bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dependence of tissue inhomogeneity correction factors on photon-beam energy
Authors: Akhtaruzzaman Md. , Kukolowicz Pawel
Published: April 2018

Introduction: Commissioning of the treatment-planning system includes the accuracy of dose calculations in the inhomogeneous absorber. Several results of measurements with regard to inhomogeneity correction factors (CFs) have been published. However, the dependence of CFs on photon-beam energy may preclude such results from being applied to the photon beams of general users. Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the dependence of CFs on the photon-beam energy. Materials and methods: CFs were calculated by the Batho method for several slab geometries comprised of concentrations of lung tissue and water of 0.25 and 1.00 g/cm3, respectively. The CFs were calculated at 6 MV (TPR20
10 = 0.67 ± k * 0.01) and 15 MV (TPR20
10 = 0.76 ± k * 0.01) where k = -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3. All calculations were performed in the region where a charged-particle equilibrium exists. Results: Changes in CFs of less than 2% were observed across the considered energy ranges. With a change in TPR20,10 of 0.01, both at 6 and 15 MV at a depth of 5 cm below the lung; and lung thicknesses of 3, 5 and 8 cm over a fi eld surface area of 10 × 10 cm2, the change in CF never exceeded 2.4%. The dependences of changes in CFs in terms of TPR20,10 were 1.74% and 1.20% for field surface areas of 5 × 5 cm2 and 20 × 20 cm2, respectively. A comparison of 42 linear accelerators (LINACs) exhibiting 6 MV and 15 MV of energy installed in Poland showed that the maximum differences in terms of TPR20,10 at 6 MV and 15 MV were 4.2% and 2.2%, respectively. Conclusion: A linear dependence of CFs on energy was observed. According to observations, the smaller the surface area of the field and deeper the point of interest below the lung, the more dependent CFs are on energy.
Predicting chlorophyll-a concentrations in two temperate reservoirs with different trophic states using Principal Component Regression (PCR)
Authors: Çelik Kemal
Published: April 2018

Relationships between chlorophyll-a (chl-a) concentrations and 16 physicochemical variables in temperate eutrophic Çygören and mesotrophic Ikizcetepeler reservoirs (Turkey) were determined using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). PCA was used to simplify the complexity of relationships between water quality variables. Principal component scores (PCs) were used as independent variables in the multiple linear regression analysis (MLR) to predict chl-a in both reservoirs. This procedure is called Principal Component Regression (PCR). In the eutrophic Çygören Reservoir, chl-a was significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with nitrite-nitrogen (NO2), ammonium-nitrogen (NH4), phosphate (PO4), total suspended solids (TSS), pH, Secchi disk transparency, total dissolved solids (TDS) and total phosphorus (TP). In the mesotrophic Ikizcetepeler Reservoir, chl-a was significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with TSS, NO2, chemical oxygen demand (COD), sulfate (SO4), TDS, pH and the Secchi disk. In the eutrophic Çaygören Reservoir, six PCs explained 71% of the total variation in the water quality, while in the mesotrophic Ikizcetepeler Reservoir, six PCs explained 75% of the variation. This study has shown that PCR is a more robust tool than direct MLR to simplify the relationships between water quality variables and to predict chl-a concentrations in temperate reservoirs with different trophic states.
Characteristics of the growth rate and lipid production in fourteen strains of Baltic green microalgae
Authors: Klin Marek , Pniewski Filip , Latała Adam
Published: April 2018

Screening of fourteen Baltic green algal strains provided basic data on their mass culture potential for the purpose of valuable biomass production with particular emphasis on lipid content. Selected microalgae were grown under non-stressed conditions in order to identify those characterized by efficient lipid production. The tested strains exhibited significant differences in growth patterns and lipid yields. Strains belonging to Chlorella and Stichococcus genera exhibited the highest growth rates, ranging from 0.39 d-1 to 0.50 d-1 and thus the highest final cell density (> 107 cells ml-1). Furthermore, five strains: C. minutissima BA-12, C. fusca BA-18, C. vulgaris BA-80, Monoraphidium sp. BA-165 and Chlorella sp. BA-167 were characterized by distinctively high lipid yield (> 60 mg l-1). The same strains, together with C. vulgaris BA-02, were also shown as those with the highest volumetric lipid productivity, reaching > 30 mg l-1 d-1. The tested Baltic strains performed well in terms of lipid production compared to the literature data, still leaving a great spectrum of opportunities for further lipid yield improvement.
Rare calciphilous diatoms from the genus Gomphonema (Bacillariophyta) in lotic waters of SE Poland
Authors: Noga Teresa , Poradowska Anita , Peszek Łukasz , Rybak Mateusz
Published: April 2018

