bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comparison of clinical efficacy among remifentanil, nicardipine, and remifentanil plus nicardipine continuous infusion for hypotensive anesthesia during arthroscopic shoulder surgery
Authors: Kim Joon Yub , Song Seong Hun , Cho Jae Ho , Cho Hyung Rae
Published: June 2017

Purpose:

Hypotensive anesthesia is crucial during arthroscopic shoulder surgery to reduce bleeding and allow for clear visibility. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical efficacy of continuous infusion of remifentanil, nicardipine, and remifentanil plus nicardipine to control hypotensive anesthesia in arthroscopic shoulder surgery.

Methods:

For this study, we enrolled 45 consecutive patients who were scheduled to have arthroscopic rotator cuff repair surgery and randomly allocated them into remifentanil (group R, n = 15), nicardipine (group N, n = 15), and remifentanil plus nicardipine (group RN, n = 15) groups. During the surgeries, these drugs were administered with continuous infusion. We analyzed the mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate during surgery, stay time in the recovery room, visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, use of antiemetics in the recovery room, and postoperative blood urea nitrogen and creatinine changes.

Results:

The VAS score in the recovery room was higher for group R (mean 5.6, SD 1.4) than for groups N (mean 3.9, SD 0.9) and RN (mean 4.0, SD 1.1; p = 0.000). There were no statistical differences regarding other clinical variables among the three groups (all p > 0.05) except for MAP at 120 min of surgery between groups N and RN (N: 84.67 (SD 10.7) mmHg, RN: 65.4 (SD 9.2) mmHg, p = 0.027).

Conclusion:

The continuous infusion of remifentanil plus nicardipine appeared to be advantageous for maintaining hypotensive anesthesia until 120 min of arthroscopic shoulder surgery without rebound pain in a postanesthesia care unit.
NR4A orphan nuclear receptor family members, NR4A2 and NR4A3, regulate neutrophil number and survival
Authors: Prince Lynne R. , Prosseda Svenja D. , Higgins Kathryn , Carlring Jennifer , Prestwich Elizabeth C. , Ogryzko Nikolay V. , Rahman Atiqur , Basran Alexander , Falciani Francesco , Taylor Philip , Renshaw Stephen A. , Whyte Moira K. B. , Sabroe Ian
Published: June 2017

Key Points

We demonstrate an important role for NR4A receptors in regulating neutrophil lifespan and homeostasis in vitro and in vivo. These findings may define targets for therapies for diseases driven by defects in neutrophil number and/or survival.
CNS Tumors in Neurofibromatosis
Authors: Campian Jian , Gutmann David H.
Published: June 2017

Neurofibromatosis (NF) encompasses a group of distinct genetic disorders in which affected children and adults are prone to the development of benign and malignant tumors of the nervous system. The purpose of this review is to discuss the spectrum of CNS tumors arising in individuals with NF type 1 (NF1) and NF type 2 (NF2), their pathogenic etiologies, and the rational treatment options for people with these neoplasms. This article is a review of preclinical and clinical data focused on the treatment of the most common CNS tumors encountered in children and adults with NF1 and NF2. Although children with NF1 are at risk for developing low-grade gliomas of the optic pathway and brainstem, individuals with NF2 typically manifest low-grade tumors affecting the cranial nerves (vestibular schwannomas), meninges (meningiomas), and spinal cord (ependymomas). With the identification of the NF1 and NF2 genes, molecularly targeted therapies are beginning to emerge, as a result of a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying NF1 and NF2 protein function. As we enter into an era of precision oncology, a more comprehensive awareness of the factors that increase the risk of developing CNS cancers in affected individuals, coupled with a greater appreciation of the cellular and molecular determinants that maintain tumor growth, will undoubtedly yield more effective therapies for these cancer predisposition syndromes.
Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology Clinical Trials
Authors: Wen Patrick Y. , Chang Susan M. , Van den Bent Martin J. , Vogelbaum Michael A. , Macdonald David R. , Lee Eudocia Q.
Published: June 2017

Development of novel therapies for CNS tumors requires reliable assessment of response and progression. This requirement has been particularly challenging in neuro-oncology for which contrast enhancement serves as an imperfect surrogate for tumor volume and is influenced by agents that affect vascular permeability, such as antiangiogenic therapies. In addition, most tumors have a nonenhancing component that can be difficult to accurately quantify. To improve the response assessment in neuro-oncology and to standardize the criteria that are used for different CNS tumors, the Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (RANO) working group was established. This multidisciplinary international working group consists of neuro-oncologists, medical oncologists, neuroradiologists, neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, neuropsychologists, and experts in clinical outcomes assessments, working in collaboration with government and industry to enhance the interpretation of clinical trials. The RANO working group was originally created to update response criteria for high- and low-grade gliomas and to address such issues as pseudoresponse and nonenhancing tumor progression from antiangiogenic therapies, and pseudoprogression from radiochemotherapy. RANO has expanded to include working groups that are focused on other tumors, including brain metastases, leptomeningeal metastases, spine tumors, pediatric brain tumors, and meningiomas, as well as other clinical trial end points, such as clinical outcomes assessments, seizures, corticosteroid use, and positron emission tomography imaging. In an effort to standardize the measurement of neurologic function for clinical assessment, the Neurologic Assessment in Neuro-Oncology scale was drafted. Born out of a workshop conducted by the Jumpstarting Brain Tumor Drug Development Coalition and the US Food and Drug Administration, a standardized brain tumor imaging protocol now exists to reduce variability and improve reliability. Efforts by RANO have been widely accepted and are increasingly being used in neuro-oncology trials, although additional refinements will be needed.
Primary CNS Lymphoma
Authors: Grommes Christian , DeAngelis Lisa M.
Published: June 2017

