bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
SUSTAINABLE BUILDING DESIGN
Authors: Wang Nengmou , Adeli Hojjat
Published: March 2014

Sustainable building design has become a wide and multidisciplinary research endeavor including mechanical, electrical, electronic, communication, acoustic, architectural, and structural engineering. It involves the participation of owners, contractors, suppliers and building users. There has been a lot of talk about sustainable buildings in the past few years. Most of the published research is concerned with saving energy and water and making the buildings more environmentally friendly by, say, reducing the carbon emissions. In this article, sustainable building design is reviewed from the viewpoint of structural engineering. Different strategies presented in the literature are summarized. Finally, the authors argue that the next big leap in sustainable building design should come from the integration of the smart structure technology including the use of hybrid and semi-active vibration controllers that can result in substantially lighter and more efficient structures.
Universal Geospatial Ontology for the Semantic Interoperability of Data
Authors: Sboui Tarek , Bédard Yvan
Published: March 2014

Ontologies have been used to support the interoperability of geospatial data by overcoming semantic problems related to semantic heterogeneities and to differences in data usage contexts. Ideally, to solve semantic heterogeneities, the data models involved in the interoperability process could be enriched, and the relationships between their elements could be defined based on a universal geospatial ontology. However, such ontology would encounter difficulties in achieving an efficient interoperability. This chapter aims to argue that universal ontology-based interoperability remains vulnerable to the risks of uncertain meaning of geospatial data that may go unnoticed during the interoperability process. The chapter discusses these risks and proposes a systematic approach to better support users dealing with them. The proposed approach identifies the risks, assesses their severity, and helps users to make decisions about them.
Seeking feasible reconciliation: A transdisciplinary contextual approach to reconciliation
Authors: Thesnaar Christoffel H.
Published: March 2014

In South Africa scholars in the broad field of practical theology are currently faced with a daunting challenge: to rethink the reconciling role of the institutional church in the light of continued challenges facing reconciliation within post-apartheid and post-Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) South Africa. This contribution investigates whether the transdisciplinary, region-centred scientific research approach with a focus on the Hölderlin perspective on reconciliation could assist scholars in practical theology to address reconciliation in a post-apartheid and post-TRC society. The article proposes a contextual and constructive approach to reconciliation in order to assist South African scholars in the field of practical theology and the institutional church to address the challenges of reconciliation in a post-apartheid and post-TRC society. The contribution confirms that this approach does indeed assist the field of practical theology to contribute to reconciliation without the risk of speaking a language that nobody beyond theology can understand.
Reasons for inpatients not to seek clarity at Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital, Pretoria
Authors: Mabuza Langalibalele H. , Omole Olufemi B. , Govender Indiran , Ndimande John V.
Published: March 2014

Background: Healthcare practitioners should provide patients with information regarding their clinical conditions. Patients should also feel free to seek clarity on information provided. However, not all patients seek this clarity.Objectives: To explore the reasons inpatients gave for not seeking clarity on information that was received but not understood.Methods: This was a qualitative arm of a larger study, titled ‘Are inpatients aware of the admission reasons and management plans of their clinical conditions? A survey at a tertiary hospital in South Africa’, conducted in 2010. Of the 264 inpatients who participated in the larger study, we extracted the unstructured responses from those participants (n = 152) who had indicated in the questionnaire that there was information they had not understood during their encounter with healthcare practitioners, but that they had nonetheless not sought clarity.Data were analysed thematically.Results: Themes that emerged were that inpatients did not ask for clarity as they perceived healthcare practitioners to be ‘too busy’, aloof, non-communicators and sometimes uncertain about patients’ conditions. Some inpatients had unquestioning trust in healthcare practitioners,whilst others had experiences of bad treatment. Inpatients had poor self-esteem, incapacitating clinical conditions, fear of bad news and prior knowledge of their clinical conditions. Some inpatients stated that they had no reason for not seeking clarity.Conclusion: The reasons for not seeking clarity were based on patients’ experiences with the healthcare practitioners and their perceptions of the latter and of themselves. A programme should be developed in order to educate inpatients on effective communication with their healthcare practitioners.
Tissue-Specific Gene Expression and Regulation in Liver and Muscle following Chronic Corticosteroid Administration
Authors: Nguyen Tung T. , Almon Richard R. , DuBois Debra C. , Sukumaran Siddharth , Jusko William J. , Androulakis loannis P.
Published: March 2014

Although corticosteroids (CSs) affect gene expression in multiple tissues, the array of genes that are regulated by these catabolic steroids is diverse, highly tissue specific, and depends on their functions in the tissue. Liver has many important functions in performing and regulating diverse metabolic processes. Muscle, in addition to its mechanical role, is critical in maintaining systemic energy homeostasis and accounts for about 80% of insulin-directed glucose disposal. Consequently, a better understanding of CS pharmacogenomic effects in these tissues would provide valuable information regarding the tissue-specificity of transcriptional dynamics, and would provide insights into the underlying molecular mechanisms of action for both beneficial and detrimental effects.