The aim of this work was to present a morphological description and ecological characteristics of a rare species from the Gomphonema genus, occurring in calcium-rich waters, along with its new occurrence sites. The research was carried out in flowing waters of mountain and sub-mountain streams and rivers in Poland: the Wołosaty, the Wisłoka, the San and their tributaries. The occurrence of many rare and new to Polish flora species from the genus Gomphonema was recorded: G. cuneolus E. Reichardt, G. drutelingense E. Reichardt, G. innocens E. Reichardt,G. lateripunctatum E. Reichardt & Lange-Bertalot, G. lippertii E. Reichardt & Lange-Bertalot and G. calcifugum Lange-Bertalot & E. Reichardt. These species occur mostly in alkaline or close-to-neutral waters with medium or low electrolytic conductivity (78–530 μS cm-1), low nutrient content and medium-to-high calcium ion content (12.4–76.4 mg l-1). Despite the rare occurrence in other parts of the world, the studied Gomphonema species has found favorable conditions in unpolluted and calcium-rich stream beds with flysch strata. The literature data define G. calcifugum as a non-calciphilous species, but this study shows that it can develop in a wide pH range and in calcium-rich waters.
Estimating chemical footprint: contamination with mercury and its compounds
Authors: Tarasova Natalia , Makarova Anna , Fantke Peter , Shlyakhov Pavel
Published: April 2018

Chemical pollution is a problem of global importance. However, there are currently no agreed approaches for integrated environmental impact assessment (EIA) of chemical effects at global scale. We present a new systems-based approach to EIA of chemicals. Our methodology considers propagation of chemical pollutants in the environment, in conjunction with the approach followed in the Russian regulatory system. To estimate chemical footprints related to environmental contamination by potentially toxic substances, measured environmental concentrations were combined with results from the UNEP-SETAC scientific consensus model USEtox, which is recommended for and widely applied in life cycle impact assessment. Our approach was tested using the example of mercury, which has been shown to be a hazardous pollutant at regional and global scales. Results show that the main contribution to the overall chemical footprint of mercury and its compounds is related to releases into aqueous bodies from human activities. Estimations of Maximum Available Concentration overrun show that calculated and experimental data agree to a good extent, particularly for mercury contamination in freshwater bodies. Discrepancies between calculated and actual data are mainly due to extrapolated data used for model validation, averaged data applied to entire Russian Federation districts, the omission of industrial soil as a separate model compartment, and not accounting for cumulative damage from emissions in previous years. These aspects will inform future efforts to refine the methodology. The results of this study were presented to the Ministry of the Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation. It is planned to use these results as one basis for prioritizing action on sources of environmental mercury contamination and as a benchmark for minimizing such impacts.
New water-soluble Schiff base ligands based on β-cyclodextrin for aqueous biphasic hydroformylation reaction
Authors: Dauchy Maxime , Ferreira Michel , Leblond Jérôme , Bricout Hervé , Tilloy Sébastien , Smith Gregory S. , Monflier Eric
Published: April 2018

The synthesis of water-soluble rhodium(I) salicylaldiminato and salicylhydrazonic complexes has been achieved employing two preparative routes. Schiff base condensation between 6A-deoxy-6A-amino-β-CD or 6A-deoxy-6A-hydrazino-β-CD and 5-sodiosulfonato-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde (sulfonated salicylaldehyde) (1) or 5-sodiosulfonato-3-tert-butyl-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde (sulfonated
t
Bu-salicylaldehyde) (2) led to the formation of the corresponding imine or hydrazone ligands (3, 4, 5 and 6). Reaction of [Rh(COD)2
+BF4
−] with these new ligands in an alkaline solution formed the corresponding rhodium complexes quantitatively. These rhodium(I) complexes could also be prepared in one-pot by mixing, in stoichiometric proportions, the modified β-CDs with the sulfonated salicylaldehyde and with the rhodium precursor in an alkaline solution at room temperature. These rhodium complexes were applied as catalysts in the aqueous biphasic hydroformylation of 1-decene as a model reaction.
Targeted catalytic degradation of organophosphates: pursuing sensors
Authors: Hostert Leandro , Campos Renan B. , Fonsaca Jéssica E. S. , Silva Valmir B. , Blaskievicz Sirlon F. , Ferreira José G. L. , Takarada Willian , Naidek Naiane , Santos Yane H. , Nascimento Leonardo L. Q. , Zarbin Aldo J. G. , Orth Elisa S.
Published: April 2018

Chemical security has been a hot topic over several years, especially involving organophosphates (OP), which are related to organophosphorus chemical warfare and pesticides. The main challenges are to develop efficient ways to destroy stockpiles of these materials and also to monitor their presence in the field or food. A promising approach in this sense is the targeted design of catalysts that can react with OP and degrade them. Herein, we present a summary of some recent advances towards OP detoxification and monitoring that involves four different approaches: (i) How? Understanding the mechanism: thorough mechanistic elucidation and design of an ideal catalytic scaffold; (ii) Nanocatalysts and sensors: rational functionalization of carbon nanomaterials leading to nanocatalysts as powder and thin films. A surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor for OP was also obtained combining the functionalized material with silver nanoparticles; (iii) Catalysts from waste: reuse of rice husk waste as well as waste derived from the cheap gum arabic for developing biocatalysts that have high added-value and are environmentally friendly; (iv) A simple sensor: a simple, cheap and compact homemade colorimeter that can be used as a colorimetric sensor for detecting quantitatively various compounds, including pesticides.
Covalent functionalization of multiwalled carbon nanotubes with super-hydrophobic property
Authors: Li Minghua , Xu Zhiyuan , Chen Jinyang , Zhu San-E
Published: April 2018

