bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Transport properties of the carbon‐metal nanocomposites
Authors: Kalnysh T. , Semen'ko M. , Zakharenko M.
Published: December 2013

The temperature behavior of the resistance of the thermo exfoliated graphite thermo exfoliated graphite and cobalt‐containing nanocomposites on its base have been investigated. It is shown that the electrical properties of these materials could be easy explained within the incipient localization model. The influence of the metal modifier on the electric transport has been also analyzed.
Evidence Behind FDA Alerts for Drugs with Adverse Cardiovascular Effects: Implications for Clinical Practice
Authors: Rackham Daniel M. , C. Herink Megan , Stevens Ian G. , Cardoza Natalie M. , Singh Harleen
Published: December 2013

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) periodically publishes Drug Safety Communications and Drug Alerts notifying health care practitioners and the general public of important information regarding drug therapies following FDA approval. These alerts can result in both positive and negative effects on patient care. Most clinical trials are not designed to detect long‐term safety end points, and postmarketing surveillance along with patient reported events are often instrumental in signaling the potential harmful effect of a drug. Recently, many cardiovascular (CV) safety announcements have been released for FDA‐approved drugs. Because a premature warning could discourage a much needed treatment or prompt a sudden discontinuation, it is essential to evaluate the evidence supporting these FDA alerts to provide effective patient care and to avoid unwarranted changes in therapy. Conversely, paying attention to these warnings in cases involving high‐risk patients can prevent adverse effects and litigation. This article reviews the evidence behind recent FDA alerts for drugs with adverse CV effects and discusses the clinical practice implications.
They still grieve—a nationwide follow‐up of young adults 2–9 years after losing a sibling to cancer
Authors: Sveen Josefin , Eilegård Alexandra , Steineck Gunnar , Kreicbergs Ulrika
Published: December 2013

Objectives

The aims of this study were to assess the prevalence of unresolved grief in bereaved young adult siblings and examine possible contributing factors.

Methods

The study was a Swedish population‐based study of young adults who had lost a brother or sister to cancer, 2–9 years earlier. Of 240 eligible siblings, 174 (73%) completed a study‐specific questionnaire. This study focused on whether the respondents had worked through their grief over the sibling's death and to what extent.

Results

A majority (54%) of siblings stated that they had worked through their grief either ‘not at all’ or ‘to some extent’ at the time of investigation. In multiple regression analyses with unresolved grief as the dependent variable, 21% of the variance was explained by lack of social support and shorter time since loss.

Conclusion

The majority of bereaved young adults had not worked through their grief over the sibling's death. A small group of siblings reported that they had not worked through their grief at all, which may be an indicator of prolonged grief. Lack of social support and more recent loss were associated with not having worked through the grief over the sibling's death. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The role of proteomics in understanding biological mechanisms of sepsis
Authors: Cao Zhiyun , Robinson Renã A. S.
Published: December 2013

Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory state caused by infection. Complications of this infection with multiple organ failure lead to more lethal conditions, such as severe sepsis and septic shock. Sepsis is one of the leading causes of US deaths. Novel biomarkers with high sensitivity and specificity may be helpful for early diagnosis of sepsis and for improvement of patient outcomes through the development of new therapies. Mass spectrometry‐based proteomics offers powerful tools to identify such biomarkers and furthermore to give insight to fundamental mechanisms of this clinical condition. In this review, we summarize findings from proteomics studies of sepsis and how their applications have provided more understanding into the pathogenesis of septic infection. Literatures related to “proteomics”, “sepsis”, “systemic inflammatory response syndrome”, “severe sepsis”, “septic infection”, and “multiple organ dysfunction syndrome” were searched using PubMed. Findings about neonatal and adult sepsis are discussed separately. Within the adult sepsis studies, results are grouped based on the models (e.g., human or animal). Across investigations in clinical populations and in rodent and mammalian animal models, biological pathways, such as inflammatory and acute phase response, coagulation, complement, mitochondrial energy metabolism, chaperones, and oxidative stress, are altered at the protein level. These proteomics studies have discovered many novel biomarker candidates of septic infection. Validation the clinical use of these biomarker candidates may significantly impact the diagnosis and prognosis of sepsis. In addition, the molecular mechanisms revealed by these studies may also guide the development of more effective treatments.
Nonlinear H ∞  output feedback control with integrator for polynomial discrete‐time systems
Authors: Saat Shakir , Nguang Sing Kiong
Published: December 2013

This paper investigates the problem of designing a nonlinear H ∞  output feedback controller for a class of polynomial discrete‐time systems. In general, this problem is hard to be formulated in a convex form because the relation between the control input and the Lyapunov function is always not jointly convex. Therefore, the problem cannot be solved via semidefinite programming (SDP). On the basis of the sum of squares (SOS) approach and incorporation of an integrator into the controller, sufficient conditions for the existence of a nonlinear H ∞  output feedback controller are given in terms of SOS conditions, which can be solved by an SDP solver. In contrast to the existing methods, a less conservative result is obtained. Finally, numerical examples are used to demonstrate the validity of this integrator approach. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Detection of candidate tumor driver genes using a fully integrated Bayesian approach
Authors: Yang Jichen , Wang Xinlei , Kim Minsoo , Xie Yang , Xiao Guanghua
Published: December 2013

