bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ultraleichtbau
Authors: Sobek Werner
Published: November 2014

Das Entwerfen im Leichtbau ist die Suche nach dem Leichtestmöglichen. Es ist das Herantasten an das physikalisch und das technisch Machbare und damit auch das Arbeiten an den wissenschaftlichen Grenzen. Mit dem vom Autor entwickelten Ultraleichtbau kann man die Grenzen des Leichtestmöglichen weit hinausschieben. Neben der Reduktion des Materialverbrauchs auf ein bisher nicht für vorstellbar gehaltenes Minimum wird es im Ultraleichtbau auch möglich, Verformungen zu reduzieren und Schwingungen unter dynamischer Beanspruchung zu dämpfen – ein enormer Fortschritt, der sehr interessante Perspektiven für das Bauwesen eröffnet. Der vorliegende Artikel beschreibt zugrundeliegende theoretische Überlegungen und präsentiert diverse Experimentalbauten, die das Potential des Ultraleichtbaus eindrücklich vor Augen führen.

Ultralightweight Structures. The search for lightweight constructions is the search for boundaries. Designing the lightest possible constructions can be equated with feeling one’s way towards the limits of what is physically and technically possible. It is about the aesthetics and physics of the minimal, and it is about stepping across the dividing lines between scientific disciplines. Using the concept of Ultralightweight Structures developed by the author, it becomes possible to reduce the use of material to a minimum hihterto considered unachievable. Moreover, it leads to the reduction of distortions and helps to dampen vibrations – an enormous progress opening up interesting new perspectives for architecture. The present article describes the theoretical considerations underlying the concept of Ultralightweight structures and presents a selection of experimental structures demonstrating the potential of this new concept.
Zum Entwerfen von Tragwerken
Authors: Kloft Harald , Hoyer Sebastian
Published: November 2014

Das Entwerfen von Bauwerken wird in der öffentlichen Wahrnehmung fast ausnahmslos den Architekten zugeordnet und die Tragwerksplanung wird im allgemeinen Verständnis mit Statik und Berechnung gleichgesetzt. Dabei ist der Entwurf eines Tragwerks ein wesentlicher Teil der Tragwerksplanung. Das Entwerfen von Tragwerken ist zwar nicht dem architektonischen Entwerfen gleichzusetzen, aber es handelt sich um einen eigenständigen, kreativen Prozess, der von den Ingenieuren eine Haltung und Positionierung zu Ästhetik und Gestaltung erfordert. Jörg Schlaich hat diese Positionierung von uns Bauingenieuren immer wieder eingefordert und darauf hingewiesen, dass selbst die Gestaltung von Ingenieurbauwerken mehr Dimensionen erfordert als ihre bloße Herleitung aus Funktion und Technologie. Die weit verbreitete Kategorisierung in entwerfende Architekten und rechnende Ingenieure hat ihre Wurzeln sicher auch in dem gegenseitigen sprachlichen Unverständnis. Die gegenseitige Verständigung ist Grundvoraussetzung, um sich in die Debatte um den kulturellen Beitrag unserer Bauwerke in der Gesellschaft einbringen zu können.

On designing structures. The term design is in building almost invariably associated with the profession of the architects in the public perception and structural design in the general understanding is equated with structural analysis and calculation. While designing a structure is an essential part of the structural engineering. Structural design is although not architectural design, but it is a stand‐alone, creative process that requires an attitude and positioning to aesthetics and design by the engineers. Jörg Schlaich has repeatedly claimed this positioning of us engineers and often pointed out that even the design of civil engineering works requires more dimensions than their mere inference of function and technology. The wide‐spread categorization in designing architects and calculating engineers has its roots in the mutual linguistic understanding. The mutual understanding is prerequisite to the debate on the cultural contribution of our structures in society to engage with.
Bmi1 Promotes Erythroid Development Through Regulating Ribosome Biogenesis
Authors: Gao Rui , Chen Sisi , Kobayashi Michihiro , Yu Hao , Zhang Yingchi , Wan Yang , Young Sara K. , Soltis Anthony , Yu Ming , Vemula Sasidhar , Fraenkel Ernest , Cantor Alan , Antipin Yevgeniy , Xu Yang , Yoder Mervin C. , Wek Ronald C. , Ellis Steven R. , Kapur Reuben , Zhu Xiaofan , Liu Yan
Published: November 2014