Surface covalent functionalization of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) is carried out by coupling of isocyanate-decorated MWCNTs with hydroxyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (HTPS), resulting in the formation of functionalized MWCNTs. Thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) of functionalized MWCNTs-1,2,3 exhibits the similar peaks in the temperature range of 200–500°C, which all correspond to the degradation of chemically grafted polyurethane on the nanotube surface. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) reveals that as the polyurethane grafted onto the surface of MWCNTs loading ratio increased, the surface roughness of the MWCNTs is reduced. The chemical interaction of HTPS with isocyanate-decorated nanotube surface using the grafting-to strategy in a one-step process is confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The surface contact angle of MWCNTs-3 with the largest content of polyurethane reached 171°, indicating that the surface covered with low surface energy polyurethane shows a super-hydrophobic property. The good dispersion of polyurethane-functionalized MWCNT-3, particularly at high content in the NR nanocomposites, is evidenced from transmission electron microscopy (TEM).
Contiguity in prosodic words: Evidence from Spanish
Authors: Broś Karolina
Published: April 2018

Spanish dialects show substantial variation in codasweakening. Yet, to provide a comprehensive treatment of this phenomenon, a bigger prosodic constituent than just the coda position should be analysed. Crucially, two aspirating varieties of Spanish are considered. The Granada dialect weakenssto [h] inside words, at word edges and at prefix edges. The process may be either transparent (esto[éh.to] ‘this’,des-calzar[deh.kal.sáɾ] ‘to unshoe’,las cosas[lah.kó.sah] ‘the things’) or opaque (des-hecho[de.hé.tʃo] ‘undone’,las aguas[la.há.ɣwah] ‘the waters’). Chilean Spanish, on the other hand, presents transparent (esto[éh.to] ‘this’,des-calzar[deh.kal.sáɾ] ‘to unshoe’) and opaque (las aguas[la.há.ɣwa] ‘the waters’) aspiration, as well as deletion (las cosas[la.kó.sa] ‘the things’), and no aspiration across a prefix boundary (des-hecho[de.sé.tʃo] ‘undone’). The reported variable behaviour calls for an integrated approach to segmental weakening across all prosodic constituents, and for a revision of the present understanding of contiguity. The boundary between the prefix and the stem is protected by the grammar despite the weak coda position of the prefix-finals, therefore the domain of application of the CONTIGUITYconstraint should be extended to the supramorphemic level.
A phase-based account of NPI-licensing in Turkish
Authors: Kayabaşi Demet , Özgen Murat
Published: April 2018

There is a consensus in the literature that a negative polarity item is an expression that requires a licenser varying from overt negation to questions or conditionals (see Benmamoun 1997; Kelepir 2001; Kumar 2006; Kural 1997; Laka 2013; Mahajan 1990; Vasishth 1999). However, the licensing conditions of NPIs might have different accounts, which has not been fully discussed within the literature. This study aims to discuss whether phasemateness (in the sense of Chomsky 2001 and further) might have a direct influence on NPI-licensing. Based on preliminary observations, the fact that the derivation will crash if a domain containing negative polarity items is spelled out before being licensed by a negative verb suggests that licensing of negative polarity items may have to do with their positions in the derivation in coordination with the accessibility of the spell-out domains as well as with asymmetrical c-command relationships. The analysis has also an extension and an implication as to such theoretical problem as phasehood of DPs.
An attack called defence: the communication strategy of ‘gender opponents’ in Italy
Authors: Ottaviano Cristiana
Published: April 2018

‘Gender Ideology’ (‘GI’), as an expression, appeared at the beginning of this century within documents of the Catholic Church with the aim of delegitimising what had been produced in the field of Gender Studies. That intent was strongly clarified, being coincident with the discussion in France about the law on equal marriage, during the protests of Manif pour Tous. Likewise, in Italy, oppositions to draft laws about homophobia and civil unions generated movements unified by the denouncing of ‘GI’. This essay presents research conducted between 2014 and 2017 about online materials of some Italian associations that are positioned as ‘GI opponents’. The content analysis underlines the use of a violent communication style that aims to create alarm and panic regarding presumed ‘gender drifts’ within social and educational contexts. This operation reveals the attempt to reaffirm an anthropological vision of sexuality based on the hierarchical–complementary relationship between male and female. The analysis highlights the risk of a sort of ‘Silence Spiral’, where – in the face of a noisy and violent minority – numerous and various voices disappear. These voices differentiate and invoke the urgency of a deeper debate about the concept of gender and its implications within educational, social and ecclesiastical contexts.
Movement of new direction from conjugated polymer to semiconductor composite polymer nanofiber
Authors: Upadhyay Anjali , Karpagam Subramanian
Published: April 2018

