bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Political liberalisation processes
Authors: Szmolka Inmaculada , Fernández-Molina Irene
Published: May 2018

This chapter examines the political liberalisation processes undertaken in MENA countries such as Morocco, Jordan, Oman and Algeria. As on previous occasions, the post-2011 political liberalisation processes were planned and led by the authoritarian rulers in a top-down fashion, acting as an escape valve for authoritarian regimes to defuse social discontent. These reforms were largely cosmetic and therefore have not led to a change in the authoritarian nature of the political regimes. The reforms focused mainly on two aspects: reforms of the constitution and party and electoral laws and changes in each regime’s degree of representation and/or political participation. Although there are positive aspects, the reforms have not brought about substantial changes in power relations. Only in the case of Morocco did these changes produce alternation in government although even there, the repercussions were limited by the need for the election winning party to form a coalition government and because of royal interference in the executive.
Autocratisation, authoritarian progressions and fragmented states
Authors: Szmolka Inmaculada , Durán Marién
Published: May 2018

This chapter analyses the MENA countries that have experienced negative changes following the Arab Spring: a process of autocratisation in Turkey, authoritarian progressions in Kuwait and Bahrain, and the fragmentation of state authority in Syria and Iraq. Turkey has transited from being a defective democracy to authoritarianism (due to a concentration of power in the hands of president Erdoğan), which has been a more pronounced tendency since the attempted coup d’état in July 2016. Kuwait, one of the ‘less authoritarian’ Arab countries before 2011, has undergone an authoritarian progression as a consequence of the emir’s attempts to control parliament and approve restrictive laws regarding rights and liberties. Likewise, authoritarian progression in Bahrain has been the consequence of a decline in political competition - as a result of the withdrawal of opposition movements from parliament and state repression against any type of opposition. The democratic regime established in 2005 in Iraq currently faces enormous concerns: disabling sectarism, weak governance, and the occupation of much of northwestern Iraq by IS. Violence directed by al-Assad’s regime against protesters provoked a civil war on several fronts and a breakdown of state authority in Syria. The chapter shows that these conflicts in the Middle East, as well as in Yemen, have made the region unstable and represent an enormous international challenge.
Survey, Excavation and the Appearance of the Early Polis: A Reappraisal
Authors: Stissi Vladimir
Published: May 2018

When writing a contribution to a Festschrift, the first thing to think of is of course a theme that relates to the honorand and her or his research. In the case of Anthony Snodgrass that is a surprisingly difficult task, because there are so many possibilities to choose from. As we all know, Anthony has produced seminal contributions to thinking about field survey, the Elgin marbles, Early Iron Age Greece, pottery styles, city planning, Archaic Greece, the origins of the polis, the (re-)birth of figurative art, demography, economy and many more subjects. To make things still harder for the Festschrift-writer, there is often not much to add to his interpretations and conclusions. It is therefore only with some hesitation that I here want to bring together and explore a set of Anthony’s favourite hobby horses: the material side of the early development of the Greek city-state, as it can be seen from excavations of domestic sites and through field survey.
Homer’s Audience: What Did They See?
Authors: Schnapp-Gourbeillon Annie
Published: May 2018

At his weekly seminar, Jean-Pierre Vernant used to begin his answer to a friend’s or a colleague’s question with these words: ‘écoute voir’, which could be translated as: ‘listen to see’. Of course, in our century saturated by images of all kinds, this sounds just like a verbal tic, but nevertheless it is significant of a certain form of perception of reality. Indeed, in an aniconic world like that of the auditors of the Homeric poems, the recitation of the verses leads to a very different reception of the poetic images they convey.
Living with Religious Diversity: The Limits of the Secular Paradigm
Authors: Mahajan Gurpreet
Published: May 2018

In April 2016, Air France sent an email to the women crewmembers instructing them to ‘wear trousers during flights to Iran and to don a “loose-fitting jacket and headscarf” before leaving the plane in Tehran’ (Willsher 2016). Many people were outraged by this announcement. While some people saw this as a sign of France yielding, if not being subservient, to the demands of the Muslim culture, others complained that women were being compelled to wear ‘ostentatious religious signs’ – something that France prohibits explicitly in its own territory. Eventually the matter was settled as the airline gave the staff a choice: they could opt out of flying to Tehran. Air France notified that ‘If, for personal reasons, they [crewmembers] don’t want to wear the headscarf when they leave the plane they would be reassigned to another destination’ (Hickford 2016). This decision took care of the immediate concerns of the women employees but the question that remains is: why did the national carrier issue such instructions? When France prohibits the donning of a full burqa or a veil that completely covers the face in the public domain, can it justifiably ask crewmembers flying into Tehran to wear a headscarf?
Rethinking Secularism1
Authors: Parekh Bhikhu
Published: May 2018

Reading the essays in this collection, one is struck by the variety of ways in which different societies across the globe manage their diversity, especially the religious. Some do so confidently and with success. Some others do so diffidently, nervously, not quite sure where it would all end. While almost all of them take secularism in some form as their desired goal, they feel uneasy about some aspects of it and seek to redefine it, sometimes explicitly, sometimes by stealth. In this afterword I make a few brief remarks about the nature and limits of secularism as well as why and how it can be made more hospitable to the religious sensibility.
Revolutionary Memoirs: Assia Djebar and Latifa al-Zayyat
Authors: Nasser Tahia Abdel
Published: May 2018

