bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Radiofrequency-Based Identification Medical Device: An Evaluable Solution for Surgical Sponge Retrieval?
Authors: Lazzaro Alessandra , Corona Arianna , Iezzi Luca , Quaresima Silvia , Armisi Luca , Piccolo Ilaria , Medaglia Carlo Maria , Sbrenni Sergio , Sileri Pierpaolo , Rosato Nicola , Gaspari Achille Lucio , Di Lorenzo Nicola
Published: February 2017

Background. A retained surgical item in patients (gossypiboma) is a persisting problem, despite consistent improvements and existing guidelines in counting instruments and sponges. Previous experiences with radiofrequency identification technology (RFID) tracking sponges show that it could represent an innovation, in order to reduce the criticism and increase the effectiveness during surgical procedures. We present an automated system that allows reduction of errors and improves safety in the operating room. Methods. The system consists of 3 antennas, surgical sponges containing RFID tags, and dedicated software applications, with Wi-Fi real-time communication between devices. The first antenna provides the initial count of gauzes; the second a real-time counting during surgery, including the sponges thrown into the kick-bucket; and the third can be used in the event of uneven sponge count. The software allows management at all stages of the process. Results. In vitro and in vivo tests were performed: the system provided excellent results in detecting sponges in patients’ body. Hundred percent retained sponges were detected correctly, even when they were overlapped. No false positive or false negative was recorded. The counting procedure turned out to be more streamlined and efficient and it could save time in a standard procedure. Conclusions. The RFID system for sponge tracking was shown to be experimentally a reliable and feasible method to track sponges with a full detection accuracy in the operating room. The results indicate the system to be safe and effective with acceptable cost-effective parameters.
Validation Study of a Portable Home Trainer Using a Pad for Laparoscopic Practice
Authors: Sleiman Zaki , Atallah Elie , Rassi Elie , Sarkis Riad , Khazzaka Aline
Published: February 2017

The aim of this study was to describe and validate a homemade laparoscopic trainer. The abdominal cavity is simulated within a 3-mm-thick stainless steel model. Thirty-four participants were evaluated in a pilot study to validate our model. Participants were divided into experts (n = 19) and novices (n = 15) to perform basic and complex laparoscopic skills. The comparison between the homemade trainer (HT) and the standard laparoscopic trainer showed no significant differences for the 2 tasks performed for each group ( P > .05). The experts’ performance of the 2 tasks was statistically different from the novices ( P < .05) on both trainers. Both experts (84%) and novices (87%) approved the HT as an effective home trainer. Our HT seems to fulfill the conditions of performing the basic and complex laparoscopic psychomotor skills at a low cost and similar efficiency.
Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Drives Thioacetamide-Mediated Heteroprotection Against Acetaminophen-Induced Lethal Liver Injury
Authors: Dadhania Vivekkumar P. , Bhushan Bharat , Apte Udayan , Mehendale Harihara M.
Published: February 2017

Preplacement of compensatory tissue repair (CTR) by exposure to a nonlethal dose of a toxicant protects animals against a lethal dose of another toxicant. Although CTR is known to heteroprotect, the underlying molecular mechanisms are not completely known. Here, we investigated the mechanisms of heteroprotection using thioacetamide (TA): acetaminophen (APAP) heteroprotection model. Male Swiss Webster mice received a low dose of TA or distilled water (DW) vehicle 24 hours prior to a lethal dose of APAP. Liver injury, tissue repair, and promitogenic signaling were studied over a time course of 24 hours after APAP overdose to the TA- and DW-primed mice (TA + APAP and DW + APAP, respectively). Thioacetamide pretreatment afforded 100% protection against APAP overdose compared to 100% lethality in the DW + APAP-treated mice. Although hepatic Cyp2e1 was similar at the time of APAP administration, immediate activation of hepatic c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) was observed in the TA + APAP-treated mice compared to its delayed activation in the DW + APAP group. In contrast to the DW + APAP group, the TA + APAP-treated mice exhibited extensive CTR, which was secondary to the timely activation of Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Our data indicate that rapid activation and appropriate termination of Wnt/β-catenin signaling and modulation of JNK activity underlie TA + APAP heteroprotection.
Deformation corrected workflow for maxillofacial prosthesis modelling
Authors: Sun Jin , Huang Zedong , Zhu Xinglong , Zeng Li , Liu Yuan , Ding Jing
Published: February 2017