We performed an integrated analysis of transcriptional data from liver and muscle in response to methylprednisolone (MPL) infusion, which included clustering and functional annotation of clustered gene groups, promoter extraction and putative transcription factor (TF) identification, and finally, regulatory closeness (RC) identification.

This analysis allowed the identification of critical transcriptional responses and CS-responsive functions in liver and muscle during chronic MPL administration, the prediction of putative transcriptional regulators relevant to transcriptional responses of CS-affected genes which are also potential secondary bio-signals altering expression levels of target-genes, and the exploration of the tissue-specificity and biological significance of gene expression patterns, CS-responsive functions, and transcriptional regulation.

The analysis provided an integrated description of the genomic and functional effects of chronic MPL infusion in liver and muscle.
On Varieties of Lie Algebras of Maximal Class
Authors: Barron Tatyana , Kerner Dmitry , Tvalavadze Marina
Published: March 2014

We study complex projective varieties that parametrize (finite-dimensional) filiform Lie algebras over ℂ, using equations derived by Millionshchikov. In the infinite-dimensional case we concentrate our attention on ℕ-graded Lie algebras of maximal class. As shown by A. Fialowski there are only three isomorphism types of ℕ-graded Lie algebras of maximal class generated by L1 and L2, L = 〈L1; L2〉. Vergne described the structure of these algebras with the property L = 〈L1〉. In this paper we study those generated by the first and q-th components where q > 2, L = 〈L1; Lq〉. Under some technical condition, there can only be one isomorphism type of such algebras. For q = 3 we fully classify them. This gives a partial answer to a question posed by Millionshchikov.
Images of Pre-WW II: National Language Policies as Reflected in the Field of "National Language Studies" Itself
Authors: BEKEŠ Andrej
Published: March 2014

In this study I focus on the possible intellectual background regarding the scant attention paid by researchers and textbook writers to the establishment of the Japanese national language and pre-WWII language policies in Japan. This fact is surprising because the successful implementation of a modern standard language was one of the key factors in the process of the building of Japan as a modern nation-state. The central hypothesis of this research is that this conspicuous absence stems from the projection of the modern nation-state on the past, resulting in a perception of Japanese polity as a basically homogeneous and unchanged continuum in time and space. An analysis of several texts by prominent Japanese scholars of the national language has revealed important differences in perception. One group, mainly those preoccupied with the didactics of the national language, tends to view the past in the light of a “homogenised” present. On the other hand, those scholars researching Japanese in the wider context of general linguistics seem to treat national language related issues in a much more critical and theoretically informed way.
Linguistic Temporality, Logical Meaning and Narrative Perspectives: Adverbs /zai/ and /you/ in Modern Standard Chinese
Authors: KARLSSON Jens
Published: March 2014

In this paper is presented an inquiry into some aspects of the meaning and usage of two temporal adverbs zai (再) and you (又) in Modern Standard Chinese. A decompositional analysis of the semantic encoding of the adverbs is conducted, aiming to better explain their recorded differences in usage. First, a sketch of some of the fundamental features of linguistic temporality is provided in order to model the structure of temporal semantic information encoded in the adverbs. Non-temporal (logical) meaning such as assertion and inference is also shown to be an important aspect of the semantic content of the adverbs. Adverbs zai and you are shown to encode the same semantic content except for a difference in viewpoint; the first being prospective, the second retrospective. Concrete linguistic examples reflecting the intrinsic semantic encoding of the adverbs are raised and discussed. It is then argued that through combining the decompositional analysis with ideas concerning conceptual analogy, some issues raised by Lu and Ma (1999) regarding the usage of zai and you in past and future settings may be resolved.
Foreword
Authors: BEKEŠ Andrej
Published: March 2014

The present issue of ALA, the second in its new incarnation, brings two pieces of good news. The first is that it is now also included in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), besides Open J-Gate and Google Scholar. The second is that in 2014, the Department of Asian and African Studies of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana is going to host the 14th conference of the European Association of Japanese Studies.The focus of this issue is on Chinese and Japanese. Papers devoted to Chinese are more theoretically oriented. In the first paper, David Ta-Chun SHEN argues about which theoretical devices are sufficient to explain the phenomenon in Mandarin where prepositions may or may not undergo the third tone sandhi. The second paper, by Jens KARLSSON, deals with adverbs zai and you in Modern Standard Chinese, showing the similarities of semantic content between the two adverbs and pointing out the main difference between them, i.e. the difference in viewpoint, and possible consequences of this fact.On the other hand, papers devoted to Japanese look at various issues from an applied linguistic perspective. Nagisa MORITOKI, based on her experience of teaching Japanese in Slovenia, discusses the learner and the teacher’s role and their possible strategies when dealing with the vast treasure-trove of information available on the Internet.Next, Bor HODOŠČEK explores genre variation in the newest large-scale modern Japanese language corpus, the BCCWJ, and the usability of modifier-verb ratio as a genre classifier. In the last paper, Irena SRDANOVIĆ and co-authors discuss the issues involved in creating Japanese language word sketches, singling out in particular the lemmatizer, the tagger, the corpus and statistical methods used, and the sketch grammar that is specifically written for Japanese.In this issue’s Book Review, Mateja PETROVČIČ reviews the work by Xiaoqin SU on reflexivity in Chinese, Reflexivität im Chinesischen: Eine IntegrativeAnalyse.
Japanese Word Sketches: Advances and Problems
Authors: SRDANOVIĆ Irena , IDA Naomi , SHIGEMORI BUČAR Chikako , KILGARRIFF Adam , KOVÁŘ Vojtěch
Published: March 2014