While Polycomb group protein Bmi1 is important for stem cell maintenance, its role in lineage commitment is largely unknown. We have identified Bmi1 as a novel regulator of erythroid development. Bmi1 is highly expressed in mouse erythroid progenitor cells and its deficiency impairs erythroid differentiation. BMI1 is also important for human erythroid development. Furthermore, we discovered that loss of Bmi1 in erythroid progenitor cells results in decreased transcription of multiple ribosomal protein genes and impaired ribosome biogenesis. Bmi1 deficiency stabilizes p53 protein, leading to upregulation of p21 expression and subsequent G0/G1 cell cycle arrest. Genetic inhibition of p53 activity rescues the erythroid defects seen in the Bmi1 null mice, demonstrating that a p53-dependent mechanism underlies the pathophysiology of the anemia. Mechanistically, Bmi1 is associated with multiple ribosomal protein genes and may positively regulate their expression in erythroid progenitor cells. Thus, Bmi1 promotes erythroid development, at least in part through regulating ribosome biogenesis. Ribosomopathies are human disorders of ribosome dysfunction, including Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA) and 5q− syndrome, in which genetic abnormalities cause impaired ribosome biogenesis, resulting in specific clinical phenotypes. We observed that BMI1 expression in human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells from patients with DBA is correlated with the expression of some ribosomal protein genes, suggesting that BMI1 deficiency may play a pathological role in DBA and other ribosomopathies. Stem Cells  2015;33:925–938
An Open‐Shell Spin Singlet Copper‐Nitrene Intermediate Binding Redox‐innocent Metal Ions: Influence of the Lewis Acidity of the Metal Ions on Spectroscopic and Reactivity Properties
Authors: Monte‐Pérez Inés , Kundu Subrata , Ray Kallol
Published: November 2014

The yield of the Lewis acid adducts of a copper‐tosylnitrene intermediate and their decay are dependent on the Lewis acidity of the redox innocent metal ions. Surprisingly, however, their spectroscopic properties and reactivity in nitrene transfer reaction with PPh3 are independent of the nature of the Lewis acid used. The result provides some new insights into the structure and reactivity of the Lewis‐acid bound copper nitrene complexes.
DNA methylation dynamics of a maternally methylated DMR in the mouse Dlk1–Dio3 domain
Authors: Zeng Tie-Bo , He Hong-Juan , Han Zheng-Bin , Zhang Feng-Wei , Huang Zhi-Jun , Liu Qi , Cui Wei , Wu Qiong
Published: November 2014

The mouse delta‐like homolog 1 and type III iodothyronine deiodinase (Dlk1–Dio3) imprinted domain contains three known paternally methylated differentially methylated regions (DMRs): intergenic DMR (IG‐DMR), maternally expressed 3‐DMR (Gtl2‐DMR), and Dlk1‐DMR. Here, we report the first maternally methylated DMR, CpG island 2 (CGI‐2), is located approximately 800 bp downstream of miR‐1188. CGI‐2 is highly methylated in sperm and oocytes, de‐methylated in pre‐implantation embryos, and differentially re‐methylated during post‐implantation development. CGI‐2, similarly to Gtl2‐DMR and Dlk1‐DMR, acquires differential methylation prior to embryonic day 7.5 (E7.5). Both H3K4me3 and H3K9me3 histone modifications are enriched at CGI‐2. Furthermore, CCCTC‐binding factor (CTCF) binds to both alleles of CGI‐2 in vivo. These results contribute to the investigation of imprinting regulation in this domain.
Customer Responses to Channel Migration Strategies toward the E-channel
Authors: Trampe Debra , Konuş Umut , Verhoef Peter C.
Published: November 2014

Many firms stimulate customers to use the E-channel for services, which provokes various consumer responses to such limits on their freedom of choice. In a study on bank customers, we examine the extent of customer reactance in response to various E-channel migration strategies, the potential of incentive programs in mitigating customer reactance, as well as the moderating role of attitudinal loyalty. Finally, we address the mediating role of customer forgiveness. Our study documents that rewarding the use of the firm-preferred E-channel is more effective than punishing the retention of the incumbent channel, and that a punishment-based E-channel migration strategy causes similar reactance levels as forced migration does. Importantly, the mere act of forcing also creates reactance among those customers who have already been using the firm-preferred E-channel. In addition, our results reveal that highly loyal customers exhibit lower reactance than less loyal customers. By including customer forgiveness as a process measure we show that this partially occurs because highly loyal customers tend to be more forgiving toward the firm than less loyal customers.
Direct numerical simulations of turbulent Ekman layers with increasing static stability: modifications to the bulk structure and second-order statistics
Authors: Shah Stimit K. , Bou-Zeid Elie
Published: November 2014

Direct numerical simulations of stably stratified Ekman layers are conducted to study the effect of increasing static stability on turbulence dynamics and modelling in wall-bounded flows at three moderate Reynolds numbers. The flow field is analysed by examining the mean profiles of wind speed, potential temperature and momentum flux, as well as streamwise velocity and temperature spectra. The maximum stabilizing buoyancy flux that a flow can sustain while remaining fully turbulent is found to depend on the Reynolds number. The flows with the highest Reynolds number display a relatively well-developed inertial range and logarithmic layer, and are found to bear similarities to much higher-Reynolds-number flows like the ones encountered in the atmospheric boundary layer. In particular, the near-wall mean profiles follow the Monin–Obukhov similarity theory. However, several flow features, such as the critical Richardson number and the stress–strain alignment, are found to maintain significant dependence on the Reynolds number. The budgets of turbulence kinetic energy (TKE), vertical velocity variance, momentum and buoyancy fluxes, and temperature variance are analysed. The results indicate that the effect of stability on turbulence is first directly manifested in the vertical velocity variance budget, and results in damping of vertical motions. This then leads to a reduction in the downward transport of horizontal momentum components towards the surface, and consequently to a decrease in the shear production term in the TKE budget: changes in the vertical profile of TKE shear production with increasing Richardson number are significant and have a larger impact on TKE than direct buoyancy destruction. The reduction in vertical velocity variance also results in significant drops in the production terms in the momentum flux, buoyancy flux and temperature variance budgets. Various assumptions and parameters related to low-order turbulence closures are investigated. The results suggest that the vertical velocity variance is a more appropriate parameter than the full TKE on which to base eddy-diffusivity and viscosity models.
Enrolling Smokers from Health Systems into Quitline Services: ‘Results of two enrollment strategies’
Authors: Sewali Barrett , Thomas Janet L. , Guo Hongfei , Peterson Kevin , Ahluwalia Jasjit S. , Carpenter Matthew J. , Patten Christi , Ellerbeck Edward F. , Okuyemi Kolawole S.
Published: November 2014

