bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Touring the Demolished Slum? Slum Tourism in the Face of Delhi's Gentrification
Authors: Holst Tore
Published: April 2015

What are the limits of the knowledge it is ethically viable to articulate about “slums,” in a political environment where slum demolitions are a weekly occurrence? By cross-reading Partha Chatterjee's theoretical discussion of the conditions of subaltern (self)representation
with studies of global slum tourism, the article attempts to answer this question by analyzing the case of the NGO, Salaam Baalak Trust. This NGO conducted slum tours for tourists from the global North in the interstitial spaces around New Delhi Railway Station until 2010, when the slum they
used as an example of their work was suddenly demolished. To the NGO staff, this posed two mutually exclusive ethical demands: a) to represent slums so that the plight of their (sometimes displaced) inhabitants might be publicized and discussed and b) to hide slums from view so the state would
have no incentive to remove them as a part of their struggle to gentrify the city. The article argues that the implications of this case speaks into the theoretical framework of slum tourism studies, as it illustrates how knowledge produced within this field comes to act in the world in sometimes
unforeseen ways.
“So, Child Protection, I'll Make a Quick Point of It Now”: Broadening the Notion of Child Abuse in Volunteering Vacations in Siem Reap, Cambodia
Authors: Reas P. Jane
Published: April 2015

This article is based on a qualitative study of volunteer tourists who spend vacation time with “poor” children in the fashionable volunteer tourist destination of Siem Reap in Cambodia. Although this tourist option is considered a mass niche commodity in the global tourism
marketplace, only narrow understandings of child abuse and child protection are generally used when considering this largely well-regarded trend. The World Health Organization definition of child abuse talks about exploitation that may result in actual or potential harm, factors normally not
linked to the efforts of well-intentioned vacationers. Bourdieu's notion of “symbolic violence” and Harvey's of “civilized oppression” are, however, concepts that consider the gentle and invisible possibilities of abuse, whereas Giroux argues that abuse to children
occurs in even seemingly benign cultural spheres. By using these analytical ideas to move away from thinking that sees only pedophiles and perverts as exemplars of abuse (while in no way making light of these transgressors), attention can be focused onto questions of exploitation and notions
of harm to dignity, as well as to considering how these issues may be concealed within this increasingly popular vacation trend.
Chapitre 3. La sanction du défaut d’information du patient au regard de l’arrêt du 9 février 2012
Authors: Brasselet Renato
Published: April 2015

La reconnaissance législative explicite d’un droit à l’information résulte de la loi n˚2002-303 du 4 mars 2002 relative aux droits des malades et à la qualité du système de santé. Ce devoir d’humanisme consacré par l’article L. 1111-2 du Code de la santé publique est garant de l’autodétermination personnelle, ainsi que la dignité de la personne humaine 1 . Il instaure un équilibre dans la relation entre le professionnel sachant et le patient en permettant à celui-ci de disposer de l’information adéquate afin d’être associé pleinement aux décisions portant atteinte à l’inviolabilité de son propre corps. Antérieurement à l’arrêt du 3 juin 2010, l’indemnisation du préjudice était fondée sur la notion de perte de chance de se soustraire à la réalisation du risque. Depuis, il semble que l’indemnisation du défaut d’information repose sur la réparation du préjudice résultant de la méconnaissance du droit à être informé et à consentir à l’atteinte corporelle. Cependant, à l’aune de l’arrêt du 9 février 2012, il convient de s’interroger si pour la première chambre civile de la Cour de cassation, la méconnaissance de l’obligation d’information constitue un préjudice autonome réparable au titre du respect de la dignité humaine.
Chapitre 6. L’information sur le médicament
Authors: Foucher Jean-Pierre
Published: April 2015

Un médicament n’étant pas un produit comme un autre, le prescripteur, le dispensateur et le patient doivent être en possession d’une information relative aux caractéristiques du produit. Cette information doit être complète, objective et scientifiquement rigoureuse. Elle doit s’adapter au besoin et être compréhensible. Elle doit aider à la prescription, faciliter la dispensation et faire adhérer le patient à son traitement. Ainsi, selon le destinataire, cette information sera différente. C’est au pharmacien et au médecin de l’utiliser pour l’éducation thérapeutique du patient. L’information donnée doit être objective. Ce sont les fiches de transparence ainsi que les notices qui accompagne le médicament qui doivent être considérées comme les plus fiables. On peut également trouver des informations dans les grandes revues de publications scientifiques, dans des bulletins indépendants créés par des groupes de médecins et de pharmaciens ou encore dans des guides thérapeutiques. Il faut être très réservé quant aux informations trouvées sur certains sites « Internet ».
La fabrication des rêves, processus individuel et collectif ?
Authors: Schurmans Dan
Published: April 2015