In this paper, we present results of an evaluation of Japanese word sketches and address in detail issues that were observed by the evaluators. A word sketch presents a list of salient collocates of a word, organized by the grammatical relations holding between the word and its collocate. The word sketch functionality is incorporated into the Sketch Engine corpus query system and has been created for more than twenty languages so far, including Japanese. The issues that have been discovered in the evaluation of word sketches in Japanese are to be addressed for further enhancement of the word sketch functionality. Other tools and resources which are combined for use and influence the performance of the word sketches should also be looked over. We divide the issues into the following: 1) the lemmatizer and tagger in use, 2) the sketch grammar that is specifically written for Japanese, and 3) the corpus and statistical methods.
Foreword
Authors: BEKEŠ Andrej
Published: March 2014

With the present issue of ALA, we are starting the second year in its new incarnation. As the paper is striving to cover the Asian languages in their multiplicity and in the multiplicity of approaches, I am glad to say that this issue offers both, in line with Roman Jakobson’s famous paraphrase “Linguista sum, linguistici nihil a me alienum puto.”Among the six papers in this issue, two papers deal with Japanese, two with Iranian langages, and one each with the language of Ṛgveda and with Arabic. Also, approaches vary from historical phonetics/phonology (paper by John KUPCHIK on the role of rendaku in Eastern Old Japanese poetry) and historical syntax (Tamara DITRICH’s discussion of coordinative particles in Ṛgveda), to typological considerations spannig diachroinc and synchronic views (Yadgar KARIMI’s analysis of the evolution of ergative in Iranian languages). Syncronic approaches comprise pragmatics (Biook BEHNAM and Salam KHALILIAQDAM’s treatment of hedging devices in Kurdish and Robert Michael BIANCHI’s account of the new hybrid language of 3arabizi), and interdisciplinary interpretation of lexis in the light of crosscultural psychology (Márton SZEMEREY’s paper comparing Japanese and Hungarian linguistic resources for expression of emotions).
Linguistic Representation of Emotions in Japanese and Hungarian: Quantity and Abstractness
Authors: SZEMEREY Márton
Published: March 2014

In the present paper, two linguistic aspects of emotion expression are studied in the form they are performed in present day Japanese and Hungarian. After a brief summary on the recent emotional researches connected to Japanese culture and language, the concept of Linguistic Category Model is introduced. The quantitative study presented afterwards investigates emotion expression in terms of amount and abstraction. Translations were used for comparison and the results showed that 1) Japanese tend to use less explicit emotion terms compared to Hungarians and 2) emotion language in Japanese is characterized by the choice of less abstract phrases compared to Hungarian. These findings are discussed in the light of their relevance to former researches of cross-cultural psychology and linguistics.
ITADICT Project and Japanese Language Learning
Authors: MARIOTTI Marcella Maria , MANTELLI Alessandro
Published: March 2014

This article aims to show how the Nuclear disaster in Fukushima (3 March 2011) affected Japanese Language teaching and learning in Italy, focusing on the ITADICT Project (Marcella Mariotti, project leader, Clemente Beghi, research fellow and Alessandro Mantelli, programmer). The project intends to develop the first Japanese-Italian online database, involving more than 60 students of Japanese language interested in lexicographic research and online learning strategies and tools. A secondary undertaking of ITADICT is its Latin alphabet transliteration of Japanese words into Hepburn style. ITADICT is inspired by EDICT Japanese-English database developed by the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group established in 2000 within the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University. The Japanese-Italian database is evolving within the Department of Asian and North African Studies at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, the largest in the country and one of the main teaching centres of Japanese in Europe in terms of the number of students dedicated to it (1800) and number of Japanese language teaching hours (1002h at B.A. level, and 387h at M.A. level). In this paper we will describe how and why the project has been carried out and what the expectations are for its future development.
Pronouns, Address Forms and Politeness Strategies in Odia
Authors: SAHOO Kalyanamalini
Published: March 2014

This study discusses how various politeness strategies are implemented linguistically and how linguistic usage is related to social and contextual factors in the Indic language Odia. The study extends the validity of politeness theory (Brown & Levinson, 1978) with reference to Odia speech-patterns and shows that Odia usage of politeness would be more differentiated according to the social relationship and gender than the content of the message.  In Brown and Levinson’s model, individual speech acts are considered to be inherently polite or impolite.  However, in Odia, it is found that communities of practice, rather than individuals, determine whether speech acts are considered polite or impolite. Thus, politeness should be considered as a set of strategies or practices set by particular groups or communities of practice as a socially constructed norm for themselves.
Foreword
Authors: BEKEŠ Andrej
Published: March 2014