In the past few years, there was a tremendous growth in conjugated polymer nanofibers via design of novel conjugated polymers with inorganic materials. Synthetic routes to these conjugated polymers involve new, mild polymerization techniques, which enable the formation of well-defined polymer architectures. This review provides interest in the development of novel (semi) conducting polymers, which combine both organic and inorganic blocks in one framework. Due to their ability to act as chemosensors or to detect various chemical species in environmental and biological systems, fluorescent conjugated polymers have gained great interest. Nanofibers of metal oxides and sulfides are particularly interesting in both their way of applications and fundamental research. These conjugated nanofibers operated for many applications in organic electronics, optoelectronics, and sensors. Synthesis of electrospun fibers by electrospinning technique discussed in this review is a simple method that forms conjugated polymer nanofibers. This review provides the basics of the technique and its recent advances in the formation of highly conducting and high-mobility polymer fibers towards their adoption in electronic application.
The Effects of Research and Development (R&D) Investments on Sustainable Economic Growth: Evidence from OECD Countries (1996-2015)
Authors: Yazgan Şekip , Yalçinkaya Ömer
Published: April 2018

This study is devoted to the empirical analysis by second generation panel data analysis of the effects of the R&D investment variables in different qualifications in OECD countries grouped as OECD-20 and OECD-9 based on the income levels of the economic growth for the period of 1996-2015. Within this context, the purpose of this study is to evaluate whether or not the economic growth performances of OECD-20 and OECD-9 countries have a sustainable structure that endogenizes the technological advancements and occurs by the increments in average factor productivity. At the end of the paper it is determined that all the R&D variables in different qualifications of the OECD-20 group have a higher income level in sample period and have positive and statistically significant effects on the economic growth. On the other hand, only the private sector, universities and the total R&D investments have positive and statistically significant effects on the economic growth of the OECD-9 group which has comparatively lower income level. However, it is specified that the size of the positive and statistically significant effects of the R&D investment variables in different qualifications is more than two times bigger in the OECD-20 group as opposed to the OECD-9 group. These results reveal that the economic performances of OECD-20 countries in the investigated period have a more substantial relation with the qualified and sustainable structure that endogenizes the technologic advancements and occurs by the increments in average factor productivity. All of this shows that the R&D investments also are substantially sufficient to change the long-term economic growth performances and income levels of the countries in OECD-20 and OECD-9 groups.
Structure-property-processing investigation of electrically conductive polypropylene nanocomposites
Authors: Dweiri Radwan , Suherman Hendra , Sulong Abu Bakar , Al-Sharab Jafar F.
Published: April 2018

This paper investigates the structure-property-processing correlations of electrically conductive polypropylene (PP) nanocomposites. The process parameters and fabrication techniques of PP-based composite materials were studied. Various structures of carbon allotrope-based materials, including synthetic graphite (SG), exfoliated graphene nanoplatelets (xGnP), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and carbon black (CB), were used to fabricate the PP-based nanocomposites. The nanocomposites were prepared by either direct melt mixing using an internal mixer or by ball milling of components before the melt mixing process. The electrical and flexural properties were measured. In order to understand the conductivity behavior, both in-plane and through-plane electrical conductivities were measured. The results showed that the incorporation of the xGnP into PP/60 wt.% SG composites resulted in a slight increase of the in-plane conductivities and had a minimal effect on the through-plane conductivities. The addition of MWCNTs and CB to the PP/SG/xGnP composites had a significant effect on the electrical properties and was more pronounced in the case of MWCNTs. The flexural properties of all samples were much lower than those of pure PP. The interface between the filler and the PP matrix and the morphology of the composite materials were observed from the fracture surfaces of the composites using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition, SEM was employed to observe adhesion, microstructural homogeneity, orientation of the xGnP platelets and agglomeration in the composites.
A Peircean epistemology of metaphor
Authors: Jiang Yicun
Published: April 2018

This paper aims to elaborate an epistemology of metaphor in the Peircean semiotic tradition. As a logician, Peirce sees metaphor as a result of logical processes that create new meaning. His exposition on iconicity and iconic reasoning has laid a solid foundation upon which may be erected a fresh epistemology of metaphor fit for the contemporary study of language and mind. Broadly speaking, metaphor in Peirce can be examined from two perspectives: macroscopically it is an icon as opposed to index and symbol, whereas microscopically it is a subdivided hypoicon on the third level as opposed to image and diagram. Semioticians after Peirce have further developed his theory of metaphor. Through his concept of “arbitrary iconicity,” Ersu Ding stresses the subjective nature of metaphorization and tries to draw our attention to the specific cultural contexts in which metaphors occur. He also emphasizes the diversity and multivalency of metaphorical vehicles. Umberto Eco sees the interpretation of signs as an open-ended process that involves knowledge of all kinds. Encyclopedic knowledge thus serves as an unlimited source for metaphorical association. For Eco, the meaning of a metaphor should be interpreted in the cultural framework based on a specific cultural community. These ideas are in line with Peirce’s theoretical framework where the meaning of a metaphor depends on an interpreter in a particular socio-historical context. Based on the above theories, the present article proposes a cultural space where innumerable semantic features of objects or life situations are rhizomaticly linked on the basis of encyclopedic knowledge shared by members of a particular culture.
The dichotomy of society and urban space configuration in producing the semiotic structure of the modernism urban fabric
Authors: Aziz Amen Mustafa , Nia Hourakhsh Ahmad
Published: April 2018