Primary CNS lymphoma (PCNSL) is a rare form of extranodal non-Hodgkin lymphoma that is typically confined to the brain, eyes, and cerebrospinal fluid without evidence of systemic spread. The prognosis of patients with PCNSL has improved during the last decades with the introduction of high-dose methotrexate. However, despite recent progress, results after treatment are durable in half of patients, and therapy can be associated with late neurotoxicity. PCNSL is an uncommon tumor, and only four randomized trials and one phase III trial have been completed so far, all in the first-line setting. To our knowledge, no randomized trial has been conducted for recurrent/refractory disease, leaving many questions unanswered about optimal first-line and salvage treatments. This review will give an overview of the presentation, evaluation, and treatment of immunocompetent patients with PCNSL.
Adult Glioblastoma
Authors: Alexander Brian M. , Cloughesy Timothy F.
Published: June 2017

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a rare tumor and one of the most challenging malignancies to treat in all of oncology. Although advances have been made in the treatment of GBM, encouraging outcomes typically are not observed; patients diagnosed with these tumors generally have a dismal prognosis and poor quality of life as the disease progresses. This review summarizes the clinical presentation of GBM, diagnostic methods, evidentiary basis for the current standards of care, and investigational approaches to treat or manage GBM. Because the track record for developing effective therapies for GBM has been dismal, we also review the challenges to successful therapeutic and biomarker development.
Current Clinical Challenges in Childhood Ependymoma: A Focused Review
Authors: Merchant Thomas E.
Published: June 2017

Ependymoma is a locally aggressive tumor with metastatic potential that arises in diverse locations throughout the brain and spine in children. Tumor and treatment may result in significant morbidity. Cure remains elusive for many patients owing to diverse biology and resistance to conventional therapy. The implementation of systematic postoperative irradiation in clinical trials during the past 20 years has increased the proportion of patients achieving durable disease control with excellent results, as measured by objective functional outcome measures. Clinical, pathologic, and molecular risk stratification should be used to refine treatment regimens for children with ependymoma to reduce the risk of complications associated with therapy and increase the rate of disease control in the setting of combined modality or more intensive therapy. This review covers standards of care and current clinical trials for children with ependymoma, emphasizing the history and evolution of treatment regimens during the past 20 years and the clinical questions they hoped to address.
Situated Cognition and the Study of Culture: An Introduction
Authors: Morgan Ben
Published: June 2017

The article surveys three major positions in early debates about situated cognition in the 1990s as they are represented, in particular, in the work of Edwin Hutchins, Jean Lave, Etienne Wenger, Tim van Gelder, Andy Clark, Jerome S. Bruner, and John Haugeland. Rather than arbitrate among the three positions and declare a winner, the article suggests that the very tensions between subpersonal, suprapersonal, and personal levels of analysis evident in the debates are a necessary feature of the study of situated cognition, which can be resolved only by the sort of case by case negotiation of which we find records in the cultural archive. The eight case studies collected in this special issue can be read as explorations of the historical variety of these lived negotiations.
Situated Cognition: The Literary Archive
Authors: Cave Terence
Published: June 2017

Literary utterances reflect the situatedness of cognition itself both through their historico-cultural specificity and through their deployment of highly particularized language. It follows that the literary archive (in the broadest sense, all forms of storytelling, fiction, poetry, song, drama, and their offshoots) is also a cognitive archive and that a history of cognition and of reflection on cognition might be traced through imaginative literature rather than through a history of science, a history of philosophy, or a history of ideas. In such a project, the local and contextual aspects of the archive would be taken into account not just as contingent factors but as part of the exercise of calibrating the cultural reach of cognition: what it is capable of, and its constraints, in different local ecologies. The literary archive, it will be argued, offers to the interdisciplinary field of cognitive studies a reservoir of potential insights into the embodied interconnectivity of cognitive process together with a critical language which is enactive, context oriented, sensitive to the conditions of live cultural ecologies. The essay features textual examples drawn from the writings of Michel de Montaigne and Andrew Marvell.
Feeling Beauty, Time, and the Body in Neuroaesthetics
Authors: Lutterbie John
Published: June 2017

Innovations in neural imaging have given rise to the relatively new field of neuroaesthetics, an interdisciplinary approach to issues of aesthetics located at the intersection of the cognitive sciences, arts, and humanities. Using G. Gabrielle Starr's discussion of Gian Bernini's Apollo and Daphne in Feeling Beauty: The Neuroscience of Aesthetic Experience (2013), this essay expands on her work by stressing the importance of the phenomenological body and a theory of time to an understanding of the aesthetic experience.
Embodied Cognition and the Project of the Bildungsroman: Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and Daniel Deronda
Authors: Morgan Ben
Published: June 2017

