bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Biosimilar EPO: The Reasons to Be Confident
Authors: Berthet-Maillols Elisabeth
Published: April 2009

The arrival of biosimilar medicinal products on the market has given rise over the past few years to numerous questions, especially concerning their safety. Although generics have now acquired legitimacy, biosimilars don't yet benefit from full confidence. However, one shouldn't compare that which isn't comparable; the generics of chemical medicines have nothing to do with the biosimilars of biotechnology medicines. Specifically, biosimilars of erythropoietin seem to be viewed with a certain fear due to the secondary effects that occurred with the reference product Eprex®. The aim of this paper is to show that the regulatory framework implemented at the European level around these products allows us to be confident as to their efficacy and their safety.
The Generic Pharmaceutical Market in South Africa: At the Crossroads?
Authors:   National Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (NAPM)
Published: April 2009

The health sector in South Africa is experiencing fast-paced change – from an increasing infectious disease burden driven by HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, new medical developments and technologies to legislative acts and regulatory policies that define how medicine is practiced. Recently, a number of wide-ranging changes, which will have a lasting impact on the industry, have been introduced. Central to these changes is the National Drug Policy (NDP), which aims to increase access and affordability of essential drugs to all South Africans. It also ensures a reliable supply of safe, cost-effective drugs of acceptable quality, to all South Africans in both the private and public sectors and promotes the rational use of drugs by prescribers, dispensers and consumers. Therefore, transparent pricing regulations were introduced, which provided for the single exit price of medicines as well as the establishment of a pricing committee which collectively serves to promote transparency in the pricing structure for medicines. These regulations brought fundamental changes to the pricing of medicines, impacting on the entire pharmaceutical supply chain right down to the patient level. Other recent legislative changes introduced include mandatory generic substitution, dispensing fees for doctors and prescribed minimum benefits for medical schemes.
World Intellectual Property Organization Development Agenda
Authors: Dumont Alberto J. , Fastame Inés Gabriela
Published: April 2009

During the 31st Session of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) General Assembly, which took place in September 2004, a group of countries called ‘Friends of Development’ co-sponsored a proposal to establish a ‘Development Agenda’ for WIPO. The proposal was based on the premise that development concerns should be given emphasis in all WIPO activities, so that the Organisation may comply with its United Nations mandate. After some years of in-depth discussions, a Development Agenda was adopted in 2007 by WIPO's General Assembly. The Development Agenda includes a number of issues relevant to development such us technical assistance and capacity-building; norm-setting, flexibilities, public policy and public domain; technology transfer, information and communication technologies, and access to knowledge; assessment, evaluation and impact studies; institutional matters including mandate and governance; and so on. This paper outlines the process that led to the adoption of the Development Agenda, and analyses the expected effects and challenges of its implementation.
Performance analysis and parametric optimum criteria of an irreversible Bose–Otto engine
Authors: Wang Hao , Liu Sanqiu , He Jizhou
Published: April 2009

An irreversible cycle model of a Bose–Otto engine is established, in which finite time thermodynamic processes and the irreversibility result from the nonisentropic compression and expansion processes are taken into account. Based on the model, expressions for the power output and efficiency of the Bose–Otto engine are derived. On the basis of the thermodynamic properties of ideal Bose gas, the effects of the irreversibility and the compression ratio of the two isochoric processes on the performance of the Bose–Otto engine are revealed and some important performance parameters are optimized. Furthermore, some optimal operating regions including those for the power output, efficiency, and the temperatures of the cyclic working substance at two important state points are determined and evaluated. Finally, several special cases are discussed in detail.
Efficient high-harmonic radiations by chirped laser-pulse interactions with electrons in the presence of a magnetic field
Authors: Gupta Devki Nandan , Suk Hyyong
Published: April 2009

We present numerical investigations for high-order harmonic generations by a high-intensity chirped-laser interaction with vacuum electrons in the presence of an axial static magnetic field. Combined role of frequency chirp of the laser and a magnetic field enhances the electron acceleration and leads electron energy gain after passing of the laser pulse that generates high-harmonic radiations until the magnetic field diminishes. The result shows that high-harmonic radiations in the range of soft x-rays up to about 10 nm can be generated with common experimental parameters by the proposed scheme of this paper.
Measurement of urinary calcium using AT89C51RD2 microcontroller
Authors: Neelamegam P. , Jamaludeen A. , Rajendran A. , Raghunathan R.
Published: April 2009

A simple and inexpensive absorption technique for determination of calcium ion in urine samples is developed, comprising a light emitting diode (650 nm) as the light source and photodiode as the detector with AT89C51RD2 microcontroller. The design of the system and details of interface, calibration, and procedure of operation are explained in this paper. Software is developed to monitor sample processing and to display the results in liquid crystal display screen. With 15 μl sample volume, a linear output is obtained in the range of 2.5–7.5 mM calcium with a detection limit of 0.06 mM. Interferences from other cations such as monovalent ion and divalent ion are investigated in the expected range, which are normally present in clinical samples, and absorption changes over the pH range of 3–12 are also determined. This system has been demonstrated successfully for the successive assay of calcium in urine samples, with the results comparing well to those achieved and in good agreement with values obtained with the current clinical spectrophotometric method at 95% of confidence level.
Thermal depoling process and piezoelectric properties of bismuth sodium titanate ceramics
Authors: Hiruma Yuji , Nagata Hajime , Takenaka Tadashi
Published: April 2009