Objective: To determine the effects of motivational interviewing (MI) counselling versus a minimal intervention control on the enrollment of smokers in the Minnesota QUITPLAN Helpline.

Study design: Two-group randomized controlled trial of 235 community-dwelling adult smokers. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either a three-session phone based motivational interviewing intervention (n = 118) or the control (n = 117) consisting of mailed printed materials about the Minnesota QUITPLAN helpline services.

Data collection: Participants completed demographic and smoking-related survey questionnaire at baseline (by mail) and at weeks 4 and 26 (by phone) follow-up. Quitline enrollment status data was provided by the Minnesota QUITPLAN Helpline.

Principal findings: At week 4 follow-up, a higher proportion of participants in the MI group (22.3%) had enroled in the Minnesota QUITPLAN Helpline compared to those in the control arm (13.6%; p = 0.098). At week 26 follow-up, enrollment rates were similar for MI (28.0%) and control (26.5%) arms. Of those who enroled in the Helpline, participants in the MI group reported completing more Helpline sessions than those in control group (4.9 vs. 3.2; p = 0.087).

There was no significant interaction between readiness to quit and intervention for the outcome of enrollment in the Helpline.

Conclusions: A minimal intensity control such as mailing printed materials resulted in quitline enrollment rates similar to a more resource intensive intervention like motivational interviewing and several folds higher than the current state or national averages. We recommend that health plans should consider mailing smoking cessation promotional messages to encourage smokers to enrol in quitlines.
Terra incognita: The Palaeolithic record of northwest Europe and the information potential of the southern North Sea
Authors: Roebroeks W.
Published: November 2014

For major parts of the Palaeolithic substantial areas of the current southern North Sea and what later became the English Channel were dry land. Those areas, now covered by tens of metres of sea, were occasionally core areas for large herds of herbivores and the animals that preyed upon them, including Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers. This is demonstrated by the large amounts of Pleistocene mammal fossils, artefacts and a Neanderthal fossil recovered during the last one and a half centuries. Any consideration of the Pleistocene occupation history of northwest Europe needs to deal with the fact that a major part of the landscape available to Pleistocene hunter-gatherers is currently submerged under the waters of the North Sea, one of the most prolific Pleistocene fossil-bearing localities world-wide. One also needs to take into account the complex landscape evolution of the southern North Sea basin, with geographically varying successions of marine, lacustrine, fluvial and glacial sedimentation and erosion. This paper gives a short overview of the occupation history of northwest Europe, from its earliest traces at the very end of the Lower and the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene up to the middle part of the Upper Palaeolithic, when this part of Europe became deserted for a period of about 10,000 years. Tentative interpretations and questions raised by the overview will be situated in the context of the information potential of the deposits in the southern North Sea and the Channel area.
Practical approaches to management of the marine prehistoric environment
Authors: Ward I. , Larcombe P. , Firth A. , Manders M.
Published: November 2014

Since so little is still known of the marine prehistoric environment, present management actions tend to be guided by the gathering of disparate sets of data obtained as part of regulatory practice and/or from opportunistic finds that are not necessarily specifically targeted towards archaeology. Our view is that we need to develop a clearly defined set of questions about the marine prehistoric cultural resource to enable the design of targeted scientific research, as part of both the regulatory process and marine management generally. In this paper we argue that it is crucial to understand both natural and anthropogenic context, and this necessarily includes work on the Quaternary geology. Furthermore, we argue for a greater regulatory emphasis on identifying and initiating what weshoulddo (for the long term) rather than what wecanand are doing (for the short term) to identify the best means to manage the prehistoric marine environment.
Using Sequences to Model Crises
Authors: Casper Gretchen , Wilson Matthew
Published: November 2014

The logic of historical explanation obliges one to understand temporality as a moderator of various effects on political outcomes. Temporal problems remain in the empirical analysis of political phenomena, however, especially as it pertains to categorical data and long-term time dependence. Many theories in political science assert that sequencing matters or that political outcomes are path dependent, but they remain untested (or improperly tested) assertions for which sequence analysis may be valuable. This article briefly reviews the disciplinary origins of sequence analysis and applies the method in order to understand bargaining between actors during national crises. Finally, it explores the robustness of a commonly used sequence analysis metric. The ability to demonstrate and separate sequential effects from accumulative effects—made possible through sequence analysis—constitutes a major step in political science toward analyses that are truly time sensitive.
GRAIN YIELD PERFORMANCE OF UPLAND AND LOWLAND RICE VARIETIES UNDER WATER SAVING IRRIGATION THROUGH ALTERNATE WETTING AND DRYING IN SANDY CLAY LOAMS OF SOUTHERN MALAWI
Authors: SHAIBU Y. A. , MLOZA BANDA H. R. , MAKWIZA C. N. , MALUNGA J. CHIDANTI
Published: November 2014