The article uses the example of the European bildungsroman as represented paradigmatically in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (1795 – 96) to investigate the effects of reading. Goethe's text is sensitive to the embodied encounters that shape how we relate to the experience of reading, showing the forms of sensuous interaction in which literary reading has its roots. The model of reading presented in Goethe's text is contextualized with reference to debates about fiction circa 1800 but also to developmental psychology research into the emotional preconditions of an engagement with narrative and to recent discussions of the so-called paradox of fiction. To explore in more concrete terms the effect of reading Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, the article then turns to George Eliot's response in Daniel Deronda (1876). Goethe's novel appeals to the bodies of its characters and its readers. Eliot responds to this appeal by emphasizing that bodily reactions are themselves always shaped by history. However, it takes a certain sort of openness, which is learned more through interaction than through fiction, for characters and readers alike to confront the challenges and opportunities that an insight into the embodied nature of larger historical processes presents.
Rhetoric, Neurocognitive Poetics, and the Aesthetics of Adaptation
Authors: Nicklas Pascal , Jacobs Arthur M.
Published: June 2017

Rhetorical effects in speech and writing have a great strategic importance in achieving the communicative end of being persuasive: they are key in the exertion of power through language. Persuasion occurs by cognitive-affective stimulation, relying on specific psychosomatic perceptual patterns which are used on all levels of speech reception in cultural and political contexts. This makes rhetorically conspicuous texts efficient as stimulus material for empirical research into neurocognitive modeling of how poetic texts are read. Adaptations as revisitations of prior works share with the rhetorical repertoire of repetition similar cognitive-affective properties, because both function via recognition of sameness or similarity. Recent paradigm shifts in adaptation studies have much enlarged the field of research, so Linda Hutcheon's as yet empirically unsupported insight that adaptation is the norm and not the exception in human imagination finds an unexpectedly large field of application. This shift away from the narrow standard paradigm of novels adapted for the screen to a more fundamental aesthetics of adaptation has also helped establish connections between adaptation studies and the experiment-based methodologies of empirical aesthetics and neuroaesthetics with a view to developing cognitive and affective models of the processes underlying the reception of adaptations.
Inserción de los países de la Alianza del Pacífico en Asia-Pacífico: más allá de las relaciones comerciales
Authors: Rojas Lozano Daniel , Terán Obando José Miguel
Published: June 2017

El siglo XXI ha sido considerado como el siglo del Pacífico. La Alianza del Pacífico no es ajena a dicho fenómeno la cual, entre otros motivos, surgió para lograr una mejor inserción de sus países miembro en esta área y, más específicamente, en la parte asiática del Pacífico. Dicha inserción ha tendido a explicarse en términos de intercambios comerciales, los cuales se han incrementado en los últimos años y tienen una importancia central en las interrelaciones, pero no evidencian el amplio alcance que tienen las relaciones entre Chile, Colombia, México y Perú con Asia-Pacífico; además, la política exterior no se limita a la búsqueda de nuevos mercados y socios económicos. Este trabajo presenta una sistematización de tratados establecidos entre los países que son actualmente miembros de la Alianza del Pacífico con China, Corea y Japón entre los años 1990 y 2016. A partir del análisis comparado del conjunto de tratados se observa que el tema de comercio tiene una participación muy baja en la totalidad de las relaciones que se consolidan a través de los tratados.
La política de la despolitización. Un análisis de la construcción del relato PRO
Authors: Schuttenberg Mauricio
Published: June 2017

Recientemente la alianza Cambiemos logró acceder al gobierno argentino por elecciones e incluso ganar un histórico bastión del peronismo como lo era la provincia de Buenos Aires. Este triunfo del PRO rompe con la histórica dificultad de la derecha de lograr acceder al poder por medios electorales. Esta situación, inesperada para un sector amplio de las ciencias sociales, reabre indudablemente el debate en torno a los alcances y a la naturaleza del proceso político en ciernes. El artículo propone un análisis del discurso político para mostrar la conformación de un relato que tiende a ocultar la dimensión conflictiva de la política y reemplazarla por una concepción consensualista a la vez que se construye desde una mirada deshistorizadora de nuestro pasado como elemento nodal del relato.
Comunicar el riesgo desde la anticipación. El Periodismo de Prevención, una propuesta.
Authors: Alende Castro Silvia
Published: June 2017

Definida como sociedad del riesgo, la actual es una sociedad propensa a distintos tipos de trastornos y situaciones de inseguridad. En este contexto, la práctica social del periodismo se asocia con el aporte al sujeto de recursos y habilidades para desenvolverse en el medio social. En este sentido, se presenta una propuesta teórica acerca del Periodismo de Prevención (PdP) como una modalidad informativa que busca aproximarse a la cotidianeidad del lector por medio de la publicación anticipada de información de carácter útil que permita una adecuada gestión de riesgos en su entorno próximo. Así, en este trabajo se ofrecen los resultados de un estudio más amplio sobre el modelo teórico en el que se sustenta el Periodismo de Prevención así como sobre sus características de publicación, testadas a través del análisis de contenido. metodológicamente, este estudio plantea un análisis de más de 30000 unidades informativas revisadas en 406 ejemplares de 12 diarios españoles en galicia. Entre las principales conclusiones, esta investigación permite afirmar que el PdP se centra temáticamente en riesgos vinculados a la salud humana.
Barreras en la comunicación durante situaciones de crisis: lecciones de tres estudios sobre el tifón Haiyan en Filipinas
Authors: Takahashi Bruno , Tandoc Edson , Nieves Pizzaro Yadira
Published: June 2017