Stoichiometric and nonstoichiometric (Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3 (BNT) ceramics were prepared by a conventional ceramic fabrication process. This study revealed that the high conductivity of BNT ceramics is associated with Bi vaporization during sintering. An x-ray study revealed that a tetragonal phase exists in the temperature range between 330 and 480 °C in BNT ceramic as well as BNT single crystals. In addition, the depolarization temperature Td, rhombohedral-tetragonal phase transition temperature TR-T, and the temperature Tm of the maximum dielectric constant were determined to be 187, approximately 300, and 325 °C, respectively, from the temperature dependences of dielectric properties using unpoled and poled specimens. The piezoelectric properties of all vibration modes and the temperature dependences of the piezoelectric properties were measured using fully poled BNT ceramics. It was also revealed that BNT ceramics exhibit three thermal depoling processes at Td, between Td and TR-T, and between TR-T and Tm from the effects of annealing on the field-induced strain, x-ray diffraction patterns, and dielectric constant of poled specimens.
Spectroscopic analysis of the excitation transfer from background air to diffusing aluminum laser produced plasma
Authors: Ribière M. , Karabourniotis D. , Chéron B. G.
Published: April 2009

During the relaxation of the plasma plume generated by laser ablation of an aluminum target, a pronounced intensity enhancement is observed at the central wavelength of the 396.15 nm self-reversed resonant line. This spectral special feature is analyzed and related to the interaction of the plasma edge with the background air excited by the shockwave, prompt electrons, and extreme ultraviolet radiation produced at the earliest times of the ablation. In this article, the electron density, the aluminum ground state, and resonant level populations are determined from the fitting of the 396.15 nm calculated line profile to the experimental one at two background pressures (100 and 1000 Pa). The evolution of these densities is derived from experiments performed at delays, after the laser pulse arrival, ranging from 120 to 180 ns.
Arc discharge ion source for europium and other refractory metals implantation
Authors: Turek M. , Prucnal S. , Droździel A. , Pyszniak K.
Published: April 2009

The best method for the impurity doping to the host material is the ion implantation. Due to high melting point of the rare earth standard metal ion sources are useless. One of the solution is to use chemical compounds of rare earths characterized by low melting point. In this paper we describe the novel design of the ion source suitable for refractory metal (e.g., rare earths) ion implantation. The dependencies of Eu+ current on cathode and arc currents as well as on hydrogen flow are presented. Europium (III) chloride as the source of the europium atoms was used. Europium ions were produced during collisions of evaporated and decomposed EuCl3 molecules with fast electrons. The typical current of the europium ion beam extracted from the ion source was 25 μA for the extraction voltage of 25 kV. The ion source works without maintenance breaks for approximately 50 h, which enables high dose implantation. The presented ion source needs neither advanced high power supplies nor high vacuum regime.
Growth of homoepitaxial SrTiO3 thin films by molecular-beam epitaxy
Authors: Brooks C. M. , Kourkoutis L. Fitting , Heeg T. , Schubert J. , Muller D. A. , Schlom D. G.
Published: April 2009

We report the structural properties of homoepitaxial (100) SrTiO3 films grown by reactive molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE). The lattice spacing and x-ray diffraction (XRD) rocking curves of stoichiometric MBE-grown SrTiO3 films are indistinguishable from the underlying SrTiO3 substrates. Off-stoichiometry for both strontium-rich and strontium-poor compositions (i.e., Sr1+xTiO3+δ films with −0.2<x<0.2) results in lattice expansion with significant changes to the shuttered reflection high-energy electron diffraction oscillations, XRD, and film microstructure. The dependence of lattice spacing on nonstoichiometry is smaller for MBE-grown films than for homoepitaxial (100) Sr1+xTiO3+δ films prepared by pulsed-laser deposition or sputtering.
Electrostatic solitary ion waves in dense electron-positron-ion magnetoplasma
Authors: Jehan Nusrat , Salahuddin M. , Mahmood S. , Mirza Arshad M.
Published: April 2009

The nonlinear coupled ion-acoustic and ion-cyclotron waves propagating obliquely to the external magnetic field in dense collisionless electron-positron-ion magnetoplasma are investigated using Sagdeev potential method. A semiclassical approach is used. Electrons and positrons are treated as degenerate Fermi gases described by Thomas–Fermi density distribution and ions behave as classical gas. It is found that the presence of degenerate positrons in a dense Thomas–Fermi plasma significantly modifies the structure of solitary waves by restricting the electrostatic potential to a certain maximum value which depends upon the concentration of positrons in the system. It is also noted that only subsonic humplike solitary waves can exist and for a given angle of propagation, the presence of degenerate positrons diminishes the amplitude as well as width of the solitary wave.
Bottom-up derivation of an effective thermostat for united atoms simulations of water
Authors: Eriksson Anders , Jacobi Martin Nilsson , Nyström Johan , Tunstrøm Kolbjørn
Published: April 2009