This chapter focuses on the autobiographical novels and memoirs of two important twentieth-century Arab women writers who provide models for the adaptation of the genre in colonial and postcolonial cultures: Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade and Nowhere in My Father’s House, two Francophone autobiographical novels by Algerian writer Assia Djebar, and The Search: Personal Papers, a memoir in Arabic by Egyptian writer Latifa al-Zayyat. By framing autobiographical production in anticolonial national movements, Djebar and al-Zayyat rework the genre to comment on postcolonial cultures. Both writers contest colonial formations and offer revolutionary representations of solitude in the postcolonial nation: the Francophone Algerian writer’s challenge to the French archive of the Algerian War of Independence and the Egyptian writer’s reexamination of national culture and the history of the 1940s student movement. In the chapter, solitude is read as an emancipatory opportunity when the writers rethink the language of the new nation through autobiography.
Asynchronous Present Past
Authors: Avanessian Armen
Published: May 2018

Peter Osborne has recently made the ‘speculative proposition’ that post-conceptual art articulates a post-aesthetic poetics. Contemporary art might no longer be an aesthetic art, or at least, it might no longer be understood within the traditional (philosophical) framework of aesthetics. Just as art is undergoing an ontological change, the new linguistic ontology of contemporary fiction or narration, too, demands a Speculative Poetics. Both the con-temporary (in the arts) and the present tense (in recent novels) are characterized by the co-presence of several present times. This co-presence cannot be experienced as such by a subject, it is only present for speculative thought. This quality of the con-temporary and the asynchronous present displayed in art and literature today provokes the question of the extent to which a speculative art history or speculative theory of literature needs to go beyond aesthetics. The hypothesis to be explored here is that we witness the first signs of a revision of the eighteenth-century inauguration of aesthetics, which had relegated poetics (and rhetoric) to the sidelines. A speculative criticism targets the very correlationism of aesthetics, i.e. its structural implementation of the hermeneutic relation between the object and its subjective observer or reader.
Speculation, Critique, Constructivism: Notions for Art History
Authors: Vellodi Kamini
Published: May 2018

This chapter explores the values of the notions of critique, construction and speculation for the practice of Art History. It argues for an immanently critical and constructive art history in pace of a speculative art history. Beginning with an examination of the distinctions between speculation and critique in Kant’s philosophy, and exploring how these notions have functioned in art history’s ‘scientific image of thought’ in part through an appeal to the post-Kantian philosophy of CS Peirce, the chapter develops a constructive, immanently critical art history through Gilles Deleuze’s philosophy. Turning to a single painting by the 15th century painter Jacopo da Negroponte, it indicates some of the features of this constructivist art history, and how it might impact the task of art historical writing.
Impossible! Bergson after Duchamp after Caillois
Authors: Kolb Sarah
Published: May 2018

Beyond traditional art historical practice and its haptophobia with experimental, subjectivist, or speculative methods, what we have already begun to learn from Marcel Duchamp can be further established with the philosophies Henri Bergson and Roger Caillois. An up-to-date philosophy of art might thus be one that combines the potentialities of intuition and a bold imagination with the need for precision and strict controls. In the light of that ‘logic of the imaginary’ which Caillois brought onto the scene with his ‘diagonal sciences’, art and its attendant histories and theories are no longer about substantive messages, but rather about questioning their contingent effects and affects upon a particular environment or beholder. Seen from this angle, philosophy of art might have to deal with unstoppable transformations of dominant structures of knowledge, outpacing self-referential interpretations in favour of a protean field of reciprocal actions and attractions, which can be cultivated by anyone willing to join the game.
Economies of the Wild: Speculations on Constant’s New Babylon and Contemporary Capitalism
Authors: Ieven Bram
Published: May 2018

What if we approached Constant’s New Babylon not simply as a semi-architectural project firmly rooted in the politics and counter-culture of the early 1960s, but as a wild assemblage of aesthetic and political ideas that we can use to understand the nature of our own time? New Babylon, this article's main argument goes, is an artistic research project purposely working in multiple artistic mediums at the same time; it employs and puts to work the d​istinct forms o​f conceptual and aesthetic knowledge that writing, architectural design and painting can produce to patiently close in on its goal: a radical critique of existing society that takes play and creativity as the principles for political change. A speculative art history dealing with these kind of artistic projects, should use the insights and ideas that art produces to understand the present. This argument is unfolded and illustrated in the articles by performing an comparative analysis of New Babylon and the main features of contemporary capitalism (precarity, flexibility, mobility and communication).
Kantian Realisms: The Noumenal, Causation and Grounding
Authors: Assiter Alison
Published: May 2018