Este artículo presenta una sinopsis de los hallazgos primordiales de tres investigaciones dirigidas al uso de redes sociales durante el tifón Haiyan acontecido en Filipinas. En primer lugar, se realizó un análisis del contenido de Twitter para comunicarse de forma colectiva durante el tifón. segundo, se indagó a través de entrevistas en profundidad la manera cómo varios actores emplearon los redes sociales para mantenerse al tanto de los esfuerzos de auxilio del personal de Gobierno y para buscar soporte emocional. Tercero, también a través de entrevistas, se compilaron las experiencias de los periodistas que cubrieron el tifón y las limitaciones que enfrentaron desde el punto de vista profesional pero a la vez en su condición de víctimas. El artículo concluye con recomendaciones prácticas sobre el uso de redes sociales durante un desastre natural, y otras para tener en cuenta en próximos estudios empíricos y teóricos.
Riesgo y desastres en periodismo
Authors: Toussaint Alcaráz Florence , García Méndez Carlos Alberto
Published: June 2017

En todas las épocas el periodismo responde al modelo económico político imperante en la sociedad en que se ejerce. La tecnología que acompaña dichos procesos le da cuerpo, ritmo y estructura. Partiendo de este principio, el presente texto se ocupa de establecer algunas consideraciones sobre cómo la vida social del siglo XXI, acelerada y consumista, incierta y riesgosa se refleja, influye, matiza el ejercicio periodístico. En este contexto, la temática de los desastres naturales encuentra acomodo en la prensa, en los informativos televisivos, radiofónicos y de manera preponderante en Internet.
Using simulated practice in pre-registration education to explore mental health issues
Authors: Eade Amanda Collins , Winter Claire
Published: June 2017

UK policy advocates that all nurses should have the skills to work with individuals experiencing mental health problems. However, barriers exist in that mental health placements for child student nurses are brief or difficult to arrange. This hinders opportunities to develop a therapeutic working relationship with young people, consolidate skills and ultimately develop confidence in working with young people presenting with mental health problems. A 3-day simulated practice strategy with child nursing students was designed to give students the knowledge, skills and confidence to work with young people who present to services with mental health problems. Students were approached 6 months after their simulated practice training to evaluate their opportunities to put their skills into practice while on placement. Once back in practice, 100% of students said they had improved confidence in working with young people who present with mental health problems
Improving patient safety in the NHS: the culture change agents
Authors: Tingle John , Minford Jen
Published: June 2017

John Tingle, Reader in Health Law at Nottingham Trent University, and Jen Minford, Junior Doctor Coordinator, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, look at the role of patient safety culture change agents in the NHS
Compassionate leadership counts
Authors: Foster Sam
Published: June 2017

Sam Foster, Chief Nurse at Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, discusses how attitudes to leadership styles have changed and reflects on the role of compassionare leadership in improving care
A Study of the Effects of Digital Learning on Learning Motivation and Learning Outcome
Authors: Lin Ming-Hung , Chen Huang-Cheng , Liu Kuang-Sheng
Published: June 2017

Background:
In the modern society when intelligent mobile devices become popular, the Internet breaks through the restrictions on time and space and becomes a ubiquitous learning tool. Designing teaching activity for digital learning and flexibly applying technology tools are the key issues for current information technology integrated education.

Material and methods:
In this study, students are tested and proceeded questionnaire survey to understand the opinions about digital learning. To effectively achieve the research objectives and test the research hypotheses, quasi-experimental research is applied in this study. Total 116 students in 4 classes are selected as the research subjects for the instructional research.

Results:
The research results conclude that 1.digital learning presents better positive effects on learning motivation than traditional teaching does, 2.digital learning shows better positive effects on learning outcome than traditional teaching does, 3.learning motivation reveals significantly positive effects on learning effect in learning outcome, and 4.learning motivation appears remarkably positive effects on learning gain in learning outcome.

