corneas. Bioengineered neocorneas, created using an expandable population of human donor-derived corneal endothelial cells (HCECs), could address this shortage. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate HCEC sourcing with various isolation methods, including enzymatic digestion, culture medium components, and adhesive proteins. HCECs were obtained from corneas obtained from various aged donors after endothelial keratoplasty. Under a dissection microscope, the Descemet's membrane, including the attached corneal endothelium, was stripped from the stroma, and the cells were isolated and expanded by explant culture or by enzymatic digestion with enzymes such as collagenase II, dispase, or trypsin. In order to improve the initial cell attachment, tissue culture plates were coated with collagen IV, fibronectin, or fibronectin–collagen combination coating mix (FNC) before cell plating. We were able to successfully obtain HCECs from 32% (86/269) of donor corneas. Donor age and isolation method influenced the characteristics of the resulting in vitro HCEC culture. Under all conditions tested, FNC-coated plates showed higher quality cultures than the other coatings tested. These results suggest that donor age and HCEC isolation methodology are the two factors that most directly affect the quality of the resulting HCEC culture in vitro. These factors should guide the methodological development for the clinical expansion of HCECs for the generation of bioengineered neocorneas.
Improved Expression of Sirt1 on Thymic Epithelial Cells of SAMP10 after Intrabone Marrow–Bone Marrow Transplantation
Authors: Li Ming , Shi Ming , Abraham Nader G. , Ikehara Susumu
Published: March 2013

Aging is accompanied by various forms of immune dysfunction, leading to an increase in frequency of infections and the development of malignant tumors in mice and humans. Sirt1 has been implicated in processes as varied as metabolism, differentiation, cancer, and the stress response and aging. Senescence-accelerated mice prone 10 (SAMP10) show not only spontaneously occurring brain atrophy, with deficits in learning and memory, but also emotional disorders. We attempted in this study to clarify the deficits and found that the percentage of CD4/TNF-α T-cells in the spleen of 24-week-old (but not 6-week-old) SAMP10 to be significantly reduced. The thymus was significantly lighter, and the percentage of CD4+CD8+cells was significantly lower in the 24-week-old SAMP10 than 6-week-old SAMP10. Microarray analyses indicated that genes related to transcription coactivator activity, growth factor activity, hormone activity, cytokine activity, receptor activity, and regulation of the immune system were downregulated in the thymus of 24-week-old SAMP10. Real-time PCR analysis showed that the expression of KGF, Aire, and Sirt1 was decreased on the thymic epithelial cells (TECs) of 24-week-old SAMP10. However, these parameters improved after the mice were treated with intrabone marrow–bone marrow transplantation. This is the first report of age-related changes in immune system dysfunction in 24-week-old SAMP10 and the first to show that dysfunction on the TECs of 24-week-old SAMP10 was modulated by allogeneic bone marrow cells.
Genomewide Markers for Controlling Background Variation in Association Mapping
Authors: Bernardo Rex
Published: March 2013

Current procedures for association mapping in plants account for population structure (Q) and kinship (K). Here I propose an association mapping procedure that uses genomewide markers (G) to account for quantitative trait loci (QTL) on background chromosomes. My objective was to determine if the G and QG models are superior to the K and QK models. I simulated mapping population sizes ofN= 384, 768, and 1536 inbreds that belonged to three known subpopulations. The G and QG models showed the best adherence to the significance level (P) specified by the investigator for declaring QTL. Across different genetic models (15 or 30 QTL), population sizes, andPlevels, the Q model suffered from a high number of false positives (NFP). With the K and QK models, a relaxedPlevel led to a reasonable number of true QTL detected (NTQ) withN= 384 or 768 but it led to highNFPwithN= 1536. Compared with the K and QK models, the G and QG models had a better balance between highNTQand lowNFP. The results strongly indicated that the G and QG models are superior to the K and QK models.
Readiness of health facilities to deliver safe male circumcision services in Tanzania: a descriptive study
Authors: Mosha Frank Felix , Wambura Mwita , Mwanga Joseph R. , Mosha Jacklin F. , Mshana Gerry , Changalucha John
Published: March 2013

Assessing the readiness of health facilities to deliver safe male circumcision services is more important in sub-Saharan Africa because of the inadequacy state of health facilities in many ways. The World Health Organization recommends that only facilities equipped with available trained staff, capable to perform at least minor surgery, able to offer minimum MC package and appropriate equipment for resuscitation, and compliant with requirements for sterilization and infection control should be allowed to deliver safe circumcision services. A cross-sectional study using quantitative data collection technique was conducted to assess the readiness of the health facilities to deliver safe circumcision services in selected districts of Tanzania. All hospitals, health centres and 30% of all dispensaries in these districts were selected to participate in the study. Face-toface questionnaires were administered to the heads of the health facilities and to health practitioners. Overall, 49/69 (59%) of the facilities visited provided circumcision services and only 46/203 (24%) of the health practitioners performed circumcision procedures. These were mainly assistant medical officers and clinical officers. The vast majority – 190/203 (95%) – of the health practitioners require additional training prior to providing circumcision services. Most facilities – 63/69 (91%) – had all basic supplies (gloves, basin, chlorine and waste disposal) necessary for infection prevention, 44/69 (65%) provided condoms, HIV counselling and testing, and sexuallytransmitted infections services, while 62/69 (90%) had the capability to perform at least minor surgery. However, only 25/69 (36%) and 15/69 (22%) of the facilities had functioning sterilization equipment and appropriate resuscitation equipment, respectively. There is readiness for roll out of circumcision services; however, more practitioners need to be trained on circumcision procedures, demand forecasting. Sterilization equipment for infection prevention and resuscitation equipment should also be made available.