DNA copy number alterations (CNAs), including amplifications and deletions, can result in significant changes in gene expression and are closely related to the development and progression of many diseases, especially cancer. For example, CNA‐associated expression changes in certain genes (called candidate tumor driver genes) can alter the expression levels of many downstream genes through transcription regulation and cause cancer. Identification of such candidate tumor driver genes leads to discovery of novel therapeutic targets for personalized treatment of cancers. Several approaches have been developed for this purpose by using both copy number and gene expression data. In this study, we propose a Bayesian approach to identify candidate tumor driver genes, in which the copy number and gene expression data are modeled together, and the dependency between the two data types is modeled through conditional probabilities. The proposed joint modeling approach can identify CNA and differentially expressed genes simultaneously, leading to improved detection of candidate tumor driver genes and comprehensive understanding of underlying biological processes. We evaluated the proposed method in simulation studies, and then applied to a head and neck squamous cell carcinoma data set. Both simulation studies and data application show that the joint modeling approach can significantly improve the performance in identifying candidate tumor driver genes, when compared with other existing approaches. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Predictive factors for temporary defunctioning stoma permanence in the treatment of rectal adenocarcinoma
Authors: Formiga Fernanda Bellotti , Miotto Sabrina , Formiga Galdino José Sitônio , Denardin Odilon Victor Porto
Published: December 2013

Purpose determine the predictive factors for non-closure of defunctioning stoma in the low anterior resection for the treatment of rectal adenocarcinoma.

Methods a retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing low anterior resection with defunctioning stoma for a period of nine years was performed. We compared, using univariate and multivariate analysis, the group that closed the defunctioning stoma (Group A) with the group that did not (Group B).

Results eighty-one patients were analyzed; mean age was 61 ± 11 years, with a predominance of women (55.6%). Middle rectal tumors (66.6%), pT3 (59.2%) and pN0 (71.6%) were the most frequent. Stapled anastomosis (65.4%), and loop colostomy (80.2%) were the procedures most frequently performed. Sixty-five patients (80.2%) underwent stoma closure. The mean time for closure was 8.7 ± 4.4 months. The independent risk factors for non-closure of defunctioning stoma were complications of the anastomosis (p = 0.008) and follow-up complications (p = 0.007).

Conclusion complications with anastomosis and during the follow-up are factors that may justify a permanent stoma after low anterior resection for treatment of rectal adenocarcinoma.
Pre‐clinical efficacy of PU‐H71, a novel HSP90 inhibitor, alone and in combination with bortezomib in Ewing sarcoma
Authors: Ambati Srikanth R. , Lopes Eloisi Caldas , Kosugi Kohji , Mony Ullas , Zehir Ahmet , Shah Smit K. , Taldone Tony , Moreira Andre L. , Meyers Paul A. , Chiosis Gabriela , Moore Malcolm A.S.
Published: December 2013

Ewing sarcoma is characterized by multiple deregulated pathways that mediate cell survival and proliferation. Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) is a critical component of the multi‐chaperone complexes that regulate the disposition and activity of a large number of proteins involved in cell‐signaling systems. We tested the efficacy of PU‐H71, a novel HSP90 inhibitor in Ewing sarcoma cell lines, primary samples, benign mesenchymal stromal cells and hematopoietic stem cells. We performed cell cycle analysis, clonogenic assay, immunoblot analysis and reverse phase protein array in Ewing cell lines and in vivo experiments in NSG and nude mice using the A673 cell line. We noted a significant therapeutic window in the activity of PU‐H71 against Ewing cell lines and benign cells. PU‐H71 treatment resulted in G2/M phase arrest. Exposure to PU‐H71 resulted in depletion of critical proteins including AKT, pERK, RAF‐1, c‐MYC, c‐KIT, IGF1R, hTERT and EWS‐FLI1 in Ewing cell lines. Our results indicated that Ewing sarcoma tumor growth and the metastatic burden were significantly reduced in the mice injected with PU‐H71 compared to the control mice. We also investigated the effects of bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor, alone and in combination with PU‐H71 in Ewing sarcoma. Combination index (CI)‐Fa plots and normalized isobolograms indicated synergism between PU‐H71 and bortezomib. Ewing sarcoma xenografts were significantly inhibited when mice were treated with the combination compared to vehicle or either drug alone. This provides a strong rationale for clinical evaluation of PU‐H71 alone and in combination with bortezomib in Ewing sarcoma.
Physics and Chemistry of Circumstellar Dust Shells
Authors: Gail Hans-Peter , Sedlmayr Erwin
Published: December 2013