The purpose of this article is to describe a deformation corrected workflow for maxillofacial prosthesis modelling based on the improved Laplace and iterative closest point–based iterative algorithms. For incomplete maxillofacial data with local deformed symmetrical features, the Laplace algorithm with rotation invariants was demonstrated that the operations can recover the local deformation while preserving the surface geometric detail; the M-estimation iterative closest point–based iterative algorithm integrated with the extended Gaussian image ensures the precision of the symmetry plane, making the outer point having almost no effect on the minimum process. The additional experiments also verified the ability of deformation corrected maxillofacial prosthesis modelling. Case study confirmed that this workflow is attractive and has potential to design the desired maxillofacial prosthesis for correcting the deformed oral soft tissue. The results of this study improve the quality of maxillofacial prostheses modelling. This technique will facilitate modelling of maxillofacial prostheses while helping the patients predict the effect before the prosthesis is manufactured. In addition, this deformation corrected workflow has great potential for improving the development of maxillofacial prosthesis modelling software.
Calculation method of locking torque based on elastic thin shell theory for hydraulic locking sleeve
Authors: Yan Ming , Liu Hai-Chao
Published: February 2017

The hydraulic locking sleeve is a key component of precision instruments such as five-axis machine tools, giant astronomical telescope, and satellite antenna. This is subjected to the action of pressure load causing large elastic deformation and locking the rotational freedom of feed shaft at any angle. The maximum locking torque is an important parameter for designing the hydraulic locking sleeve. First, the hydraulic locking sleeve is simplified as elastic thin cylindrical shell structure. Neglecting the bending and twisting effects, the calculation equations describing the deformation and stress state between the hydraulic locking sleeve and rotary shaft are derived by applying the theory of elastic thin shell. Then, taking into account that one end of the hydraulic lock sleeve is fixed to the shaft sleeve seat by the end face flange; the calculating formula of the maximum locking torque of the hydraulic locking sleeve is obtained by modifying the deformation equation based on moment model. Finally, a test platform of hydraulic locking sleeve is designed, which can measure the maximum locking torque of the hydraulic locking sleeve. The error between the calculation result of locking torque theoretical calculation model and the experimental measured value is <15%. As a result, the causes of the error are analyzed, and the effects of the shaft sleeve length, wall thickness, and radius on the maximum locking torque are calculated.
Adaptive designs from a Data Safety Monitoring Board perspective: Some controversies and some case studies
Authors: Turnbull Bruce W
Published: February 2017

This article describes vignettes concerning interactions with Data Safety Monitoring Boards during the design and monitoring of some clinical trials with an adaptive design. Most reflect personal experiences by the author.
Design and analysis of the link mechanism for the flapping wing MAV using flexible multi-body dynamic analysis
Authors: Jeon JaeHyeok , Cho Haeseong , Kim Younghwan , Lee JunHee , Gong DuHyun , Shin SangJoon , Kim Chongam
Published: February 2017

Recently, there has been an increase in the research on flapping wing vehicles which mimic biological motions. One result has been the flapping wing micro-aerial vehicle. In this paper, the design requirements for flapping wing micro-aerial vehicles were established through an analysis with the unsteady blade element theory. Then, based on the flapping wing micro-aerial vehicle design requirements, a flapping wing mechanism using a pair of six-bar linkage was devised. Moreover, several candidates for the present mechanism were analyzed using a flexible multi-body dynamic analysis to ensure the structural appropriateness of the mechanism. By completing such procedures, the performance of the present mechanism could be evaluated. A detailed design was then conducted. The structural analysis of the present mechanism was conducted regarding its flapping operation in a vacuum. The resulting von Mises stresses in the linkage were targeted to be smaller than the yield stresses of the chosen material. Next, additional details of the design and an experiment on the present flapping wing micro-aerial vehicle were conducted to validate its performance.
Arterial–ventricular coupling and parameters of vascular stiffness in hypertensive patients: Role of gender
Authors: Faconti Luca , Bruno Rosa Maria , Buralli Simona , Barzacchi Marta , Dal Canto Elisa , Ghiadoni Lorenzo , Taddei Stefano
Published: February 2017

Objective

Non-invasive estimation of arterial–ventricular coupling has been extensively used for the evaluation of cardiovascular performance, however, a relative small amount of data is available regarding arterial–ventricular coupling and its components in hypertension. The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between left ventricular elastance, arterial elastance, parameters of vascular stiffness and the influence of gender in a population of hypertensive individuals.

Methods

In 102 patients, trans-thoracic cardiac ultrasound, parameters of aortic stiffness (carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity) and wave reflection (augmentation index) were recorded. Ultrasound images of common carotid arteries were acquired for the assessment of intima-media thickness as well as carotid compliance and distensibility coefficient.

Results

Mean age was 61 years, 32% diabetes, 56% dyslipidemia, 9% previous cardiovascular events; women (n = 32) and men were superimposable for cardiovascular risk factors prevalence. In the population, ventricular elastance was significantly correlated with arterial elastance (r = 0.887), age (r = 0.334), gender (r = −0.494), BMI (r = −0.313), augmentation index (r = 0.479) (all p < 0.001); and with carotid compliance and distensibility coefficient (r = 0.229 and r = − 0.250, respectively, both p < 0.05); however, only arterial elastance and gender were independently associated with ventricular elastance in multiple regression models adjusted for confounding factors. Gender-specific analysis revealed that arterial elastance and augmentation index remained statistically significant associated with ventricular elastance in men (r = 0.275, p = 0.04); instead augmentation index was no longer significant (r = 0.052, p = 0.77) in the female sex.