Urban space organization associates with specific characteristics in the transformation of society’s behavior and views; it is composed of principles of dichotomy that work as a system of signs to transfer meaning with conventional interpretation. The urban fabric as a context is full of signifiers that tend to convey a meaning implicitly carved in its space organization system. Therefore, it is not just a simple physical configuration. Instead, it is a translation of human experiences with the different synchronic architectural characteristics that needs a critical examination to segregate discrete layers of structural elements. The association is so prevailing that each portion has a significant role in creating a combination of mental prototypes of interpretation between the different factors that give the urban space its final form. The study aims to find the internal signs system within urban space organization that is a combination of signs that represents the aesthetic values of space. The study aimed to explore implicit space organization to make out what is internally powerful to work as aesthetic signs of urban space organization. We conclude that there is a difference as a result of intervening new concepts in the urban space organization without taking in account the existing sign system. This difference could be a source of misunderstanding and confusion in the space organization system and needs understanding and restructuring through the development of procedures.
Narcoculture? Narco-trafficking as a semiosphere of anticulture
Authors: Haidar Julieta , Chávez Herrera Eduardo
Published: April 2018

In this paper we approach a current issue related to the so-called concept of narcoculture. Several works in Latin America and the United States have addressed this matter and not only accept the term narcoculture, but also stress both the symbolic and aesthetic perspectives. In order to rethink the concept of narcoculture from different angles, we appeal to Juri Lotman and Boris Uspensky’s proposals regarding the concepts of culture, non-culture and anticulture. Rather than accept and reproduce the concept of narcoculture, by means of linking Lotman and Uspensky’s approach with the standpoint of complexity thinking and transdisciplinarity, we propose the treatment of drug trafficking as a semiosphere of anticulture. We emphasize the contradictions inherent in the actors dwelling in this semiosphere, incorporating reflections from chaotic and barbaric processes designed to wreak havoc in Mexican society. The common acceptance of the concept of narcoculture does not acknowledge the current devastation and bloodshed produced by narco-traffickers and others in cahoots with the Mexican government and its militarized drug war strategy. During the last few decades, drug trafficking has inspired organized crime and their actors, spurring the representation of everyday societal features such as music, fashion, architecture, or traffickers’ social status.
Sensory representation in literature
Authors: Nuessel Frank
Published: April 2018

The five senses (vision, audition, touch, olfaction, gustation) constitute the essence of our ability to interact with the external world and make sense of it. This contact is transmitted through various sensory organs and the information for each sense is transmitted to and translated in various parts of the brain. The anatomical and physiological aspects of this external-internal interface are complex. Likewise, the philosophical approaches to this world-body communication and comprehension involves at least two perspectives, namely, the rationalist viewpoint (perception is brain-determined) and empirical (perception is externally acquired). This essay discusses how creative writers re-create sensory experience in their texts. It will examine each of the five senses and the strategies employed by authors to stimulate and arouse memories of previous reader experience both synchronically and diachronically. Writer and reader co-create and co-participate in this process.
Postural control in subclinical neck pain: a comparative study on the effect of pain and measurement procedures
Authors: Amaral Gabriela , Martins Helena , Silva Anabela G.
Published: April 2018

Background and aims:

This study investigated whether young university students with neck pain (NP) have postural control deficits when compared to sex and age-matched asymptomatic subjects.

Methods:

Centre of pressure (COP) sway area, velocity, anterior-posterior and mediolateral distances were measured in participants with (n=27) and without (n=27) neck pain for different combinations of static standing (narrow stance, tandem stance and single leg stance) and measurement time (90, 60, 30 and 15 s) with eyes closed using a force plate. Additionally, static and dynamic clinical tests of postural control were used.

Results:

No significant between group differences were found for the COP measurements (p>0.05). However, individuals with subclinical NP were more likely to fail the 90 s tandem test (p<0.05) in the force plate and univariate comparisons revealed significant between group differences in the tandem and single leg stance clinical test measurements.