In this article we derive the effective pairwise interactions in a Langevin-type united atoms model of water. The interactions are determined from the trajectories of a detailed molecular dynamics simulation of simple point charge water. A standard method is used for estimating the conservative interaction, whereas a new “bottom-up” method is used to determine the effective dissipative and stochastic interactions. We demonstrate that when compared to the standard united atoms model, the transport properties of the coarse-grained model is significantly improved by the introduction of the derived dissipative and stochastic interactions. The results are compared to a previous study, where a “top-down” approach was used to obtain transport properties consistent with those of the simple point charge water model.
Near-infrared intersubband absorption in molecular-beam epitaxy-grown lattice-matched InAlN/GaN superlattices
Authors: Malis O. , Edmunds C. , Manfra M. J. , Sivco D. L.
Published: April 2009

Strong near-infrared intersubband absorption is observed directly at room temperature in silicon-doped lattice-matched InAlN/GaN superlattices grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on GaN templates grown by hydride vapor-phase epitaxy. X-ray diffraction characterization of the heterostructures indicates excellent layer thickness uniformity and low interface roughness. For 2–4.5 nm quantum wells, the intersubband transition energies span the technologically relevant range between 2.3 and 2.9 μm. The experimental results are in good agreement with calculations of the transition energies using a conduction band offset of 1 eV and spontaneous polarization of 3 MV/cm.
Calculating solution redox free energies with ab initio quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical minimum free energy path method
Authors: Zeng Xiancheng , Hu Hao , Hu Xiangqian , Yang Weitao
Published: April 2009

A quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical minimum free energy path (QM/MM-MFEP) method was developed to calculate the redox free energies of large systems in solution with greatly enhanced efficiency for conformation sampling. The QM/MM-MFEP method describes the thermodynamics of a system on the potential of mean force surface of the solute degrees of freedom. The molecular dynamics (MD) sampling is only carried out with the QM subsystem fixed. It thus avoids “on-the-fly” QM calculations and thus overcomes the high computational cost in the direct QM/MM MD sampling. In the applications to two metal complexes in aqueous solution, the new QM/MM-MFEP method yielded redox free energies in good agreement with those calculated from the direct QM/MM MD method. Two larger biologically important redox molecules, lumichrome and riboflavin, were further investigated to demonstrate the efficiency of the method. The enhanced efficiency and uncompromised accuracy are especially significant for biochemical systems. The QM/MM-MFEP method thus provides an efficient approach to free energy simulation of complex electron transfer reactions.
On nonadiabatic calculation of dipole moments
Authors: Fernández Francisco M.
Published: April 2009

We show that a recent non-Born–Oppenheimer calculation of dipole moments exhibits obscure points and is not consistent with the well known Hellmann–Feynman theorem.
Nuclear relaxation and critical fluctuations in membranes containing cholesterol
Authors: McConnell Harden
Published: April 2009

Nuclear resonance frequencies in bilayer membranes depend on lipid composition. Our calculations describe the combined effects of composition fluctuations and diffusion on nuclear relaxation near a miscibility critical point. Both tracer and gradient diffusion are included. The calculations involve correlation functions and a correlation length ξ=ξ0T/(T−Tc), where T−Tc is temperature above the critical temperature and ξ0 is a parameter of molecular length. Several correlation functions are examined, each of which is related in some degree to the Ising model correlation function. These correlation functions are used in the calculation of transverse deuterium relaxation rates in magic angle spinning and quadrupole echo experiments. The calculations are compared with experiments that report maxima in deuterium and proton nuclear relaxation rates at the critical temperature [Veatch et al., Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 104, 17650 (2007)]. One Ising-model-related correlation function yields a maximum 1/T2 relaxation rate at the critical temperature for both magic angle spinning and quadrupole echo experiments. The calculated rates at the critical temperature are close to the experimental rates. The rate maxima involve relatively rapid tracer diffusion in a static composition gradient over distances of up to 10–100 nm.
Intracule functional models. IV. Basis set effects
Authors: Pearson Jason K. , Crittenden Deborah L. , Gill Peter M. W.
Published: April 2009

We have calculated position and dot intracules for a series of atomic and molecular systems, starting from an unrestricted Hartree–Fock wave function, expanded using the STO-3G, 6–31G, 6–311G, 6-311++G, 6-311++G(d,p), 6-311++G(3d,3p), and 6-311++G(3df,3pd) basis sets as well as the nonpolarized part of Dunning’s cc-pV5Z basis. We find that the basis set effects on the intracules are small and that correlation energies from the dot intracule ansatz are remarkably insensitive to the basis set quality. Mean absolute errors in correlation energies across the G1 data set agree to within 2 mEh for all basis sets tested.
Pressure-driven miscible two-fluid channel flow with density gradients
Authors: Sahu K. C. , Ding H. , Valluri P. , Matar O. K.
Published: April 2009