Circumstellar dust, the astronomical dust that forms around a star, provides today's researchers with important clues for understanding how the Universe has evolved. This volume examines the structure, dynamics and observable consequences of the dust clouds surrounding highly evolved stars on the Giant Branch. Early chapters cover the physical and chemical basis of the formation of dust shells, the outflow of matter, and condensation processes, while offering detailed descriptions of techniques for calculating dust formation and growth. Later chapters showcase a wide range of modeling strategies, including chemical and radiative transfer and dust-induced non-linear dynamics, as well as the latest data obtained from AGB stars and other giants. This volume introduces graduate students and researchers to the theoretical description for modeling the dusty outflows from cool stars and provides a full understanding of the processes involved.
The Cosmopolitan First Amendment
Authors: Zick Timothy
Published: December 2013

We live in an interconnected world in which expressive and religious cultures increasingly commingle and collide. In a globalized and digitized era, we need to better understand the relationship between the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and international borders. This book focuses on the exercise and protection of cross-border and beyond-border expressive and religious liberties, and on the First Amendment's relationship to the world beyond US shores. It reveals a cosmopolitan First Amendment that protects cross-border conversation, facilitates the global spread of democratic principles, recognizes expressive and religious liberties regardless of location, is influential across the world, and encourages respectful engagement with the liberty regimes of other nations. The Cosmopolitan First Amendment is the product of historical, social, political, technological and legal developments. It examines the First Amendment's relationship to foreign travel, immigration, cross-border communication and association, religious activities that traverse international borders, conflicts among foreign and US speech and religious liberty models, and the conduct of international affairs and diplomacy.
Globalizing Oil
Authors: Hughes Llewelyn
Published: December 2013

Oil is the world's most important commodity. It is also one of the most politicized, with national oil companies controlling most of the world's reserves. Contrary to conventional wisdom, Llewelyn Hughes shows that governments across the advanced industrial states responded to the politicization of oil in the 1970s by freeing prices, lowering barriers to trade, and privatizing national oil companies. How did this come about? And why do some governments continue to support domestic firms? In answering these questions, Hughes shows that the politicization of oil also led to a transformation in oil market governance by changing the balance of risk and opportunities facing firms. He also shows that their ability to benefit from this change was conditioned by previous attempts to shape the competitive landscape in their favor. Hughes' study has important implications not only for the politics of oil, but also for the study of economic liberalization.
Canonical Ramsey Theory on Polish Spaces
Authors: Kanovei Vladimir , Sabok Marcin , Zapletal Jindřich
Published: December 2013

This book lays the foundations for an exciting new area of research in descriptive set theory. It develops a robust connection between two active topics: forcing and analytic equivalence relations. This in turn allows the authors to develop a generalization of classical Ramsey theory. Given an analytic equivalence relation on a Polish space, can one find a large subset of the space on which it has a simple form? The book provides many positive and negative general answers to this question. The proofs feature proper forcing and Gandy–Harrington forcing, as well as partition arguments. The results include strong canonization theorems for many classes of equivalence relations and sigma-ideals, as well as ergodicity results in cases where canonization theorems are impossible to achieve. Ideal for graduate students and researchers in set theory, the book provides a useful springboard for further research.
The Extraterritorial Application of the Human Right to Water in Africa
Authors: Bulto Takele Soboka
Published: December 2013

International human rights law has only recently concerned itself with water. Instead, international water law has regulated the use of shared rivers, and only states qua states could claim rights and bear duties towards each other. International human rights law has focused on its principal mission of taming the powers of a state acting territorially. Takele Soboka Bulto challenges the established analytic boundaries of international water law and international human rights law. By demonstrating the potential complementarity between the two legal regimes and the ensuing utility of regime coordination for the establishment of the human right to water and its extraterritorial application, he also shows that human rights law and the international law of watercourses can apply in tandem with the purpose of protecting non-national non-residents in Africa and beyond.
Political Institutions and Party-Directed Corruption in South America
Authors: Gingerich Daniel W.
Published: December 2013

An important question for the health and longevity of democratic governance is how institutions may be fashioned to prevent electoral victors from drawing on the resources of the state to perpetuate themselves in power. This book addresses the issue by examining how the structure of electoral institutions - the rules of democratic contestation that determine the manner in which citizens choose their representatives - affects political corruption, defined as the abuse of state power or resources for campaign finance or party-building purposes. To this end, the book develops a novel theoretical framework that examines electoral institutions as a potential vehicle for political parties to exploit the state as a source of political finance. Hypotheses derived from this framework are assessed using an unprecedented public employees' survey conducted by the author in Bolivia, Brazil and Chile.
Sex, Freedom, and Power in Imperial Germany, 1880–1914
Authors: Dickinson Edward Ross
Published: December 2013

This is a study of the intense, complex, and escalating debate over sexuality and sexual morality that roiled politics in Germany between 1880 and 1914. That debate was grounded in the rapid evolution and growing complexity of German society - the multiplication of cultural groupings, professional associations, and social movements; the emergence of new social groups, social milieus, and professions; the rapid development of the media and commercial entertainments; and so on. All parties involved understood it to be a debate over the most fundamental question of modern political life: how to secure both national power and individual freedom in the context of rapid social and cultural change.
Thomas Jefferson's Ethics and the Politics of Human Progress
Authors: Helo Ari
Published: December 2013