Conclusions:

Taken together, the inconsistent results might suggest an emerging postural control deficit in university students with low disability and low intensity chronic idiopathic NP.
Chronic pain experience and pain management in persons with spinal cord injury in Nepal
Authors: Thapa Sagun , Kitrungrote Luppana , Damkliang Jintana
Published: April 2018

Background and aims:

Chronic pain is the frequent and significantly challenging complications in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). Socio-cultural background may lead people perceive and manage pain differently. The study aims to describe the chronic pain experience and pain management of SCI persons in Nepal.

Methods:

A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among purposively selected sample of 120 SCI persons with chronic pain living in the eight districts of Bagmati Zone of Nepal. The data were collected using the International Spinal Cord Injury Pain Basic Data Set Version 2 (ISCIPBDS-2) and Open-ended Pain Management Questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis method.

Results:

The back (n=84), lower legs/feet (n=63) and buttocks/hips (n=51) was found as the common pain locations. In common, the onset of pain was found within the first 6 month of the injury. Overall pain intensity and pain interference were found to be at the moderate level. The SCI persons used pain medications and non-pharmacological pain management. Ibuprofen was the commonly used pain medication and commonly used non-pharmacological pain management methods included physical support (e.g. massage, exercise), relaxation (e.g. distraction, substance abuse), coping (e.g. acceptance, praying), and traditional herbs.

Conclusions:

SCI persons had chronic pain experience which interfered with their daily living. They used pain medications and non-pharmacological pain management methods based on their beliefs, knowledge, and community resources in Nepal.

Implications:

This study provides some evidence to help the team of rehabilitation professional to plan and help SCI persons with chronic pain. Based on these findings, chronic pain management intervention for SCI persons should be developed and supported continuously from hospital to home based community context of Nepal.
Exploring effect of pain education on chronic pain patients’ expectation of recovery and pain intensity
Authors: Mittinty Manasi M. , Vanlint Simon , Stocks Nigel , Mittinty Murthy N. , Moseley G. Lorimer
Published: April 2018

Background and aims:

Chronic pain affects an estimated 1 in 10 adults globally regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, income or geography. Chronic pain, a multifactorial problem requires multiple interventions. One intervention which demonstrates promising results to patient reported outcomes is pain education. However, patient perspective on pain education and its impact remains fairly unknown. A cross-sectional study involving individuals with chronic pain examined their perspectives on pain education; did it change their understanding about their pain and self-management and did it have any impact on their perceived pain intensity and recovery.

Methods:

The study complied with CHERRIES guidelines and the protocol was locked prior to data collection. Primary outcomes were pain intensity and participants’ expectation of recovery. Univariate and multiple logistic regressions were used to analyze the data.

Results:

Five hundred and seventy three people participated; full data sets were available for 465. Participants who observed changes in their pain cognition and self-management following pain education reported lower pain intensity and greater expectation of recovery than participants who did not observe changes to cognition and management.

Conclusions:

The results suggest that individuals who observed changes to pain cognition and self-management on receiving pain education reported lower pain intensity and higher expectations of recovery than their counterparts who did not perceive any changes to pain cognition and self-management.

Implications:

Pain intensity and expectations about recovery are primary considerations for people in pain. What influences these factors is not fully understood, but education about pain is potentially important. The results suggest that individuals who observed changes to pain cognition and self-management on receiving pain education reported lower pain intensity and higher expectations of recovery than their counterparts who did not perceive any changes to pain cognition and self-management. The results from this study highlight the importance of effective pain education focused on reconceptualization of pain and its management.
The Standardised Mensendieck Test as a tool for evaluation of movement quality in patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain
Authors: Kaarbø Mette Bøymo , Haugstad Gro Killi , Stubhaug Audun , Wojniusz Slawomir
Published: April 2018

Background and aims:

Nonspecific chronic low back pain is a multifactorial biopsychosocial health problem where accurate assessments of pain, function and movement are vital. There are few reliable and valid assessment tools evaluating movement quality, hence the aim was to investigate nonspecific chronic low back pain patients’ movement patterns with the Standardised Mensendieck Test.

Methods:

Twenty patients (mean age=41, SD=9.02) with nonspecific chronic low back pain were examined with the Standardised Mensendieck Test whilst being videotaped and compared with 20 healthy controls. A physiotherapist, blinded to participant’s group belonging, scored Standardised Mensendieck Test videos according to the standardised manual. Associations between movement quality, fear of movement and re(injury) i.e. kinesiophobia and pain intensity were also investigated.

Results:

Patients scored significantly poorer than the controls in all 5 Standardised Mensendieck Test domains (p<0.001). The biggest difference was observed with regard to movement pattern domain. In women we also found a difference in the respiration pattern domain.