This chapter outlines a strong version of ‘realism’ against what Meillassoux labels ‘correlationism’. It suggests, however, that the critiques made by certain realists of the Kantian noumenal can be answered. It begins by defending Kantian ‘empirical realism’ against the critiques of some realists. Then it moves on to claim that Kant’s arguments for transcendental idealism are stronger than those for Bhaskar’s transcendental realism. The chapter suggests, more controversially, that if one takes seriously Kant’s notion of ‘spontaneous causation’, it is possible to offer a Kantian defence of the ‘grounding’ of the phenomenal in the noumenal. Finally, it argues that Kant offers a stronger form of realism than is generally supposed by his critics.
Global Statesman
Authors: Webber David M.
Published: May 2018

Global Statesman revisits the decade that Gordon Brown spent as architect-in-chief of the New Labour project, and charts an often neglected but crucial dimension of the Brown years: his commitment to international development and the issues of global poverty. Drawing upon 10 years of primary research, including an extensive and exhaustive survey of speeches and policy statements made by Brown both prior to and throughout New Labour’s time in government, Global Statesman offers a critical assessment of one of the most powerful figures in modern British politics. While a number of books have focused upon the politics and performance of Brown in office, Global Statesman considers these in the light of the former Chancellor and Prime Minister’s own personal crusade against global poverty. As this book demonstrates, there was a clear link that existed between those policies that Brown himself design and implemented in Britain and the model of international development that he sought to promote abroad. As this book demonstrates however, this transmission of policy proved problematic and Brown’s persistence in working with the grain of global capitalism prevented him from truly getting to grips with the multiple and systemic causes of underdevelopment experienced by billions of people across the world. This, sadly, limited the scope for any genuine, lasting success and, ultimately, undermined Brown’s otherwise admirable commitment to address global poverty.
Multiculturalism without Citizenship?
Authors: Kymlicka Will
Published: May 2018

The model of multiculturalism that emerged in Canada in the 1970s was intimately linked to national citizenship. Multiculturalism was premised on the assumption that immigrants would settle permanently and become citizens, and multiculturalism was seen as an attribute of Canadian citizenship, and a way of enacting citizenship. This tie to citizenship arguably served the interests of both immigrants and the native-born majority. For immigrants, it ensured that multiculturalism did not become a pretext for social exclusion and political marginalization; and for the native-born majority, it helped ensure that multiculturalism was domesticated, as it were, tying recognition of diversity to a shared social and political order. But this model has faced two major challenges in recent years: a neoliberal challenge, which sought to reorient multiculturalism more towards market principles than citizenship principles; and a mobility challenge, which sought to reorient multiculturalism away from ideas of permanent settlement and national citizenship towards ideas of temporary migration and liquid mobility. I critically evaluate these two challenges, focusing in particular on how they understand horizontal relations amongst residents/citizens and vertical relations between residents/citizens and the state. I identify some surprising parallels in the two critiques, and suggest that neither offers a compelling alternative to multicultural national citizenship.
Originary Symbolism: Whitehead, Deleuze and the Process View on Perception
Authors: Robinson Keith
Published: May 2018

Whitehead’s accounts of perception are arguably amongst his most important philosophical legacies. His notions of ‘causal efficacy’, ‘presentational immediacy’, and ‘symbolic reference’ offer a direct challenge to the various schools of thought derived from Hume and Kant, in which causation is seen as a pale derivation from the ‘sensationalist’ vivid impressions of immediate atomic sense-data presented to consciousness. Whitehead ties his account of perception not only to a certain conception of causality and time, but also to a generalized or originary account of symbolism. Originary symbolism is the power to affect or be affected, an exposure to what happens as the condition not just for language, experience, or even God in Whitehead’s sense, but for all becoming and life.This critique of ‘natural perception’ and the generalization of an ‘originary’ differential structure is also taken up and developed in great detail and complexity in the work of the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze. Contrasting Whitehead’s account of originary symbolism with Deleuze will enable the drawing out of some of the radical innovations and variations of the process view with regard to perception and life.
Linkage Map of a Gene Controlling Zero Tannins (zt-1) in Faba Bean (Vicia faba L.) with SSR and ISSR Markers
Authors: Hou Wanwei , Zhang Xiaojuan , Yan Qingbiao , Li Ping , Sha Weichao , Tian Yingying , Liu Yujiao
Published: May 2018

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.), a partially allogamous species, is rich in protein. Condensed tannins limit the use of faba beans as food and feed. Two recessive genes, zt-1 and zt-2, control the zero tannin content in faba bean and promote a white flower phenotype. To determine the inheritance and develop a linkage map for the zt-1 gene in the faba bean germplasm M3290, F2 and F3 progenies were derived from the purple flower and high tannin content genotypes Qinghai12 and zt-1 line M3290, respectively. Genetic analysis verified a single recessive gene for zero tannin content and flower colour. In total, 596 SSR markers and 100 ISSR markers were used to test the polymorphisms between the parents and bulks for the contrasting flower colour via Bulked Segregant Analysis (BSA). Subsequently, six SSR markers and seven ISSR markers were used to genotype the entire 413 F2 population. Linkage analysis showed that the zt-1 gene was closely linked to the SSR markers SSR84 and M78, with genetic distances of 2.9 and 5.8 cM, respectively. The two flanked SSR markers were used to test 34 faba bean genotypes with different flower colours. The closely linked SSR marker SSR84 predicted the zt-1 genotypes with absolute accuracy. The results from the marker-assisted selection (MAS) from this study could provide a solid foundation for further faba bean breeding programmes.
My Dog Is Not My Cat: Owner Perception of the Personalities of Dogs and Cats Living in the Same Household
Authors: Menchetti Laura , Calipari Silvia , Guelfi Gabriella , Catanzaro Alice , Diverio Silvana
Published: May 2018