Conclusions:
It is expected to combine with current teaching trend and utilize the advantages of digital learning to develop practicable teaching strategies for the teaching effectiveness.
Insights into Diagenesis and Pore Structure of Opalinus Shale Through Comparative Studies of Natural and Reconstituted Materials
Authors: Seiphoori Ali , Whittle Andrew J. , Krakowiak Konrad J. , Einstein Herbert H.
Published: June 2017

Shales have undergone a complex burial diagenesis that involved a severe modification of the pore structure. Reconstituted shales can provide new insights into the nature of the pore structure in natural materials. The effects of diagenesis on the microfabric, pore size distribution, and porosity of Opalinus shale were measured by comparing the behavior of natural and reconstituted specimens. The parent material (Opalinus shale) was reconstituted through multiple grinding operations, sedimentation from a dispersed slurry, and one-dimensional isothermal consolidation. This process produced uniform specimens that were not cemented and had replicable microfabric and engineering properties. The microfabric and mineralogy of the materials were examined using high-resolution scanning/backscattered electron microscopy (SEM/BSEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) for specimens with broken and milled surfaces. Mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) and N2 adsorption were used to assess the pore size distributions and specific surface areas of the materials. The microstructure of natural shale was characterized to be highly heterogeneous with significant concentrations of calcareous microfossils, calcite, and quartz particles embedded within the clay matrix. The microfossils were observed to be locally infilled and rimmed by a calcite cement that showed evidence of dissolution. The reconstituted specimens showed a double-structure microfabric that evolved with the level of consolidation stress and converged into a single-structure material (comparable to the natural shale) at a consolidation stress of more than twice the estimated maximum in situ effective stress. The natural shale had a lower specific surface area in comparison to the reconstituted material, which was consolidated at large effective stresses. These differences can be attributed to cementation at a submicron pore scale and highlight chemical diagenesis effects that were not replicated in the reconstituted specimens.
Analgesia and Opioids: A Pharmacogenetics Shortlist for Implementation in Clinical Practice
Authors: Matic Maja , de Wildt Saskia N , Tibboel Dick , van Schaik Ron H N
Published: June 2017

BACKGROUND

The use of opioids to alleviate pain is complicated by the risk of severe adverse events and the large variability in dose requirements. Pharmacogenetics (PGx) could possibly be used to tailor pain medication based on an individual's genetic background. Many potential genetic markers have been described, and the importance of genetic predisposition in opioid efficacy and toxicity has been demonstrated in knockout mouse models and human twin studies. Such predictors are especially of value for neonates and young children, in whom the assessment of efficacy or side effects is complicated by the inability of the patient to communicate this properly. The current problem is determining which of the many potential candidates to focus on for clinical implementation.

CONTENT

We systematically searched publications on PGx for opioids in 5 databases, aiming to identify PGx markers with sufficient robust data and high enough occurrence for potential clinical application. The initial search yielded 4257 unique citations, eventually resulting in 852 relevant articles covering 24 genes. From these genes, we evaluated the evidence and selected the most promising 10 markers: cytochrome P450 family 2 subfamily D member 6 (CYP2D6), cytochrome P450 family 3 subfamily A member 4 (CYP3A4), cytochrome P450 family 3 subfamily A member 5 (CYP3A5), UDP glucuronosyltransferase family 2 member B7 (UGT2B7), ATP binding cassette subfamily B member 1 (ABCB1), ATP binding cassette subfamily C member 3 (ABCC3), solute carrier family 22 member 1 (SLC22A1), opioid receptor kappa 1 (OPRM1), catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), and potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily J member 6 (KCNJ6). Treatment guidelines based on genotype are already available only for CYP2D6.

The application of PGx in the management of pain with opioids has the potential to improve therapy. We provide a shortlist of 10 genes that are the most promising markers for clinical use in this context.
A NEW RECORD OF ETLINGERA PAUCIFLORA (ZINGIBERACEAE) IN JAVA, INDONESIA
Authors: Puspitaningrum Dini , Mustaqim W.A , Ardiyani Marlina
Published: June 2017

PUSPITANINGRUM, D., MUSTAQIM, W. A. & ARDIYANI, M. 2017. A new record of Etlingera pauciflora (Zingiberaceae) in Java, Indonesia. Reinwardtia 16 (1): 1 - 4. — Etlingera pauciflora has been documented for the first time in Java, Indonesia, at Mount Honje, Ujung Kulon National Park, Banten. Description, figure as well as DNA barcodes are provided.
Spectral characterization, microbial activities and toxicity study of some newly synthesized hydrazone derivatives
Authors: Kalaiarasi N. , Manivarman S.
Published: June 2017

Hydrazone derivatives of 2-Thioxodihyropyrimidine-2-dione were synthesized by addition of thiobarbituric acid with phenyl hydrazine, dinitrophenyl hydrazine, semicarbazide, thiosemicarbazide and benzohydrazide respectively. Structures of these synthesized compounds are characterized by means of UV, IR, Proton-NMR, Carbon- NMR. Finally the hydrazone derivatives synthesized are screened for biological activities namely antibacterial and antifungal activities. Also in addition the toxicity studies of the compounds are also performed.
Plants foraged by bees for honey production in northern India: The diverse flora of India and its implications for apiculture
Authors: Chauhan Mohan Singh , Farooqui Anjum , Trivedi Anjali
Published: June 2017