With this volume, Acta Linguistica Asiatica is entering its 3rd year. After the second half of last year, focusing on research in “Lexicography of Japanese as a Second/Foreign Language” we begin this year with selection of papers covering various perspectives and languages, from South Asian Languages, via Indian subcontinent and China all the way to Japan.The first paper, by Pritha CHANDRA and Anindita SAHOO, entitled Passives in South Asian Languages, discusses continuum of passive constructions, spreading over three language families , Indo-Aryan (Oriya), Dravidian (Malayalam) and Austro-Asiatic (Kharia), and forming a kind of sprachbund, based on a generalized notion of passive. This approach also shows that Tibeto-Burman languages such as Meitei and Ao also can be said to have passives.The second paper, by Kalyanamalini SAHOO, entitled Politeness Strategies in Odia, discusses the conceptual basis for politnesess strategies in Odia (spelled also Oriya as in the first paper), pointing out inadequacy of Brown and Levinson’s model of politness, and proposing a new, “community of practice” based model of politeness for Odia.The next two papers deal with neologisms in Chinese language. LIN Ming-chang in his paper A New Perspective on the Creation of Neologisms focuses on the language user’s psychological requirements for devising neologisms, and therefore proposes a new research perspective towards the reasons for devising neologisms. Mateja PETROVČIČ in her paper The Fifth Milestone in the Development of Chinese Language investigates the structure and features of neologisms in the last century. The author suggests that the widening gap between rich and poor should be considered as the fifth milestone for changes in Chinese language.In the fifth paper, We Have It too: A Strategy Which Helps to Grasp the Japanese Writing System for Students from Outside of the Chinese Character Cultural Zone, the author, Andrej BEKEŠ, argues for employment of analogy transfer strategies to help beginner learners of Japanese to overcome cognitive and affecctive blocade when facing the complexities of Japanese writing system.
Language, Power and Gender: A Case Study of Code Switching by Less Educated People In Pakistan
Authors: KARIM Asim , KANWAL Safina
Published: March 2014

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relation between language, power and gender among less educated people. Less educated people here mean those who passed only middle class examination. Foucault’s theory of power and discourse gave new dimensions to languages. Language is used to exert power (Foucault, 1998). Due to this relationship of language and power, the speakers try to use that language as is enjoying power and high status in their speech community. Those of high status enjoying language is very much seen in the process of code switching where the speakers do code switching from low status enjoying language to high status enjoying language.The major aims of this research were to find out the relation between language and power and how speakers’ use of powerful language varied across gender. This study was quantitative. Data collection was done through questionnaire comprising of two sections. The first section was consisted of 10 close ended questions to know the relation between language and power. The second section of the questionnaire comprising of 10 close ended questions measured the status of Punjabi and Urdu. After careful inquires 30 less educated L1 Punjabi speakers were randomly selected from the city Sheikhupura. Among these 30 participants 15 were male and 15 were female. Audio recording was taken from 14 participants, 7 males and 7 females who had also took part in survey questionnaire to get the data about Urdu code switching. The results collected through the gathered data revealed the L1 Punjabi speakers regarded Urdu as powerful language and they asserted that language and power are closely related with each other. Further women used more powerful language and for this purpose they did more Urdu code switching as compared to men.
The Construction of a Term Database to Support the Compilation of Chinese-Slovene Slovene-Chinese Dictionary of Beekeeping Terms
Authors: SOBOČAN Anže
Published: March 2014

This paper introduces the first step of making a multilingual specialized dictionary, which includes a selection of terms, their arrangement according to adequacy and the determination of synonymous relationships between the terms. The research was based of the first phase of compiling a Slovene-Chinese and Chinese-Slovene specialized beekeeping dictionary. The results of the research could, however, be applied to the making of specialized dictionaries for any research field. The focus areas of the paper are: the partial overlapping of everyday language and specialized terminology; the different arrangement approaches of existing dictionaries; the many synonyms that are often wrongly understood to denote different things; the coining of new terms when needed; the traps of literal translation.
Desuga ですが and the Spread of Voicing Feature in L2 Japanese
Authors: GOLOB Nina
Published: March 2014

It has been observed that Slovene students of Japanese tend to pronounce formal verb suffix ~ます ~masu or formal copula です desu followed by a conjunctive particle が ga as […mazga…] and […dezga…]. Present acoustic experiment confirms these perceptional observations. The author discusses phonological processes of Japanese and Slovene, and discusses possible reasons for the mispronunciations. She finds out that similarities in the surface phonetic form of the above expressions first introduced cause students to misinterpret Japanese vowel devoicing as vowel elision, the process which is familiar to them from L1. Consequently, any further conclusions built on such thinking would lead to further mispronunciations.
Seasonality in the trophic basis of a temperate stream invertebrate assemblage: Importance of temperature and food quality
Authors: Junker James R. , Cross Wyatt F.
Published: March 2014