Conclusions

In hypertensive patients, main determinants of ventricular elastance are arterial elastance, as an integrated index of arterial vascular load, and gender; however, pressure augmentation might play an additional role in men.
Next generation sequencing analysis of patients with familial cervical artery dissection
Authors: Grond-Ginsbach Caspar , Brandt Tobias , Kloss Manja , Aksay Suna Su , Lyrer Philipp , Traenka Christopher , Erhart Philipp , Martin Juan Jose , Altintas Ayse , Siva Aksel , de Freitas Gabriel R , Thie Andreas , Machetanz Jochen , Baumgartner Ralf W , Dichgans Martin , Engelter Stefan T
Published: February 2017

Background

The cause of cervical artery dissection is not well understood. We test the hypothesis that mutations in genes associated with known arterial connective tissue disorders are enriched in patients with familial cervical artery dissection.

Patients and methods

Patient duos from nine pedigrees with familial cervical artery dissection were analyzed by whole exome sequencing. Single nucleotide variants in a panel of 11 candidate genes (ACTA2, MYH11, FBN1, TGFBR1, TGFBR2, TGFB2, COL3A1, COL4A1, SMAD3, MYLK and SLC2A10) were prioritized according to functionality (stop-loss, nonsense, and missense variants with polyphen-2 score ≥0.95). Variants classified as “benign” or “likely benign” in the ClinVar database were excluded from further analysis. For comparison, non-benign stop-loss, nonsense and missense variants with polyphen-2 score ≥0.95 in the same panel of candidate genes were identified in the European non-Finnish population of the ExAC database ( n = 33,370).

Results

Non-benign Single nucleotide variants in both affected patients were identified in four of the nine cervical artery dissection families (COL3A1; Gly324Ser, FBN1: Arg2554Trp, COL4A1: Pro116Leu, and TGFBR2: Ala292Thr) yielding an allele frequency of 22.2% (4/18). In the comparison group, 1782 variants were present in 33,370 subjects from the ExAC database (allele frequency: 1782/66,740 = 2.7%; p = 0.0008; odds ratio = 14.2; 95% confidence interval = 3.8–52.9).

Conclusion

Cervical artery dissection families showed enrichment for non-benign variants in genes associated with arterial connective tissue disorders. The observation that findings differed across families indicates genetic heterogeneity of familial cervical artery dissection.
District Development and Diversity Index: A Methodology That Promotes Evaluation and Assessment of Development and Welfare Programmes in India
Authors: Shariff Abusaleh
Published: February 2017

A common concern in the inclusive development discourses across India has been the lack of civil society and community level activities in the spheres of governance and participation in public spaces amongst the deprived and excluded communities. To address this issue, the author has first computed the ‘district development index’ for all districts of India, as well as ‘diversity’ (of the components of development) indices according to socio-religious community (SRC) groups, especially created from the raw data drawn from Government of India sources. Using these indices, a methodology is developed that supports a ȁresearch-cum-action’ programme that enables better implementation of a number of components of the government’s poverty alleviation initiatives and allows their monitoring and evaluation. The budgetary allocation flows down from the national level to the states and then to the districts; and the districts are the grassroots level budgetary depositories. Through them, funds are carried forward to urban municipalities, village panchayats and to the doorsteps of the communities living in them. Policy engagements of trained civil society and community groups have high potential to be heard, so as to address the issues of social, economic and educational entitlements. This article reports experiences from recent field visits and interactions with selected civil society and community organisations from the states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Assam, West Bengal and Karnataka.
Empirical Analysis of the Nexus between Saving and Economic Growth in Selected African Countries (1981–2014)
Authors: Bolarinwa Segun Thompson , Obembe Olufemi B.
Published: February 2017

This empirical study investigates the direction of causality between gross domestic saving and economic growth among the six sub-Saharan African fastest growing economies as reported by African Development Bank between 1981 and 2014 using the recently developed methodologies of autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) and the Toda and Yamamoto causality test. The result shows the existence of unidirectional causality running from economic growth to gross domestic saving for Ghana and Burkina Faso, while gross domestic saving Granger causes economic growth in Liberia, Niger and Sierra Leone, indicating a unidirectional causality. However, no causality is recorded for Nigeria. The empirical study, therefore, concludes that the direction of causality is mixed and country-specific among the sub-Saharan African fastest growing economies.
A learned sparseness and IGMRF-based regularization framework for dense disparity estimation using unsupervised feature learning
Authors: Nahar Sonam , Joshi Manjunath V.
Published: February 2017