The plants foraged by bees for honey production vary from place to place in the diverse flora of India. This paper reports a palynological study of honey from eight sites of agriculture and urbanisation in the Gangetic Plain of Uttar Pradesh (UP), and presents data from similar studies done in India. Pollen grains of 55 species were recorded in the honey from south-western, central and eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh, whereAgeratum conyzoides, a noxious invasive weed, is a very dominant plant taxon. The second plant community used for foraging by honeybees consists ofSyzygium cumini,Feronia limonia,Eucalyptus globulus,Prosopis spicigera,Prosopis juliflora,Brassica campestris,Pimpinella tomentosa,Xanthium strumarium, andZiziphussp. The third plant community foraged by honeybees includes diverse plant species such asCapparissp.,Ficussp.,Murraya koenigii,Aegle marmelos, andTinospora cordifolia, as well as Caryophyllaceae and nectarless families. The last group of plants foraged by honeybees comprises ca 37 species sparsely present in the vicinity. If honeybees have access to their preferred plant species they rarely visit non-preferred species, but in the urban and rural agricultural areas where the vegetation is sparse they are forced to forage several other plants including invasive species. The quality and character of honey, whether multifloral, monofloral, or bifloral, largely indicates the changing pattern of vegetation in a particular area, and can furnish decadal to century-scale information about the vegetational changes induced by climate or anthropopression. Palynological data also shed light on medicinally important or allergenic pollen protein present in honey (valuable information for consumers) and the details about plant taxa foraged by honeybees can be used for branding and marketing particular types of honey.
The use of previously known languages in the oral production of L3 English learners: A pseudolongitudinal study
Authors: Arratibel-Irazusta Izaskun , Martínez Adrián María
Published: June 2017

Recent studies have concluded that type of language teaching programs such as Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) may have an effect on the use of previously known languages. Most of the studies that have tackled the use of previously known languages in the CLIL literature have compared CLIL to non-CLIL learners. However, few (pseudo)longitudinal studies have been conducted in this respect. This paper will try to fill this gap by examining the use of previously known languages (L1 Spanish/L2 Basque) in an oral narration task in two different age/proficiency CLIL groups. Participants are Basque/Spanish bilinguals learning English as a third language (L3) in a CLIL setting. Both groups started learning English at the age of 3 but differ in length and amount of exposure. Results show that both groups behave in the same way in terms of the use of previously known languages except for the production of foreignizings, which were more frequent in the younger group. The examination of the results also revealed that discourse markers was the most common manifestation of use of previous linguistic experience when compared to the rest of the categories.
The effect of storage and processing on vitamin C content in Japanese quince fruit
Authors: Bieniasz Monika , Dziedzic Ewa , Kaczmarczyk Elżbieta
Published: June 2017

Stability of vitamin C in stored fruit and sugar syrup of Japanese quince was tested. Vitamin C was measured in the fruit at harvest and after a few weeks of storage under normal atmospheric conditions. Sugar syrup obtained from the fruit was subjected to analysis before and after pasteurisation, and after several weeks of storage. The Chaenomeles genotypes tested were valuable in terms of vitamin C content. Storage significantly reduced the vitamin C content in the fruit, by 20% on average after 2 weeks of storage. The mechanical treatment and preparation of sugar syrup decreased the vitamin content by nearly two-thirds when compared with the fruit at harvest. Pasteurisation and storage of the sugar syrup contributed to further losses of vitamin C, reducing it to a very low level.
Improvement of shear strength, wood failure percentage and wet delamination of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels made with superheated steam treated (SHST) layers of larch wood
Authors: Han Yeonjung , Park Yonggun , Chang Yoon-Seong , Chung Hyunwoo , Eom Chang-Deuk , Yeo Hwanmyeong
Published: June 2017

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels – consisting of several cross-wise stacked layers of glued boards – have a high dimensional stability. However, the outer surfaces of CTL are exposed to environmental humidity changes and thus to swelling and shrinking. To improve CLT’s dimensional stability further, the layers of kiln dried (KD) CLT were substituted partly (on the surfaces) and entirely with superheated steam treated (SHST) wood. The effects of SHST wood and the performance of the one-component polyurethane resin (PUR) were tested by block shear and delamination tests after water soaking. Under various conditions, the shear strength ranged from 1.3 MPa to 4.7 MPa and the wood failure percentage (WFP) from 76% to 92%. The optimal parameter were ascertained as pressing time (30–45 min), pressure (0.98 MPa) and adhesive amount (175–200 g m−2). The water soaked delamination of CLT manufactured with SHST wood was approximately 50% lower than that of CLT made of KD wood.
Research Progress on Infectious Inflammation Markers in Blood
Authors: Dong Xifeng
Published: June 2017

Acute phase protein (APP) is a type of special protein closely related to infection inflammation. In recent years, a large number of studies have shown that multiple positive and negative APPs, including C-reactive protein, serum amyloid A, procalcitonin, haptoglobin, alpha1 acid glycoprotein, ceruloplasmin, fibrinogen, prealbumin, leptin, albumin, and plasma fibronectin, are significantly correlated to infectious inflammation and that this method is more accurate and reliable than somatic cell test, erythrocyte sedimentation rate test, enzyme activity and content change test, and the like. Therefore, APP could be used as an infectious inflammation marker.
New Research Progress in Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infection
Authors: Li Fengtan
Published: June 2017