Ecologists have long recognized that ecosystems are open and that they receive substantial subsidies of energy and materials from beyond their boundaries. This recognition has spurred theoretical and empirical investigation of biotic and abiotic conditions that influence the importance of subsidies for recipient ecosystems. We combined temporal patterns of resource use (via stable isotope analysis), consumer—resource stoichiometry, and invertebrate production to quantify controls on the relative importance of resource subsidies (i.e., terrestrial litter) vs. in situ food resources (i.e., algae) in fueling secondary production in a highly seasonal temperate stream. Both litter subsidies and in situ primary production were important for supporting annual invertebrate production. However, temporal patterns of secondary production and trophic support varied significantly. Algae supported the majority of production (> 55%) during critical growth periods characterized by warm temperatures (5–15°C) and high primary production. In contrast, terrestrial litter supported the majority of invertebrate production (> 55%) during relatively cold months (µ 0–4°C) when primary production and metabolic demands of invertebrates were low. A model selection procedure revealed that both temperature and consumer—resource stoichiometric imbalances were important determinants of patterns of invertebrate production. Our findings highlight the important interaction of environmental conditions and resource quality in mediating how internally and externally derived resources are used to fuel invertebrate production.
A decadal decline in relative abundance and a shift in microphytoplankton composition at a long‐term coastal station off southeast Australia
Authors: Ajani Penelope A. , Allen Andrew P. , Ingleton Tim , Armand Leanne
Published: March 2014

In this study, we examined 11 yr (1998–2009) of water samples collected from Port Hacking coastal monitoring station 8 km offshore from Sydney, Australia, to assess changes in the microphytoplankton in relation to climate‐related trends in environmental variables. A total of 152 taxa (85 genera) were identified, with the small diatom Thalassiosira cf. partheneia and the tropical cyanobacterium Trichodesmium erythraeum being the dominant species over the past decade. Taxon richness showed a distinct seasonal pattern, peaking in the austral winter. Ordination analyses revealed significant seasonal and interannual trends in species composition, including a decadal decline in dinoflagellates relative to diatoms toward the present. This decadal shift in taxonomic composition was, in turn, significantly associated with declines in water temperatures over this time period. Total abundance varied by 12 orders of magnitude (8.5 × 10−8 to 7.4 × 104 cells L−1), with values separable into bloom and nonbloom regimes at an abundance threshold of 7.1 × 10−5 cells L−1. Significant temporal declines in abundance were observed during both bloom and nonbloom regimes. Blooms occurred most consistently in March, September, and December.
Dicationic Methyl Complexes of the Rare-Earth Elements
Authors: Nieland Anja , Mix Andreas , Neumann Beate , Stammler Hans-Georg , Mitzel Norbert W.
Published: March 2014

The reactions of Ln(AlMe4)3 (Ln=Ho, Tm) with the crown ether [12]crown-4 yield dicationic methyl rare-earth metal complexes [LnMe([12]crown-4)2][AlMe4]2 (Ln=Ho (1), Tm (2)). The reaction of La(AlMe4)3 with [18]crown-6 in thf affords [LaMe([18]crown-6)(thf)2][AlMe4]2 (3). The compounds have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, 1 and 3 additionally by elemental analyses as well as by 1H and 27Al, and 3 also by 13C NMR spectroscopy
Typification of some species of Indigofera (Fabaceae)
Authors: Wilson Peter G
Published: March 2014

Typification of seven species and two varieties in Indigofera is considered. All relevant specimens are discussed and lectotypes designated for seven taxa, including five currently accepted species. Typification is clarified for a further two names.
Cost-Effective and Non-Invasive Automated Benign & Malignant Thyroid Lesion Classification in 3D Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Using Combination of Wavelets and Textures: A Class of ThyroScan™ Algorithms
Authors: Acharya U. R. , Faust O. , Sree S. V. , Molinari F. , Garberoglio R. , Suri J. S.
Published: March 2014

Ultrasound has great potential to aid in the differential diagnosis of malignant and benign thyroid lesions, but interpretative pitfalls exist and the accuracy is still poor. To overcome these difficulties, we developed and analyzed a range of knowledge representation techniques, which are a class of ThyroScan™ algorithms from Global Biomedical Technologies Inc., California, USA, for automatic classification of benign and malignant thyroid lesions. The analysis is based on data obtained from twenty nodules (ten benign and ten malignant) taken from 3D contrast-enhanced ultrasound images. Fine needle aspiration biopsy and histology confirmed malignancy. Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and texture algorithms are used to extract relevant features from the thyroid images. The resulting feature vectors are fed to three different classifiers: K-Nearest Neighbor (K-NN), Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN), and Decision Tree (DeTr). The performance of these classifiers is compared using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves. Our results show that combination of DWT and texture features coupled with K-NN resulted in good performance measures with the area of under the ROC curve of 0.987, a classification accuracy of 98.9%, a sensitivity of 98%, and a specificity of 99.8%. Finally, we have proposed a novel integrated index called Thyroid Malignancy Index (TMI), which is made up of texture features, to diagnose benign or malignant nodules using just one index. We hope that this TMI will help clinicians in a more objective detection of benign and malignant thyroid lesions.
Expression of IGF-1R in Colorectal Polyps and its Role in Colorectal Carcinogenesis
Authors: Shan H-B. , Zhang R. , Li Y. , Xu G-L. , Luo G-Y. , Gao X-Y. , Yang H-L.
Published: March 2014