In this work, we propose a new approach for dense disparity estimation in a global energy minimization framework. We propose to use a feature matching cost which is defined using the learned hierarchical features of given left and right stereo images and we combine it with the pixel-based intensity matching cost in our energy function. Hierarchical features are learned using the deep deconvolutional network which is trained in an unsupervised way using a database consisting of large number of stereo images. In order to perform the regularization, we propose to use the inhomogeneous Gaussian Markov random field (IGMRF) and sparsity priors in our energy function. A sparse autoencoder-based approach is proposed for learning and inferring the sparse representation of disparities. The IGMRF prior captures the smoothness as well as preserves sharp discontinuities while the sparsity prior captures the sparseness in the disparity map. Finally, an iterative two-phase algorithm is proposed to estimate the dense disparity map where in phase one, sparse representation of disparities are inferred from the trained sparse autoencoder, and IGMRF parameters are computed, keeping the disparity map fixed and in phase two, the disparity map is refined by minimizing the energy function using graph cuts, with other parameters fixed. Experimental results on the Middlebury stereo benchmarks demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
The clinical evidence for targeting human myeloid-derived suppressor cells in cancer patients
Authors: Tobin Richard P , Davis Dana , Jordan Kimberly R , McCarter Martin D
Published: February 2017

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are a heterogeneous population of immature myeloid cells that represent a formidable obstacle to the successful treatment of cancer. Patients with high frequencies of MDSCs have significantly decreased progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Whereas there is experimental evidence that the reduction of the number and/or suppressive function of MDSCs in mice improves the efficacy of anti-cancer therapies, there is notably less evidence for this therapeutic strategy in human clinical trials. Here, we discuss currently available data concerning MDSCs from human clinical trials and explore the evidence that targeting MDSCs may improve the efficacy of cancer therapies.
Recent advances in understanding and treating nephrotic syndrome
Authors: Bierzynska Agnieszka , Saleem Moin
Published: February 2017

Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) is one of the most common glomerular diseases in children and adults, and the central event is podocyte injury. INS is a heterogeneous disease, and treatment is largely empirical and in many cases unsuccessful, and steroids are the initial mainstay of therapy. Close to 70% of children with INS have some response to steroids and are labelled as steroid-‘sensitive’, and the rest as steroid-‘resistant’ (also termed focal segmental glomerulosclerosis), and single-gene mutations underlie a large proportion of the latter group. The burden of morbidity is enormous, both to patients with lifelong chronic disease and to health services, particularly in managing dialysis and transplantation. The target cell of nephrotic syndrome is the glomerular podocyte, and podocyte biology research has exploded over the last 15 years. Major advances in genetic and biological understanding now put clinicians and researchers at the threshold of a major reclassification of the disease and testing of targeted therapies both identified and novel. That potential is based on complete genetic analysis, deep clinical phenotyping, and the introduction of mechanism-derived biomarkers into clinical practice. INS can now be split off into those with a single-gene defect, of which currently at least 53 genes are known to be causative, and the others. Of the others, the majority are likely to be immune-mediated and caused by the presence of a still-unknown circulating factor or factors, and whether there is a third (or more) mechanistic group or groups remains to be discovered. Treatment is therefore now being refined towards separating out the monogenic cases to minimise immunosuppression and further understanding how best to stratify and appropriately direct immunosuppressive treatments within the immune group. Therapies directed specifically towards the target cell, the podocyte, are in their infancy but hold considerable promise for the near future.
Pay Harmony? Social Comparison and Performance Compensation in Multibusiness Firms
Authors: Gartenberg Claudine , Wulf Julie
Published: February 2017

Our study presents evidence that social comparison influences both the level of pay and the degree of performance sensitivity within firms. We report pay patterns among division managers of large, multibusiness firms over a 14-year period. These patterns are consistent with employees comparing pay against both their peers (horizontal comparison) and the chief executive officer (vertical comparison) within their firm. Horizontal comparison also appears to reduce pay–performance sensitivity, in accord with prior theory proposing that performance pay can lead to perceived pay inequity among employees. Taken together, our evidence suggests that agency costs and social comparison jointly influence pay within firms. The evidence also supports the notion that managers of multibusiness firms are constrained in the degree to which they can incentivize employees, given the firm-imposed reference group.

The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2017.1109 .
Efficacy and safety of a new coverlet device on skin microclimate management: a pilot study in critical care patients
Authors: Forriez O. , Masseline J. , Coadic D. , David V. , Trouiller P. , Sztrymf B.
Published: February 2017

Objective:

To test the effect of a new coverlet device, allowing air circulation at the body/underlying surface interface, on skin microclimate management.

Method:

This prospective observational pilot study took place in a 15-bed university-affiliated intensive care unit. Overall, 34 mechanically ventilated patients were included. Skin humidity and temperature were monitored before and after the implementation of the tested device at the occiput, scapulas, buttocks and sacrum. Humidity and temperature were evaluated through surface skin impedance and an infra-red thermometer, respectively. Health professionals were asked to evaluate the device.

Results:

After implementation of the coverlet device, there was a rapid, sustained and significant decrease in skin humidity at all sites ranging from 6 % to 15 %, excluding the occiput. Skin temperature also significantly decreased from 1 % at both scapulas, but not at the other studied body sites. No side effects were observed. Health professionals reported that the device was easy and quick to install. Although they did not report a subjective improvement in skin moisture or temperature, they considered the device to be efficient.