A study was conducted to evaluate performance of two rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties under water saving irrigation through alternate wetting and drying in sandy clay loams of Southern Malawi. The varieties, Nunkile and NERICA 4, are adapted to upland and lowland irrigated conditions, individually, and commonly grown by farmers. Four irrigation regimes were used in the study: (1) continuous flooding with surface water level kept at approximately 5 cm throughout crop duration (CFI), (2) alternate wetting and drying up to start of flowering after which continuous flooding was applied (AWD1), (3) alternate wetting and drying up to start of grain filling after which continuous flooding was applied (AWD2) and (4) alternate wetting and drying throughout the crop duration (AWD3). While seasonal crop water requirement was 690 mm, total irrigation depths were 1923.61, 1307.81, 1160.61 and 807.87 mm for the four regimes respectively. The CFI treatment used 32%, 40% and 58% more water than AWD1, AWD2, and AWD3 regimes respectively. In the same treatment order, the average yields per treatment for Nunkile were 4.92, 4.75, 4.74, and 4.47 t ha−1 with significant yield differences among CFI, AWD2 and AWD3 treatments. The average yields per treatment for NERICA 4 were 3.93, 3.75, 3.75, and 3.71 t ha−1 with significant yield differences only between CFI and all AWD treatments. Crop water productivity (CWP) was higher for Nunkile compared with NERICA 4 across all irrigation treatments, while CWP for CFI treatment was superior to all three AWD treatments grown under either variety. Thus, CWP was not increased with AWD irrigations. AWD till flowering and grain filling did not significantly differ with respect to yield and CWP. It is suggested that for similar conditions and where water is scarce, rice can be grown by AWD till grain filling as it saved more water. An important part of the research is to extend the initial results beyond the climate and soils of study.
International Systems and Domestic Politics: Linking Complex Interactions with Empirical Models in International Relations
Authors: Chaudoin Stephen , Milner Helen V. , Pang Xun
Published: November 2014

Following older debates in international relations literature concerning the relative importance of domestic versus systemic factors, newer debates emphasize interdependence among states and the complex interactions between systemic and domestic factors. As globalization and democratization advance, theories and empirical models of international politics have become more complicated. We present a systematic theoretical categorization of relationships between domestic and systemic variables. We use this categorization so that scholars can match their theory to the appropriate empirical model and assess the degree to which systemic factors affect their arguments. We also present two advances at the frontier of these empirical models. In one, we combine hierarchical models of moderating relationships with spatial models of interdependence among units within a system. In the other, we provide a model for analyzing spatial interdependence that varies over time. This enables us to examine how the level of interdependence among units has evolved. We illustrate our categorization and new models by revisiting the recent international political economy (IPE) debate over the relationship between trade policy and regime type in developing countries.
Peri-operative cerebrospinal fluid leak during single-stage bone-anchored hearing aid implantation: case report
Authors: Dimbleby G , Mitchell-Innes A , Murphy J
Published: November 2014

Background:

A bone-anchored hearing aid uses the principle of bone conduction and osseointegration to transfer sound vibrations to a functioning inner ear. It consists of a permanent titanium implant, and removable abutment and sound processor. Informed consent requires discussion of the procedural benefits, alternatives and complications. The risks of bone-anchored hearing aid surgery include infection, soft tissue hypertrophy, skin graft or flap failure, osseointegration failure, and the need for further surgery.

Case report:

A case of cerebrospinal fluid leak in a patient undergoing bone-anchored hearing aid surgery is reported and discussed.

Conclusion:

Bone-anchored hearing aid surgery poses a risk of breaching the inner table of the temporal bone and dura, resulting in a cerebrospinal fluid leak; the risk of meningitis is rare but serious. The surgeon should discuss the possibility of cerebrospinal fluid leak when consenting patients. Pre-operative computerised tomography scanning should be considered in certain individuals to aid implant placement.
Autologous total ossicular replacement prosthesis
Authors: Malhotra M , Varshney S , Malhotra R
Published: November 2014

Objective:

To develop an autologous total ossicular replacement prosthesis with sustainable hearing results.

Methods:

The ears of 40 patients, who had chronic otitis media with absent suprastructure of the stapes and long process of the incus, were repaired using the autologous total ossicular replacement technique. Post-operative results were evaluated after 6 and 12 months on the basis of average pure tone air conduction and average air–bone gap measured at 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 kHz.

Results:

Successful rehabilitation of pure tone average to 30 dB or less was achieved in 75 per cent of patients, and air–bone gap to 20 dB or less was attained in 82.5 per cent of patients. Overall mean improvement in air–bone gap was 23.9 ± 8.5 dB (p < 0.001). Mean improvements in air–bone gap were significantly greater (p < 0.05) in the tympanoplasty only group (27.3 ± 6.6 dB) and the intact canal wall tympanoplasty group (25.9 ± 6.3 dB) than in the canal wall down tympanoplasty group (16.3 ± 8.9 dB).