As an important pathogen of respiratory tract infection,Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP)may not only lead to primary atypical pneumonia but also cause systemic organ conditions. MP causes respiratory tract infection among school-age children and is also an important infectious agent for adult respiratory tract infection. Intensive studies on roles ofMPinfection on the innate immune system significantly aid development of targeted therapy drugs. Epidemic studies on associated symptoms also help in clinical prevention and diagnosis and show importance to personalized treatment utilizing different drugs for different patients. This study summarizes the abovementioned three points based onMPstudies in recent years.
Advances in Animal Models of Hepatitis B Virus Infection
Authors: Zhang Hang
Published: June 2017

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection seriously affects human health. Stable and reliable animal models of HBV infection bear significance in studying pathogenesis of this health condition and development of intervention measures. HBV exhibits high specificity for hosts, and chimpanzee is long used as sole animal model of HBV infection. However, use of chimpanzees is strictly constrained because of ethical reasons. Many methods were used to establish small-animal models of HBV infection. Tupaia is the only nonprimate animal that can be infected by HBV. Use of HBV-related duck hepatitis virus and marmot hepatitis virus infection model contributed to evaluation of mechanism of HBV replication and HBV treatment methods. In recent years, development of human–mouse chimeric model provided possibility of using common experimental animals to carry out HBV research. These models feature their own advantages and disadvantages and can be complementary in some ways. This study provides an overview of current and commonly used animal models of HBV infection.
Advances in Epidemiological Studies of Herpes Zoster
Authors: Liu Yuan
Published: June 2017

Herpes zoster (HZ) is a varicella zoster virus (VZV) that attacks locality of nerves and skin, resulting information of clusters of blisters on the skin connected unilateral facial nerve and accompanying apparent nerve pain. Incidence ranges from 3.2 to 4.2 per 1000 populations per year in the United States. Influence factors of HZ include age, infection history with VZV, vaccination history of varicella vaccine, reduced immunocompetence, and other diseases. Current domestic studies on HZ mainly focus on clinical reports of case treatment. This study reviews advances in foreign epidemiological studies of HZ.
Analysis on Risk Factors of Nosocomial Infection in Orthopedic Patients and Research on Nursing Strategies
Authors: Guo Zhitao
Published: June 2017

Orthopedic patients mostly comprise traumatic patients and elderly or sick individuals. More patients with emergency surgery suffer from open wounds and serious pollution, and operation time is relatively long. Thus, orthopedic patients with surgical incision infection account for a large proportion of incidence of hospital infection. Orthopedic patients are also bedridden for long periods, and they receive poor bone tissue blood supply. In surgical incision infections, mild cases suffer from delayed wound healing, whereas severe cases can form osteomyelitis. This study reviews progress of research on risk factors of nosocomial infection among orthopedic patients in recent years.
Topological Optimization of Communication Networks by Modeling and Management of Information Flows
Authors: Trichkov K. , Trichkova E.
Published: June 2017

This paper has a main goal which is to offer a topology synthesis through modelling and management of information flows. To proposes an optimal solution for changing the existing communication network from type “star” to a dual- or triple-connected topology. To proposes a model for quantifying the quality, the continuity and fault tolerance of services provided to achieve a technologic and structural improvement of the communication network.
Decoupling Fuzzy-Neural PID Controller for TITO Nonlinear Systems
Authors: Ganchev I. , Ahmed S. , Taneva A. , Petrov M.
Published: June 2017

This paper presents a fuzzy-neural structure of a Decoupling Fuzzy PID controller with self-tuning parameters. This structure is appropriate for Two-Input-Two-Output (TITO) nonlinear system. The main advantage here is that the equation of classical PID control and decoupling coefficients are used as a Sugeno function into the fuzzy rules. Hence the designed decoupling fuzzy PID controller can be viewed as a natural similarity to the conventional one with decoupling elements. A benchmark quadruple tank, implementing a TITO nonlinear system is considered to illustrate the benefits of the design paradigm. The performance of this set up was studied for reference tracking and disturbance rejection cases. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed solution.
Comparative miRomics of Salt-Tolerant and Salt-Sensitive Rice
Authors: Goswami Kavita , Tripathi Anita , Sanan-Mishra Neeti
Published: June 2017

Increase in soil salt causes osmotic and ionic stress to plants, which inhibits their growth and productivity. Rice production is also hampered by salinity and the effect of salt is most severe at the seedling and reproductive stages. Salainity tolerance is a quantitative property controlled by multiple genes coding for signaling molecules, ion transporters, metabolic enzymes and transcription regulators. MicroRNAs are key modulators of gene-expression that act at the post-transcriptional level by translation repression or transcript cleavage. They also play an important role in regulating plant’s response to salt-stress. In this work we adopted the approach of comparative and integrated data-mining to understand the miRNA-mediated regulation of salt-stress in rice. We profiled and compared the miRNA regulations using natural varieties and transgenic lines with contrasting behaviors in response to salt-stress. The information obtained from sRNAseq, RNAseq and degradome datasets was integrated to identify the salt-deregulated miRNAs, their targets and the associated metabolic pathways. The analysis revealed the modulation of many biological pathways, which are involved in salt-tolerance and play an important role in plant phenotype and physiology. The end modifications of the miRNAs were also studied in our analysis and isomiRs having a dynamic role in salt-tolerance mechanism were identified.
Autonomous metacommunicative lexicon and its specifics in manipulative discourse
Authors: Gnezdilova Yaroslava
Published: June 2017