Conclusion:

Although limited by its design, this pilot study suggests a good efficacy of the studied device on skin microclimate management. Further data are warranted to test the clinical implications of our findings.
Healing of an arterial leg ulcer by compression bandaging: a case report
Authors: Sanchez C. , Partsch H.
Published: February 2017

This case report demonstrates that arterial ulcers may heal with compression therapy. The patient was a 72-year-old woman with elevated blood pressure and type II diabetes mellitus, who underwent angiography because of a painful, non-healing ulcer over the shin. The angiography showed multisegment arterial occlusive disease, not amenable to surgical revascularisation. After 4 months of wearing inelastic bandages, with increased pressure over the ulcer area and hypertension and diabetes under control, the patient was pain-free and the ulcer had healed. The ankle-brachial pressure index (ABPI) increased from 0.54 at the start of treatment to 0.70.

In patients with arterial leg ulcers, properly applied compression therapy using increased pressure over the wound may lead to an improvement of the arterial flow and to complete healing.
The potential of child support to reduce lone mother poverty: comparing population survey data in Australia and the UK
Authors: Skinner Christine , Cook Kay , Sinclair Sarah
Published: February 2017

This paper assesses the contribution that child support makes to Australian lone mothers’ income packages and the proportion lifted out of poverty as a result. Using the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) dataset, we compare the results to a study conducted in the UK. Child support payments were more likely to be received in Australia and, when received, payments reduced lone mothers’ poverty rate by 21 per cent, a greater extent than in the UK. These findings provide important insights for Australia and the UK where debates continue about the configuration of the system and enforcement mechanisms.
Emotions and empathic imagination: parents relating to norms of work, parenthood and gender equality
Authors: Björk Sofia
Published: February 2017

This article examines how Swedish parents relate emotionally to norms regarding parenthood, work and gender equality. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with seven mothers and six fathers, and using perspectives from the sociology of emotions, the article shows how norms influence parents’ lives through the feelings they evoke and prescribe, and how these emotions are managed. The parents’ responses reveal how they managed emotions via ‘empathic imagination’ of their children’s feelings in relation to gendered norms of parenthood and ideals of a ‘good childhood’. The ideals of gender eq)uality in relation to work–life balance were found to include gendered emotion regimes, enabling fathers to feel pleasure and comfort as the emotion rules converged with those of involved parenthood, while mothers faced conflicting emotion regimes. Some parents were able to negotiate norms through their emotion work, making certain transgressions of norms unproblematic or sometimes even a source of pride.
Availability evaluation of repairable system requiring two types of supporting device for operations
Authors: Fagge Nura Jibrin , Yusuf Ibrahim , Ali U.A.
Published: February 2017

With advancement of modern science and technology, complex systems connected to an external supporting device for their operations have been manufactured to meet the demand of industries, economic growth and populace in general. Companies and organizations heavily rely on these systems to conduct their business. This study presents the availability assessment of a single unit system connected to two types of an external supporting device for its operation. Each type of supporting device has two copies I and II. First order differential equations method is used to obtain the explicit expression for the steady-state availability. Based on assumed numerical values given to system parameters, graphical illustrations are given to highlight important results. Comparisons are performed to highlight the impact of unit failure and repair rates.
Distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in some selected tubers grown in farmlands in Alakahia and Eleme communities, Rivers, Nigeria
Authors: Joy Okereke Chioma , Okonkwo Chinedu
Published: February 2017

The present study investigated the level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) in three commonly consumed tubers grown in farmlands in two communities- Alakahia and Eleme, Rivers state, Nigeria. The total PAH concentrations in the tubers ranged from 2.94 Â± 0.26 to 70.83 Â± 1.56 -Âµg/kg. Pyrene was the predominant PAH in most of the tuber samples from Alakahia and Eleme communities. The PAH profile in the tuber samples were dissimilar at both communities when compared. The Low molecular weight PAH to High molecular weight PAH ratio (LMW-PAH/HMW-PAH) showed that the high molecular PAH were predominant in the tubers thus suggesting that the source of PAH in the tubers are of pyrogenic origin.
DAS PESQUISAS ACADÊMICAS SOBRE OS CONTOS DE FADAS AO UNIVERSO POLÍTICO E LITERÁRIO DOS IRMÃOS GRIMM.
Authors: Cotta Maria Amélia Castro
Published: February 2017