Quand une personne équilibrée dit qu’elle a fait un rêve prémonitoire, et que dans sa culture ce type de rêves est fréquent, qu’est-ce que cela signifie quant au processus psychique qui a produit le rêve  ? Le contexte collectif influence-t-il le contenu et la signification des rêves ? Pour la tradition populaire, il existe une intentionnalité propre au rêve, une tendance à se faire réalité, et cette tendance se renforce du récit qu’on en fait. En outre, le rêveur se trouve, au moment où il rêve, et du fait de son rêve, dans un état de vulnérabilité par rapport aux intentions malveillantes d’autrui. Là aussi, le récit, la mise en mots, aggrave le problème. Je propose d’examiner ces assertions, en mettant entre parenthèses l’idée a priori que nous pourrions en avoir, et ensuite de nous demander s’il existe, entre les théories populaires et les théories psychanalytiques, des relations d’opposition ou de complémentarité. Ce travail, basé sur la clinique avec les migrants, montre que la construction des rêves est polysémique, et que l’interprétation doit être adaptée aux besoins du patient. Il met en évidence que les rêves forment souvent une séquence qui traduit la recherche prospective d’une solution destinale.
La nostalgie : rêve ou cauchemar ?
Authors: Rauchs Paul
Published: April 2015

Le mot nostalgie vient du vocabulaire médical : de 1688 jusqu’au XIX e siècle il désignait un état dépressif grave menant à la mort et causé par le mal du pays. Cette description ne répond bien sûr plus aux canons de la scientificité contemporaine, mais la nostalgie n’en continue pas moins de teinter le vécu de l’exilé. Le rêve lui-même est en quelque sorte un exil qui peut virer au cauchemar. En partant des rêves collectés par Charlotte Beradt auprès des exilés intérieurs du Troisième Reich, l’auteur s’interroge sur les liens entre l’ancienne acception du concept de nostalgie et les acquis de la psychanalyse.
Le vent qui emporte la vie. Décompensation psychotique chez une femme migrante bambara du Mali atteinte de la maladie du Sida
Authors: Koumentaki Chryssanthi , Idris Isam , Moro Marie Rose
Published: April 2015

Comment traiter des décompensations psychotiques survenant dans un contexte de maladies somatiques graves comme le Sida chez des adultes migrants adressés à une consultation transculturelle en dernier recours ? Cette question a peu été traitée dans la littérature transculturelle de ces dernières années, c’est pourquoi, à titre exploratoire, nous proposons ici une monographie sur une prise en charge psychothérapique longue chez une femme bambara du Mali. L’analyse de l’histoire clinique sera faite avec une méthodologie complémentariste qui utilise l’anthropologie et la psychanalyse. Nous discuterons ensuite les questions cliniques, contre-transférentielles et thérapeutiques soulevées par cette situation complexe : trauma, psychose et mort.
Automatic Intrusion Detection and Secret Multi Agent Preservation Using Authentication Measurement Network Threat
Authors: Al-Saadoon Ghossoon M. Waleed
Published: April 2015

The computer sciences and their applications are developing continuously. This growth should be protected. One of the methods to fulfill this approach by using the encryption method ‘Rijndael Advanced Encryption Standard' is applied for security information DBs, to prevent an unauthorized user from accessing any stored information. The security method determines the resources that agents are able to have an access and to give permission to other agents. Security and security assurance are special integrity in agent system to enable it to cooperate or to complete the application and where agent system may not be trustful to visiting agents. Ideas of this chapter of using multi agent framework is to design the proposed Automatic Intrusion Detection model and to secret multi agent preservation using authentication measurement network threat. This approach uses statistical models to correlate and analyse data in the network. It takes the decisions to control both local and global agent's data bases perceptively. Also it adopts the security problem authentication and authorization by providing a secure distributed agent system.
Cyber Crimes
Authors: Al-Saedy Hasan L.
Published: April 2015

The financial cost of cyber crime now has an annual cost estimated in the UK in eleven figures. In this chapter an ethic based definition of cyber crime is introduced and cyber crimes are classified. The impact of each class of cyber crime on society, individual, government and international security is highlighted. The cost of cyber crime is evaluated and a technique to prevent and mitigate the effect of these crimes on individual, government and international security and world peace is indicated. The forensic techniques and tools used in cyber crime evidence gathering and prosecuting procedure is also indicated. Finally, recommendations and suggestion are given to mitigate the impact of cyber crime on individuals, societies, world finance and international security.
Data Hiding Schemes Based on Singular Value Decomposition
Authors: El Abbadi Nidhal Khdhair
Published: April 2015

The security of information exchange is very important on the network. Authentication and information hiding have also become important issues. Information hiding techniques are acquiring an increasing importance due to the widespread diffusion of multimedia contents. The aim of this chapter is to focus on the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) transform, with the aim of providing an exhaustive overview on those steganography, image cryptography and watermarking techniques leveraging on the important properties of such a transform. Despite the attention it has received in the last years, SVD in image processing and security is still in its infancy. Many SVD characteristics are still unutilized in image processing. In this chapter the author tries to highlight the basic properties of SVD and some of their applications in the field of security to encourage researchers to discover more about SVD properties which are not yet utilized.
The Impact of Big Data on Security
Authors: Al-Hamami Mohammad Alaa Hussain
Published: April 2015