Insulin-like Growth Factor Receptor 1 (IGF-1R) may play a role in the neoplastic progression of colorectal cancer because it is related to both cellular proliferation and differentiation. The aim of this study was to further elucidate the role of IGF-1R in colorectal carcinogenesis by evaluating IGF-1R expression in different types of precancerous colorectal polyps and comparing its expression to normal mucosa and colorectal carcinoma. A total of 47 colorectal polyps and their respective adjacent normal mucosa were collected from 32 patients. In addition, 20 colorectal adenocarcinoma tissues were obtained from patients undergoing colorectal resection, and 12 normal non-malignant colorectal mucosal tissues collected from outpatients served as the control group. The pit patterns of polyps were classified by the Kudo classification scheme through magnifying chromoendoscopy. Immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time RT-PCR were utilized for expression analysis of IGF-1R in colorectal mucosa, polyps, and adenocarcinoma tissue. The results of immunohistochemistry showed no significant differences in IGF-1R expression in inflammatory polyps compared with their surrounding normal mucosa by the Mann-Whitney U test (p = 0.251); however, tubular adenoma and villous adenoma tissues exhibited significantly higher levels of IGF-1R expression (p = 0.000). The results of real-time RT-PCR showed that IGF-1R was transcribed at a high level in colorectal adenomatous polyps and adenocarcinoma compared with their respective paired normal mucosa. Spearman's rank correlation two-variable analysis was used to demonstrate a significant correlation between the expression of IGF-1R and neoplastic progression from normal mucosa to adenomatous polyps and finally to colorectal cancer (r = 0.574, p = 0.000). This study suggests that the expression of IGF-1R correlates with the degree of carcinogenesis. In addition, these results demonstrated that there is a significant correlation between the level of IGF-1R expression and pit patterns of polyps (r = 0.432, p = 0.002). Thus, IGF-1R might be a factor in the morphological change of colorectal mucosal crypts, and it may play an important role in the growth and malignant transformation of precancerous polyps. These results suggest that IGF-1R can be considered a biomarker for the stage and risk of carcinogenesis during neoplastic initiation and progression along the colorectal normal mucosa-polyp-cancer sequence. Inhibitors of IGF-1R are not only a promising targeted anticancer strategy, but also a possible option for the chemoprevention of colorectal cancer.
Glacially generated overpressure on the New England continental shelf: Integration of full‐waveform inversion and overpressure modeling
Authors: Siegel Jacob , Lizarralde Daniel , Dugan Brandon , Person Mark
Published: March 2014

Localized zones of high‐amplitude, discontinuous seismic reflections 100 km off the coast of Massachusetts, USA, have P wave velocities up to 190 m/s lower than those of adjacent sediments of equal depth (250 m below the sea floor). To investigate the origin of these low‐velocity zones, we compare the detailed velocity structure across high‐amplitude regions to adjacent, undisturbed regions through full‐waveform inversion. We relate the full‐waveform inversion velocities to effective stress and overpressure with a power law model. This model predicts localized overpressures up to 2.2 MPa associated with the high‐amplitude reflections. To help understand the overpressure source, we model overpressure due to erosion, glacial loading, and sedimentation in one dimension. The modeling results show that ice loading from a late Pleistocene glaciation, ice loading from the Last Glacial Maximum, and rapid sedimentation contributed to the overpressure. Localized overpressure, however, is likely the result of focused fluid flow through a high‐permeability layer below the region characterized by the high‐amplitude reflections. These high overpressures may have also caused localized sediment deformation. Our forward models predict maximum overpressure during the Last Glacial Maximum due to loading by glaciers and rapid sedimentation, but these overpressures are dissipating in the modern, low sedimentation rate environment. This has important implications for our understanding continental shelf morphology, fluid flow, and submarine groundwater discharge off Massachusetts, as we show a mechanism related to Pleistocene ice sheets that may have created regions of anomalously high overpressure.
Nongeocentric axial dipole field behavior during the Mono Lake excursion
Authors: Negrini Robert M. , McCuan Daniel T. , Horton Robert A. , Lopez James D. , Cassata William S. , Channell James E. T. , Verosub Kenneth L. , Knott Jeffrey R. , Coe Robert S. , Liddicoat Joseph C. , Lund Steven P. , Benson Larry V. , Sarna‐Wojcicki Andrei M.
Published: March 2014