Os contos, como obra literária, transcendem espaço e tempo de sua produção e, lidos ainda hoje, mobilizam imagens e suscitam debates. O presente estudo traz as pesquisas acadêmicas realizadas sobre os contos nos anos de 2003-2013, a fim de evidenciar a utilização (ou não) dos contos de Grimm nos estudos realizados. Apresenta o universo político e literário dos irmãos Grimm a partir de pesquisa bibliográfica, entrevista semiestruturada realizada no Arquivo dos irmãos Grimm em Kassel-Alemanha. As fontes primárias utilizadas foram os prólogos, prefácios e biografias de traduções dos contos de Grimm e as fontes secundárias: folders, informativos, jornais, fotografias e entrevista realizada com o Dr. Lauer em Kassel, Alemanha.Fez parte desse estudo, a decisão de conhecer parte da trilha dos irmãos Grimm na Alemanha, que se deu pelo fato de ter como expectativa recolher fontes sobre os autores e sobre Dorothea Viehmann, camponesa citada comumente nos estudos sobre os irmãos Grimm. O artigo traz o desafio de suscitar outras pesquisas sobre os contos e em particular, os contos dos irmãos Grimm.
O EXÍLIO DA NARRATIVA E A NARRATIVA DO EXÍLIO PLURALIDADE E DIFERENÇA EM TEMPOS SOMBRIOS
Authors: Augusto Maurício Liberal
Published: February 2017

Este artigo dialoga com reflexões de Hannah Arendt anteriores à publicação de Origens do totalitarismo (1951), especialmente os chamados escritos judaicos e alguns excertos de sua correspondência com Karl Jaspers. Ela ressalta a importância do mestre e amigo na formação de um juízo político independente em tempos sombrios e a judeidade como afirmação política de uma diferença ontologicamente radicada na natalidade. Aqui, sugere-se que os anos de formação do pensamento político de Arendt sejam apreciados como um exílio da narrativa, um exercício de pensamento em que o silêncio da linguagem convida o narrador a expressar-se numa narrativa do exílio. No âmbito da filosofia da educação, ao traduzir a experiência do exílio político e identitário, a radicalidade da narrativa arendtidiana testemunha a violação à pluralidade humana e ajuda a pensar o sentido formativo da diferença, isto é, o cultivo de uma ética da diferença.
POR UM SENTIDO FORMATIVO DA ARTE: UMA INSERÇÃO NO PENSAMENTO POLÍTICO DE ARENDT E RANCIÈRE
Authors: Lamas Anyele Giacomelli
Published: February 2017

Ao pensar sobre os impasses relativos à formação dos mais novos no contexto de uma “sociedade de consumidores”, recorremos ao que Hannah Arendt e Jacques Rancière propuseram acerca da relação entre arte e política. Se partimos da reflexão sobre o fenômeno da arte como uma das formas privilegiadas de compreender o que é esse “mundo comum” ao qual os adultos devem introduzir as crianças é porque, segundo Arendt, as obras de arte são os “objetos culturais máximos” que devem ser salvos da ruína da destruição ou do esquecimento. Rancière, por sua vez, afirma que a arte e a política podem contribuir para que possamos reconfigurar as coisas comuns, mesmo no contexto de uma sociedade “homogênea e consensual”. Talvez numa época em que as coisas mais corriqueiras podem adentrar a esfera da arte, propondo outras formas de experiência sensível, a educação tenha a possibilidade de convidar os mais novos a adentrar a imensa “floresta de coisas e signos” que constituem o “mundo comum”.
Return on Engagement Initiatives: A Study of a Business-to-Business Mobile App
Authors: Gill Manpreet , Sridhar Shrihari , Grewal Rajdeep
Published: February 2017

Firms are increasingly offering engagement initiatives to facilitate firm–customer interactions or interactions among customers, with the primary goal of fostering emotional and psychological bonds between customers and the firm. Unlike traditional marketing interventions, which are designed to prompt sales, assessing returns on engagement initiatives (RoEI) is more complex because sales are not the primary goal and, often, direct sales are not associated with such initiatives. To assess RoEI across varying institutional contexts, the authors propose and empirically implement a methodological framework to investigate a business-to-business mobile app that a tool manufacturer provides for free to engage its buyers. The data include sales by buyer firms that adopted the app over 15 months, as well as a control group of buyers that did not adopt. The results from a difference-in-differences specification, together with selection on observables and unobservables, show that the app increased the manufacturer's annual sales revenues by 19.11%–22.79%; even after accounting for development costs, it resulted in positive RoEI. This RoEI was higher when buyers created more projects using the app, so customer participation intensity appears to underlie RoEI. This article contributes to engagement literature by providing a methodological framework and empirical evidence on how the benefits of engagement initiatives materialize.
Dynamically Managing a Profitable Email Marketing Program
Authors: Zhang Xi (Alan) , Kumar V. , Cosguner Koray
Published: February 2017