Big Data is comprised systems, to remain competitive by techniques emerging due to Big Data. Big Data includes structured data, semi-structured and unstructured. Structured data are those data formatted for use in a database management system. Semi-structured and unstructured data include all types of unformatted data including multimedia and social media content. Among practitioners and applied researchers, the reaction to data available through blogs, Twitter, Facebook, or other social media can be described as a “data rush” promising new insights about consumers' choices and behavior and many other issues. In the past Big Data has been used just by very large organizations, governments and large enterprises that have the ability to create its own infrastructure for hosting and mining large amounts of data. This chapter will show the requirements for the Big Data environments to be protected using the same rigorous security strategies applied to traditional database systems.
The Security Impacts on Social Media Platforms
Authors: Al-Hamami Mohammad Alaa Hussain
Published: April 2015

Because of its importance, social media became a main target in cyber war and for criminals as well. The attacker can gain a lot of valued information from social media. This chapter will discuss the security impacts on social media and their effects on individuals, companies, and governments. This chapter, also will explain risks of using Internet, the importance of social media for attackers, what could go wrong in social media, examples of methods used by attackers, why attackers success in their attacks, social media problems from a legal point of view, social media security environment, general security model for social media web sites, data that could be mined, points of attack, security defenses against attacks, methods of security attacks, reasons of attacking social media, social media programming flaws, social media security strategy and policy, social media privacy and governments, social media security new trends, and the best practice in social media.
A Model for Mind-Device Dialectic and the Future of Advertising in the Social Media Age
Authors: Yılmaz Recep , Taskiran Nurdan Oncel
Published: April 2015

Every advertisement text has a specific impact on the mind of receivers. Just like a water-mill or wind mill, human mind develops a specific systematic interaction against different advertisement texts. This section focuses on how information presented and carried by different texts are built on human mind. The basic aim is to reveal how advertisement texts operate human mind. In this sense, the authors try to understand the impact of analogue media on our minds through discussing the nature of science, the way human mind operates, and the structure of mass communication means. On top of that, the authors visualize this interaction on a model. This model would not only make it possible for us to understand our interaction with analogue media but also would give clues about digital media. With these clues, it would be possible to make predictions about changing advertising environment, and accordingly the way of making more effective strategies and future of advertising sector.
On-Line Media Planning and On-Line Media Common Measurement Currencies
Authors: Basal Bilgen
Published: April 2015

This chapter examines on-line media planning techniques and the common on-line measurement metrics, which are used in evaluating the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. It uses highly accessible and scalable Web-based and mobile communication techniques, which turn communication into interactive dialogue as opposed to traditional media. On-line media planning is analyzed in four different dimensions, such as on-line display advertising, performance marketing, social media marketing, and mobile advertising. In addition to this, the meanings and the implications of some concepts such as on-page and off-page search engine optimization and search engine marketing, impression, cost per thousand impressions, also click through rate, pay per click, cost per lead. Please note that conversion and engagement rates are also investigated in this chapter. Social media tools in building the social media strategy such as Facebook social graph, custom audiences, lookalike audiences, interest analysis, and Google analytics also receive special attention.
Subliminal Advertising and its Ethical Dimensions in the Social Media Age
Authors: Elci Meral , Sert Arzu
Published: April 2015

This chapter provides an overview of the research on subliminal advertising. Advertising industry experts always look for methods through which to develop effective advertising strategies and to persuade consumers' choices. This chapter shows that in comparison to the research conducted before the 1990s, and with the recent help of new techniques, there has been a growing body of subliminal influence research that has demonstrated that subliminal priming has an influence on a consumer's choices and behaviors. In this chapter whether subliminal advertising can play a critical role in attracting the customer to the product or service is examined. Whether our decisions can be affected by subliminal messages is also investigated. In addition, one of the purposes of this chapter is to explore whether subliminal messaging might raise ethical issues, and whether these issues can lead to moral corruption in society. What is missing is the lack of research on the ethical dimension of subliminal advertising.
Digital Advertising Practices and its Impacts on Students
Authors: Kircova Ibrahim , Cinar Dilaysu
Published: April 2015

The subject of this chapter is the universities listed on the website of the Council of Higher Education in Turkey. This study aims to reveal the importance of digital advertising in these universities. In this study, firstly, the websites of these universities were examined. Secondly, the social networking and mobile applications listed in these websites were examined. The results of the current study states those Turkish universities' efforts are inadequate. This is clearly seen in mobile application and video sharing tendencies. Although most of them use social networking websites, the contents of their profiles are not attractive enough to draw the attention of young people. Therefore, special interest has to be given to content management on social networking profiles.
Activity Theory
Authors: Al-Harthy Ibrahim S.
Published: April 2015

