bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The role of architectural research centers in addressing climate change
Authors: Carmody John
Published: March 2015

ABSTRACT: It is clear that an urgent, major transformation needs to happen in the design of the built environment to respond to impending climate change and other environmental degradation. This paper will explain the potential role of architectural research centers in this transformation and provide examples from the Center for Sustainable Building Research (CSBR) at the University of Minnesota. A research center can become a regional hub to coordinate and disseminate critical information. CSBR is leading the establishment of Architecture 2030 standards in Minnesota, assisting local governments in writing green building policy, providing design assistance to local government, developing tools to assist design decision making, providing technical assistance to the affordable housing community inMinnesota, and establishing a regional case study database that includes actual performance information. CSBR is creating a publicly accessible, credible knowledge base on new approaches, technologies and actual performance outcomes. Research centers such as CSBR can be a critical component of the necessary feedback loop often lacking in the building industry. A research center can also fill major gaps in providing in depth professional education as well as be a catalyst for demonstration projects and public education.
The Architects' Small House Service Bureau and the American Institute of Architects
Authors: Tucker Lisa M.
Published: March 2015

A group of Minnesota architects created the ASHSB in 1914 to provide a solution for theshortage of middle class housing in the U.S. By 1919, the bureau had offices throughout the U.S. and received the endorsement of both the American Institute of Architects and the Department of Commerce. During this time, the members of the Bureau produced hundreds of plan sets and monthly bulletins to assist homeowners with their housing choices. The monthly magazine The Small Home, in conjunction with the published plan books--Your Future Home and How to Plan, Finance, and BuildYour Home--dispensed valuable information to potential homebuyers across the nation. To date, one master's thesis (Lisa Schrenk, University of Virginia 1990) and an article (Thomas Harvey, 1991) have been written about the ASHSB. Neither one discussed the relationship of this group with the AIA, a keyendorsement agency.This research involved extensive archival research at the AIA. Records from the early 20th century were analyzed to determine the relationship between the AIA and the ASHSB in the early 20th century. This relationship provides insight into the current lack of architectural involvement in single-family house design today. The single most prevalent building type in the U.S. is the single-family house, yet architects are little involved in the design of most of them. Architects have the ability and training to create sustainable, affordable, and well-design single-family houses and yet they do not. This paper seeks to provide one explanation through the interpretation of the historic relationship of the AIA to the ASHSB.
Ameliorating Local Impacts with Architectural Research: Subprime Mortgages & Housing Quality
Authors: Dearborn Lynne M.
Published: March 2015

Shock waves from the current housing crisis that still echo through Wall Street's largest financial firms, not only have threatened to topple financial markets and drive the country into a depression, but have also undermined the all-time high home ownership rate in the United States. The most attention-grabbing dimensions and headlines of the current crisis seem to be the staggering losses incurred by the likes of Bear Sterns and Citigroup, and the demise of some of the large corporations such as Washington Mutual. However, the real crisis is not on Wall Street or in the banking sector, but in low- and moderate-income and minority homes and neighborhoods throughout the country. At least ten years before the present subprime foreclosure crisis became mainstream news, these marginalized communities were feeling the negative effects of mortgage fraud and predatory lending practices occurring with regularity in the subprime market. This paper discusses an ongoing study of Subprime Lending, Mortgage Fraud and Housing Quality in process since 2002. This four-part study has employed foreclosure data with statistical and mapping analysis, detailed interviews with victims of predatory lending, systematic documentation of the resulting housing environments, and documentation of property improvements in light of victims' legal settlements. While subprime lending has supported the expansion of homeownership in the United States, this on-going study suggests that this expansion has sometimes been at the expense of safe, code-compliant living environments forlow-income, minority and elderly homeowners. Some of the victims of predatory lending and mortgage fraud have sought legal redress through the courts but many have suffered personal financial, health, emotional, and family crises as well. The current broad-scale discussion of the topic has given attention to the lack of regulation facilitating these unethical practices, but it is unclear that current discussions will lead to meaningful and lasting reform.
The Next Generative Infrastructure for Detroit
Authors: Bodurow Constance
Published: March 2015

Detroit has a wealth of empty space, though little intelligence or understanding of it. There is a global, morbid fascination with Detroit's emptiness. The media and design disciplines have mythologized it in imagery, and obsessively mapped and quantified it. Vacancy perpetuates entrenched social, economic and environmental disparities and inequities. Yet, in the midst of formal ‘right sizing' and informal urban agricultural initiatives, a constructive civic dialogue about the role of vacancy in the future of the city has yet to begin. Our transdisciplinary design research lab wishes to prompt the dialogue. A new urban geography and ecosystem are required. Vacancy is a new infrastructure for the city. Vacancy, as it manifests, in land, buildings and infrastructure, is generative. We recommend productive, temporal uses for vacancy, to generate the next urban form of the city. In the same manner that grid and infrastructure become generators of urban form and use, vacancy can guide future urban form in Detroit.We define infrastructure networks as the systemic and complex overlay required to support a city and its associated urbanized region. Connections occur largely through blue|green|gray+white infrastructure networks that span geographic, ecological and political boundaries. Vacancy emerges as the ubiquitous infrastructure in each of these typologies.This paper describes aspects of our current project to create sustainable community and the central role which vacancy plays in achieving that goal. In one neighborhood of Detroit, we propose interventions for energy, density, and nature, envisioning an alternative, equitable, and sustainable ecosystem for the city.
Performative Computation-aided Design Optimization
Authors: Tang Ming , Anderson Jonathon , Aksamija Ajla , Hodge Michael
Published: March 2015