The article focuses on the study of metacommunicative means, and a unified approach to their classification is implemented. Special attention is drawn to distinguishing the main types of autonomous metacommunicative means and their functioning in manipulative discourse. The results show that the group of autonomous metacommunicative units comprises all those means, which preserve their metacommunicative functions even when other functions dominate.
Linguo-cognitive and pragmatic features of the prosodic organization of English parables
Authors: Musiienko Yulia
Published: June 2017

This paper highlights the results of an investigation of the cognitive and pragmatic features of prosodic loading in English parables. The analysis of the prosodic organization of directive intentions in a parable was performed by applying systematization and classification of the pragmatic aspect, structural and semantic, functional and pragmatic specificity in order to examine the process of producing and understanding the texts of English parables.
'Haunted by ambiguities' revisited: in search of a metamethod for literary text disambiguation
Authors: Vorobyova Olga P.
Published: June 2017

This paper addresses the issue of ambiguity in literary discourse, viewed through its multiple verbal and narrative manifestations in Virginia Woolf's short fiction. The research is aimed to combine traditional and most recent techniques of semantic, conceptual, narrative, semiotic, and configurational analyses as constituents of a metamethod of literary text disambiguation, which highlights some hidden features of the writer's linguistic personality.
“Shadowed Livery”: Morocco in The Merchant of Venice
Authors: Harrington Gary
Published: June 2017

In The Merchant of Venice, Portia seems relieved when the Prince of Morocco chooses the wrong casket—relieved at least in part because Morocco is black. Much textual evidence, however, suggests that Morocco is the worthiest of the three suitors who choose among the caskets in attempting to win Portia. For example, Morocco is the only one of the three who while deliberating on the caskets refers to Portia by name or by reference, and only he uses the word “love” while making his choice. Moreover, unlike Aragon and Bassanio, Morocco bases his choice on what he considers to be Portia’s merits, which he holds in so high an esteem that he mistakenly chooses the gold casket. And while Bassanio’s motives are largely mercenary, Morocco is clearly wealthy and so has no need of Portia’s money. Although Morocco exits in act two, his presence reverberates later via his association with Shylock and the Moorish woman whom Launce impregnates. Sometimes alleged to exhibit anti-Semitism, The Merchant of Venice, as the presentations of Morocco and Shylock demonstrate, actually constitutes one of Shakespeare’s most compelling endorsements of the vibrancy which diversity can impart to any society.
“Subject to Invent”: Adaptations of Shakespeare’s Sonnets into other Media
Authors: Hickman Alan Forrest
Published: June 2017

Adaptation of Shakespeare’s plays has been part of his legacy from the beginning, as works by artists such as Nahum Tate, Henry Purcell, and John Dryden can attest. Shakespeare’s Sonnets, too, have been put to many uses over the years. They have been set to music, they have been quoted by politicians, they have been used as wedding vows, and they have appeared on greeting cards. For many, they represent the ultimate statement on love. In the four hundred years since Shakespeare’s death, they have found their way into a variety of media, including music, drama, books, television, and film. Whereas the plays have long been acknowledged as a rich source of inspiration—both serious and parodic—by artists and auteurs, ranging in kind from novelist James Joyce to dramatist Tom Stoppard to comedian Ben Elton, the poems have received less scrutiny in this regard. However, they represent a gold mine of untold riches, especially in terms of biography, which has yet to be sufficiently tapped. In this paper I take a look at the various uses the sonnets have been put to, primarily in books, television, and film, and come to some conclusions regarding their success in remediation.
Use of Student-Produced Videos to Develop Oral Skills in EFL Classrooms
Authors: Akdeniz Nadide Özgüç
Published: June 2017

This paper discusses the use of student-produced videos to improve speaking skills in EFL classrooms, with emphasis on their use in preparatory classes at Kocaeli University, School of Foreign languages. The use of student-produced videos as a learning and teaching tool may greatly enhance the quality of students’ oral skills in many ways. They have the chance of reviewing their own performances, evaluating their speaking skills and becoming more self-critical of their abilities. The perspectives of using the student-created videos for the development of oral skills in language classrooms are presented.
Issues in Machine Translation
Authors: Stankevičiūtė Gilvilė , Kasperavičienė Ramunė , Horbačauskienė Jolita
Published: June 2017

Machine translation (MT) is still a huge challenge for both IT developers and users. From the beginning of machine translation, problems at the syntactic and semantic levels have been faced. Today despite progress in the development of MT, its systems still fail to recognise which synonym, collocation or word meaning should be used. Although mobile apps are very popular among users, errors in their translation output create misunderstandings. The paper deals with the analysis of machine translation of general everyday language in Lithuanian to English and English to Lithuanian language pairs. The results of the analysis show that more than two thirds of all the sentences were translated incorrectly, which means that there is a relatively small possibility that a mobile app will translate sentences correctly. The results are disappointing, because even after almost 70 years of MT research and improvement, researchers still cannot offer a system that would be able to translate with at least 50% correctness.