We study the effect of buoyancy on pressure-driven flow of two miscible fluids in inclined channels via direct numerical simulations. The flow dynamics are governed by the continuity and Navier–Stokes equations, without the Boussinesq approximation, coupled to a convective-diffusion equation for the concentration of the more viscous fluid through a concentration-dependent viscosity and density. The effect of varying the density ratio, Froude number, and channel inclination on the flow dynamics is examined, for moderate Reynolds numbers. We present results showing the spatiotemporal evolution of the flow together with an integral measure of mixing.
Purely absorptive three-dimensional infrared spectroscopy
Authors: Garrett-Roe Sean , Hamm Peter
Published: April 2009

We demonstrate a method to collect purely absorptive three-dimensional (3D) fifth-order vibrational spectra on the model system CO2 in H2O. The six beam interferometer is described, as well as a method to experimentally determine the phase of the 3D spectrum. The measured spectra agree very well with simulations of the data based on the cumulant expansion. There are five peaks corresponding to different paths up and down the vibrational ladder. The positions, signs, and amplitudes of the peaks agree with theoretical predictions, and the intensities of the peaks scale linearly with concentration. Based on the concentration dependence and agreement between the simulations and measurements, we conclude that cascaded lower order signals contribute negligibly to the observed signal.
Role of defects in the anomalous photoconductivity in ZnO nanowires
Authors: Bera A. , Basak D.
Published: April 2009

The anomalous photocurrent decay in aqueous solution grown ZnO nanowires (NWs) under steady ultraviolet light illumination have been investigated. The photocurrent growth-decay measurements using the above-band and subband gap light excitation energies in the as-grown and annealed NWs show that while a VZn-related defect complex is formed by the surface adsorbed H2O molecules, a faster carrier trapping by the surface adsorbed O2 molecules and a slower carrier recombination at the defect, Zni cause the photocurrent decay under steady illumination supported by the results of the photocurrent spectra and photoluminescence measurements. The predicted mechanism has been explained through a model.
Submicron-scale spatial feature of ultrafast photoinduced magnetization reversal in TbFeCo thin film
Authors: Ogasawara T. , Iwata N. , Murakami Y. , Okamoto H. , Tokura Y.
Published: April 2009

Submicron-scale spatial feature of magnetization reversal dynamics induced by femtosecond optical pulse irradiation in a small external magnetic field was investigated by time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr microscopy on TbFeCo thin film. The magnetization reversal time near the magnetic domain boundary is dominated by an effective magnetic field generated from the peripheral domain by dipole-dipole interaction. The magnetization reversal is accelerated as high as 4.5 times (from 3.4 ns to 750 ps) when reducing the reversed domain size from 1.5 to 0.4 μm due to concentration of dipole-dipole interaction.
Gain measurements in strain-compensated quantum cascade laser
Authors: Gresch Tobias , Faist Jérôme , Giovannini Marcella
Published: April 2009

Spectrally resolved gain measurements of a strain-compensated quantum cascade laser, emitting at 4.8 μm, are presented. Measurements have been acquired using a multisection cavity technique. The shape of the gain is compared with electroluminescence measurements whereas gain coefficients are compared to values obtained from laser data, studying the dependence of the laser threshold current with cavity length. Gain coefficients of 9.9 cm kA−1 at 80 K and 3.2 cm kA−1 at 322 K are found and we show that the temperature dependence of the gain coefficient is governed by optical phonon scattering.
Electrowetting on a lotus leaf
Authors: Feng Jiang-Tao , Wang Feng-Chao , Zhao Ya-Pu
Published: April 2009

Electrowetting on dielectrics has been widely used to manipulate and control microliter or nanoliter liquids in micro-total-analysis systems and laboratory on a chip. We carried out experiments on electrowetting on a lotus leaf, which is quite different from the equipotential plate used in conventional electrowetting. This has not been reported in the past. The lotus leaf is superhydrophobic and a weak conductor, so the droplet can be easily actuated on it through electrical potential gradient. The capillary motion of the droplet was recorded by a high-speed camera. The droplet moved toward the counterelectrode to fulfill the actuation. The actuation speed could be of the order of 10 mm/s. The actuation time is of the order of 10 ms.
Electrowetting on polymer dispersed liquid crystal
Authors: Fan Shih-Kang , Chiu Cheng-Pu , Lin Jing-Wei
Published: April 2009

Polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) is used as a dielectric layer in electrowetting. By applying voltage between a liquid droplet and the electrode underlying PDLC, electrowetting occurs at the liquid/PDLC interface accompanied with electro-optic responses of the reoriented LC droplets embedded in PDLC. Two basic experiments investigating the electrowetting by sessile water droplets and the electro-optic effects through squeezed water droplets were design and performed. The basic functions of a liquid lens and droplet manipulations, including transporting, splitting, and merging, were demonstrated.
A high ON/OFF ratio organic film for photo- and electro-dual-mode recording
Authors: Li Heng , Wen Yongqiang , Li Pengwei , Wang Rongming , Li Gang , Ma Ying , Yang Lianming , Song Yanlin , Yang Qinglin , Zhu Daoben
Published: April 2009