This article discusses a collaborative research and teaching project between the University of Cincinnati, Perkins+Will's Tech Lab, and the University of North Carolina Greensboro. The primary investigation focuses on the simulation, optimization, and generation of architectural designs using performance-based computational design approaches. The projects examine various design methods, including relationships between building form, performance and the use of proprietary software tools for parametric design.
Samarang Integrated Operations (IO) – Achieving Well Performance Monitoring, Surveillance & Optimization Through Data and Model Driven Workflows Automation
Authors: Ahmad M Zul , Sayung Colinus Lajim , Muzahidin M Salim , Som M Kasim , Wong Lee Hin , Biniwale Shripad , Erziyati Nur , Soh Kenneth , Roland Hermann , Nghia Vo Tri , Ee Lau Chong , Hassan Muhammad Firdaus
Published: March 2015

Samarang field, operated by PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB) is located offshore Sabah, Malaysia with first oil in 1975. The field is undergoing a major redevelopment project with Integrated Operations (IO) being part of initiatives that covers re-instrumentation, telemetry and telecommunication infrastructure installation, Collaborative Working Environment construction and Workflows implementation. Samarang Integrated Operations was designed as an Asset Management Decision Support solution to improve the quality and efficiency of decision processes through implementation of a real time production, reservoir and process surveillance system.

Understanding and analyzing the asset performance is not an easy and well-defined process in the current state of operations in Samarang. Lack of proper instrumentation to measure the actual production parameters, delay in data transfers from field operations to office, manual data processing, delay in model updates and a long decision cycle have made it difficult to assess the accurate status, diagnose issues and optimize the production. In order to overcome these challenges and to improve field awareness, 5 workflows were designed and deployed in order to achieve an early milestone of providing real time well performance monitoring, surveillance and optimization. These workflows are: Well StatusWell Rate EstimationGas Lift Surveillance and OptimizationOperational Back AllocationWell Test Validation

The paper explains how these workflows are implemented for Samarang in an integrated way for improved decision making, enhanced quality with a focus on operational efficiency and underscores its values with enhanced asset management by using real time measurements focusing on accurate diagnostics, automated workflow executions and improved reaction time, to provide a modern decision support system.
Complexity reduction of Toffoli networks based on FDD
Authors: Stojkovic Suzana , Stankovic Milena , Moraga Claudio
Published: March 2015

Synthesis of switching functions by Toffoli gates has become a very important
research topic in the last years, since Toffoli gates are used in the
synthesis of reversible circuits. Early methods based on the truth-table
representation of Boolean functions are applicable to functions with a
relatively small number of variables. Later on, methods for synthesis by
Toffoli gates based on decision diagrams (BDDs, FDDs or OKFDDs) were
introduced and applied to the synthesis of both reversible and irreversible
functions. This paper presents a method for the reduction of the number of
lines and gates in the Toffoli gate realization of Boolean functions based on
their Functional Decision Diagram (FDD) representation. Experiments show
that, when the proposed reduction is used, the realization of the given
function based on FDD will, on the average, be smaller in terms of the number
of lines and the number of gates than the realizations based on an OKFDD, an
optimal BDD or based on a FDD by using previously defined algorithms.
Punishing Bodies: British Prison Film and the Spectacle of Masculinity
Authors: Llinares Dario
Published: March 2015

Prison films are beset by a fundamental paradox. Because mainstream film is reliant on a combination of the pleasure of the visual and the dramatic structuring of narrative, institutionalised incarceration based on the loss of liberty, extended temporal control and physical spatial restriction would seem to be fundamentally at odds with ‘the cinematic’. Prison as depicted on-screen is therefore a space in which visibly enacted retribution is foregrounded in a mode much more akin to what Foucault calls the pre-modern ‘theatres of torture’. The routinised banality of day-to-day life behind bars is eschewed in favour of the spectacle of the masculine body punishing or being violently punished. British cinema is replete with films set in prison, however, as the first part of this article explores, and academic analyses of such films are formulated around three discursive strands: debates around the constitution of the prison film as a genre, discussions of the potential relationship between cinematic representations and the ‘real-world’ sociology of punishment, and assertions about how national identity is reflected. The second part of this article deploys a comparative analysis of Nicolas Winding Refn's Bronson (2008) and Steve McQueen's Hunger (2008), examining what is often taken for granted in previous work, namely how the environment of incarceration is produced as an aesthetic, social and even ontological space that contextualises and materialises a link between masculinity, violence and spectacle. I argue that the microcosm of the prison, on the one hand, reasserts the male body as the root of physical ‘being-ness’, yet on the other, reveals masculinity as a constructed performance determined by the social context of incarceration and amplified through cinematic aesthetics.
Telefantasy Tower Blocks: Space, Place and Social Realism Shake-ups in Misfits
Authors: Woods Faye
Published: March 2015