Could Jefferson claim any consistency in his advocacy of democracy and the rights of man while remaining one of the largest slaveholders in Virginia? This extensive study of Jefferson's intellectual outlook suggests that, once we fully acknowledge the premises of his ethical thought and his now outdated scientific views, he could. Jefferson famously thought the human mind to be 'susceptible of much improvement … most of all, in matters of government and religion'. Ari Helo's thorough analysis of Jefferson's understanding of Christian morality, atheism, contemporary theories of moral sentiments, ancient virtue ethics, natural rights, and the principles of justice and benevolence suggests that Jefferson refused to be a philosopher, and did so for moral reasons. This book finds Jefferson profoundly political in his understanding of individual moral responsibility and human progress.
The Delimitation of the Continental Shelf between Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands
Authors: Oude Elferink Alex G.
Published: December 2013

Alex G. Oude Elferink's detailed analysis of the negotiations between Denmark, Germany and The Netherlands concerning the delimitation of their continental shelf in the North Sea makes use of the full range of government archives in these three States. He looks at the role of international law in policy formulation and negotiations, and explores the legal context, political considerations and, in particular, oil interests which fed into these processes. He also explains why the parties decided to submit their disputes to the International Court of Justice and looks at the preparation of their pleadings and litigation strategy before the Court. The analysis shows how Denmark and The Netherlands were able to avoid the full impact of the implications of the Court's judgment by sidestepping legal arguments and insisting instead on political considerations.
The turbulence boundary of a temporal jet
Authors: van Reeuwijk Maarten , Holzner Markus
Published: December 2013

We examine the structure of the turbulence boundary of a temporal plane jet at$\mathit{Re}= 5000$using statistics conditioned on the enstrophy. The data is obtained by direct numerical simulation and threshold values span 24 orders of magnitude, ranging from essentially irrotational fluid outside the jet to fully turbulent fluid in the jet core. We use two independent estimators for the local entrainment velocity${v}_{n} $based on the enstrophy budget. The data show clear evidence for the existence of a viscous superlayer (VSL) that envelopes the turbulence. The VSL is a nearly one-dimensional layer with low surface curvature. We find that both its area and viscous transport velocity adjust to the imposed rate of entrainment so that the integral entrainment flux is independent of threshold, although low-Reynolds-number effects play a role for the case under consideration. This threshold independence is consistent with the inviscid nature of the integral rate of entrainment. A theoretical model of the VSL is developed that is in reasonably good agreement with the data and predicts that the contribution of viscous transport and dissipation to interface propagation have magnitude$2{v}_{n} $and$- {v}_{n} $, respectively. We further identify a turbulent core region (TC) and a buffer region (BR) connecting the VSL and the TC. The BR grows in time and inviscid enstrophy production is important in this region. The BR shows many similarities with the turbulent–non-turbulent interface (TNTI), although the TNTI seems to extend into the TC. The average distance between the TC and the VSL, i.e. the BR thickness is about 10 Kolmogorov length scales or half a Taylor length scale, indicating that intense turbulent flow regions and viscosity-dominated regions are in close proximity.
Employing graduates: Selection criteria and practice in New Zealand
Authors: Edgar Fiona , Cathro Virginia , Harrison Sean , Hoek Janneke , McKenzie Katherine , Malcolm Ngaire , Polson Sarah , Porteous Matthew , Robertson Samantha , Shewan Philippa , Smart Jessica , Tyler-Baxter Seamus
Published: December 2013

Entry into graduate programmes is highly competitive. Although careers advisors working within higher education do their best to prepare students for engagement with these programmes; anecdotal reports suggest many graduates remain unsure what it is these employers are seeking, and how it is assessed. Our study examines both selection criteria profiles and practices, drawing comprehensive data from 20 New Zealand firms and finds that regardless of a firm's characteristics, most seek a very similar graduate profile, with the concepts of candidate ‘well roundedness’ and ‘fit’ considered most vital. Selection practices employed are tightly connected to this graduate profile. These findings shed some much needed light for graduates on what is, but also what is not, highly sought after by employers in the recruitment and selection process. They should also be of benefit to universities by assisting them to better prepare their graduates for successful transition into the employment market.
Understanding workplace violence and its prevention in New Zealand: The 2011 New Zealand workplace violence survey
Authors: Bentley Tim A , Catley Bevan E , Forsyth Darryl , Tappin David C
Published: December 2013