The current chapter focuses on activity theory. The idea of activity theory is that the activity is a minimal meaningful context to understand human behavior. This theory, in short, highlights the relationship between an individual (subject) and an object of doing to achieve an outcome. This relationship between the subject and the object is impacted by the context (environment) and elements that were created during the development of an activity. The environment contains rules and organizations. Activity theory went through developmental stages, which are discussed in this chapter. The chapter provides definitions, introductions, background, and overview about the activity theory. In addition, this chapter presents the structure of activity theory. Examples are given. Importantly, the empirical use of the activity theory is presented and different research articles are discussed. Limitations and future research are discussed.
Towards the General Theory of Information Asymmetry
Authors: Afzal Waseem
Published: April 2015

Information imperfections of various kinds are present around us and information asymmetry is one such kind. The phrase “information imperfection” indicates information which is less than ideal for many conceivable reasons. The concept of “information asymmetry” is different, and indicates the presence of more information at one end of an informational distribution. The purpose of this chapter is not to provide a literature review of information asymmetry but to (1) build on previous work, (2) suggest a set of concepts, and (3) describe examples of information asymmetries in order to propose a framework for a general theory of information asymmetry. To this end, this chapter provides a brief overview of the concepts of information asymmetry and information imperfection. It also proposes a set of four concepts considered to be of importance in understanding information asymmetry; describes two major categories of information asymmetries; discusses different types of informational disturbances; and finally discusses the potential effects of information asymmetries.
Venkatesh et al.'s Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) (2003)
Authors: Chakraborty Manishankar , Al Rashdi Salim
Published: April 2015

Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) has been in vogue for quite sometime now. The theory lends credence to the fact that technology and its usage in different spheres of life ought to go through various stages like designing, planning, implementing and leveraging in various ways before making that much needed change in human lives. The stakeholders involved in various stages of technology need to know the challenges they might come across in order to overcome them while successfully implementing technology. This is where UTAUT play a pivotal role by providing necessary information to all key stakeholders. The chapter throws light on the importance of UTAUT in different sectors with some illustrations. The research findings highlighted in the chapter provides additional explanation, apart from exploring new areas of research pertaining to UTAUT.
Cost-Effective Resource Configurations for Multi-Tenant Database Systems in Public Clouds
Authors: Mian Rizwan , Martin Patrick , Zulkernine Farhana , Vazquez-Poletti Jose Luis
Published: April 2015

Cloud computing is a promising paradigm for deploying applications due to its large resource offerings on a pay-as-you-go basis. This paper examines the problem of determining the most cost-effective provisioning of a multi-tenant database system as a service over public clouds. The authors formulate the problem of resource provisioning, and then define a framework to solve it. Their framework uses heuristic based algorithms to select cost-effective configurations. The algorithms can optionally balance resource costs against penalties incurred from the violation of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) or opt for non SLA violating configurations. The specific resource demands on the virtual machines for a workload and SLAs are accounted for by the performance and cost models, which are used to predict performance and expected cost respectively. The work validates our approach experimentally using workloads based on standard TPC database benchmarks in the Amazon EC2 cloud.
Technology-Driven Online Marketing Performance Measurement
Authors: Bowie David , Paraskevas Alexandros , Mariussen Anastasia
Published: April 2015

Although the measurement of offline and online marketing is extensively researched, the literature on online performance measurement still has a number of limitations such as slow theory advancement and predominance of technology- and practitioner-driven measurement approaches. By focusing on the widely employed but under-researched affiliate marketing channel, this study addresses these limitations and evaluates the effectiveness of practitioner-led online performance assessment. The paper offers a comprehensive review of extant performance measurement research across traditional, online and affiliate marketing and, employing grounded theory, presents a qualitative in-depth analysis of 72 online forum discussions and 37 semi-structured interviews with the major affiliate marketing stakeholders. As a result, the research identifies a growing need for change in the technology-pushed measurement approaches in affiliate marketing, and proposes actionable improvement recommendations for affiliate and online marketing managers.
E-News Brand Trust
Authors: Ardyan Elia , Aryanto Vincent Didiek Wiet
Published: April 2015

This paper aims at determining the effect of e-news brand trust and the consequences of e-news brand trust. The model used in this study were tested on two news brands online, namely Detik.com and Kompas.com. Total sample of this study is accounted for 418 respondents, of which 239 respondents are kompas.com reader and 179 respondents' reader of Detik.com. Results of this study indicate that both Detik.com and Kompas.com such as e-news brand attributes have positive and significant impact on e-news brand experience, e-news brand attributes have a positive and significant impact on e-news brand loyalty, e-news brand experience has a negative effect but not significant to the customer confusion, customer confusion, has a negative but not significant effect on e-news brand trust, e -news brand experience has the effect on either e-news brand trust, or e-news brand loyalty.
From Communication to Conversation
Authors: Prasad K Sai , Mishra Sita
Published: April 2015

How have cutthroat competition and high growth compelled telecom service providers to innovatively use social media to outperform competitors, improve customer communication and maintain loyalty? Why have service providers made huge investments in social media for their CRM strategy? This case study analyses how Tata DoCoMo used social media to positively influence customer experience. The case study will help in understanding the role of social media in customer communication strategies and its impact on customer loyalty, and open up scope for future research.
Examining the Awareness and Persuasive Effects of Online WOM
Authors: Grinberg Irina , Bhuyan Sanjib , Jin Yanhong , Wang Lei
Published: April 2015