Conclusion:

This paper describes an autologous total ossicular replacement prosthesis that is biocompatible, stable, magnetic resonance imaging compatible and, above all, results in sustainable hearing improvement.
Targeted use of endoscopic CO2 laser cricopharyngeal myotomy for improving swallowing function following head and neck cancer treatment
Authors: Dawe N , Patterson J , Hamilton D , Hartley C
Published: November 2014

Background:

Cricopharyngeal dysfunction following head and neck cancer treatment may lead to a significant reduction in oral intake. Carbon dioxide laser is an established procedure for the treatment of non-malignant cricopharyngeal disorders. We report our experience of laser cricopharyngeal myotomy with objective swallowing outcome measures, before and after treatment.

Methods:

We identified 11 patients who had undergone carbon dioxide laser cricopharyngeal myotomy for dysphagia following radiotherapy, with or without chemotheraphy between January 2006 and July 2011. We analysed the swallowing outcomes following carbon dioxide laser cricopharyngeal myotomy by retrospective grading of pre- and post-procedure videofluoroscopic swallowing study of liquids, using the validated Modified Barium Swallow Impairment Profile.

Results:

The median Modified Barium Swallow Impairment Profile score was 13 pre-myotomy and 10 post-myotomy. This difference between scores was non-significant (p = 0.41). The median, cricopharyngeal-specific Modified Barium Swallow Impairment Profile variables (14 and 17) improved from 3 to 2, but were similarly non-significant (p = 0.16). We observed the improved Modified Barium Swallow Impairment Profile scores post-procedure in the majority of patients.

Conclusion:

Endoscopic carbon dioxide laser cricopharyngeal myotomy remains a viable option in treatment-related cricopharyngeal dysfunction; its targeted role requires further prospective study. Objective analysis of the technique can be reported using the validated Modified Barium Swallow Impairment Profile.
Defending against disparate marine turtle nest predators: nesting success benefits from eradicating invasive feral swine and caging nests from raccoons
Authors: Engeman Richard M. , Addison David , Griffin J.C.
Published: November 2014

Nest predation can threaten marine turtle nesting success, and having to address dissimilar predator species complicates nest protection efforts. On Florida's Keewaydin Island predation by raccoons Procyon lotor and invasive feral swine Sus scrofa are disparate, significant threats to marine turtle nests. Using 6 years of nesting data (mostly for loggerhead marine turtles Caretta caretta) we examined the impacts of swine predation on nests and the benefits of swine eradication, caging nests to protect them from raccoon predation, and the effects of nest caging on swine predation. Nest predation by swine began in mid nesting season 2007, after which swine quickly annihilated all remaining marine turtle nests. During 2005–2010 raccoon predation rates for caged nests (0.7–20.4%) were significantly lower than for uncaged nests (5.6–68.8%) in every year except 2009, when little raccoon predation occurred. The proportions of eggs lost from raccoon-predated nests did not differ between caged and uncaged nests. Caging did not prevent destruction by swine but median survival time for caged nests was 11.5 days longer than for uncaged nests, indicating that caged eggs in nests have a greater chance of hatching before being predated by swine. The financial cost of the eradication of swine greatly outweighed the value of hatchlings lost to swine predation in 2007.
Why spelling matters
Authors: Yule Valerie
Published: November 2014

Does spelling matter? Simon Horobin says that it matters because spelling shows ‘the richness of our language and its history’. He argues for retaining spelling unchanged as a testimony to the ‘richness of our linguistic heritage and a connection with our literary past’. His book shows that until the last two hundred years it was constantly changing, but ‘rather than lamenting the inconsistencies and complexities of English spelling’, Horobin traces ‘how these developed and what they tell us about the fascinating history of our language’.
Teaching English as a foreign language in Chinese universities: The present and future
Authors: Rao Zhenhui , Lei Chunhua
Published: November 2014

In the past two decades, there have been two important events in English as a Foreign Language (hereafter, EFL) teaching in Chinese universities throughout the country. The first event was a gradual growth in student enrolment in universities, and the second was the EFL teaching reform that aimed to introduce Communicative Language Teaching (hereafter, CLT) into the English classroom (Rao, 2010). There is an apparent conflict between the increase in student numbers in each class and the use of CLT in the language classroom, thus resulting in a series of problems for current EFL teaching in Chinese universities. On the one hand, frequent contact with foreigners speaking English nowadays makes it necessary for English teachers to develop students’ communicative competence. On the other hand, some problems such as large classes, high demands on English teachers and a lack of financial resources prevent teachers from getting their students involved in the communicative activities in their teaching process (Rao, 1996; Yu, 2001; Hu, 2002).
How snuck sneaked into English and drug is still dragging behind: A corpus study on the usage of new past tense forms for sneak and drag in British and American English
Authors: Horslund Camilla Søballe
Published: November 2014

Language observers may have noticed the existence of two past tense forms for the verb to sneak in American English, sneaked and snuck. Interestingly, both forms have not always coexisted; the original form is sneaked, and snuck has only recently become a real competitor for sneaked (Hogg, 1988: 31–32). The verb to drag seems to be somewhat in the same situation with the original past tense form dragged as well as the new form drug (Bybee & Moder, 1983: 252). However, drug is much less frequent than snuck. Murray's (1998) study on the attitudes towards snuck and drug suggests some difference in the usage of these forms across registers.
THE CONTRIBUTION OF DIFFERENT INFORMATION SOURCES TO IDENTIFY ADVERSE EFFECTS OF A MEDICAL DEVICE: A CASE STUDY USING A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF SPINAL FUSION
Authors: Golder Su , Wright Kath , Rodgers Mark
Published: November 2014

Background: The most effective sources to search to identify adverse effects data for medical devices are currently unknown.