A new record of the Mono Lake excursion (MLE) is reported from the Summer Lake Basin of Oregon, USA. Sediment magnetic properties indicate magnetite as the magnetization carrier and imply suitability of the sediments as accurate recorders of the magnetic field including relative paleointensity (RPI) variations. The magnitudes and phases of the declination, inclination, and RPI components of the new record correlate well with other coeval but lower resolution records from western North America including records from the Wilson Creek Formation exposed around Mono Lake. The virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP) path of the new record is similar to that from another high‐resolution record of the MLE from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 919 in the Irminger Basin between Iceland and Greenland but different from the VGP path for the Laschamp excursion (LE), including that found lower in the ODP‐919 core. Thus, the prominent excursion recorded at Mono Lake, California, is not the LE but rather one that is several thousands of years younger. The MLE VGP path contains clusters, the locations of which coincide with nonaxial dipole features found in the Holocene geomagnetic field. The clusters are occupied in the same time progression by VGPs from Summer Lake and the Irminger Basin, but the phase of occupation is offset, a behavior that suggests time‐transgressive decay and return of the principal field components at the beginning and end of the MLE, respectively, leaving the nonaxial dipole features associated with the clusters dominant during the excursion.
One‐Pot Process to Control the Elaboration of Non‐Wetting Nanofibers
Authors: Darmanin Thierry , Mortier Claudio , Guittard Frederic
Published: March 2014

The surface wettability, such as superhydrophobic properties, of nanofibrous structures is highly depending on their size, length, spacing or orientation to the surface. Finding a way to control all these characteristics is extremely important in a theoretical point of view and for various applications. Here, we report the possible tuning of all these characteristics by adjusting the length (n) of the alkyl chains of electrodeposited poly(3,3‐dialkyl‐3,4‐propylenedioxythiophene), which allows the formation of horizontally or vertically oriented nanofibers of various dimensions and spacings. Here, we play especially on the hydrophilic/hydrophobic characteristics of the polymer to change the growth of a polymer on a substrate and the distance between the polymer backbones. For example, a change in the fiber orientation from horizontal to vertical is observed for n = 2. For n < 2, the polymer fibers are mainly horizontally aligned while for n > 2, the polymer fibers are vertically aligned.
Implementing individualized medicine into the medical practice
Authors: Lazaridis Konstantinos N. , MCAllister Tammy M. , Babovic‐Vuksanovic Dusica , Beck Scott A. , Borad Mitesh J. , Bryce Alan H. , Chanan‐Khan Asher A. , Ferber Matthew J. , Fonseca Rafael , Johnson Kiley J. , Klee Eric W. , Lindor Noralane M. , MCCormick Jennifer B. , MCWilliams Robert R. , Parker Alexander S. , Riegert‐Johnson Douglas L. , Rohrer Vitek Carolyn R. , Schahl Kimberly A. , Schultz Cloann , Stewart Keith , Then George C. , Wieben Eric D. , Farrugia Gianrico
Published: March 2014

There is increasing recognition that genomic medicine as part of individualized medicine has a defined role in patient care. Rapid advances in technology and decreasing cost combine to bring genomic medicine closer to the clinical practice. There is also growing evidence that genomic‐based medicine can advance patient outcomes, tailor therapy and decrease side effects. However the challenges to integrate genomics into the workflow involved in patient care remain vast, stalling assimilation of genomic medicine into mainstream medical practice. In this review we describe the approach taken by one institution to further individualize medicine by offering, executing and interpreting whole exome sequencing on a clinical basis through an enterprise‐wide, standalone individualized medicine clinic. We present our experience designing and executing such an individualized medicine clinic, sharing lessons learned and describing early implementation outcomes. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Clinical pharmacogenetics implementation: Approaches, successes, and challenges
Authors: Weitzel Kristin W. , Elsey Amanda R. , Langaee Taimour Y. , Burkley Benjamin , Nessl David R. , Obeng Aniwaa Owusu , Staley Benjamin J. , Dong Hui‐Jia , Allan Robert W. , Liu J. Felix , Cooper‐DeHoff Rhonda M. , Anderson R. David , Conlon Michael , Clare‐Salzler Michael J. , Nelson David R. , Johnson Julie A.
Published: March 2014

Current challenges exist to widespread clinical implementation of genomic medicine and pharmacogenetics. The University of Florida (UF) Health Personalized Medicine Program (PMP) is a pharmacist‐led, multidisciplinary initiative created in 2011 within the UF Clinical Translational Science Institute. Initial efforts focused on pharmacogenetics, with long‐term goals to include expansion to disease‐risk prediction and disease stratification. Herein we describe the processes for development of the program, the challenges that were encountered and the clinical acceptance by clinicians of the genomic medicine implementation. The initial clinical implementation of the UF PMP began in June 2012 and targeted clopidogrel use and the CYP2C19 genotype in patients undergoing left heart catheterization and percutaneous‐coronary intervention (PCI). After 1 year, 1,097 patients undergoing left heart catheterization were genotyped preemptively, and 291 of those underwent subsequent PCI. Genotype results were reported to the medical record for 100% of genotyped patients. Eighty patients who underwent PCI had an actionable genotype, with drug therapy changes implemented in 56 individuals. Average turnaround time from blood draw to genotype result entry in the medical record was 3.5 business days. Seven different third party payors, including Medicare, reimbursed for the test during the first month of billing, with an 85% reimbursement rate for outpatient claims that were submitted in the first month. These data highlight multiple levels of success in clinical implementation of genomic medicine. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Refining the structure and content of clinical genomic reports
Authors: Dorschner Michael O. , Amendola Laura M. , Shirts Brian H. , Kiedrowski Lesli , Salama Joseph , Gordon Adam S. , Fullerton Stephanie M. , Tarczy‐Hornoch Peter , Byers Peter H. , Jarvik Gail P.
Published: March 2014