This study aims to define the personality traits perceived by the owners of multiple pets and to evaluate how they are modulated by experiential-environmental factors. A questionnaire was administered to 1270 owners of multiple pets (dogs and cats) to collect data on the demographics, management, and personality of their pets. Data were analysed by principal component analysis, bivariate, and multivariable models. Five personality traits emerged in dogs and cats: sociability, reactivity, protectiveness, neuroticism, and fearfulness. The owners perceived differences in the personality of their pet: dogs scored higher in sociability, protectiveness, and reactivity, while lower in the neuroticism dimension compared with cats (p < 0.001). Age similarly affected sociability (p < 0.01), and reactivity (p < 0.001) in both dogs and cats, while species-specific gender differences were found as to fearfulness (p < 0.05) and neuroticism (p < 0.001). The age of acquisition modulated several traits in dog personality, while living with conspecifics especially influenced cats. Physiological, behavioural, and evolutionary characteristics could explain species differences. Moreover, intrinsic and extrinsic factors modulated the five dimensions of dogs and cats in a diversified fashion, suggesting complex interactions between species and the environment. However, owners could have had different attitudes with their animals which could have influenced personality perception.
Actinomycetes, an Inexhaustible Source of Naturally Occurring Antibiotics
Authors: Takahashi Yōko , Nakashima Takuji
Published: May 2018

Global public health faces a desperate situation, due to the lack of effective antibiotics. Coordinated steps need to be taken, worldwide, to rectify this situation and protect the advances in modern medicine made over the last 100 years. Work at Japan’s Kitasato Institute has been in the vanguard of many such advances, and work is being proactively tailored to promote the discovery of urgently needed antimicrobials. Efforts are being concentrated on actinomycetes, the proven source of most modern antibiotics. We devised a novel physicochemical screening mechanism, whereby simple physico-chemical properties, in conjunction with related detection methods, such as LC/MS, LC/UV, and polarity, could be used to identify or predict new compounds in a culture broth, simply by comparing results with existing databases. New compounds are isolated, purified, and their structure determined before being tested for any bioactivity. We used lyophilized actinomycete strains from the Kitasato Microbial Library, most more than 35 years old, and found 330 strains were producers of useful bioactive substances. We also tested organisms found in fresh samples collected in the complex environments from around plant roots, as well as from sediments of mangrove forests and oceans, resulting in the discovery of 36 novel compounds from 11 actinomycete strains. A compound, designated iminimycin, containing an iminium ion in the structure was discovered from the culture broth of Streptomyces griseus OS-3601, which had been stored for a long time as a streptomycin-producing strain. This represented the first iminium ion discovery in actinomycetes. Compounds with a cyclopentadecane skeleton containing 5,6-dihydro-4-hydroxyl-2-pyrone ring and tetrahydrofuran ring, designated mangromicins, were isolated from the culture broth of Lechevalieria aerocolonigenes K10-0216 obtained from sediment in a mangrove forest. These structures are extremely unique among natural compounds. From the same culture broth, new steroid compounds, named K10-0216 KA and KB, and other new compounds having a thiazole and a pyridine ring, named pyrizomicin A and B, were discovered. New substances can be found from actinomycetes that have been exhaustively studied. Novel compounds with different skeletons can be found from a single broth of one strain. The sought after new antibiotics will arise from continued exploitation of the actinomycetes, especially rare actinomycetes. Work on new organisms and samples should be augmented by re-examination of known actinomycetes already in storage. New research should also be carried out on the manipulation of culture media, thereby stimulating actinomycete strains to produce novel chemicals. The establishment of wide-ranging international research collaborations will facilitate and expedite the efficient and timely discovery and provision of bioactive compounds to help maintain and promote advances in global public health.
An Approach to Reduce Greenhouse Gases in the Semiconductor Industry Using F2 Dissociated in Plasma for CVD Chamber Cleaning
Authors: Boudaden Jamila , Altmannshofer Stephan , Wieland Robert , Pittroff Michael , Eisele Ignaz
Published: May 2018

The gases used in industrial cleaning processes are considered greenhouse gases with a high global warming potential (GWP). It is important to provide a viable alternative chemical vapor deposition (CVD) cleaning gas that is capable of removing efficiently deposited layers on the CVD chamber inner wall and other parts of the apparatus. The cleaning gas has to be environmental friendly in order to avoid accentuation of the global warming phenomena. Besides that, the alternative cleaning gas should be compatible with the existing gas delivery system and the CVD equipment that is already used by industrial companies. Only by fulfilling the three requirements mentioned above is it possible to replace the well-established cleaning gases. In this project, an F2–gas mixture for the in-situ cleaning of CVD chambers has been studied and compared with conventional cleaning methods. The conventional cleaning process is defined as a cleaning procedure using either C2F6 in RF plasma discharge or NF3 in remote plasma discharge.
Frame-Based and Subpicture-Based Parallelization Approaches of the HEVC Video Encoder
Authors: Migallón Héctor , Piñol Pablo , López-Granado Otoniel , Galiano Vicente , Malumbres Manuel P.
Published: May 2018