This study addresses a growing trend in how consumers obtain and use information prior to making their online purchasing decisions. Specifically, the authors investigate the relationship between online word-of-mouth (WOM, i.e., customer reviews and ratings) and sales (as measured by Amazon “ranks”) for different product categories. Using data collected from Amazon, the authors find that online WOM metrics and social media impact consumer purchase decisions through awareness and persuasion. From a managerial standpoint, these findings suggest that businesses should use ratings, reviews, and social media to build awareness about their products and influence purchase decisions. Future research in online WOM and sales outcomes for product categories should control for advertising and product heterogeneity within categories, as well as incorporate social media metrics, review text, and review length.
Factors Influencing Online Shopping Behavior of Urban Consumers in India
Authors: Nittala Rajyalakshmi
Published: April 2015

This study examines the factors influencing online shopping behavior of urban consumers in the State of Andhra Pradesh, India and provides a better understanding of the potential of electronic marketing for both researchers and online retailers. Data from a sample of 1500 Internet users (distributed evenly among six selected major cities) was collected by a structured questionnaire covering demographic profile and the factors influencing online shopping. Factor analysis and multiple regression analysis are used to establish relationship between the factors influencing online shopping and online shopping behavior. The study identified that perceived risk and price positively influenced online shopping behavior. Results also indicated that positive attitude, product risk and financial risk affect negatively the online shopping behavior.
Dimensions of Privacy Concerns amongst Online Buyers in India
Authors: Jain Tinu , Mishra Prashant
Published: April 2015

Internet is quickly becoming the public electronic marketplace. Though the internet has revolutionized retail and direct marketing, the full scale incorporation and acceptance of the internet marketplace with the modern business is limited. One major inhibition shown by the internet buyers is in the form of lack of confidence in the newly developed marketing machinery/technology and concern related fear and distrust regarding loss of personal privacy due to easy access of personal information to the marketers. This concern about personal information and privacy varies with consumers especially with countries. It is also suggested that importance provided to various privacy dimensions would vary. The research investigates different dimensions and their interrelationship to identify factors affecting privacy concern among Net buyers in India.
The Concept of [Robot] in Children and Teens
Authors: Sequeira João , Ferreira Isabel
Published: April 2015

This paper discusses the existence of a prototypical visual mental representation associated to the concept of [robot] in children and teenagers. The study aims at determining the best design options for the MOnarCH project robots from the viewpoint of the children, the main audience of the project, involved. By accounting for the children's view a maximization of their emotional response when interacting with the robots is expected. A survey taken by children in pediatric age range is used to establish a baseline. These children are not in the hospital and hence eventual biases caused by an inpatient condition will not be present. Moreover, by comparing with the view of what a robot is by inpatient children it is possible to validate the MOnarCH in-lab trials, avoiding trials with biased scenarios. A set of 119 non-patient children is used in the study. Non-parametric statistics analysis is used on a number of hypotheses useful in the design of the robots.
Fc Engineering of Human IgG1 for Altered Binding to the Neonatal Fc Receptor Affects Fc Effector Functions
Authors: Grevys Algirdas , Bern Malin , Foss Stian , Bratlie Diane Bryant , Moen Anders , Gunnarsen Kristin Støen , Aase Audun , Michaelsen Terje Einar , Sandlie Inger , Andersen Jan Terje
Published: April 2015

Engineering of the constant Fc part of monoclonal human IgG1 (hIgG1) Abs is an approach to improve effector functions and clinical efficacy of next-generation IgG1-based therapeutics. A main focus in such development is tailoring of in vivo half-life and transport properties by engineering the pH-dependent interaction between IgG and the neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn), as FcRn is the main homeostatic regulator of hIgG1 half-life. However, whether such engineering affects binding to other Fc-binding molecules, such as the classical FcγRs and complement factor C1q, has not been studied in detail. These effector molecules bind to IgG1 in the lower hinge–CH2 region, structurally distant from the binding site for FcRn at the CH2–CH3 elbow region. However, alterations of the structural composition of the Fc may have long-distance effects. Indeed, in this study we show that Fc engineering of hIgG1 for altered binding to FcRn also influences binding to both the classical FcγRs and complement factor C1q, which ultimately results in alterations of cellular mechanisms such as Ab-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, Ab-dependent cellular phagocytosis, and Ab-dependent complement-mediated cell lysis. Thus, engineering of the FcRn–IgG1 interaction may greatly influence effector functions, which has implications for the therapeutic efficacy and use of Fc-engineered hIgG1 variants.
Staphylococcus aureus Adenosine Inhibits sPLA2-IIA–Mediated Host Killing in the Airways
Authors: Pernet Erwan , Brunet Jérémy , Guillemot Laurent , Chignard Michel , Touqui Lhousseine , Wu Yongzheng
Published: April 2015

Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of bacterial infections in respiratory diseases. It secretes molecules to dampen host immunity, and the recently identified adenosine is one of these molecules. The type IIA secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2-IIA) is a host protein endowed with antibacterial properties, especially against Gram-positive bacteria such as S. aureus. However, the role of adenosine in sPLA2-IIA–mediated S. aureus killing by host is still unknown. The present studies showed that the S. aureus mutant lacking adenosine production (∆adsA strain) increased sPLA2-IIA expression in guinea pig airways and was cleared more efficiently, compared with the wild-type strain. S. aureus ∆adsA strain induced sPLA2-IIA expression by alveolar macrophages after phagocytic process via NOD2–NF-κB–dependent mechanism. However, S. aureus adenosine (wild-type and adsA-complemented strains) and exogenous adenosine downregulated S. aureus phagocytosis by alveolar macrophages, leading to inhibition of sPLA2-IIA expression. This occurred through inhibition of p38 phosphorylation via adenosine receptors A2a-, A2b-, and protein kinase A–dependent pathways. Taken together, our studies suggest that, in the airway, S. aureus escapes sPLA2-IIA–mediated killing through adenosine-mediated inhibition of phagocytosis and sPLA2-IIA expression.
Platelet-Driven Leukotriene C4–Mediated Airway Inflammation in Mice Is Aspirin-Sensitive and Depends on T Prostanoid Receptors
Authors: Liu Tao , Garofalo Denise , Feng Chunli , Lai Juying , Katz Howard , Laidlaw Tanya M. , Boyce Joshua A.
Published: April 2015

Cysteinyl leukotrienes (cysLTs) are bronchoconstricting lipid mediators that amplify eosinophilic airway inflammation by incompletely understood mechanisms. We recently found that LTC4, the parent cysLT, potently activates platelets in vitro and induces airway eosinophilia in allergen-sensitized and -challenged mice by a platelet- and type 2 cysLT receptor–dependent pathway. We now demonstrate that this pathway requires production of thromboxane A2 and signaling through both hematopoietic and lung tissue–associated T prostanoid (TP) receptors. Intranasal administration of LTC4 to OVA-sensitized C57BL/6 mice markedly increased the numbers of eosinophils in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, while simultaneously decreasing the percentages of eosinophils in the blood by a TP receptor–dependent mechanism. LTC4 upregulated the expressions of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 in an aspirin-sensitive and TP receptor–dependent manner. Both hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic TP receptors were essential for LTC4 to induce eosinophil recruitment. Thus, the autocrine and paracrine functions of thromboxane A2 act downstream of LTC4/type 2 cysLT receptor signaling on platelets to markedly amplify eosinophil recruitment through pulmonary vascular adhesion pathways. The findings suggest applications for TP receptor antagonists in cases of asthma with high levels of cysLT production.
A Humanized Monoclonal Antibody against Heat Shock Protein 60 Suppresses Murine Arthritis and Colitis and Skews the Cytokine Balance toward an Anti-Inflammatory Response
Authors: Ulmansky Rina , Landstein Dorit , Moallem Eli , Loeb Virginie , Levin Avi , Meyuhas Ronit , Katzavian Galia , Yair Shira , Naparstek Yaakov
Published: April 2015

We have previously shown that naturally occurring as well as acquired Abs against the Mycobacterium tuberculosis heat shock protein (HSP)65 protect against the induction of murine autoimmune inflammatory arthritis. In the present work, we have studied the anti-inflammatory effect of prozumab, a humanized anti-HSP mAb in murine inflammatory arthritis and colitis, and its effects on cytokine secretion. Prozumab was shown to bind to HSP60, the highly conserved mammalian homolog of the bacterial protein, and it was found to be effective in protecting and suppressing autoimmune arthritis in the models of adjuvant arthritis and collagen-induced arthritis in rats and mice, respectively, as well as in acute hapten-mediated colitis and chronic, spontaneous colitis models. Mechanistically, prozumab induces IL-10 secretion from naive human PBMCs and suppresses the secretion of IFN-γ and IL-6 from anti-CD3–activated human PBMCs. These findings make prozumab a promising potential drug for treating human rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, as well as a wide range of autoimmune inflammatory diseases.
The spading machine as an alternative to the plough for the primary tillage
Authors: Giordano Davide M. , Facchinetti Davide , Pessina Domenico
Published: April 2015

A comparison between a traditional ploughing and a spading (performed at different travelling and rotor speeds) was carried out in a paddy field, for evaluating both technical and agronomic parameters (working time, power required, fuel consumption, pulling force, efficiency of crop residues incorporation, etc.). The ploughing showed an effective tillage capacity 51% higher than the faster spading, and a reduction ranging between 20.8 and 44.1% of fuel consumption per surface unit. On the contrary, the spading machine requested no or minimum pulling force, making possible its use even in critical conditions, as for example on wet soil. On the other hand, the spading machine shows clear advantages under the agronomic point of view: in fact it does not create the typical compact layer at the bottom of the working depth, which reduces the root penetration and does not allow the capillary circulation of the solution into the soil. Indeed, in the paddy field the creation of a compact layer is able to reduce the water consumption, so it is not considered a problem to be solved. In any case, the spading machine better managed the crop residues, because they were mixed along the completely tilled layer.
Rural landscape and cultural routes: a multicriteria spatial classification method tested on an Italian case study
Authors: Diti Irene , Torreggiani Daniele , Tassinari Patrizia
Published: April 2015