Methods: The included studies from a systematic review of the safety of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) for spinal fusion were used for analysis. For each source searched, a record was made for each relevant publication of whether it was retrieved by the search strategy used and whether it was available in the database but not retrieved. To account for multiple publications of the same study, a record was made of the relevant studies identified. The sensitivity, precision, and number needed to read were calculated as well as the minimum combination of sources to identify all the publications or studies.

Results: There were eighty-two publications (forty-nine studies) included in the systematic review. Only one article was available in a database searched but not retrieved by our search strategy. Science Citation Index (SCI) and EMBASE both achieved the highest sensitivity (62 percent), followed closely by MEDLINE/PubMED (56 percent). With the search strategies used, the minimum combination of sources needed to identify all the publications was SCI, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and either MEDLINE or PubMED, in addition to reference checking, contacting authors and an automated current awareness service. In relation to identifying all the relevant studies, the minimum combination of studies was similar with the exclusion of CENTRAL.

Conclusions: To identify all the relevant publications or studies included in this case study systematic review, several different sources needed to be searched.
A certified implementation of ML with structural polymorphism and recursive types
Authors: GARRIGUE JACQUES
Published: November 2014

The type system of Objective Caml has many unique features, which make ensuring the correctness of its implementation difficult. One of these features is structurally polymorphic types, such as polymorphic object and variant types, which have the extra specificity of allowing recursion. We implemented in Coq a certified interpreter for Core ML extended with structural polymorphism and recursion. Along with type soundness of evaluation, soundness and principality of type inference, and correctness of a stack-based interpreter, are also proved.†
Self-Confidence and Paranoia: An Experimental Study Using an Immersive Virtual Reality Social Situation
Authors: Atherton Stephanie , Antley Angus , Evans Nicole , Cernis Emma , Lister Rachel , Dunn Graham , Slater Mel , Freeman Daniel
Published: November 2014

Background: Paranoia may build directly upon negative thoughts about the self. There have been few direct experimental tests of this hypothesis. Aims: The aim of the study was to test the immediate effects of manipulating self-esteem in individuals vulnerable to paranoia. Method: A two condition cross-over experimental test was conducted. The participants were 26 males reporting paranoid ideation in the past month. Each participant experienced a neutral immersive virtual reality (VR) social environment twice. Before VR participants received a low self-confidence manipulation or a high self-confidence manipulation. The order of manipulation type was randomized. Paranoia about the VR avatars was assessed. Results: The low self-confidence manipulation, relative to the high self-confidence manipulation, led to significantly more negative social comparison in virtual reality and higher levels of paranoia. Conclusions: Level of self-confidence affects the occurrence of paranoia in vulnerable individuals. The clinical implication is that interventions designed to improve self-confidence may reduce persecutory ideation.
The effects of linguistic experience on the flexible use of mutual exclusivity in word learning
Authors: KALASHNIKOVA MARINA , MATTOCK KAREN , MONAGHAN PADRAIC
Published: November 2014

Mutual Exclusivity (ME) is a prominent constraint in language acquisition, which guides children to establish one-to-one mappings between words and referents. But how does unfolding experience of multiple-to-one word-meaning mappings in bilingual children's environment affect their understanding of when to use ME and when to accept lexical overlap? Three-to-five-year-old monolingual and simultaneous bilingual children completed two pragmatically distinct tasks, where successful word learning relied on either the default use of ME or the ability to accept overlapping labels. All children could flexibly use ME by following the social-pragmatic directions available in each task. However, linguistic experience shaped the development of ME use, whereby older monolinguals showed a greater reliance on the one-to-one mapping assumption, but older bilinguals showed a greater ability to accept lexical overlap. We suggest that flexible use of ME is thus shaped by pragmatic information present in each communicative interaction and children's individual linguistic experience.
Late Japanese Bilinguals’ Novel Verb Construal
Authors: KONISHI HARUKA , WILSON FRANCES , GOLINKOFF ROBERTA MICHNICK , MAGUIRE MANDY J. , HIRSH-PASEK KATHY
Published: November 2014