To improve the stability of organic multifunctional materials and enhance the ON/OFF ratio, a donor-π-acceptor molecule with the triphenylamine (TPA) unit is designed and synthesized. The TPA unit can effectively stabilize the charge transferred state, and the thin film shows excellent bistable electronic switching behavior with high ON/OFF current ratio of about 105. Meanwhile, reversible and stable nanometer-scale data storage is realized on the thin film by applying pulsed voltages, and optical information storage is achieved simultaneously by utilizing fluorescence changes under UV irradiation.
Sharp emission from single InAs quantum dots grown on vicinal GaAs surfaces
Authors: Perinetti U. , Akopian N. , Samsonenko Yu. B. , Bouravleuv A. D. , Cirlin G. E. , Zwiller V.
Published: April 2009

We report on optical studies of single InAs quantum dots grown on vicinal GaAs(001) surfaces. To ensure low quantum dot density and appropriate size, we deposit InAs layers 1.4 or 1.5 ML thick, thinner than the critical thickness for Stranski–Krastanov quantum dot formation. These dots show sharp and bright photoluminescence. Lifetime measurements reveal an exciton lifetime of 500 ps. Polarization measurements show an exciton fine structure splitting of 15 μeV and allow to identify the exciton and charged exciton transitions with linewidth as narrow as 23 μeV.
Crystallographic dependence of loss in domain engineered relaxor-PT single crystals
Authors: Zhang Shujun , Sherlock Nevin P. , Meyer Richard J. , Shrout Thomas R.
Published: April 2009

Domain engineered ⟨001⟩ oriented relaxor-PbTiO3 ferroelectric crystals exhibit high electromechanical properties and low mechanical Q values, analogous to “soft” piezoelectric ceramics. However, their characteristic low dielectric loss (≤0.5%) and strain-electric field hysteresis are reflective of “hard” piezoelectric materials. In this work, the electromechanical behavior of relaxor-PT crystals was investigated as a function of crystallographic orientations. It was found that the electrical and mechanical losses in crystals depends on the specific engineered domain configuration, with high Q observed for the ⟨110⟩ orientation. The high Q, together with high electromechanical coupling (∼0.9) for ⟨110⟩ oriented relaxor-PT crystals, make them promising candidates for resonant based high power transducer applications.
Mechanics of membrane instability in biological cells
Authors: Zhang Yong-Wei
Published: April 2009

A model is presented to show that the cell membrane supported by viscoelastic cytoplasm and driven by the periodic actions of the extensile force due to actin assembly and the contractile force due to myosin complex can create periodical mechanical instabilities, leading to giant periodic membrane lateral undulations and causing cell membrane instability.
Dielectric properties and tunability of cubic pyrochlore Bi1.5MgNb1.5O7 thin films
Authors: Jiang S. W. , Li Y. R. , Li R. G. , Xiong N. D. , Tan L. F. , Liu X. Z. , Tao B. W.
Published: April 2009

The Bi1.5MgNb1.5O7 thin films with cubic pyrochlore structure were prepared onto Pt-coated sapphire substrates by rf magnetron sputtering deposition from a stoichiometric target. Dielectric measurements indicated that the Bi1.5MgNb1.5O7 thin films exhibited low dielectric loss of ∼0.0018–0.004, medium dielectric constant of ∼86, and superior tunable dielectric properties at room temperature. A bias field of 1.6 MV/cm resulted in the maximum voltage tunability of 39%. A brief discussion is given on the enhanced tunability compared to Bi1.5ZnNb1.5O7 thin films. The low loss and superior tunability make Bi1.5MgNb1.5O7 thin films promising for potential tunable capacitor applications.
“War is Not Healthy for Children and other Living Things”
Authors: Loyd Jenna M
Published: April 2009

In opposition to the Vietnam war, the US-based group Another Mother for Peace (AMP) coined the compellingly simple slogan, ‘War is not healthy for children and other living things’. I analyze the changing ways in which these women connected health and war. They transformed the imagined geography of where war is not healthy from the fields of Vietnam to include their own backyards. In this way they reworked Cold War strictures of motherhood and challenged the sturdy fiction that war is about real men protecting vulnerable women and children. Nonetheless, by failing to examine social hierarchies among different groups of mothers and children, they obscured differential vulnerabilities to premature death domestically. Because AMP did not adequately confront the privileging of white domesticity that structured national security discourses, I argue that it unwittingly reproduced the racial–gender common sense for war. I draw upon intersectional analyses to situate discourses of health within the racial–gendered constructions of home and nation. These works allow me both to question the apparent neutrality of ‘health’ and to examine the limitations of not recognizing ‘the home’ as a space of whiteness in US white women's antiwar activism.
Inter‐professional work and expertise: New roles at the boundaries of schools
Authors: Edwards Anne , Lunt Ingrid , Stamou Eleni
Published: April 2009