This article considers the ways in which British youth telefantasy Misfits (E4, 2009–13) takes up and makes strange urban spaces familiar from social-realist narratives. Filmed on the sprawling East London estate, Thamesmead, the programme chronicles a group of young offenders who are given powers by a freak storm, turning them into ‘ASBO superheroes’. Misfits depends on its British urban landscapes for the assertion of its ‘authenticity’ within British youth television, using spaces and landscapes familiar from urban youth exploitation cinema and television's narratives of the underclass. After situating the series within existing cultural discourses and recent developments in social-realist representations, the article explores how Misfits disrupts what have become signifiers for the ‘real’ – the brutalism of housing estates, the grey of the concrete and sky – by making them strange, turning them into telefantasy. The series presents the estate as an uncanny place: the domestic, social-realist world shifted into a fantastical space by the storm. Through close analysis, this article explores how the familiar spaces become skewed and unsettling to match our protagonists' isolation, shifting bodies and scrambled sense of self.
Surface Characterization of Some Novel Bonded Phase Packing Materials for HPLC Columns Using MAS-NMR Spectroscopy
Authors: Abia Jude
Published: March 2015

Information on the surface properties of three novel chemically bonded phase packing materials for High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were obtained using spectra obtained by solid state cross-polarization (CP) magic-angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic experiments for the 29Si, and 13C nuclei. These packing materials were: Cogent bidentate C18 bonded to type-C silica, hybrid packing materials XTerra MS C18, and XBridge Prep. C18. The spectra obtained using cross-polarization magic angle spinning (CP-MAS) on the Cogent bidentate C18 bonded to type-C silica show the surface to be densely populated with hydride groups (Si-H), with a relative surface coverage exceeding 80%. The hybrid packing materials XTerra and XBridge gave spectra that reveal the silicon atoms to be bonded to organic moieties embedded in the molecular structure of these materials with over 90% of the alkyl silicon atoms found within the completely condensed silicon environments. The hydrolytic stability of these materials were investigated in acidic aqueous solutions at pHs of 7.0 and 3.0, and it was found that while the samples of XTerra and XBridge were not affected by hydrolysis at this pH range, the sample of Cogent lost a significant proportion of its Si-H groups after five days of treatment in acidic aqueous solution.
A Secure System Architecture for Measuring Instruments in Legal Metrology
Authors: Peters Daniel , Peter Michael , Seifert Jean-Pierre , Thiel Florian
Published: March 2015

Embedded systems show the tendency of becoming more and more connected. This fact combined with the trend towards the Internet of Things, from which measuring instruments are not immune (e.g., smart meters), lets one assume that security in measuring instruments will inevitably play an important role soon. Additionally, measuring instruments have adopted general-purpose operating systems to offer the user a broader functionality that is not necessarily restricted towards measurement alone. In this paper, a flexible software system architecture is presented that addresses these challenges within the framework of essential requirements laid down in the Measuring Instruments Directive of the European Union. This system architecture tries to eliminate the risks general-purpose operating systems have by wrapping them, together with dedicated applications, in secure sandboxes, while supervising the communication between the essential parts and the outside world.
High Recharge Areas in the Choushui River Alluvial Fan (Taiwan) Assessed from Recharge Potential Analysis and Average Storage Variation Indexes
Authors: Tsai Jui-Pin , Chen Yu-Wen , Chang Liang-Cheng , Kuo Yi-Ming , Tu Yu-Hsuan , Pan Chen-Che
Published: March 2015

High recharge areas significantly influence the groundwater quality and quantity in regional groundwater systems. Many studies have applied recharge potential analysis (RPA) to estimate groundwater recharge potential (GRP) and have delineated high recharge areas based on the estimated GRP. However, most of these studies define the RPA parameters with supposition, and this represents a major source of uncertainty for applying RPA. To objectively define the RPA parameter values without supposition, this study proposes a systematic method based on the theory of parameter identification. A surrogate variable, namely the average storage variation (ASV) index, is developed to calibrate the RPA parameters, because of the lack of direct GRP observations. The study results show that the correlations between the ASV indexes and computed GRP values improved from 0.67 before calibration to 0.85 after calibration, thus indicating that the calibrated RPA parameters represent the recharge characteristics of the study area well; these data also highlight how defining the RPA parameters with ASV indexes can help to improve the accuracy. The calibrated RPA parameters were used to estimate the GRP distribution of the study area, and the GRP values were graded into five levels. High and excellent level areas are defined as high recharge areas, which composed 7.92% of the study area. Overall, this study demonstrates that the developed approach can objectively define the RPA parameters and high recharge areas of the Choushui River alluvial fan, and the results should serve as valuable references for the Taiwanese government in their efforts to conserve the groundwater quality and quantity of the study area.
Anomalies of the Austrian Forest Fire Regime in Comparison with Other Alpine Countries: A Research Note
Authors: Müller Mortimer , Vacik Harald , Valese Eva
Published: March 2015