Conclusions:

The Standardised Mensendieck Test was able to detect significant differences in quality of movement between patients and healthy controls. These results indicate that the Standardised Mensendieck Test may be a valuable examination tool in assessment and treatment of nonspecific chronic low back pain patients. Further, longitudinal studies should investigate whether poor movement and respiration patterns are important factors in nonspecific chronic low back pain, e.g. as predictors and/or mediators of therapeutic effects.
A New Typology to Describe the Regional Differences in Swiss Labor Markets
Authors: Antonini Matteo
Published: April 2018

The analysis of the Swiss labor market poses a methodological challenge. On the one hand, Switzerland is too diversified to be analyzed as a single socio-economic space. On the other hand, a high level of territorial fragmentation makes the use of administrative divisions methodologically weak. In this paper, we classify Swiss cantons into three types of labor markets: attractive, multicenter, and marginal. Our typology is based on a wide range of economic and labor market parameters, and can be a ready-to-use tool for further researches.
Postsocialist Informal Urbanism between Creativity and Power. Notes on Four Projects from Romania
Authors: Văetişi Şerban
Published: April 2018

The author illustrates squatting, do-it-yourself urbanism, creative re-appropriation of public space, guerrilla gardening, and artistic occupy-type intervention as forms and evolutions of informal urbanism. By interpreting examples observed in two postsocialist Romanian cities the author comments on the thin boundary between informal and authorized urbanism, and between creativity and power; he interrogates also the key matter of access to the city, with its regulations, resources, and potentialities. His perspective implies an empirical and ethnographic approach to informality, which is analysed in the contexts of privatization logics, especially in relation to the reconfiguration of the public and the private which is so specific to postsocialist transformations. The contrast between grass-roots responses and official projects is seen as decisive in understanding strategies of representations, control of resources, and capital accumulation. Additionally the author suggests the relevance of theorizing such postsocialist urban processes in fruitful but critical comparison with other non-Western forms of urbanism, notably postcolonial ones.
‘And When the Heart is Sick, the Whole Body is Sick.’ Repairing the Person and the Urban Fabric through Everyday Sufi Ethics in Postwar Sarajevo
Authors: Kostadinova Zora
Published: April 2018

The author explores how the ritual religious practice of Sufism and the charismatic leadership of the sheikh play a role in ethical self-making and community-building in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. She traces how the Sufi concept of adab, or proper dervish conduct, represents at once a transcendent relationship with the Divine and urban civility. The author argues that Sufi practices in the care for the self represent an authentic response to the postwar and postsocialist ethical demand in the city of restoring urban social relationships. The processes analysed here reflect wider changes in what constitutes an Islamic authority in post-Yugoslav Bosnia, and the impact this has on the ongoing local debate on Islam as discursive tradition.
Multivariate Kalibrationsverfahren für einen nicht-dispersiven Infrarotsensor zur Ölzustandsüberwachung in Verbrennungsmotoren
Authors: Rauscher Markus S. , Krump Michael , Schardt Michael , Köhler Michael H. , Koch Alexander W.
Published: April 2018

In diesem Beitrag wird die Kalibration eines kompakten optischen Sensors für die Online-Ölzustandsüberwachung in Verbrennungsmotoren vorgestellt. Der Sensor basiert auf dem Prinzip der nicht-dispersiven Infrarotspektroskopie (NDIR-Spektroskopie) und misst die Absorption in sieben verschiedenen Spektralbereichen. Mit Hilfe multivariater Regressionsmethoden werden lineare Modelle erstellt, die den Zusammenhang zwischen infraroter Absorption und wichtigen Ölzustandsparametern, wie beispielsweise Wassergehalt, Oxidation, Sulfation und Basenzahl, beschreiben. Die Validierung der Modelle anhand eines Datensatzes von Gebrauchtölproben aus unterschiedlichen Anwendungen zeigt eine gute Übereinstimmung mit Referenzwerten aus einer Laboranalyse. Durch den Einsatz von Kalibrationstransferverfahren können die erstellten Regressionsmodelle auf einem zweiten Sensor gleicher Bauart angewendet werden, wobei sich die Prädiktionsgüte nur geringfügig verschlechtert.
Metaphor, discourse dynamics and register: applications to written descriptions of mental health problems
Authors: Knapton Olivia , Rundblad Gabriella
Published: April 2018

Discursive approaches to metaphor recognize that different social contexts and discourse activities will influence metaphor use. Using a descriptive text written by a participant with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) as a case study, we demonstrate how, in a research context, metaphors do not only serve a representational function but they can also build relationships between the researcher and the participant, create a persuasive piece of writing and construct multiple identities. Through an analysis of metaphors and their surrounding, non-metaphorical co-text, it is thus argued that studies exploring metaphor in elicited research data need to integrate considerations of the research context into their analyses to a greater extent. We also show how a discourse dynamics approach to metaphor can be combined with a systemic-functional approach to register in order to capture both the discursive functions of metaphors and their emergence as the text progresses.
Investigation of Leading Edge Tubercles with Different Wavelengths in an Annular Compressor Cascade
Authors: Zheng Tan , Qiang Xiaoqing , Teng Jinfang , Feng Jinzhang
Published: April 2018