The most recent video coding standard, High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), is able to significantly improve the compression performance at the expense of a huge computational complexity increase with respect to its predecessor, H.264/AVC. Parallel versions of the HEVC encoder may help to reduce the overall encoding time in order to make it more suitable for practical applications. In this work, we study two parallelization strategies. One of them follows a coarse-grain approach, where parallelization is based on frames, and the other one follows a fine-grain approach, where parallelization is performed at subpicture level. Two different frame-based approaches have been developed. The first one only uses MPI and the second one is a hybrid MPI/OpenMP algorithm. An exhaustive experimental test was carried out to study the performance of both approaches in order to find out the best setup in terms of parallel efficiency and coding performance. Both frame-based and subpicture-based approaches are compared under the same hardware platform. Although subpicture-based schemes provide an excellent performance with high-resolution video sequences, scalability is limited by resolution, and the coding performance worsens by increasing the number of processes. Conversely, the proposed frame-based approaches provide the best results with respect to both parallel performance (increasing scalability) and coding performance (not degrading the rate/distortion behavior).
Wind Turbine Generator Efficiency Based on Powertrain Combination and Annual Power Generation Prediction
Authors: Kim Dongmyung , Park Byeongcheol , Jang Joosup
Published: May 2018

Wind turbine generators are eco-friendly generators that produce electric energy using wind energy. In this study, wind turbine generator efficiency is examined using a powertrain combination and annual power generation prediction, by employing an analysis model. Performance testing was conducted in order to analyze the efficiency of a hydraulic pump and a motor, which are key components, and so as to verify the analysis model. The annual wind speed occurrence frequency for the expected installation areas was used to predict the annual power generation of the wind turbine generators. It was found that the parallel combination of the induction motors exhibited a higher efficiency when the wind speed was low and the serial combination showed higher efficiency when wind speed was high. The results of predicting the annual power generation considering the regional characteristics showed that the power generation was the highest when the hydraulic motors were designed in parallel and the induction motors were designed in series.
Mechanical and Hydraulic Behaviors of Eco-Friendly Pervious Concrete Incorporating Fly Ash and Blast Furnace Slag
Authors: Peng Hua , Yin Jian , Song Weimin
Published: May 2018

Eco-friendly pervious concretes containing fly ash (FA) and blast furnace slag (BFS) were prepared in this study. The compressive strength and hydraulic behaviors were investigated to explore the effect of replacement content of FA and BFS. Rheological tests of cementitious pastes were first conducted and the results showed that FA could increase the apparent viscosity and BFS did not change the rheology performance. Compared to traditional concretes, FA and BFS both decreased the compressive strength of pervious concrete at 28 d, while pervious concrete incorporated with FA and/or BFS presented comparable strength at 60 d. Compared to the control concrete mix, at the same replacement rate, FA changed the compressive strength more obviously than BFS. FA and BFS both decreased the effective porosity and permeability coefficient of pervious concrete. However, when the replacement rate (30%) was the same, concretes with ternary blends presented obviously larger porosity than binary blends. The relationships between porosity and permeability, and strength were also established.
Artificial Neural Networks in Coordinated Control of Multiple Hovercrafts with Unmodeled Terms
Authors: Duan Kairong , Fong Simon , Zhuang Yan , Song Wei
Published: May 2018

In this paper, the problem of coordinated control of multiple hovercrafts is addressed. For a single hovercraft, by using the backstepping technique, a nonlinear controller is proposed, where Radial Basis Function Neural Networks (RBFNNs) are adopted to approximate unmodeled terms. Despite the application of RBFNNs, integral terms are introduced, improving the robustness of controller. As a result, global uniformly ultimate boundedness is achieved. Regarding the communication topology, two different directed graphs are chosen under the assumption that there are no delays when they communicate with each other. In order to testify the performance of the proposed strategy, simulation results are presented, showing that vehicles can move forward in a specific formation pattern and RBFNNs are able to approximate unmodeled terms.
High-Yield Preparation of ZnO Nanoparticles on Exfoliated Graphite as Anode Material for Lithium Ion Batteries and the Effect of Particle Size as well as of Conductivity on the Electrochemical Performance of Such Composites
Authors: Isakin Olga , Hiltl Stephanie , Struck Oliver , Willert-Porada Monika , Moos Ralf
Published: May 2018