This exploratory study examined the workplace violence problem in a sample of 96 New Zealand organisations. Just over one-half of participating organisations reported cases of violence, with a total of nearly 2,500 cases reported in 2009. The incidence rate for all violence cases was high compared with internationally reported rates. Highest violence incidence rates and lost-time were reported for the health sector, where patients, customers/clients and family members were rated as sources of violence of particularly high importance. Risk factors with highest mean importance ratings were related to exposure to unstable persons, including: alcohol and drug use, harassment, and mental and physical instability/distress. Workload and time-pressure were also identified as risk factors for some organisations. Just 50% of organisations formally recognised violence as a hazard in the workplace, while interventions were largely limited to employee training and technological factors.
Distributive justice, job stress, and turnover intention: Cross-level effects of empowerment climate in work groups
Authors: Choi Byoung Kwon , Moon Hyoung Koo , Nae Eun Young , Ko Wook
Published: December 2013

This paper, with its multilevel design including 90 work groups in South Korea, proposes and examines how distributive justice relates to job stress, and thus leading to turnover intention at the individual level, and how this relationship is affected by empowerment climate at the group level. The results of hierarchical linear modeling show that employees’ perception of distributive justice was negatively related to job stress. We also find that job stress partially mediated the influence of distributive justice on turnover intention. In addition, at the work group level, the empowerment climate decreased employees’ job stress, and the negative relationship between distributive justice and job stress at the individual level was moderated by the empowerment climate. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
The Concept of Reputation in Business History
Authors: Kobrak Christopher
Published: December 2013

Historical narratives have enriched, and can even do more to enhance, the concept of corporate reputation by deepening our understanding of how reputation changes over time and among different stakeholders. This literature review highlights this theme of reputation for two audiences—business historians and corporate reputation theorists. By showing how different social and political contexts shape expectations for business behavior, historical study can add new dimensions to the study of corporate reputation.
Antimicrobial resistance in eight US hospitals along the US–Mexico border, 2000–2006
Authors: BENOIT S. R. , ELLINGSON K. D. , WATERMAN S. H. , PEARSON M. L.
Published: December 2013

Antimicrobial resistance (AR) is a growing problem worldwide and international travel, cross-border migration, and antimicrobial use may contribute to the introduction or emergence of AR. We examined AR rates and trends along the US–Mexico border by analysing microbiology data from eight US hospitals in three states bordering Mexico. Microbiology data were ascertained for the years 2000–2006 and for select healthcare and community pathogens including, three Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae) and three Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus, Streptococcus pneumoniae) pathogens and 10 antimicrobial–pathogen combinations. Resistance was highest in S. aureus (oxacillin resistance 45·7%), P. aeruginosa (quinolone resistance 22·3%), and E. coli (quinolone resistance 15·6%); six (60%) of the 10 antimicrobial–pathogen combinations studied had a significantly increasing trend in resistance over the study period. Potential contributing factors in the hospital and community such as infection control practices and antimicrobial use (prescription and non-prescription) should be explored further in the US–Mexico border region.
The range, abundance and habitat of Hinde’s Babbler Turdoides hindei: fine-scale changes in abundance during 2000–2011 reflect temporal variation in scrub cover
Authors: SHAW PHIL , NJOROGE PETER , OTIENO VINCENT , MLAMBA EDSON
Published: December 2013

In developing countries, ‘land sparing’ may be more effective than ‘land sharing’ in partially mitigating the impacts of farming on bird species diversity. We examined the pattern of change in the global and local distribution of Hinde’s Babbler Turdoides hindei, a ‘Vulnerable’ Kenyan endemic whose local abundance is dependent on a passive form of land sharing, in which farmland is left fallow or abandoned, enabling Lantana scrub to colonise. In 2011 we assessed the species’ global range and resurveyed three IBAs, surveyed previously in 2000–2001, to determine whether fine-scale changes in abundance reflected temporal changes in habitat quality. Although the babbler’s known range increased between 1900–1970 and 1991–2011, we suggest that this apparent expansion largely reflects an improved knowledge base, and that several recently discovered sites are likely to have been overlooked in the past. In combination, the three IBAs surveyed in 2000-2001 and 2011 showed little net change in the number of individuals (+1.3%) or groups (-3.8%) encountered, despite a 68% decline in the number individuals recorded at one site. Within 1-km transect sections there was a positive correlation between change in Hinde’s Babbler abundance and change in the amount of scrub cover available, such that a reduction in scrub cover of 22 and 6 percentage points, respectively, was associated with the loss of one group or one individual. The availability of scrub cover was dependent mainly on the amount land left uncultivated, perhaps in response to changes in the value of coffee and other crops. Since the babbler’s abundance thus currently depends mainly on land sharing by default, rather than by design, we suggest that a more proactive approach, involving land purchase or payments for land set aside, might help to secure its future.
Plastic bronchitis: symptomatic improvement after pulmonary arterial stenting in four patients with Fontan circulation
Authors: Tanase Daniel , Ewert Peter , Eicken Andreas
Published: December 2013

Plastic bronchitis is a severe complication after a Fontan procedure, with an estimated incidence around 1–2% and poor prognosis. We present the cases of four patients with plastic bronchitis after a total cavopulmonary connection with a stenosis of the left pulmonary artery that was stented successfully. In three of the four patients, symptoms improved after catheter intervention in combination with pulmonary vasodilator and inhalative treatment.
Food hygiene, deprivation, types of premises and rates of gastrointestinal illnesses in the UK
Authors: Collins Brendan
Published: December 2013

Objective

To understand more about the relationship between economic deprivation, types of premises, food hygiene scores and rates of gastrointestinal illness in the UK.