In recent years, Austria has experienced highly variable forest fire activity with new record values regarding the number of fires and sizes of burned areas. Single seasons in 2011, 2012 and 2013 showed 20-year-peaks and significant differences regarding fire activity. A statistical overview of datasets from Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Slovenia is given, allowing a preliminary comparison between the Alpine countries. Higher temperatures in combination with local dry weather conditions are hypothesized as reasons for the observed anomalies. Further analysis will be done with new climatic data in high spatial resolution from the “AgroDroughtAustria” project to confirm these preliminary findings.
Isolation and Molecular Characterization of Free-Living Amoebae from Different Water Sources in Italy
Authors: Montalbano Di Filippo Margherita , Santoro Maristella , Lovreglio Piero , Monno Rosa , Capolongo Carmen , Calia Carla , Fumarola Luciana , D'Alfonso Rossella , Berrilli Federica , Di Cave David
Published: March 2015

Free-living amoebae (FLA) are protozoa ubiquitous in Nature, isolated from a variety of environments worldwide. In addition to their natural distribution, some species have been found to be pathogenic to humans. In the present study a survey was conducted in order to evaluate the presence and to characterize at molecular level the isolates of amoebic organisms collected from different water sources in Italy. A total of 160 water samples were analyzed by culture and microscopic examination. FLA were found in 46 (28.7%) of the investigated water samples. Groundwater, well waters, and ornamental fountain waters were the sources with higher prevalence rates (85.7%, 50.0%, and 45.9%, respectively). Identification of FLA species/genotypes, based on the 18S rDNA regions, allowed to identify 18 (39.1%) Acanthamoeba isolates (genotypes T4 and T15) and 21 (45.6%) Vermamoeba vermiformis isolates. Other FLA species, including Vahlkampfia sp. and Naegleria spp., previously reported in Italy, were not recovered. The occurrence of potentially pathogenic free-living amoebae in habitats related to human population, as reported in the present study, supports the relevance of FLA as a potential health threat to humans.
Antitumor Effects of Vitamin D Analogs on Hamster and Mouse Melanoma Cell Lines in Relation to Melanin Pigmentation
Authors: Wasiewicz Tomasz , Szyszka Paulina , Cichorek Miroslawa , Janjetovic Zorica , Tuckey Robert , Slominski Andrzej , Zmijewski Michal
Published: March 2015

Deregulated melanogenesis is involved in melanomagenesis and melanoma progression and resistance to therapy. Vitamin D analogs have anti-melanoma activity. While the hypercalcaemic effect of the active form of Vitamin D (1,25(OH)2D3) limits its therapeutic use, novel Vitamin D analogs with a modified side chain demonstrate low calcaemic activity. We therefore examined the effect of secosteroidal analogs, both classic (1,25(OH)2D3 and 25(OH)D3), and novel relatively non-calcemic ones (20(OH)D3, calcipotriol, 21(OH)pD, pD and 20(OH)pL), on proliferation, colony formation in monolayer and soft-agar, and mRNA and protein expression by melanoma cells. Murine B16-F10 and hamster Bomirski Ab cell lines were shown to be effective models to study how melanogenesis affects anti-melanoma treatment. Novel Vitamin D analogs with a short side-chain and lumisterol-like 20(OH)pL efficiently inhibited rodent melanoma growth. Moderate pigmentation sensitized rodent melanoma cells towards Vitamin D analogs, and altered expression of key genes involved in Vitamin D signaling, which was opposite to the effect on heavily pigmented cells. Interestingly, melanogenesis inhibited ligand-induced Vitamin D receptor translocation and ligand-induced expression of VDR and CYP24A1 genes. These findings indicate that melanogenesis can affect the anti-melanoma activity of Vitamin D analogs in a complex manner.
Long Noncoding RNA MALAT-1 Enhances Stem Cell-Like Phenotypes in Pancreatic Cancer Cells
Authors: Jiao Feng , Hu Hai , Han Ting , Yuan Cuncun , Wang Lei , Jin Ziliang , Guo Zhen , Wang Liwei
Published: March 2015

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) play a vital role in tumor initiation, progression, metastasis, chemoresistance, and recurrence. The mechanisms that maintain the stemness of these cells remain largely unknown. Our previous study indicated that MALAT-1 may serve as an oncogenic long noncoding RNA in pancreatic cancer by promoting epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and regulating CSCs markers expression. More significantly, there is emerging evidence that the EMT process may give rise to CSCs, or at least cells with stem cell-like properties. Therefore, we hypothesized that MALAT-1 might enhance stem cell-like phenotypes in pancreatic cancer cells. In this study, our data showed that MALAT-1 could increase the proportion of pancreatic CSCs, maintain self-renewing capacity, decrease the chemosensitivity to anticancer drugs, and accelerate tumor angiogenesis in vitro. In addition, subcutaneous nude mouse xenografts revealed that MALAT-1 could promote tumorigenicity of pancreatic cancer cells in vivo. The underlying mechanisms may involve in increased expression of self-renewal related factors Sox2. Collectively, we for the first time found the potential effects of MALAT-1 on the stem cell-like phenotypes in pancreatic cancer cells, suggesting a novel role of MALAT-1 in tumor stemness, which remains to be fully elucidated.
Bioactive Secondary Metabolites from the Red Sea Marine Verongid Sponge Suberea Species
Authors: Shaala Lamiaa , Youssef Diaa , Badr Jihan , Sulaiman Mansour , Khedr Alaa
Published: March 2015