The combination of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NP) and graphite provides a promising approach for applications in the field of anode materials for lithium ion batteries. Here, we report a facile and environmentally friendly method yielding uniformly dispersed ZnO particles with a controllable particle size between 5 and 80 nm, supported by exfoliated graphite (EG) sheets. A thermal post-treatment (420 to 800 °C, N2) of ZnO@EG composite results in high yield with the opportunity for industrial scale-up. The post-treatment leads to growing ZnO particles on the EG sheets, while oxygen is disincorporated from ZnO by the associated carbothermal reduction of ZnO@EG composites above 600 °C and the conductivity is increased. ZnO@EG composite anodes, reduced at 600 °C, show improved Li storage capacity (+25%) and good cycle stability, compared to the EG anode. This can be attributed to the increased conductivity, despite the particle size increased up to 80 nm. Furthermore, we suggest that the mechanism for the reaction of Li+ ions with ZnO@EG-composites including ZnO-particles with an average particle size below 20 nm differs from the classical Li+ ions insertion/de-insertion or alloying process.
Prevalence and Characteristics of Listeria monocytogenes Isolates in Raw Milk, Heated Milk and Nunu, a Spontaneously Fermented Milk Beverage, in Ghana
Authors: Owusu-Kwarteng James , Wuni Alhassan , Akabanda Fortune , Jespersen Lene
Published: May 2018

Listeria monocytogenes is a gram-positive food-borne pathogen that causes listeriosis in humans. Currently, there is little information on the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in raw milk and traditional yoghurt-like milk beverage, nunu, in Ghana. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of L. monocytogenes isolates in raw cow milk, boiled milk and nunu in Ghana, and to characterize these L. monocytogenes isolates according to their serogroups, virulence potentials and antibiotic susceptibility profiles. A total of 254 samples comprising 114 raw cow milk, 56 boiled milk and 84 nunu were collected from dairy farms and market vendors for detection of L. monocytogenes. The overall prevalence of L. monocytogenes in raw milk, boiled milk and nunu was 5.5% (14/254). Listeria monocytogenes was prevalent in raw cow milk (8.8%; 10/114) and nunu (13.1%; 11/84), while no Listeria spp. was not detected in boiled milk. A total of 62 L. monocytogenes isolates were analysed to belong to molecular serogroups 1/2a-3a (32/62, 51.6%), 1/2b-3b-7 (14/62, 22.6%), 4b-4d-4e (9/62, 14.5%) and 1/2c-3c (7/62, 11.3%). All 62 L. monocytogenes isolates harbored the virulence-associated genes inlA, inlB, inlC, inlJ, plcA, actA, hlyA, iap and prfA. All Listeria monocytogenes in the present study were generally susceptible to the tested antibiotics, except neomycin and tetracycline, for which phenotypic resistance was observed among isolates.
A Rare De Novo RAI1 Gene Mutation Affecting BDNF-Enhancer-Driven Transcription Activity Associated with Autism and Atypical Smith-Magenis Syndrome Presentation
Authors: Abad Clemer , Cook Melissa M. , Cao Lei , Jones Julie R. , Rao Nalini R. , Dukes-Rimsky Lynn , Pauly Rini , Skinner Cindy , Wang Yunsheng , Luo Feng , Stevenson Roger E. , Walz Katherina , Srivastava Anand K.
Published: May 2018

Deletions and mutations involving the Retinoic Acid Induced 1 (RAI1) gene at 17p11.2 cause Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS). Here we report a patient with autism as the main clinical presentation, with some SMS-like features and a rare de novo RAI1 gene mutation, c.3440G > A (p.R1147Q). We functionally characterized the RAI1 p.R1147Q mutant protein. The mutation, located near the nuclear localization signal, had no effect on the subcellular localization of the mutant protein. However, similar to previously reported RAI1 missense mutations in SMS patients, the RAI1 p.R1147Q mutant protein showed a significant deficiency in activating in vivo transcription of a reporter gene driven by a BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) intronic enhancer. In addition, expression of other genes associated with neurobehavioral abnormalities and/or neurodevelopmental disorders were found to be altered in this patient. These results suggest a likely contribution of RAI1, either alone or in combination of other factors, to social behavior and reinforce the RAI1 gene as a candidate gene in patients with autistic manifestations or social behavioral abnormalities.
Exploring Basic Components Effect on the Catalytic Efficiency of Chevron-Phillips Catalyst in Ethylene Trimerization
Authors: Naji-Rad Ebtehal , Gimferrer Martí , Bahri-Laleh Naeimeh , Nekoomanesh-Haghighi Mehdi , Jamjah Roghieh , Poater Albert
Published: May 2018

In the present work, the effect of basic components on the energy pathway of ethylene oligomerization using the landmark Chevron-Phillips catalyst has been explored in detail, using density functional theory (DFT). Studied factors were chosen considering the main components of the Chevron-Phillips catalyst, i.e., ligand, cocatalyst, and halocarbon compounds, comprising (i) the type of alkyl substituents in pyrrole ligand, i.e., methyl, iso-propyl, tert-butyl, and phenyl, as well as the simple hydrogen and the electron withdrawing fluoro and trifluoromethyl; (ii) the number of Cl atoms in Al compounds (as AlMe2Cl, AlMeCl2 and AlCl3), which indicate the halocarbon level, and (iii) cocatalyst type, i.e., alkylboron, alkylaluminium, or alkylgallium. Besides the main ingredients, the solvent effect (using toluene or methylcyclohexane) on the oligomerization pathway was also explored. In this regard, the full catalytic cycles for the main product (1-hexene) formation, as well as side reactions, i.e., 1-butene release and chromacyclononane formation, were calculated on the basis of the metallacycle-based mechanism. According to the obtained results, a modification on the Chevron-Phillips catalyst system, which demonstrates higher 1-hexene selectivity and activity, is suggested.
Molecular and Morphological Phylogenetic Analyses of New World Cycad Beetles: What They Reveal about Cycad Evolution in the New World
Authors: Tang William , Xu Guang , O’Brien Charles , Calonje Michael , Franz Nico , Johnston M. , Taylor Alberto , Vovides Andrew , Pérez-Farrera Miguel , Salas-Morales Silvia , Lazcano-Lara Julio , Skelley Paul , Lopez-Gallego Cristina , Lindström Anders , Rich Stephen
Published: May 2018