The findings discussed here are based on five case studies and a small survey (n= 46) of how secondary schools are responding to demands that they collaborate with other services to intervene to prevent the social exclusion of children and young people. The case studies revealed a new space of action opening up around schools where practices were being shaped by ‘welfare managers’ who were employed by schools and were undertaking responsive work with vulnerable children and young people and the other services who were also supporting them. At the same time heads of year and/or heads of school and form tutors were increasingly focusing on children's achievement in school. The changes in roles and responsibilities were encouraged by workforce remodelling and changes in criteria for teachers’ salaries. However, focusing primarily on the work undertaken by the welfare managers, the article draws on cultural‐historical activity theory analyses of relational agency and distributed expertise to question whether welfare managers can undertake the work required in the new space of action without attention to the development of their core expertise.
About looking: Vision, transformation, and the education of the eye in discourses of school renewal past and present
Authors: Burke Catherine
Published: April 2009

This article reports the interim findings of historical research, funded by the British Academy (2007), which is exploring the possibilities of prosopography (the study of biographies linked through a common purpose, philosophy or practice) in researching the relationship between educational thought and school design since World War Two. Through oral history and archival research, the lives of leading figures in the post‐war period of English school design have been examined in relationship with one another. The research has uncovered networks of individual architects and educationists who together constructed a particular vision of education and subsequently a process of school design during the third quarter of the twentieth century. The research suggests that current efforts to visualise school as a transformational and transformed learning environment might profit from the notion of prosopography in the sense that it may help to expand our understanding of contemporary networks that are engaged in constructing a common vision of school for the twenty‐first century. The article begins with a brief discussion of discourses of educational vision set in the context of the contemporary UK government Building Schools for the Future (BSF) and Primary Capital Building programmes. It then moves on to demonstrate how a network of individuals, linked to three key protagonists in school/education design, developed in England during the post‐war period of reconstruction a collective vision of school which gave a special significance to what came to be understood as the education of the eye. This research suggests that while vision is important, the history of visualising school offers another still relevant set of references to those generally chosen today.
Practitioners' views on cross‐community music education projects in Northern Ireland: Alienation, socio‐economic factors and educational potential
Authors: Odena Oscar
Published: April 2009

This article reports a qualitative investigation of the perceptions on cross‐community music education activities of 14 key practitioners with experience with the two main communities in Northern Ireland (NI), Protestant and Catholic. The segregation of the NI education system is outlined in the first section, which is followed by a review of literature, cross‐community projects, and the research methodology. Two hundred and sixteen pages of interview transcripts were analysed with NVivo. Interviewees reflected on current activities and on memories of their own experiences when younger, their fears and hopes. They explained how such projects are and have been organised in NI. The participants' perceptions are discussed, including their comments on ‘Project processes and effectiveness’, ‘Music education potential’ and ‘Music as a sign of identity’. The reported educational activities and aims vary depending on a number of factors, one of the most important being the level of acknowledgement of integration of the educational setting, which appears to be influenced by the socio‐economic environment. It is apparent that cross‐community music education projects have been and continue to be an effective means of addressing prejudice amongst young people. Nevertheless, the context of each educational setting delimits the potential of such projects. Educational implications are examined in the conclusion.
CROC: finding chromosomal clusters in eukaryotic genomes
Authors: Pignatelli Miguel , Serras Florenci , Moya Andrés , Guigó Roderic , Corominas Montserrat
Published: April 2009

Summary: There is increasing evidence showing that co-expression of genes that cluster along the genome is a common characteristic of eukaryotic transcriptomes. Several algorithms have been used to date in the identification of these kinds of gene organization. Here, we present a web tool called CROC that aims to help in the identification and analysis of genomic gene clusters. This method has been successfully used before in the identification of chromosomal clusters in different eukaryotic species.

Availability: The web server is freely available to non-commercial users at the following address: http://metagenomics.uv.es/CROC/

Contact:  miguel.pignatelli@uv.es
Augmented training of hidden Markov models to recognize remote homologs via simulated evolution
Authors: Kumar Anoop , Cowen Lenore
Published: April 2009

Motivation: While profile hidden Markov models (HMMs) are successful and powerful methods to recognize homologous proteins, they can break down when homology becomes too distant due to lack of sufficient training data. We show that we can improve the performance of HMMs in this domain by using a simple simulated model of evolution to create an augmented training set.

Results: We show, in two different remote protein homolog tasks, that HMMs whose training is augmented with simulated evolution outperform HMMs trained only on real data. We find that a mutation rate between 15 and 20% performs best for recognizing G-protein coupled receptor proteins in different classes, and for recognizing SCOP super-family proteins from different families.

Contacts:  anoop.kumar@tufts.edu;lenore.cowen@tufts.edu
A practical algorithm for finding maximal exact matches in large sequence datasets using sparse suffix arrays
Authors: Khan Zia , Bloom Joshua S. , Kruglyak Leonid , Singh Mona
Published: April 2009

Motivation: High-throughput sequencing technologies place ever increasing demands on existing algorithms for sequence analysis. Algorithms for computing maximal exact matches (MEMs) between sequences appear in two contexts where high-throughput sequencing will vastly increase the volume of sequence data: (i) seeding alignments of high-throughput reads for genome assembly and (ii) designating anchor points for genome–genome comparisons.