Design

Data were extracted from the UK Food Standards Agency for about 300 000 UK premises which had hygiene scores based on visits from local authority food safety officers. These scores were analysed by type of premises, deprivation and local authority. Local authority-level average scores were mapped and compared with rates of laboratory-detected gastrointestinal illness from the Health Protection Agency.

Setting

UK.

Subjects

UK premises (n 311 458) from 341 local authority areas that sell or produce food.

Results

There was a modest but statistically significant relationship between average food hygiene score and deprivation, which was caused by deprived areas having more of the categories of premises with significantly lower hygiene scores; these were pub/club (n 40 525), restaurant/café/canteen (n 73 052), small retailer (n 42 932) and takeaway (n 36 708). No relationship was established between local authority average food hygiene scores and rates of laboratory-detected gastrointestinal illness; however, this result does not preclude a relationship between food hygiene and rates of gastrointestinal illnesses, as laboratory-detected illness rates make up only a small proportion of actual rates of illness in the community.

Conclusions

Certain types of UK premises are more likely to have low hygiene scores, which means that they should be targeted more for enforcement. These types of premises are more prevalent in the most economically deprived areas.
Functional multi-band THz meta-foils
Authors: Wu Jianfeng , Moser Herbert O. , Xu Su , Jian Linke , Banas Agnieszka , Banas Krzysztof , Chen Hongsheng , Bettiol Andrew A. , Breese Mark B. H.
Published: December 2013

In this paper, we present the first experimental demonstration of double- and triple-band negative refraction index meta-foils in the terahertz (THz) region. Multi-band meta-foils constructed by multi-cell S-string resonators in a single structure exhibit simultaneously negative permittivity and negative permeability responses at multiple frequencies. The phenomena are confirmed by numerical simulations and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements. The flexible, freestanding multi-band meta-foils provide a promising candidate for the development of multi-frequency THz materials and devices.
Dimerization of ethene in a fluidized bed reactor using Ni-based Supported Ionic Liquid Phase (SILP) catalysts
Authors: Kohler Florian T. U. , Gärtner Konstantin , Hager Veit , Haumann Marco , Sternberg Michelle , Wang Xinjiao , Szesni Normen , Meyer Karsten , Wasserscheid Peter
Published: December 2013

Ethene dimerization to 2-butenes was catalyzed by Ni-SILP complexes for the first time in a fluidized bed to improve heat removal.
Investigation of quantitative structure–reactivity relationships in the aliphatic Claisen rearrangement of bis-vinyl ethers reveals a dipolar, dissociative mechanism
Authors: O'Rourke Natasha F. , Wulff Jeremy E.
Published: December 2013

Kinetic investigations of substituent effects in the Claisen rearrangement of bis-vinyl ether substrates suggest a dissociative mechanism of reaction.
Sodium phosphaethynolate, Na(OCP), as a “P” transfer reagent for the synthesis of N-heterocyclic carbene supported P3and PAsP radicals
Authors: Tondreau Aaron M. , Benkő Zoltán , Harmer Jeffrey R. , Grützmacher Hansjörg
Published: December 2013

From Na(OCP) as a “P” transfer reagent, the radicals (NHC–P–E–P–NHC) (E = P, As) were synthesized and characterized as donor–acceptor adducts by EPR spectroscopy and DFT computations.
Two‐dimensional iterative adaptive approach for sparse matrix solution
Authors: Jahromi M.J. , Kahaei M.H.
Published: December 2013

The two‐dimensional iterative adaptive approach (2D IAA) algorithm which directly solves 2D sparse signal models is developed. Simulation results show that the 2D IAA achieves a much lower computational cost compared to its 1D version. Also, the 2D IAA has a better performance in sparse reconstruction compared to the spectral projected gradient for l1‐norm minimisation and smoothed L0 algorithms.
Rotation and scale invariant texture classification by compensating for distribution changes using covariate shift in uniform local binary patterns
Authors: Hassan A. , Riaz F. , Rehman S.
Published: December 2013

A novel rotation and scale invariant texture classification methodology is proposed based on distribution matching in higher dimensional space. Feature extraction is performed by using uniform local binary patterns (uLBPs) in which the rotation and scale changes in an image cause shifts in the underlying uLBP histograms. To compensate for these shifts at the classification layer, the distributions of training and testing data using kernel methods are estimated and means of the two distributions in the transformed domain using importance weights are matched. These calculated importance weights are used in the standard support vector machines to compensate for the shift in the distributions. The proposed method is used for classifying the images in the Brodatz texture database demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.
Sufficient conditions for loop resource subsets to derive strict minimal siphons in class of Petri nets
Authors: Liu Miao , Wang ShouGuang , Li Zhiwu
Published: December 2013