In a continuation of our efforts to identify bioactive compounds from Red Sea Verongid sponges, the organic extract of the sponge Suberea species afforded seven compounds including two new dibrominated alkaloids, subereamollines C and D (1 and 2), together with the known compounds aerothionin (3), homoaerothionin (4), aeroplysinin-1 (5), aeroplysinin-2 (6) and a revised subereaphenol C (7) as ethyl 2-(2,4-dibromo-3,6-dihydroxyphenyl)acetate. The structures of the isolated compounds were assigned by different spectral data including optical rotations, 1D (1H and 13C) and 2D (COSY, multiplicity-edited HSQC, and HMBC) NMR and high-resolution mass spectroscopy. Aerothionin (3) and subereaphenol C (7) displayed potent cytotoxic activity against HeLa cell line with IC50 values of 29 and 13.3 µM, respectively. In addition, aeroplysinin-2 (6) showed potent antimigratory activity against the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 with IC50 of 18 µM. Subereamollines C and D are new congeners of the previously reported compounds subereamollines A and B with methyl ester functionalities on the side chain. These findings provide further insight into the biosynthetic capabilities of members of the genus Suberea and the chemical diversity as well as the biological activity of these compounds.
Reverse Phase Protein Arrays—Quantitative Assessment of Multiple Biomarkers in Biopsies for Clinical Use
Authors: Boellner Stefanie , Becker Karl-Friedrich
Published: March 2015

Reverse Phase Protein Arrays (RPPA) represent a very promising sensitive and precise high-throughput technology for the quantitative measurement of hundreds of signaling proteins in biological and clinical samples. This array format allows quantification of one protein or phosphoprotein in multiple samples under the same experimental conditions at the same time. Moreover, it is suited for signal transduction profiling of small numbers of cultured cells or cells isolated from human biopsies, including formalin fixed and paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissues. Owing to the much easier sample preparation, as compared to mass spectrometry based technologies, and the extraordinary sensitivity for the detection of low-abundance signaling proteins over a large linear range, RPPA have the potential for characterization of deregulated interconnecting protein pathways and networks in limited amounts of sample material in clinical routine settings. Current aspects of RPPA technology, including dilution curves, spotting, controls, signal detection, antibody validation, and calculation of protein levels are addressed.
In Vivo Efficacy and Toxicity Studies of a Novel Antibacterial Agent: 14-O-[(2-Amino-1,3,4-thiadiazol-5-yl)Thioacetyl] Mutilin
Authors: Zhang Chao , Yi Yunpeng , Chen Jiongran , Xin Rensheng , Yang Zhen , Guo Zhiting , Liang Jianping , Shang Ruofeng
Published: March 2015

A new pleuromutilin derivative with excellent antibacterial activity, 14-O-[(2-amino-1,3,4-thiadiazol-5-yl) thioacetyl] mutilin (ATTM), may serve as a possible lead compound for the development of antibacterial drugs. However, in vivo efficacy and toxicity evaluations of this compound have not been performed. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of ATTM by measuring the survival of mice after a lethal challenge with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and the 50% effective dose (ED50) was 5.74 mg/kg by the intravenous route. In an oral single-dose toxicity study, ATTM was orally administered to mice at different doses and the 50% lethal dose (LD50) was calculated to be 2304.4 mg/kg by the Bliss method. The results of the subchronic oral toxicity study in rats showed no mortality, exterior signs of toxicity, or differences in the total weight gain or relative organ weights between the treated groups and control group after administration. The hematological and serum biochemical data showed no differences between the treated and control groups, except for the levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), creatinine (CR) and blood glucose (GLU), which were significantly different in the high-dose group. The differences in the histopathological findings between the treated groups and the control group were not considered to be treatment-related. Our results indicated that the no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) for ATTM was 5 mg/kg in this study.
Zinc Complexes Containing Coumarin-Derived Anilido-Aldimine Ligands as Catalysts for Ring Opening Polymerization of L-Lactide
Authors: Chen Chi-Tien , Wang Min-Chian , Huang Tzu-Lun
Published: March 2015

The coumarin-derived ligand precursors L1H–L6H have been prepared. Treatment of these ligand precursors with 1.2 equiv. of ZnEt2 in toluene affords zinc ethyl complexes (LZnEt) 1–6 (where L = coumarin-derived ligands bearing different functional groups). Reaction of ligand precursor L3H with 1.5 equiv. of Zn[N(SiMe3)2]2 in toluene affords the zinc amide complex, L3ZnN(SiMe3)2, 7. All these compounds were characterized by NMR spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The molecular structures are reported for 1 and 7. The catalytic activities of complexes 1–7 towards the ring opening polymerization of l-lactide in the presence of 9-AnOH have been investigated.
Synthesis of Silver-Strontium Titanate Hybrid Nanoparticles by Sol-Gel-Hydrothermal Method
Authors: Ueno Shintaro , Nakashima Kouichi , Sakamoto Yasunao , Wada Satoshi
Published: March 2015