Languages differ in how they encode events. Some languages (e.g., English) encode manner of motion (e.g., hop) in verbs while others (e.g., Spanish) encode the path of motion (e.g., descender-descend) (Talmy, 1985). This study examines verb construal in Japanese bilingual adults (L1-Japanese, L2-English). Maguire, Hirsh-Pasek, Golinkoff, Imai, Haryu, Vanegas, Okada, Pulverman and Sanchez-Davis (2010) suggest that although Japanese is traditionally considered a path language, manner plays an important role in Japanese verbs. Bilinguals completed two verb construal tasks (one in English; one in Japanese). Results showed that the Japanese bilinguals construed a novel verb as encoding manner for English and chose path for Japanese. This differs from Maguire et al. (2010) who found that Japanese monolinguals construed a novel verb as encoding manner. Bilinguals may find it useful to highlight differences between Japanese and English to keep the two languages distinct. Bilingual verb construal may be influenced by the linguistic typology of bilinguals’ L1 and L2.
Nicotine during pregnancy: changes induced in neurotransmission, which could heighten proclivity to addict and induce maladaptive control of attention
Authors: Kohlmeier K. A.
Published: November 2014

Prenatal exposure to nicotine, occurring either via maternal smoking or via use of transdermal nicotine patches to facilitate cigarette abstinence by pregnant women, is associated with ∼13% of pregnancies worldwide. Nicotine exposure during gestation has been correlated with several negative physiological and psychosocial outcomes, including heightened risk for aberrant behaviors involving alterations in processing of attention as well as an enhanced liability for development of drug dependency. Nicotine is a terotogen, altering neuronal development of various neurotransmitter systems, and it is likely these alterations participate in postnatal deficits in attention control and facilitate development of drug addiction. This review discusses the alterations in neuronal development within the brain’s major neurotransmitter systems, with special emphasis placed on alterations within the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus, in light of the role this cholinergic nucleus plays in attention and addiction. Changes induced within this nucleus by gestational exposure to nicotine, in combination with changes induced in other brain regions, are likely to contribute to the transgenerational burden imposed by nicotine. Although neuroplastic changes induced by nicotine are not likely to act in isolation, and are expected to interact with epigenetic changes induced by preconception exposure to drugs of abuse, unraveling these changes within the developing brain will facilitate eventual development of targeted treatments for the unique vulnerability for arousal disorders and development of addiction within the population of individuals who have been prenatally exposed to nicotine.
Cardiac Perception Enhances Stress Experience
Authors: Kindermann Nicole K. , Werner Natalie S.
Published: November 2014

In the present study we aimed to investigate the impact of the ability to perceive bodily changes as indexed by the perception of one’s heartbeat (cardiac perception) on emotional experience when being confronted with a mental stressor. To induce stress, participants high and low in cardiac perception performed a computerized mental arithmetic test while listening to a white noise increasing in volume. Emotional experience and heart rate were assessed as indices of stress response. Our results show that participants high in cardiac perception reported more negative emotions during the stress period compared to participants low in cardiac perception, though heart rate did not differ between the groups. Our findings suggest that cardiac perception moderates the stress experience by enhancing the perceived emotion. Thus we were able to demonstrate that cardiac perception contributes as a factor explaining the variance in individuals’ emotional response to a stressor.
Phase Difference Between Chronotypes in Self-Reported Maximum of Alertness Rhythm
Authors: Putilov Arcady A. , Donskaya Olga G. , Verevkin Evgeniy G.
Published: November 2014

An objective physiological predictor of self-reported chronotypological differences in circadian timing of alertness peak (> 5 hr) has not been yet identified. Our goals were to establish external validity of such a predictor, and to explain the observations of inequality of chronotypological differences in alertness peak and bed/rising times (> 5 and < 3 hr, respectively). The resting electroencephalogram was recorded at 3-hr intervals during 24-hr sustained wakefulness of 130 healthy participants. An objective index (alpha-theta power difference) was calculated for the eyes closed section of each record. The time course of subjective alertness-sleepiness was compared with the time course of the objective index and simulated with a rhythmostatic model. External validity of the objective predictor of chronotypological differences was supported by the resemblance between the time courses, and the simulations revealed contribution of other than circadian phase parameters of the chronoregulatory processes to the appearance of > 5-hr chronotypological difference between alertness peaks.
The Hard Fall Effect
Authors: Thomassin Noémylle , Gonthier Corentin , Guerraz Michel , Roulin Jean-Luc
Published: November 2014

Participants with a high working memory span tend to perform better than low spans in a variety of tasks. However, their performance is paradoxically more impaired when they have to perform two tasks at once, a phenomenon that could be labeled the “hard fall effect.” The present study tested whether this effect exists in a short-term memory task, and investigated the proposal that the effect is due to high spans using efficient facilitative strategies under simple task conditions. Ninety-eight participants performed a spatial short-term memory task under simple and dual task conditions; stimuli presentation times either allowed for the use of complex facilitative strategies or not. High spans outperformed low spans only under simple task conditions when presentation times allowed for the use of facilitative strategies. These results indicate that the hard fall effect exists on a short-term memory task and may be caused by individual differences in strategy use.
Impairment of Shooting Performance by Background Complexity and Motion
Authors: Caroux Loïc , Le Bigot Ludovic , Vibert Nicolas
Published: November 2014