Results: We introduce a new algorithm for finding MEMs. The algorithm leverages a sparse suffix array (SA), a text index that stores every K-th position of the text. In contrast to a full text index that stores every position of the text, a sparse SA occupies much less memory. Even though we use a sparse index, the output of our algorithm is the same as a full text index algorithm as long as the space between the indexed suffixes is not greater than a minimum length of a MEM. By relying on partial matches and additional text scanning between indexed positions, the algorithm trades memory for extra computation. The reduced memory usage makes it possible to determine MEMs between significantly longer sequences.

Availability: Source code for the algorithm is available under a BSD open source license at http://compbio.cs.princeton.edu/mems. The implementation can serve as a drop-in replacement for the MEMs algorithm in MUMmer 3.

Contact:  zkhan@cs.princeton.edu;mona@cs.princeton.edu

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Antidiabetic Properties ofAzardiracta indicaandBougainvillea spectabilis:In VivoStudies in Murine Diabetes Model
Authors: Bhat Menakshi , Kothiwale Sandeepkumar K. , Tirmale Amruta R. , Bhargava Shobha Y. , Joshi Bimba N.
Published: April 2009

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic syndrome characterized by an increase in the blood glucose level. Treatment of diabetes is complicated due to multifactorial nature of the disease.Azadirachta indica Adr. JussandBougainvillea spectabilisare reported to have medicinal values including antidiabetic properties. In the present study usinginvivodiabetic murine model,A. indicaandB. spectabilischloroform, methanolic and aqueous extracts were investigated for the biochemical parameters important for controlling diabetes. It was found thatA. indicachloroform extract andB. spectabilisaqueous, methanolic extracts showed a good oral glucose tolerance and significantly reduced the intestinal glucosidase activity. Interestingly,A. indicachloroform andB. spectabilisaqueous extracts showed significant increase in glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase activity and hepatic, skeletal muscle glycogen content after 21 days of treatment. In immunohistochemical analysis, we observed a regeneration of insulin‐producing cells and corresponding increase in the plasma insulin and c‐peptide levels with the treatment ofA. indicachloroform andB. spectabilisaqueous, methanolic extracts. Analyzing the results, it is clear thatA. indicachloroform andB. spectabilisaqueous extracts are good candidates for developing new neutraceuticals treatment for diabetes.
Anthropogenic and natural effects on the coastal lagoons in the southwest of Spain (Doñana National Park)
Authors: Sousa Arturo , García-Murillo Pablo , Morales Julia , García-Barrón Leoncio
Published: April 2009

Sousa, A., García-Murillo, P., Morales, J., and García-Barrón, L. 2009. Anthropogenic and natural effects on the coastal lagoons in the southwest of Spain (Doñana National Park). – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 1508–1514. The Doñana peridunal lagoons, located in the southwest of Spain, have been well studied, because their conservation is of great interest. Since 1965, they have also been affected by the extraction of underground water for local coastal tourist resorts. A reconstruction of the evolution of this series of coastal lagoons reveals that, along with the anthropogenic effect, there was a natural effect resulting from the reactivation of mobile dune fronts that have blocked and filled the original lagoon complex—in the period 1920–1987, the lagoons were reduced by 70.7%. These fronts might have been fed by deposits of marine sand during the climatically driest phases of the Little Ice Age in Andalusia, Spain. Therefore, if the frequency and duration of dry periods increase, as well as droughts as a whole, because of global warming, the desiccation and disappearance of the lagoons could become more widespread, not only at this site in southwestern Europe, but in other Mediterranean coastal ecosystems as well.
Molecular identification of European flounder (Platichthys flesus) and its hybrids with European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa)
Authors: Kijewska Agnieszka , Burzyński Artur , Wenne Roman
Published: April 2009

Kijewska, A., Burzyński, A., and Wenne, R. 2009. Molecular identification of European flounder (Platichthys flesus) and its hybrids with European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa). – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 902–906. European flounder (Platichthys flesus) and plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) are commercially important marine fish species inhabiting the continental shelf waters of Europe. Morphological similarity between the two makes it difficult to identify their hybrids, so species misclassification can generate errors in defining stocks in terms of their conservation and management. Flounder and plaice populations from the North Sea and the Baltic Sea were studied. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was used to confirm the morphological species identification. The set of molecular markers, two mitochondrial (cytochrome b and D-loop) and two nuclear (the ribosomal marker ITS and parathyroid hormone-related protein gene), was constructed to identify the two flatfish species and their hybrids. “Pure” flounder (P. flesus) were observed in the Bay of Gdańsk, Baltic Sea, and off the coast of Denmark in the North Sea. The fishing area near Bornholm in the Baltic is rich in P. flesus × P. platessa hybrids. The length difference of the amplified D-loop fragment was used for species identification. The characteristics of heteroplasmy in the control region (D-loop) can be useful as a population marker in the European flounder. Our studies demonstrate the utility of mtDNA polymorphism combined with nuclear molecular markers for correct identification of the morphologically similar and hybridized European flounder and plaice.
Testing the effectiveness of an acoustic deterrent device for excluding seals from Atlantic salmon rivers in Scotland
Authors: Graham Isla M. , Harris Robert N. , Denny Becks , Fowden Dan , Pullan Dave
Published: April 2009