To effectively articulate the results of exome and genome sequencing we refined the structure and content of molecular test reports. To communicate results of a randomized control trial aimed at the evaluation of exome sequencing for clinical medicine, we developed a structured narrative report. With feedback from genetics and non‐genetics professionals, we developed separate indication‐specific and incidental findings reports. Standard test report elements were supplemented with research study‐specific language, which highlighted the limitations of exome sequencing and provided detailed, structured results, and interpretations. The report format we developed to communicate research results can easily be transformed for clinical use by removal of research‐specific statements and disclaimers. The development of clinical reports for exome sequencing has shown that accurate and open communication between the clinician and laboratory is ideally an ongoing process to address the increasing complexity of molecular genetic testing. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Method for time–temperature–transformation diagrams using DSC data: Linseed aliphatic epoxy resin
Authors: Restrepo‐Zapata Nora Catalina , Osswald Tim A. , Hernández‐Ortiz Juan P.
Published: March 2014

A novel method to generate time–temperature–transformation (TTT) diagrams from Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) data is presented. The methodology starts with dynamical DSC information to obtain the total transformation heat, followed by an isothermal‐dynamic temperature ramp that allows the inclusion of diffusion‐controlled reaction kinetic. The cure kinetics is modeled using an auto‐catalytic Kamal–Sourour model, complemented with a Kissinger model that allows the direct prediction of one energy of activation, DiBenedetto's equation for the glass transition temperature as a function of the cure degree and adjusted reaction constants to include diffusion mechanisms. The methodology uses a nonlinear least‐squares regression method following J.P. Hernández‐Ortiz and T.A. Osswald's methodology (J. Polym. Eng. 2004, 25, 23). A typical linseed epoxy resin (EP) presents two different kinetics control mechanisms, thereby providing a good model to validate the proposed experimental and theoretical method. TTT diagrams for EPs at two different accelerator concentrations are calculated from direct integration of the kinetic model. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40566.
UV‐cured cellulose nanofiber composites with moisture durable oxygen barrier properties
Authors: Galland Sylvain , Leterrier Yves , Nardi Tommaso , Plummer Christopher J. G. , Månson Jan Anders E. , Berglund Lars A.
Published: March 2014

Nanocomposites based on 10 to 60 vol % cellulose nanofibers (NFC) in a photopolymerizable hyperbranched acrylate matrix were prepared. Unmodified NFC and NFC chemically modified with a silane coupling agent and with ceric ammonium nitrate for direct polymer grafting from the cellulose surface were used. A homogeneous dispersion of NFC in the matrix was obtained in each case, leading to a marked improvement in oxygen barrier (up to nine times) and thermomechanical properties (storage modulus increased up to seven times). The mechanisms involved in the permeability reduction were investigated, revealing non‐monotonic trends in the evolution of the solubility and diffusion coefficients with NFC content. Most significantly, the inherent moisture sensitivity of the oxygen permeability of the NFC was found to be drastically reduced when it was dispersed in the polymer matrix, particularly after chemical modification, underlining the promise of the present approach for the production of robust, high barrier organic films. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40604.
Synthesis of hydrogels by polymerization of itaconic acid–choline chloride deep eutectic solvent
Authors: Bednarz Szczepan , Fluder Maria , Galica Mateusz , Bogdal Dariusz , Maciejaszek Ireneusz
Published: March 2014

Itaconic acid (IA)–choline chloride (CC) deep eutectic solvents (DES) were prepared and characterized by NMR, TGA, and DSC. Poly(itaconic acid–co–bisacrylamide) hydrogels were synthesized by in situ polymerization‐crosslinking of the DES. For comparison, the hydrogels were also prepared in water under the same process conditions, that is, temperature, time, initial concentration of the monomer, the initiator, and N,N′‐methylenebisacrylamide (BAA) as the cross‐linking agent. Chemical structure of the polymers was proved by elemental analysis and FTIR. The values of insoluble gel fraction and water swelling of obtained hydrogels suggest that polymers prepared in DES have higher cross‐link density. Preliminary comparative studies of polymerization of IA in water and in DES medium indicated higher polymerization rate resulting from the presence of the choline salt, what might explain properties of the hydrogels prepared in DES. This study shows that DES can be used both as a solvent and catalyst in free‐radical polymerization processes. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40608.