In many visual displays such as virtual environments, human tasks involve objects superimposed on both complex and moving backgrounds. However, most studies investigated the influence of background complexity or background motion in isolation. Two experiments were designed to investigate the joint influences of background complexity and lateral motion on a simple shooting task typical of video games. Participants had to perform the task on the moving and static versions of backgrounds of three levels of complexity, while their eye movements were recorded. The backgrounds displayed either an abstract (Experiment 1) or a naturalistic (Experiment 2) virtual environment. The results showed that performance was impaired by background motion in both experiments. The effects of motion and complexity were additive for the abstract background and multiplicative for the naturalistic background. Eye movement recordings showed that performance impairments reflected at least in part the impact of the background visual features on gaze control.
Audiovisual Semantic Congruency During Encoding Enhances Memory Performance
Authors: Heikkilä Jenni , Alho Kimmo , Hyvönen Heidi , Tiippana Kaisa
Published: November 2014

Studies of memory and learning have usually focused on a single sensory modality, although human perception is multisensory in nature. In the present study, we investigated the effects of audiovisual encoding on later unisensory recognition memory performance. The participants were to memorize auditory or visual stimuli (sounds, pictures, spoken words, or written words), each of which co-occurred with either a semantically congruent stimulus, incongruent stimulus, or a neutral (non-semantic noise) stimulus in the other modality during encoding. Subsequent memory performance was overall better when the stimulus to be memorized was initially accompanied by a semantically congruent stimulus in the other modality than when it was accompanied by a neutral stimulus. These results suggest that semantically congruent multisensory experiences enhance encoding of both nonverbal and verbal materials, resulting in an improvement in their later recognition memory.
Roles of autophagy in HIV infection
Authors: Dinkins Christina , Pilli Manohar , Kehrl John H
Published: November 2014

Autophagy is a major cellular pathway, which at basal levels regulates and maintains the cytoplasmic environment through the capture, isolation and digestion of intracellular materials in a specialized structure called an autophagosome. The unique ability of autophagy to degrade large targets, such as damaged and surplus organelles, intracellular microbes and protein aggregates, has made it a prime focus in inflammation and microbial research. Indeed, autophagy has been shown to be involved in a number of infectious and inflammatory pathologies, by which it may confer protection against intracellular microbes, be targeted by microbes for evasion or be hijacked for microbe biogenesis. In addition, autophagy helps regulate the intracellular and global immune response to both extracellular and intracellular pathogens. Here we review the current literature on the interactions between autophagy and HIV among different immune cells and discuss new research that re‐emphasizes the role of inflammation in HIV‐mediated CD4+ T cell death.
C3d adjuvant effects are mediated through the activation of C3d‐specific autoreactive T cells
Authors: De Groot Anne S , Ross Ted M , Levitz Lauren , Messitt Timothy J , Tassone Ryan , Boyle Christine M , Vincelli Amber J , Moise Leonard , Martin William , Knopf Paul M
Published: November 2014

Complement fragment C3d covalently attached to antigens enhances immune responses, particularly for antigens lacking T‐cell epitopes. Enhancement has been attributed to receptor cross‐linking between complement receptor CR2 (CD21) and polysaccharide antigen to surface IgM on naïve B cells. Paradoxically, C3d has still been shown to increase immune responses in CD21 knockout mice, suggesting that an auxiliary activation pathway exists. In prior studies, we demonstrated the CD21‐independent C3d adjuvant effect might be due to T‐cell recognition of C3d T‐helper epitopes processed and presented by major histocompatibility complex class II on the B‐cell surface. C3d peptide sequences containing concentrated clusters of putative human C3 T‐cell epitopes were identified using the epitope‐mapping algorithm, EpiMatrix. These peptide sequences were synthesized and shown in vitro to bind multiple human leukocyte antigen (HLA)‐DR alleles with high affinity, and induce interferon‐γ responses in healthy donor peripheral blood mononuclear cells. In the present studies, we establish further correlations between HLA binding and HLA‐specific lymphocyte reactions with select epitope clusters. In addition, we show that the T‐cell phenotype of C3d‐specific reactive T cells is CD4+CD45RO+ memory T cells. Finally, mutation of a single T‐cell epitope residing within the P28 peptide segment of C3d resulted in significantly diminished adjuvant activity in BALB/c mice. Collectively, these studies support the hypothesis that the paradoxical enhancement of immune responses by C3d in the absence of CD21 is due to internalization and processing of C3d into peptides that activate autoreactive CD4+ T‐helper cells in the context of HLA class II.
Lymphocyte repertoire selection and intracellular self/non‐self‐discrimination: historical overview
Authors: Forsdyke Donald R
Published: November 2014

Immunological self/non‐self‐discrimination is conventionally seen as an extracellular event, involving interactions been receptors on T cells pre‐educated to discriminate and peptides bound to major histocompatibility complex proteins (pMHCs). Mechanisms by which non‐self peptides might first be sorted intracellularly to distinguish them from the vast excess of self‐peptides have long been called for. Recent demonstrations of endogenous peptide‐specific clustering of pMHCs on membrane rafts are indicative of intracellular enrichment before surface display. The clustering could follow the specific aggregation of a foreign protein that exceeded its solubility limit in the crowded intracellular environment. Predominantly entropy‐driven, this homoaggregation would colocalize identical peptides, thus facilitating their collective presentation. Concentrations of self‐proteins are fine‐tuned over evolutionary time to avoid this. Disparate observations, such as pyrexia and female susceptibility to autoimmune disease, can be explained in terms of the need to cosegregate cognate pMHC complexes internally before extracellular display.