Although email marketing is highly profitable and widely used by marketers, it has received limited attention in the marketing literature. Extant research has focused on either customers’ email responses or the “average” effect of emails on purchases. In this article, the authors use data from a U.S. home improvement retailer to study customers’ email open and purchase behaviors by using a unified hidden Markov and copula framework. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the authors find that email-active customers are not necessarily active in purchases, and vice versa. Furthermore, the number of emails sent by the retailer has a nonlinear effect on both the retailer's short- and long-term profitability. Through a counterfactual study, the authors provide a decision support system to guide retailers in making optimal email contact decisions. This study shows that sending the right number of emails is vital for long-term profitability. For example, sending four (ten) emails instead of the optimal number of seven emails can cause the retailer to lose 32% (16%) of its lifetime profit per customer.
RapidNAM: generative manufacturing approach of nasoalveolar molding devices for presurgical cleft lip and palate treatment
Authors: Bauer Franz Xaver , Schönberger Markus , Gattinger Johannes , Eblenkamp Markus , Wintermantel Erich , Rau Andrea , Güll Florian Dieter , Wolff Klaus-Dietrich , Loeffelbein Denys J.
Published: February 2017

Nasoalveolar molding (NAM) is an accepted treatment strategy in presurgical cleft therapy. The major drawbacks of the treatment listed in the literature relate to the time of the treatment and the coordination of the required interdisciplinary team of therapists, parents, and patients. To overcome these limitations, we present the automated RapidNAM concept that facilitates the design and manufacturing process of NAM devices, and that allows the virtual modification and subsequent manufacture of the devices in advance, with a growth prediction factor adapted to the patient’s natural growth. The RapidNAM concept involves (i) the prediction of three trajectories that envelope the fragmented alveolar segments with the goal to mimic a harmonic arch, (ii) the extrusion from the larger toward the smaller alveolar segment along the envelope curves toward the harmonic upper alveolar arch, and (iii) the generation of the NAM device with a ventilation hole, fixation pin, and fixation points for the nasal stents. A feasibility study for a vector-based approach was successfully conducted for unilateral and bilateral cleft lip and palate (CLP) patients. A comparison of the modified target models with the reference target models showed similar results. For further improvement, the number of landmarks used to modify the models was increased by a curve-based approach.
Expressing analytical performance from multi-sample evaluation in laboratory EQA
Authors: Thelen Marc H.M. , Jansen Rob T.P. , Weykamp Cas W. , Steigstra Herman , Meijer Ron , Cobbaert Christa M.
Published: February 2017

Background:

To provide its participants with an external quality assessment system (EQAS) that can be used to check trueness, the Dutch EQAS organizer, Organization for Quality Assessment of Laboratory Diagnostics (SKML), has innovated its general chemistry scheme over the last decade by introducing fresh frozen commutable samples whose values were assigned by Joint Committee for Traceability in Laboratory Medicine (JCTLM)-listed reference laboratories using reference methods where possible. Here we present some important innovations in our feedback reports that allow participants to judge whether their trueness and imprecision meet predefined analytical performance specifications.

Methods:

Sigma metrics are used to calculate performance indicators named ‘sigma values’. Tolerance intervals are based on both Total Error allowable (TEa) according to biological variation data and state of the art (SA) in line with the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) Milan consensus.

Results:

The existing SKML feedback reports that express trueness as the agreement between the regression line through the results of the last 12 months and the values obtained from reference laboratories and calculate imprecision from the residuals of the regression line are now enriched with sigma values calculated from the degree to which the combination of trueness and imprecision are within tolerance limits. The information and its conclusion to a simple two-point scoring system are also graphically represented in addition to the existing difference plot.

Conclusions:

By adding sigma metrics-based performance evaluation in relation to both TEa and SA tolerance intervals to its EQAS schemes, SKML provides its participants with a powerful and actionable check on accuracy.
Coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy: Understanding the essentials
Authors: Ariunbold Gombojav O. , Altangerel Narangerel
Published: February 2017

This paper is a brief overview to coherent anti- Stokes Raman spectroscopic technique and introduces the strengths and barriers to its use all based on the interpretation of simple theoretical formulae. The use of the Gaussian ultrashort pulses is highlighted as a practical elucidatory reconstruction tool of coherent Raman spectra. The paper presents the integral formulae for coherent anti-Stokes and Stokes Raman scattering, and discusses the closed-form solutions, its complex error function, and the delay time formula for enhancement of the inferred pure coherent Raman spectra. As an example, the timeresolved coherent Stokes Raman scattering experimental observations are quantitatively elucidated.Understanding the essentials of coherent Raman spectroscopy, therefore, promotes the importance of a number of experiments including the ones utilizing a broadband excitation with a narrowband delayed probing for successful background suppression.
Learning From Others: The Scalia-Breyer Debate and the Benefits of Foreign Sources of Law to U.S. Constitutional Interpretation of Counter-Terrorism Initiatives
Authors: Marian Cornel
Published: February 2017

The article discusses the importance of using foreign sources in the constitutional interpretation of counter-terrorism initiatives. By reviewing the Arar case, the author underlines the value of Canadian jurisprudence to evaluating extraordinary rendition. The similarities between the Arar and El Masri cases underscore the weakness of the current standard adopted by American judiciary in evaluating extraordinary rendition. The article further draws on the Israeli experience in dealing with torture. American jurisprudence will be greatly improved if it directly discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the Israeli debate in its own constitutional interpretation. In totality, American jurisprudence has an incredible untapped resource in the experiences of other countries on addressing problems that Americans would likely see as unique.
Family Protection and Deportations or Removals
Authors: Heißl Gregor
Published: February 2017

Deportations or removals of persons, who have spent a certain period in Australia have tremendous impacts and consequences on their lives and most likely on the ones of their families as well. Therefore it is worth assessing how significant family related aspects are taken in the administrative decision-making process concerning deportations or removals.