As a structural object of Petri nets, the importance of strict minimal siphons (SMSs) is well recognised in the analysis and control of deadlocks for flexible manufacturing systems. For a class of Petri nets called systems of simple sequential processes with resources (S3PRs), the concepts of critical resource places and their related multi‐way holder places are firstly proposed. Next, by analysing the structural properties of the critical resource places and their related loop resource subsets, sufficient conditions for loop resource subsets to derive SMSs are established. Finally, based on the proposed results, all SMSs can be obtained from their related loop resource subsets in an S3PR net.
Performance of BCH codes with (1 + x)s error detection
Authors: Ambroze M. , Tomlinson M.
Published: December 2013

The performance is investigated of a combined error correction and detection decoder for BCH codes for which the generator polynomial g(x) has been augmented by a (1 + x)s term in order to make the informations bits an integral number of bytes. An ARQ retransmission scheme on an additive white Gaussian noise channel is assumed and a comparison with an FEC‐only BCH code is given in terms of probability of error against Eb/N0. It is shown for a BCH (127, 106, 7) code that at high Eb/N0 the performance improvement is of three orders of magnitude at the cost of a small rate degradation. Goppa codes, whose length is an integral number of bytes, have also been investigated, producing similar results.
Online log‐likelihood ratio scaling for robust turbo decoding
Authors: El‐Khamy Mostafa , Wu Jinhong , Lee Jungwon , Kang Inyup
Published: December 2013

Optimal iterative log‐MAP decoding of turbo codes requires accurate knowledge of the operating signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR). However, the SNR information, available at practical decoders for bit‐interleaved coded modulation systems, such as the third generation partnership project high‐speed packet access and long‐term evolution wireless cellular systems, may be inaccurate. In this study, two decoder architectures for improved turbo decoding in the presence of SNR mismatch are proposed. The SNR‐mismatch aware turbo decoder selects the decoder which is estimated to have the best performance at the current mismatch, according to the test criterion. The SNR‐mismatch compensated turbo decoder provides a more accurate estimation of the noise variance and concurrently scales the channel and the decoder log‐likelihood ratios (LLRs) to continue decoding. Two different methods are proposed to find the optimal scaling factors online, one on the symbol level and the other on the bit level. This study shows that online LLR scaling, without prior knowledge about the noise mismatch statistics, can result in near‐optimal turbo decoding regardless of the initial SNR mismatch.
Quadratic boost converter with low buffer capacitor stress
Authors: Ye Yuan‐mao , Eric Cheng Ka Wai
Published: December 2013

A new quadratic boost converter is presented in this study. Compared with the conventional quadratic boost converter, the proposed converter has the feature of lower buffer capacitor voltage stress. This advantage is very valuable for high voltage and high‐voltage gain applications. The proposed converter also employed only one active switch and two LC (inductor‐capacitor) filters. Detailed analysis for its continuous current mode operation and discontinuous current mode operation both are presented. In addition, modelling for the proposed converter is also developed in this study. A prototype circuit is built and the experimental results confirm the feasibility and performance of the high step‐up converter.
Reduced order generalised integrator‐based current controller applied to shunt active power filters
Authors: Gomez Jorge Sebastian , Busada Claudio A. , Solsona Jorge
Published: December 2013

This study proposes the application of a current controller based on the reduced order generalised integrator (ROGI) to control a three‐phase three‐wire shunt active power filter (SAPF). The ROGI‐based controller has low computational burden and it is suitable for its implementation in low‐cost digital signal processors (DSPs). This controller is also frequency adaptive. This allows it to maintain its high steady‐state performance despite grid frequency variations. Unlike conventional high performance SAPFs this current controller does not require the computation of high quality current references (with low distortion and total harmonic distortion below that recommended by the IEEE Std 519‐1992). Therefore most of the available computational power can be used for compensating the harmonics produced by the load.
Operation method for parallel inverter system with common dc link
Authors: Song Chunwei , Zhao Rongxiang , Zhu Minglei , Zeng Zheng
Published: December 2013

The configuration of parallel inverter system (PIS) with common dc link and no isolation measure is proposed. The gate control signals for switches in parallel inverters are synchronised to achieve ideal parallel operation status. Adopting the double loop control method which is composed of an outer voltage loop and an inner current loop, PIS has good dynamic response and robustness. In addition, the circulating current caused by the delay time of control signal transmission is studied in detail. The proposed operation method is easy to be implemented on the digital control board using digital signal processing and field‐programmable gate array. The simulation and experimental results are presented to demonstrate the validity and features of the proposed operation method.
Unbalanced three‐phase distribution system frequency estimation using least mean squares method and positive voltage sequence
Authors: Marčetić Darko P. , Tomić Josif J. , Kušljević Miodrag D.
Published: December 2013