Humpback whales possess bumpy tubercles on the leading edge of their flippers. Due to these leading edge tubercles, whales are able to produce high degree of maneuverability. Inspired by the flippers, this paper applies sinusoidal-like tubercles to the leading edge of blades in an annular compressor cascade, and presents a numerical investigation to explore the effects of tubercles with the aim of controlling the corner separation and reducing losses. Steady 3D RANS simulations are performed to investigate the aerodynamic performance and behavior of the corner separation in compressor cascades with and without leading edge tubercles. A crucial geometry parameter of the tubercles, wavelength, is varied to obtain different configurations. Results show that a smaller wavelength (more wave number) corresponds to a larger loss reduction and the maximum loss reduction reaches to 46.0%. Also, it is found that leading edge tubercles result in a stall delay and the maximum stall angle improvement reaches to 28.1%. Flow visualizations show that leading edge tubercles could induce the formation of counter-rotating streamwise vortices. The interaction between the streamwise vortices and corner separation is thought to be the primary flow mechanism generated by leading edge tubercles in an annular compressor cascade.
Wittgenstein’s Ambivalent Attitude toward Science and Culture
Authors: Somavilla Ilse
Published: April 2018

Wittgenstein’s ambivalent attitude toward science (and philosophy) can be observed as early as in the Tractatus – both in the preface and toward the end, e. g. on 6.52, 6.54 and also implicitly inherent in his final sentence “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”

Thus, despite his analytical method and apparently high appreciation of science, he was aware of its limits – as well as of its dangers. This awareness becomes increasingly obvious in the course of the later years, among others marked by a shift from analysis to description and a turning to other ways of knowledge than scientific ones: Ways of showing instead of saying viz. verbal and scientific explanations. These alternatives he saw in literature, art and music.

However, even as concerns these fields, he sometimes holds a critical attitude toward culture, above all within the development of the civilization of his century. His resentment of the gradual moral and intellectual decline at the turn of the 20th century leads to a highly suspicious attitude toward any progress in the fields of culture and science, which he clearly expresses in his preface to the Philosophical Remarks, distancing himself from the so-called typical western scientist, whose spirit he considers “alien & uncongenial’ to his”. (Cf. CV 1998: 8e)
Voices from the Threshold in Attia Hosain’s Sunlight on a Broken Column
Authors: Sachdev Tanvir
Published: April 2018

Multiple patriarchies have attempted to circumscribe women within the private sphere, encrypting their identities with broader definitions of class, caste, community, and nation. Malashri Lal in The Law of the Threshold has suggested the threshold – a real as well as symbolic bar that patriarchies place before women – as a tool for literary criticism. The paper takes up Attia Hosain’s Sunlight on a Broken Column to examine negotiations of women from varying classes and communities with the dynamics of the threshold and their positioning inside, on, and outside the threshold. Issues of gender and the transgression of the controls and harness upon women’s sexuality are examined with the intersecting paradigms of class, community, and the changing face of the nation. The forces and anxieties emanating from opposing pulls of the inner world of the traditional order and the outer modern Western world that pre-empt the move outside the threshold are also traced against a colonial backdrop.
Melioration of Optical and Electrical Performance of Ga-N Codoped ZnO Thin Films
Authors: Narayanan Nripasree , Deepak N. K.
Published: April 2018

Transparent and conducting p-type zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films doped with gallium (Ga) and nitrogen (N) simultaneously were deposited on glass substrates by spray pyrolysis technique. Phase composition analysis by X-ray diffraction confirmed the polycrystallinity of the films with pure ZnO phase. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis showed excellent incorporation of N in the ZnO matrix by means of codoping. The optical transmittance of N monodoped film was poor but got improved with Ga-N codoping and also resulted in the enhancement of optical energy gap. Hole concentration increased with codoping and consequently, lower resistivity and high stability were obtained.
Photoluminescence Properties of Ca3Si2O7: Pr3+ Orange-Red Phosphors Prepared by High-Temperature Solid-State Method
Authors: Peng Zhi-Qing , Chen Rong , Feng Wen-Lin
Published: April 2018

Novel luminescent materials Ca3-

x
Si2O7: xPr3+ were successfully prepared by the high-temperature solid-state method. The crystal structure, morphology, and optical spectrum were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and spectroscopy, respectively. The XRD patterns of the samples indicate that the crystal structure is monoclinic symmetry. The SEM shows that the selected sample has good crystallinity although its appearance is irregular and scalelike. The peak of the excitation spectrum of the sample is located at around 449 nm, corresponding to 3H4→3P2 transition of Pr3+. The peak of the emission spectrum of the sample is situated at around 612 nm which is attributed to 3P0→3H6 transition of Pr3+, and the colour is orange-red. The optimum concentration for Pr3+ replaced Ca2+ sites in Ca3Si2O7: Pr3+ is 0.75 mol%. The lifetime (8.48 μs) of a typical sample (Ca2.9925Pr0.0075)Si2O7 is obtained. It reveals that orange-red phosphors Ca3-

x
Si2O7: xPr3+ possess remarkable optical properties and can be used in white light emitting devices.