Two major lineages of beetles inhabit cycad cones in the New World: weevils (Curculionoidea) in the subtribe Allocorynina, including the genera Notorhopalotria Tang and O’Brien, Parallocorynus Voss, Protocorynus O’Brien and Tang and Rhopalotria Chevrolat, and beetles in the family Erotylidae, including the genus Pharaxonotha Reitter. Analysis of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) mitochondrial gene as well as cladistic analysis of morphological characters of the weevils indicate four major radiations, with a probable origin on the cycad genus Dioon Lindl. and comparatively recent host shifts onto Zamia L. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene for erotylid beetles indicates that an undescribed genus restricted to New World Ceratozamia Brongn. is the most early-diverging clade, and this lineage is sister to a large radiation of the genus Pharaxonotha onto Zamia, with apparent host shifts onto Dioon and Ceratozamia. Analysis of beetles are in accord with current models of continental drift in the Caribbean basin, support some proposed species groupings of cycads, but not others, and suggest that pollinator type may impact population genetic structure in their host cycads.
A Performance Study of Massive MIMO Heterogeneous Networks with Ricean/Rayleigh Fading
Authors: Nyarko James Kweku Nkrumah , Mbom Christian Ango
Published: May 2018

Massive multiple-input and multiple-out (massive MIMO) systems and heterogeneous networks (HetNet) are envisioned to meet the new performance objectives of evolving networks. Now, the main challenge of massive MIMO with HetNet in two-tier networks is how to alleviate interference generated by the randomly deployed femtocells to the macro cells. In this paper, we investigate massive MIMO with HetNet, where the intended macro base station (MBS) transmission follows Ricean fading and interfering femto BS transmissions follow Rayleigh fading. Then, by exploiting matrix and stochastic geometric tools, we derive tight approximations for the intended signal power and aggregated interfering power signal. And derive the signal-to-interference (SIR) with the convolution of the two power signals. Then, we obtain the performance objectives: coverage and outage probabilities, and area spectral efficiency. Further, to reduce the cell edge effects and improve the SIR, we study the role of massive MIMO beamforming coordination with the high-powered MBSs. Thus, we develop maxi-min optimization to control the MBS transmit power. Numerical results show that the coverage and outage performance converge for different user locations, pathloss and Ricean factor. The monotonic increase in Ricean factor improves the SIR of a user located within coverage region. Optimal values of macro BS antenna and transmit power guarantee rate-fairness between the coordinating MBSs, and avoid strong Ricean channel correlation. Also, the performance gain is dependent on the user location, but independent of the cell size.
Antimicrobial Activity of Poly(ester urea) Electrospun Fibers Loaded with Bacteriophages
Authors: Díaz Angélica , Del Valle Luis , Rodrigo Noel , Casas María , Chumburidze George , Katsarava Ramaz , Puiggalí Jordi
Published: May 2018

The capacity to load bacteriophages into electrospun nanofibers of two representative biocompatible polymers has been evaluated, paying special attention to the possibility of preserving their antibacterial activity. Specifically, the work involves the following steps: (a) Evaluation of the effect of the applied electrical field on the phage activity; (b) evaluation of the activity when a lyophilization process could be avoided by using water soluble polymers (e.g., poly(ethylene glycol); (c) evaluation of the activity when dissolution of the polymer requires an organic solvent and lyophilization is theoretically necessary. In this case, a poly(ester urea) (PEU) derived from the natural L-leucine amino acid has been considered. Adsorption of commercial bacteriophage preparations into calcium carbonate particles was demonstrated to be a promising methodology to avoid lyophilization and keep the initial bactericide activity at a maximum. Phagestaph and Fersis bacteriophage commercial preparations have been selected for this study due to their specific activity against Staphylococci (e.g., S. aureus) and Streptococci (e.g., S. pyogenes) bacteria. Adhesion and proliferation assays using epithelial cells demonstrated the biocompatibility of both unloaded and bacteriophage-loaded PEU scaffolds, although some slight differences were observed depending on the type of bacteriophage and the selected preparation methodology.
Effect of Sonication Time on Magnetorheological Effect for Monomodal Magnetic Elastomers
Authors: Watanabe Mayuko , Ikeda Junko , Takeda Yoshihiro , Kawai Mika , Mitsumata Tetsu
Published: May 2018