Silver (Ag) nanoparticle-loaded strontium titanate (SrTiO3) nanoparticles were attempted to be synthesized by a sol-gel-hydrothermal method. We prepared the titanium oxide precursor gels incorporated with Ag+ and Sr2+ ions with various molar ratios, and they were successfully converted into the Ag-SrTiO3 hybrid nanoparticles by the hydrothermal treatment at 230 °C in strontium hydroxide aqueous solutions. The morphology of the SrTiO3 nanoparticles is dendritic in the presence and absence of Ag+ ions. The precursor gels, which act as the high reactive precursor, give rise to high nucleation and growth rates under the hydrothermal conditions, and the resultant diffusion-limited aggregation phenomena facilitate the dendritic growth of SrTiO3. From the field-emission transmission electron microscope observation of these Ag-SrTiO3 hybrid nanoparticles, the Ag nanoparticles with a size of a few tens of nanometers are distributed without severe agglomeration, owing to the competitive formation reactions of Ag and SrTiO3.
Fish Consumption, Long-Chain Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Intake and Risk of Metabolic Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Kim Yong-Seok , Xun Pengcheng , He Ka
Published: March 2015

Fish and long-chain ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCω3PUFA) intake in relation to the risk of cardiovascular diseases have been well studied. However, studies that directly link fish consumption or LCω3PUFA intake to the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) are sparse and the results are inconsistent. We reviewed literature through December 2014 and used random-effects or fixed-effects models, as appropriate, to pool the associations of fish or LCω3PUFA intake with the risk of MetS. Nine independent cross-sectional samples (seven cross-sectional studies) and three independent prospective cohorts (two prospective cohort studies) were identified as eligible for this meta-analysis. By pooling data from the prospective cohorts (7860 participants and 1671 incident cases), a significant inverse association between fish consumption and incidence of MetS was found. The pooled RR (95% CI) was 0.71 (0.58, 0.87), comparing the highest to the lowest category of fish consumption, and 0.94 (0.90, 0.98) for one serving/week increment. Consistent results were found for LCω3PUFA intake. Non-significant inverse association of fish or LCω3PUFA intake with risk of MetS was found when pooling the cross-sectional studies. By quantitatively summarizing the literature, a modest inverse association between fish or LCω3PUFA intake and risk of MetS cannot be excluded.
L-Glutamine and Whole Protein Restore First-Phase Insulin Response and Increase Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 in Type 2 Diabetes Patients
Authors: Samocha-Bonet Dorit , Chisholm Don , Holst Jens , Greenfield Jerry
Published: March 2015

l-glutamine triggers glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) release from L cells in vitro and when ingested pre-meal, decreases postprandial glycaemia and increases circulating insulin and GLP-1 in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients. We aimed to evaluate the effect of oral l-glutamine, compared with whole protein low in glutamine, on insulin response in well-controlled T2D patients. In a randomized study with a crossover design, T2D patients (n = 10, 6 men) aged 65.1 ± 5.8, with glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) 6.6% ± 0.7% (48 ± 8 mmol/mol), received oral l-glutamine (25 g), protein (25 g) or water, followed by an intravenous glucose bolus (0.3 g/kg) and hyperglycemic glucose clamp for 2 h. Blood was frequently collected for analyses of glucose, serum insulin and plasma total and active GLP-1 and area under the curve of glucose, insulin, total and active GLP-1 excursions calculated. Treatments were tested 1–2 weeks apart. Both l-glutamine and protein increased first-phase insulin response (p ≤ 0.02). Protein (p = 0.05), but not l-glutamine (p = 0.2), increased second-phase insulin response. Total GLP-1 was increased by both l-glutamine and protein (p ≤ 0.02). We conclude that oral l-glutamine and whole protein are similarly effective in restoring first-phase insulin response in T2D patients. Larger studies are required to further investigate the utility of similar approaches in improving insulin response in diabetes.
Downscaling 250-m MODIS Growing Season NDVI Based on Multiple-Date Landsat Images and Data Mining Approaches
Authors: Gu Yingxin , Wylie Bruce
Published: March 2015

The satellite-derived growing season time-integrated Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (GSN) has been used as a proxy for vegetation biomass productivity. The 250-m GSN data estimated from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors have been used for terrestrial ecosystem modeling and monitoring. High temporal resolution with a wide range of wavelengths make the MODIS land surface products robust and reliable. The long-term 30-m Landsat data provide spatial detailed information for characterizing human-scale processes and have been used for land cover and land change studies. The main goal of this study is to combine 250-m MODIS GSN and 30-m Landsat observations to generate a quality-improved high spatial resolution (30-m) GSN database. A rule-based piecewise regression GSN model based on MODIS and Landsat data was developed. Results show a strong correlation between predicted GSN and actual GSN (r = 0.97, average error = 0.026). The most important Landsat variables in the GSN model are Normalized Difference Vegetation Indices (NDVIs) in May and August. The derived MODIS-Landsat-based 30-m GSN map provides biophysical information for moderate-scale ecological features. This multiple sensor study retains the detailed seasonal dynamic information captured by MODIS and leverages the high-resolution information from Landsat, which will be useful for regional ecosystem studies.
A Floor-Map-Aided WiFi/Pseudo-Odometry Integration Algorithm for an Indoor Positioning System
Authors: Wang Jian , Hu Andong , Liu Chunyan , Li Xin
Published: March 2015