Europe is characterised by a rich net of itineraries that during the Middle Ages were taken by pilgrims head toward the holy places of Christianity. In Italy the main pilgrimage route is the Via Francigena (the road that comes from France), which starts from Canterbury and arrives in Rome, running through Europe for about 1800 km. Municipalities and local associations are focused on purposes and actions aimed at the promotion of those routes, rich in history and spirituality. Also for the European Union the enhancement of those itineraries, nowadays used both by pilgrims and tourists, is crucial, as shown by the various projects aimed at the identification of tools for the development of sustainable cultural tourism. It is important to understand how landscape, that according to the European Landscape Convention reflects the sense of places and represents the image of their history, has evolved along those roads, and to analyse the relationships between the built and natural environments, since they maintain a remarkable symbolic connection between places and peoples over time and history. This study focuses on the Italian section of the Via Francigena that crosses the Emilia-Romagna region, in the province of Piacenza. A land classification method is proposed, with the aim to take into account different indicators: land zoning provided by regional laws, elements of relevant historical and natural value, urban elements, type of agriculture. The analyses are carried out on suitable buffers around the path, thus allowing to create landscape profiles. As nature is a key element for the spirituality character of these pilgrimage routes, the classification process takes into account both protected and other valuable natural elements, besides agricultural activities. The outcomes can be useful to define tools aimed to help pilgrims and tourists to understand the surrounding places along their walk, as well as to lend support to rural and urban planning and integrated local development and landscape enhancement projects.
Comparison of grape harvesting and sorting methods on factors affecting the must quality
Authors: Parenti Alessandro , Spugnoli Paolo , Masella Piernicola , Guerrini Lorenzo , Benedettelli Stefano , Di Blasi Stefano
Published: April 2015

This study compared two harvesting techniques (manual and mechanical) and three grape sorting methods (no sorting, manual, and densimetric) in attempts to obtain high-quality must. The trials were carried out in 2009 and 2010 in Tuscany, Italy. The effectiveness of the harvest-sorting chain was assessed on two parameters. Substandard berries (SSB) is the percentage of berries, which do not meet quality standards that enter the winemaking process, and material other than grape (MOG) is a measure of the cleanliness of the berries entering the process. In the two years the trial was run the grape maturation level was widely different; in 2009 the vintage was more far mature than in 2010. With respect to SSB content and harvesting methods, in 2009 (more mature grapes) hand-picking reduced SSB content, while in 2010 there were no differences between the two harvesting methods. In both years, densimetric sorting reduced SSB content, while there were no significant differences between no sorting and manual sorting. In terms of MOG content, both harvesting and sorting results were inconsistent. In 2009, MOG was lower in mechanically harvested grapes; while in 2010 it was lower in hand-picked grapes. As for sorting methods, in 2009 there were no differences in MOG, while in 2010 mechanical sorting produced better results. Our results question whether the post-harvest sorting techniques used by many estates are effective; particularly as the question has received little attention and no previous research has compared methods. Secondly, our study contributes to the debate on the effects of harvesting technique on wine quality.
Studies on the labeling of Ethylenediaminetetramethylene phosphonic acid, Methylene Diphosphonate, Sodium pyrophosphate and Hydroxyapatite with Lutetium-177 for use in nuclear medicine
Authors: Abbasi Imtiaz
Published: April 2015

For the treatment of skeletal metastasis, a therapeutic radionuclide tagged with a bone seeking ligand is required, while for radiation synovectomy (RS), a therapeutic radionuclide irreversibly attached to pre-formed particles of appropriate size is required. Radio lanthanides are mostly therapeutic, and ligands containing phosphate groups are predominantly bone seekers. Exploiting these facts, number of new therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals could be developed. Labeling of four phosphate containing materials was pursued in the present study. It was hypothesized that various 177 Lu-labeled bone-seeking complexes such as 177 Lu-ethylenediaminetetramethylene phosphonic acid (EDTMP), 177 Lu-methylene diphosphonate (MDP) and 177 Lu-pyrophosphate (PYP) could be developed as agents for palliative radiotherapy of bone pain due to skeletal metastases, and 177 Lu-Hydroxyapatite (HA) could be developed as an agent for radiosynovectomy of small joints. Lyophilized kit vials of EDTMP, MDP and sodium pyrophosphate (Na-PYP) were formulated. HA particles were synthesized locally and purity was checked by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). 177 Lu was labeled with EDTMP, MDP, PYP, and HA and the behavior of all was studied by radio-thin layer chromatography (TLC) radio-HPLC and radio-electrophoresis. Radio-TLC confirmed the labeling. HPLC analysis too verified the labeling. Radio-electrophoresis results depicted peaks for 177 Lu-MDP, 177 Lu-EDTMP and 177 Lu-PYP at 3.37 ΁ 0.06 cm, 5.53 ΁ 0.15 cm and 7.03 ΁ 0.06 cm respectively confirming negative charge on each specie as all migrated toward positive anode. All 3 methods verified the labeling. The study demonstrated that EDTMP, MDP and PYP form stable complexes with 177 Lu in injectable solution form. HA particulates could too be labeled with 177 Lu with high radiochemical yields (>98%) in suspension form. Former three could be utilized as bone-pain palliation agents for the treatment of bone metastases, and the later could be applied for the treatment of Rheumatoid arthritis of small joints. The study has also indicated the possibility of developing other numerous radiolanthanide analogs with the potentials of possible use in radiation therapy.
On Positive Definiteness Over Locally Compact Quantum Groups
Authors: Runde Volker , Viselter Ami
Published: April 2015