The effect of sonication time on the storage modulus and particle morphology for magnetic elastomers was investigated by dynamic viscoelastic measurements and morphological studies. An ultrasonic wave using a homogenizer was irradiated to magnetic liquids containing 70 wt % carbonyl iron, for up to 30 min before cure. SEM photographs revealed that magnetic particles were randomly dispersed in the polyurethane matrix for magnetic elastomers with sonication. A parameter showing nonlinear viscoelasticity for magnetic elastomers with sonication decreased from 0.75 to 0.4, indicating that the aggregations of magnetic particles had been destroyed by the sonication. The storage modulus at 500 mT at the linear viscoelastic regime significantly increased with the irradiation time, reaching saturation after 10 min; this suggests an increase in the number of chains of magnetic particles by sonication, due to the random dispersion of magnetic particles. At high strains, the storage modulus at 500 mT increased by 8.9 kPa by sonication, indicating the number of chains of magnetic particles which were not destroyed by increased sonication. It was also found that the storage modulus for polyurethane elastomers without magnetic particles was not varied by sonication, suggesting that the polyurethane network was not broken. The effect of sonication time on the viscoelastic properties, and on the magnetorheological response for magnetic elastomers, is discussed.
Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Profiling Analysis of the Xyloglucan Endotransglucosylase/Hydrolase Gene Family in Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.)
Authors: Wang Meng , Xu Zongchang , Ding Anming , Kong Yingzhen
Published: May 2018

Xyloglucan endotransglucosylase/hydrolase genes (XTHs) encode enzymes required for the reconstruction and modification of xyloglucan backbones, which will result in changes of cell wall extensibility during growth. A total of 56 NtXTH genes were identified from common tobacco, and 50 cDNA fragments were verified by PCR amplification. The 56 NtXTH genes could be classified into two subfamilies: Group I/II and Group III according to their phylogenetic relationships. The gene structure, chromosomal localization, conserved protein domains prediction, sub-cellular localization of NtXTH proteins and evolutionary relationships among Nicotiana tabacum, Nicotiana sylvestrisis, Nicotiana tomentosiformis, Arabidopsis, and rice were also analyzed. The NtXTHs expression profiles analyzed by the TobEA database and qRT-PCR revealed that NtXTHs display different expression patterns in different tissues. Notably, the expression patterns of 12 NtXTHs responding to environment stresses, including salinity, alkali, heat, chilling, and plant hormones, including IAA and brassinolide, were characterized. All the results would be useful for the function study of NtXTHs during different growth cycles and stresses.
A Systematic Review on Healthcare Analytics: Application and Theoretical Perspective of Data Mining
Authors: Islam Md Saiful , Hasan Md Mahmudul , Wang Xiaoyi , Germack Hayley D. , Noor-E-Alam Md
Published: May 2018

The growing healthcare industry is generating a large volume of useful data on patient demographics, treatment plans, payment, and insurance coverage—attracting the attention of clinicians and scientists alike. In recent years, a number of peer-reviewed articles have addressed different dimensions of data mining application in healthcare. However, the lack of a comprehensive and systematic narrative motivated us to construct a literature review on this topic. In this paper, we present a review of the literature on healthcare analytics using data mining and big data. Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we conducted a database search between 2005 and 2016. Critical elements of the selected studies—healthcare sub-areas, data mining techniques, types of analytics, data, and data sources—were extracted to provide a systematic view of development in this field and possible future directions. We found that the existing literature mostly examines analytics in clinical and administrative decision-making. Use of human-generated data is predominant considering the wide adoption of Electronic Medical Record in clinical care. However, analytics based on website and social media data has been increasing in recent years. Lack of prescriptive analytics in practice and integration of domain expert knowledge in the decision-making process emphasizes the necessity of future research.
Problem Drinking, Alcohol-Related Violence, and Homelessness among Youth Living in the Slums of Kampala, Uganda
Authors: Swahn Monica H. , Culbreth Rachel , Tumwesigye Nazarius Mbona , Topalli Volkan , Wright Eric , Kasirye Rogers
Published: May 2018

This paper examines problem drinking, alcohol-related violence, and homelessness among youth living in the slums of Kampala—an understudied population at high-risk for both alcohol use and violence. This study is based on a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2014 with youth living in the slums and streets of Kampala, Uganda (n = 1134), who were attending Uganda Youth Development Link drop-in centers. The analyses for this paper were restricted to youth who reported current alcohol consumption (n = 346). Problem drinking patterns were assessed among youth involved in alcohol-related violence. Mediation analyses were conducted to examine the impact of homelessness on alcohol-related violence through different measures of problem drinking. Nearly 46% of youth who consumed alcohol were involved in alcohol-related violence. Problem drinkers were more likely to report getting in an accident (χ2 = 6.8, df = 1, p = 0.009), having serious problems with parents (χ2 = 21.1, df = 1, p < 0.0001) and friends (χ2 = 18.2, df = 1, p < 0.0001), being a victim of robbery (χ2 = 8.8, df = 1, p = 0.003), and going to a hospital (χ2 = 15.6, df = 1, p < 0.0001). For the mediation analyses, statistically significant models were observed for frequent drinking, heavy drinking, and drunkenness. Interventions should focus on delaying and reducing alcohol use in this high-risk population.