This paper proposes a scheme for indoor positioning by fusing floor map, WiFi and smartphone sensor data to provide meter-level positioning without additional infrastructure. A topology-constrained K nearest neighbor (KNN) algorithm based on a floor map layout provides the coordinates required to integrate WiFi data with pseudo-odometry (P-O) measurements simulated using a pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR) approach. One method of further improving the positioning accuracy is to use a more effective multi-threshold step detection algorithm, as proposed by the authors. The “go and back” phenomenon caused by incorrect matching of the reference points (RPs) of a WiFi algorithm is eliminated using an adaptive fading-factor-based extended Kalman filter (EKF), taking WiFi positioning coordinates, P-O measurements and fused heading angles as observations. The “cross-wall” problem is solved based on the development of a floor-map-aided particle filter algorithm by weighting the particles, thereby also eliminating the gross-error effects originating from WiFi or P-O measurements. The performance observed in a field experiment performed on the fourth floor of the School of Environmental Science and Spatial Informatics (SESSI) building on the China University of Mining and Technology (CUMT) campus confirms that the proposed scheme can reliably achieve meter-level positioning.
Spatial Distribution of Fragmentation by Diversion-Typed Hydroelectric Plant Exploitation in East Baoxing Catchment from 1999 to 2013
Authors: Huang Yong , Zheng Li , Wang Dongchuan , Chen Wengang , Wang Qianqian
Published: March 2015

In the Southwest Mountain areas, successive hydroelectric plant exploitation by humans on Baoxing River can exert a significant impact on regional landscape composition and structure. Taking East Baoxing River Catchment as the study area, the authors developed a method combining Moving Window based Calculation and Spatial Correlation Analysis to analyze the relationship between fragmentation and related spatial factors at a local scale, aiming to examine the spatial distribution rule of the landscape fragmentation and provide scientific support for the conservation of landscape ecology in the study area. From the perspective of the whole study area, although there is no clear relationship between the selected factors and the Change of DIVISION (CODIV), the comparison of R values in the latter interval (2006–2013) with those in the former interval (1999–2006) proves that the human activities of plant building have led to the increase in the DIVISION value. At the local scale, results show that a high positive relationship exists between slope and CODIV (R = 0.857, p-value = 0.05), while the relationship between river distance and CODIV is highly negative (R = −0.837, p-value = 0.01). A medium strong negative relationship lies between elevation and CODIV, while there is almost no linear relationship between distance from Qiaoqi reservoir and CODIV.
Contribution of Organ Vasculature in Rat Renal Analysis for Ochratoxin A: Relevance to Toxicology of Nephrotoxins
Authors: Mantle Peter , Kilic Mehmet , Mor Firdevs , Ozmen Ozlem
Published: March 2015

Assumptions surrounding the kidney as a target for accumulation of ochratoxin A (OTA) are addressed because the contribution of the toxin in blood seems invariably to have been ignored. Adult rats were maintained for several weeks on toxin-contaminated feed. Using standard perfusion techniques, animals were anaesthetised, a blood sample was taken, one kidney was ligated, and the other kidney perfused with physiological saline in situ under normal blood pressure. Comparative analysis of OTA in pairs of kidneys showed marked reduction in the perfused organ in the range 37%–98% (mean 75%), demonstrating the general efficiency of perfusion supported also by histology, and implying a major role of blood in the total OTA content of kidney. Translation of OTA values in plasma to whole blood, and its predicted contribution as a 25% vascular compartment in kidney gave values similar to those in non-perfused kidneys. Thus, apparent ‘accumulation’ of OTA in kidney is due to binding to plasma proteins and long half-life in plasma. Attention should be re-focused on whole animal pharmacokinetics during chronic OTA exposure. Similar principles may be applied to DNA-OTA adducts which are now recognised as occurring in blood; application could also extend to other nephrotoxins such as aristolochic acid. Thus, at least, quantitative reassessment in urological tissues seems necessary in attributing adducts specifically as markers of potentially-tumourigenic exposure.
Comparison of nuclear, plastid, and mitochondrial phylogenies and the origin of wild octoploid strawberry species
Authors: Govindarajulu Rajanikanth , Parks Matthew , Tennessen Jacob A. , Liston Aaron , Ashman Tia‐Lynn
Published: March 2015

• Premise of the study: Molecular phylogenies derived from all three plant genomes can provide insight into the evolutionary history of plant groups influenced by reticulation. We sought to reconstruct mitochondrial exome, chloroplast, and nuclear genome phylogenies for octoploid Fragaria and their diploid ancestors and to document patterns of incongruence between and within the cytoplasmic genomes and interpret these in the context of evolutionary origin of the octoploid strawberries.

• Methods: Using a genome‐skimming approach, we assembled chloroplast genomes and mitochondrial exomes, and we used the POLiMAPS method to assemble nuclear sequence for octoploid species and constructed phylogenies from all three genomes. We assessed incongruence between and within cytoplasmic genomes using topology‐based phylogenetic incongruence tests.