Graham, I. M., Harris, R. N., Denny, B., Fowden, D., and Pullan, D. 2009. Testing the effectiveness of an acoustic deterrent device for excluding seals from Atlantic salmon rivers in Scotland. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 860–864. In Scotland, there is frequent conflict between salmon rod fisheries and seals, which is often managed by the shooting of seals in rivers, with potential negative impacts on protected populations of seals. Non-lethal devices have not been tested extensively in rivers as an alternative to shooting. Trials were carried out between January and May 2006 on the River North Esk and between October 2007 and February 2008 on the River Conon in northeast Scotland to examine the effectiveness of an acoustic deterrent device (ADD) at deterring seals from a specific area of river and as a barrier to the upstream movement of seals. The ADD was switched on and off alternately for periods of several days, and surveys were carried out to estimate the number of seals present within each river. The ADD had no significant effect on the absolute abundance of seals in the survey area in either river, but it did reduce seal movement upstream significantly, by ∼50% in both rivers. This reduction was constant over the 4-month period of both trials. The results suggest that ADDs might be a useful conservation tool in the management of seal–salmon conflicts, particularly in estuaries and rivers where the potential for adversely impacting cetaceans is limited.
Lack of bystander activation shows that localization exterior to chromosome territories is not sufficient to up-regulate gene expression
Authors: Morey Céline , Kress Clémence , Bickmore Wendy A.
Published: April 2009

Position within chromosome territories and localization at transcription factories are two facets of nuclear organization that have been associated with active gene expression. However, there is still debate about whether this organization is a cause or consequence of transcription. Here we induced looping out from chromosome territories (CTs), by the activation of Hox loci during differentiation, to investigate consequences on neighboring loci. We show that, even though flanking genes are caught up in the wave of nuclear reorganization, there is no effect on their expression. However, there is a differential organization of active and inactive alleles of these genes. Inactive alleles are preferentially retained within the CT, whereas actively transcribing alleles, and those associated with transcription factories, are found both inside and outside of the territory. We suggest that the alleles relocated further to the exterior of the CT are those that were already active and already associated with transcription factories before the induction of differentiation. Hence active gene regions may loop out from CTs because they are able to, and not because they need to in order to facilitate gene expression.
The efficacy of culling seals seen preying on seabirds as a means of reducing seabird mortality
Authors: Makhado Azwianewi B. , Meÿer Mike A. , Crawford Robert J. M. , Underhill Les G. , Wilke Chris
Published: April 2009

In the 2006/2007 breeding season of Cape gannets Morus capensis at Malgas Island, the removal of 61 Cape fur seals Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus that preyed on gannet fledglings when they left to sea significantly reduced the mortality rate of these fledglings. However, because seals learned to avoid the boat used for their removal, it was not possible to remove all the seals that killed gannet fledglings and some mortality continued. The seals inflicting the mortality were all sub‐adult males, with an average age of <5 years. Sustained removal of these animals may reduce this feeding behaviour, which is at present having an adverse impact on several threatened seabirds in the Benguela ecosystem.
Effects of core binding factor α1 or bone morphogenic protein‐2 overexpression on osteoblast/cementoblast‐related gene expressions in NIH3T3 mouse cells and dental follicle cells
Authors: Pan K. , Yan S. , Ge S. , Li S. , Zhao Y. , Yang P.
Published: April 2009

Objectives:  Bone morphogenic protein‐2 (BMP‐2) has long been used to promote bone and periodontal regeneration, while core binding factor α1 (CBFA1) plays important roles in both osteogenic differentiation and tooth morphogenesis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of CBFA1 or BMP‐2 overexpression on osteoblast/cementoblast‐related gene expressions in NIH3T3 cells and dental follicle cells (DFCs).

Materials and methods:  CBFA1 or BMP‐2 overexpression in NIH3T3 and DFCs was achieved by infection with retroviral vectors containing CBFA1 or BMP‐2 cDNA. Cells stably integrated with CBFA1 or BMP‐2 cDNA were selected with G418 for 14 days. Western blotting, real‐time reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction, and in vitro mineralization assay were performed to evaluate effects of CBFA1 or BMP‐2 overexpression in cells undergoing osteoblast/cementoblast differentiation.

Results:  Our results demonstrated that osteoblast/cementoblast‐related gene expression levels in CBFA1‐overexpressing NIH3T3 cells were higher than those in BMP‐2‐overexpressing cells. More mineral nodules were observed in CBFA1‐overexpressing NIH3T3 cells than in BMP‐2‐overexpressing cells. CBFA1 overexpression in DFCs also increased osteoblast/cementoblast‐related gene expression and promoted mineral nodule formation. However, no significant changes in gene expression levels nor mineral nodule formation were found in BMP‐2‐overexpressing DFCs when compared with empty vector transduced DFCs.

Conclusions:  CBFA1 overexpression up‐regulated expression levels of osteoblast/cementoblast‐related genes and enhanced in vitro osteogenic differentiation more efficiently than BMP‐2 in both NIH3T3 cells and DFCs.