The subject of this study is a frequency estimation algorithm suitable for grid‐connected power converters placed at a weak coupling point of a three‐phase electrical distribution system. An upgraded version of the widely used complex least mean squares (CLMS) algorithm for frequency estimation is introduced to cope with different voltage amplitude unbalance and harmonic distortion levels, both frequently present in power system at distribution level. First, it is suggested that the CLMS algorithm uses only a positive phase‐sequence component of voltage vector, the component that is inherently symmetrical and by cancelling the phase unbalance preserves the circular vector trajectory in a two‐phase αβ‐plane. This study shows that it is even possible to use the positive voltage phase‐sequence vector extracted using a constant delay block, thus avoiding potential instability issues in the case of signal frequency feedback loop. Second, possible high signal harmonics and signal measurement noise are both removed using low‐pass filters prior to CLMS algorithm deployment. Computer simulations and experiments are performed under a variety of conditions to validate the effectiveness of the proposed technique. Experimental results are achieved using the dataset sampled from the actual three‐phase grid voltage at distributed level and with data processing done in the LabVIEW software environment.
Penicillin-mediated changes in viable benthic diatom assemblages – insights about the relevance of bacteria across spatial and seasonal scales
Authors: D'Costa Priya M. , Anil Arga C.
Published: December 2013

Penicillin, a β-lactam antibiotic, cannot affect diatoms directly but does so through bacteria. Its effects on viable benthic diatom assemblages in a tropical environment were evaluated across spatial (intertidal sandflat, mangrove site, port environment) and seasonal (post-monsoon, pre-monsoon, monsoon) scales. Penicillin treatment resulted in bacterial suppression and a reduction in diatoms at the intertidal and mangrove sites having stable pennate-dominated assemblages. Diatom response at the port site, dominated by transient centric diatoms, ranged from total inhibition to enhancement. The monsoon diatom assemblages, which differed in composition from those in other seasons, showed reduced susceptibility to penicillin. These observations highlight the bacterial influence on diatom assemblages and the significance of species composition of diatom assemblages in these interactions. Epipsammic diatoms (Cocconeis, Grammatophora and Thalassionema) were more sensitive to penicillin than epipelic forms, probably due to: (1) their inability to escape unfavourable bacterial metabolites because of limited diffusion in benthic environments; and (2) the interference of penicillin with the bacterial ‘conditioning’ film required for their attachment. Overall, the observations from the present, preliminary, ecological study provide insights into the relevance of bacteria in influencing viable benthic diatom assemblages across spatial and seasonal scales and emphasise the need for future mesocosm experiments on these aspects.
A Cdc42- and Rac-interactive binding (CRIB) domain mediates functions of coronin
Authors: Swaminathan Karthic , Müller-Taubenberger Annette , Faix Jan , Rivero Francisco , Noegel Angelika A.
Published: December 2013

Significance

Mammalian nonmuscle myosin II, a major player in cell migration and polarity, is regulated through heavy chain phosphorylation. The signaling mechanisms remain largely unknown. We implicate here coronin in this pathway. Coronin has a Cdc42- and Rac-interactive binding (CRIB) motif with which it binds preferentially to the GDP-loaded form of Rho GTPases. Loss of coronin in
Dictyostelium
amoebae leads to elevated levels of activated Rac, resulting in increased myosin II assembly through activation of p21-activated kinase a (PAKa). PAKa inactivates myosin heavy chain kinases that no longer can phosphorylate myosin II and prevent filament formation. By including myosin heavy chain kinase–deficient cells we were able to further map the signaling cascade regulating myosin II.
Atomic nucleus
Authors: Galitski Victor , Karnakov Boris , Kogan Vladimir , Galitski, Jr. Victor
Published: December 2013

This chapter covers problems that deal with nuclear forces — the fundamentals (the deuteron); the shell model; and isotopic invariance.
Ecology of viruses
Authors: Kirchman David L.
Published: December 2013

In addition to grazing, another form of top-down control of microbes is lysis by viruses. There is probably a virus or several for every one organism in the biosphere, but the most common viruses are thought to be those that infect bacteria. Viruses come in many varieties, but the simplest is a form of nucleic acid wrapped in a protein coat. The form of nucleic acid can be virtually any type of RNA or DNA, single or double stranded. Few viruses in nature can be identified by traditional methods, because their hosts cannot be grown in the lab. Direct count methods have found that viruses are very abundant, being about 10-fold more abundant than bacteria, but the ratio of viruses to bacteria varies greatly, especially so in soils. Viruses are thought to account for about 50 per cent of bacterial mortality, but the percentage varies from zero to 100 per cent, depending on the environment and time. In addition to viruses of bacteria and cyanobacteria, studies by microbial ecologists conducted to date have examined viruses of phytoplankton and the possibility that when viral lysis ends, phytoplankton blooms. While viral lysis and grazing are both top-down controls on microbial growth, they differ in several crucial respects. Unlike grazers, which often completely oxidize prey organic material to carbon dioxide and inorganic nutrients, viral lysis releases the organic material from hosts more or less without modification. Perhaps even more important, viruses may facilitate the exchange of genetic material from one host to another.