The essay starts with a description of the domestic legal framework, to evaluate conditions under which such measures are legitimate. An overview on family protection in Australia presents the different sources of human rights together with its content and scope. More specifically the notion of family life for the assessment of the legality of deportations or removals is scrutinised by examining the compliance with international treaty obligations as well as the significance of citizenship. Finally, two relevant Directions (D) of the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship are assessed in the context of sufficient safeguards for family life.
Hungarian Constitutional Court: Keeping Aloof from European Union Law
Authors: Blutman László , Chronowski Nóra
Published: February 2017

While the European Union is in the process of carefully navigating among the various forms of sub-federalism, Member States - including recent ones like Hungary, trying to find an equilibrium between their sovereignty and European supranationalism - have to cope with possible conflicts between their national legal systems and EU law. Since Hungary's accession to the European Union, the Hungarian Constitutional Court has faced questions regarding the constitutionality of EU legal rules and conflicts between European and national legal norms. This article examines these issues and analyzes criteria of constitutional review that the Court has gradually set out in dealing with some of these conflicts. So far, it has established two principles marking the boundaries of future constitutional practice. First, it will treat the founding and amending treaties of the European Union as part of domestic law for the purposes of constitutional review, thereby setting up a two-tier system of legal rules applicable within Hungarian legal practice instead of a possible three-tier construction that would distinguish between national, international and European law. Second, in the absence of jurisdiction to review substantive (un)constitutionality (as opposed to procedural constitutionality), the Constitutional Court does not regard a conflict between domestic law and EU law as a constitutionality issue and this mandates the ordinary courts to resolve such conflict of a sub-constitutional nature. Taking these conclusions as starting points, this article sets out the possible types of conflicts that may occur between EU rules and other legal rules applicable in Hungary, weighing the constitutional relevance of these conflicts; it also outlines the directions along which the practice of the Hungarian Constitutional Court may develop in this respect.
Ending Consociational Power-Sharing. The Sejdić and Finci Case and the Prospects for Constitutional Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Authors: Boldt Hildur
Published: February 2017

Consociationalism is frequently adopted as a tool to resolve conflicts in deeply divided societies. It is increasingly considered only a transitional arrangement, because it is an impediment to democracy and social peace in the long-term. It is therefore relevant to explore the possibilities to end consociational arrangements.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has by all accounts a dysfunctional and discriminatory political system based on ethnic representation. Corporate consociational provisions of the constitution were found to be in violation of the European Convention of Human Rights in the Sejdić and Finci case. This thesis seeks to understand the legal and political effects of that judgment and the prospects of ending the corporate consociational arrangements in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in order to allow for politics that are not solely based on ethnicity.

The prospect for constitutional reform are discussed based on previous attempts at constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina; the Dutch, Austrian and South African experiences; and insights from theory of democratic transitions.
Principles of National Constitutionalism limiting Individual Claims in Human Rights Law
Authors: De Hert Paul , Somers Stefan
Published: February 2017

The scope of the fundamental right to freedom of religion has been broadly dis­cussed in recent jurisprudence and doctrine. Doctrine has however paid little attention to the role of constitutionalism and its principles such as this of the separation of church and state and the division of power. These principles are often not mentioned as such in inter­national human rights treaties. Does this mean that they are irrelevant in human rights adjudication?

This article addresses the proper function of constitutionalism in human rights jurisprudence and in settling religious conflicts more in general. The Lautsi judgment of the European Court of Human Rights is used as a trigger to look at the relationship between religion, constitutionalism and human rights, and at the legitimacy of supranational courts. The article argues that international human rights jurisprudence must take national consti­tutionalism and its principles into account when dealing with the freedom of religion, even when those principles are not explicitly enshrined in human rights treaties. For this the use of the margin of appreciation seems to be appropriate.
Constitutional Court and Constitutional Review in Albania
Authors: Bara Brunilda , Bara Jonad
Published: February 2017

This article tends to give an insight on the historical and institutional develop­ment of the Constitutional Court of Albania, on the need of the society and the historical changes that led to its creation.

It focuses especially on the role and competences of this Court on the protection of the rule of law, of the constitutional principles, on the balancing and division of powers, on the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals. Its aim is to provide overall information on the functioning and standards it follows.

It is based on the jurisprudence of this Court during the years and is enriched by its deci­sions on particular subjects and compares this Court to other similar ones in Eastern Euro­pean countries.

The article is mainly directed to scholars and legal writers whose aim is to compare the organization and functioning of the Constitutional Court of Albania to other similar courts.