The notion of positive-definite functions over locally compact quantum groups was recently introduced and studied by Daws and Salmi. Based on this work, we generalize various well-known results about positive-definite functions over groups to the quantum framework. Among these are theorems on “square roots” of positive-definite functions, comparison of various topologies, positive-definite measures and characterizations of amenability, and the separation property with respect to compact quantum subgroups.
Aplicação da lei de acesso à informação em portais de transparência governamentais brasileiros
Authors: Resende Walisson da Costa , Nassif Mônica Erichsen
Published: April 2015

Este artigo apresenta os resultados de uma pesquisa realizada nos 27 Portais de Transparência pública dos governos executivos estaduais brasileiros, com o objetivo principal de determinar se eles estariam de acordo com as normas e recomendações estipuladas pela Controladoria-Geral da União. Dentro da perspectiva da Gestão da Informação, foi utilizada uma metodologia qualitativa de análise para os vinte e sete Portais de Transparência do Executivo Estadual brasileiro. A análise de cada portal foi feita a partir dos critérios e recomendações publicados, em 2013, pela Controladoria-Geral da União. Além disso, a análise também contou com a comparação de cada portal com o Portal de Transparência do Executivo Federal, considerado como portal de referência no assunto. Os principais resultados indicam que os Portais de Transparência Pública Governamentais dos Estados, do Poder Executivo brasileiro, não apresentam, em sua maioria, conformidade plena com aquilo que é estipulado pela Lei de Acesso à Informação e recomendado pela Controladoria-Geral da União.
Análise bibliológica: ferramenta de segurança em coleções de livros raros
Authors: Greenhalgh Raphael Diego , Manini Miriam Paula
Published: April 2015

O valor histórico-cultural e econômico do livro raro faz com que o mesmo seja, frequentemente, objeto de roubo e furto. Portanto, as instituições guardiãs deste tipo de acervo têm que reforçar sua segurança com o intuito de inibir essa prática criminosa. O presente trabalho, por meio de revisão de literatura, tem como objetivo analisar a possibilidade de uso da análise bibliológica como uma ferramenta de segurança, pois com a descrição detalhada dos exemplares é possível aumentar o conhecimento sobre o acervo de uma instituição e atribuir propriedade inequívoca aos exemplares raros, que nem sempre recebem carimbos ou outras marcas, dificultando a devolução dos livros no caso de roubo e furto e possível recuperação dos mesmos. Portanto, a análise bibliológica individualiza o exemplar, além de permitir o manuseio e conhecimento aprofundado deste, fatores imprescindíveis à segurança das obras.
Usuário da informação nas revistas brasileiras de Biblioteconomia e Ciência da Informação: mapeamento da produção científica de 2001 a 2013
Authors: Nascimento Maria de Jesus , Cruz Aline , Lucas Elaine Oliveira
Published: April 2015

Pesquisa exploratória e descritiva que analisa os artigos que tratam do tema ‘usuário da informação’, publicados em 13 revistas científicas brasileiras, da área de biblioteconomia e ciência da informação, no período de 13 anos, entre 2001 e 2013. Do ponto de vista metodológico, o estudo se baseia na literatura da área, com foco nos conceitos de usuário da informação, estudos de usuário e Bibliometria. A análise quantitativa tem como principal objetivo mapear a produção científica e explicitar indicadores que possam contribuir para os estudos da disciplina Usuário da Informação e para subsidiar as políticas científicas do campo. Os resultados mostram as revistas mais produtivas, a evolução cronológica da produção que cresceu nos últimos seis anos do período analisado, a distribuição geográfica das instituições produtoras dos artigos, a produtividade dos autores e a colaboração entre os pesquisadores. Embora a região sudeste tenha a maior produção, devido ao número de instituições com cursos de pós-graduação, as duas autoras mais produtivas são de outras regiões do país. Uma delas é professora de mestrado no nordeste brasileiro e a outra é professora de graduação de uma universidade do sul país. A maioria dos artigos procede da Biblioteconomia e da Ciência da Informação, mas não são exclusividade dessas áreas; porém, foram poucas as colaborações entre diferentes áreas ou instituições. Há indícios de consolidação de apenas três grupos de egrégios pesquisadores.