• Key results: The incongruent cytoplasmic genome phylogeny with respect to the placement of octoploids suggests potential breakage in linkage disequilibrium of cytoplasmic genomes during allopolyploid origin of the octoploids. Furthermore, a single mitochondrial chimeric gene with a putative role in cytoplasmic male sterility yields a phylogeny that is inconsistent with the rest of the mitochondrial genome but consistent with the chloroplast phylogeny, suggesting intracellular gene transfer between heteroplasmic mitochondria, possibly driven by selection to overcome the effects of mito‐nuclear incompatibility in octoploid origins.

• Conclusions: This work expands on the current understanding of evolutionary history of the octoploid ancestors of cultivated strawberry. It demonstrates phylogenetic incongruence between cytoplasmic genomes in octoploids with respect to diploid ancestors, indicating breakage in linkage disequilibrium of cytoplasmic genomes. We discuss potential organism‐level processes that may have contributed to the observed incongruence in Fragaria.
Mobilités des entreprises et territoires : les paradoxes du secteur de la mode à Tanger
Authors: Froment Pascale
Published: March 2015

À partir du cas de Tanger et du secteur de la mode, l’objectif de cet article est d’interroger la notion de mobilité des entreprises en relation avec l’inégale intégration de celles-ci au système productif mondial. C’est à travers les logiques différenciées, et en constante évolution, des principaux acteurs que sera abordée l’interdépendance entre le nomadisme des grands donneurs d’ordre européens et la faible mobilité des acteurs locaux. La position de Tanger, redevenue stratégique en raison d’intérêts économiques et politiques convergents, en fait ainsi une plaque tournante entre décisions et capitaux venus d’Europe d’une part et main-d’œuvre largement issue de zones plus défavorisées du Maroc et employée dans ce secteur à forte intensité de travail d’autre part. Prise entre ces deux formes de mobilité, à la fois opposées et indissociables, la sédentarité relative de l’entrepreneuriat local reflète tout autant les rapports de dépendance entre les deux rives de la Méditerranée que l’ambiguïté des politiques du Royaume du Maroc pour capter les IDE au détriment d’une véritable émancipation des entrepreneurs et du secteur.
Quel espace régional pour l’Australie ? Mutations et recompositions des identités australiennes
Authors: Argounès Fabrice
Published: March 2015

Afin de comprendre l’évolution des identités revendiquées et des espaces dans lesquels se projette le Commonwealth d’Australie, au-delà des frontières de son territoire national, cet article s’interroge sur les constructions et reconstructions de la spatialité australienne, passant de la Britishness , issue de la matrice coloniale et de l’histoire occidentale, à une Pacificness et même une Asianess , nourrie de la géographie asiatique. Néanmoins, ces transformations ne masquent nullement un rapport unique à l’environnement, entre affirmation identitaire dans un espace asiatique et pacifique en évolution rapide et les nombreuses tensions par rapport aux marges de l’île-continent et au voisinage d’une altérité toujours mise en avant. L’Australie s’inscrit une réécriture permanente de l’espace pour assurer sécurité et prospérité. Cet article prend également en compte la politisation des débats sur la géographie australienne. Le discours des élites sur l’espace régional, accompagne, et souvent précède, la perception sur l’appartenance régionale de l’Australie, entre nouveaux modes de représentation de l’espace et construction des régionalismes.
Un chien couché au pied du roi d’Angleterre ? Robert Jolivet, abbé du Mont Saint-Michel (1411-1444)
Authors: Fiasson David
Published: March 2015

Robert Jolivet, abbé du Mont Saint-Michel, a longtemps été l’objet des anathèmes de l’historiographie française. Ce prélat avait déserté son abbaye avant même la signature du traité de Troyes, le 21 mai 1420, en prélude à une brillante carrière au sommet de l’administration du duc de Bedford, régent du royaume au nom du roi « de France et d’Angleterre ». Une relecture critique des sources permet de montrer que, loin de constituer une figure de la trahison, Robert Jolivet illustre la complexité des choix ouverts par la compromission du dauphin dans le meurtre de Montereau. Le ralliement au roi d’Angleterre de cet abbé beaucoup plus investi dans son abbaye qu’on ne l’a longtemps pensé, capitaine exemplaire de la place sous le règne effectif de Charles VI, constitue moins une trahison dictée par l’intérêt que l’aboutissement d’un parcours politique relativement cohérent.
Normes éthiques et culture managériale : quelles interactions ? Le cas des Big Four
Authors: Noël Christine , Frémeaux Sandrine
Published: March 2015

Cette étude met en perspective la culture managériale et les normes éthiques dans les Big Four afin de voir en quoi la culture managériale rend possible ou, au contraire, difficile l’application de l’éthique définie par ces cabinets. Les résultats d’une analyse thématique de trente-huit entretiens semi-directifs menés auprès d’anciens et actuels collaborateurs des établissements français des Big Four révèlent comment certaines caractéristiques de la culture managériale – l’uniformisation, la communication, le chiffre, la compétition statutaire, l’esprit de cour – peuvent interférer avec la mise en œuvre des normes éthiques affichées par ces cabinets : la qualité du service au client, l’esprit d’équipe, le développement professionnel, l’accomplissement individuel. Ces interactions conduisent à des dilemmes que cette étude entend préciser.