bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Facile preparation and thermal performances of hexadecanol/crosslinked polystyrene core/shell nanocapsules as phase change material
Authors: Li Hairong , Jiang Ming , Li Qi , Li Denian , Huang Jing , Hu Waping , Dong Lijie , Xie Haian , Xiong Chuanxi
Published: January 2014

In this study, we report the synthesis of nanoencapsulated phase change material (PCM) with hexadecanol as core and crosslinked polystyrene (PS) as shell material via facile one‐pot emulsion polymerization and its thermal performances. By this method, no high shear homogenization is required to create nanocapsules in emulsion polymerization. The nanosized core/shell structure of the hexadecanol/PS capsules was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscope. Thermal performances of the nanoencapsulated PCM were determined using differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry. The results indicated that the hexadecanol/PS nanocapsules had relatively high latent heat of fusion and good thermal stability, which make them attractive for thermal energy storage and heat transfer applications. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:2154–2158, 2014. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers
Out of Sight, Out of Time? A Meta–Analytic Investigation of Procrastination and Time Perspective
Authors: Sirois Fuschia M.
Published: January 2014

Recent theory suggests that trait procrastination is a form of temporal self–regulation failure that reflects a disjunction between the present and future self. Yet research to date is sparse and inconsistent regarding the nature of the associations of procrastination with time perspective. The current study aimed to meta–analytically summarize the evidence to date to address the question of how procrastination is linked to future and present time perspective, and to test whether stress and positive affect explained the link between procrastination and future time perspective. A search of the available literature yielded six published studies and three unpublished studies, which were combined with five unpublished data sets for a total of 14 samples with 4312 participants. The meta–analysis revealed that procrastination had a moderate and significant negative association with future time perspective, and a small but significant positive association with present time perspective. Mediation analyses across two of the samples found that high stress and low positive affect explained in part the association between procrastination and future time perspective. Overall, these findings support the notion that procrastinators focus less on the future and highlight the dynamic interrelations of affect and cognition that underlie procrastinators’ intertemporal choices. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology
Structural insights into the SENP6 Loop1 structure in complex with SUMO2
Authors: Alegre Kamela O. , Reverter David
Published: January 2014

The SENP proteases regulate the SUMO conjugates in the cell by cleaving SUMO from target proteins. SENP6 and SENP7 are the most divergent members of the SENP/ULP protease family in humans by the presence of insertions in their catalytic domains. Loop1 insertion is determinant for the SUMO2/3 activity and specificity on SENP6 and SENP7. To gain structural insights into the role of Loop1, we have designed a chimeric SENP2 with the insertion of Loop1 into its sequence. The structure of SENP2‐Loop1 in complex with SUMO2 was solved at 2.15 Å resolution, and reveals the details of an interface exclusive to SENP6/7 and the formation of unique contacts between both proteins. Interestingly, functional data with SUMO substrates showed an increase of the proteolytic activity in the SENP2‐Loop1 chimera for diSUMO2 and polySUMO2 substrates.
Biology, ecology and management of the invasive parthenium weed (Parthenium hysterophorus L.)
Authors: Adkins Steve , Shabbir Asad
Published: January 2014

Parthenium weed (Parthenium hysterophorus L.) is one of the most aggressive invasive weeds, threatening natural ecosystems and agroecosystems in over 30 countries worldwide. Parthenium weed causes losses of crops and pastures, degrading the biodiversity of natural plant communities, causing human and animal health hazards and resulting in serious economic losses to people and their interests in many countries around the globe. Several of its biological and ecological attributes contribute towards its invasiveness. Various management approaches (namely cultural, mechanical, chemical and biological control) have been used to minimise losses caused by this weed, but most of these approaches are ineffective and uneconomical and/or have limitations. Although chemical control using herbicides and biological control utilising exotic insects and pathogens have been found to contribute to the management of the weed, the weed nevertheless remains a significant problem. An integrated management approach is proposed here for the effective management of parthenium weed on a sustainable basis. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry
Molecular and phenotypic characterization of Als1 and Als2 mutations conferring tolerance to acetolactate synthase herbicides in soybean
Authors: Walter Kay L , Strachan Stephen D , Ferry Nancy M , Albert Henrik H , Castle Linda A , Sebastian Scott A
Published: January 2014

BACKGROUND

Sulfonylurea (SU) herbicides are effective because they inhibit acetolactate synthase (ALS), a key enzyme in branched‐chain amino acid synthesis required for plant growth. A soybean line known as W4‐4 was developed through rounds of seed mutagenesis and was demonstrated to have a high degree of ALS‐based resistance to both post‐emergence and pre‐emergence applications of a variety of SU herbicides. This report describes the molecular and phenotypic characterization of the Als1 and Als2 mutations that confer herbicide resistance to SUs and other ALS inhibitors.

RESULTS

The mutations are shown to occur in two different ALS genes that reside on different chromosomes: Als1 (P178S) on chromosome 4 and Als2 (W560L) on chromosome 6 (P197S and W574L in Arabidopsis thaliana).

CONCLUSION

Although the Als1 and Als2 genes are unlinked, the combination of these two mutations is synergistic for improved tolerance of soybeans to ALS‐inhibiting herbicides. © 2014 DuPont Pioneer. Pest Management Science published by JohnWiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.
Zinc oxide films and nanomaterials for photovoltaic applications
Authors: Djurišić Aleksandra B. , Liu Xiang , Leung Yu Hang
Published: January 2014

We provide an overview of ZnO applications in solar cells. ZnO (and ZnO‐based materials) can be used as electrodes and/or scattering/light trapping layers, as well as electron transport layers in solar cells based on nanoparticles and organic materials (polymer solar cells, dye‐sensitized solar cells). For each of these applications, we will briefly summarize common research directions, as well as existing problems and unresolved questions. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Efficient calculation of two‐electron integrals for high angular basis functions
Authors: Yasuda Koji , Maruoka Hironori
Published: January 2014

The computation of electron repulsion integrals (ERIs) is the most time‐consuming process in the density functional calculation using Gaussian basis set. Many temporal ERIs are calculated, and most are stored on slower storage, such as cache or memory, because of the shortage of registers, which are the fastest storage in a central processing unit (CPU). Moreover, the heavy register usage makes it difficult to launch many concurrent threads on a graphics processing unit (GPU) to hide latency. Hence, we propose to optimize the calculation order of one‐center ERIs to minimize the number of registers used, and to calculate each ERI with three or six co‐operating threads. The performance of this method is measured on a recent CPU and a GPU. The proposed approach is found to be efficient for high angular basis functions with a GPU. When combined with a recent GPU, it accelerates the computation almost 4‐fold. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Nutrient Retention Associated with Phenological Features in Sparganium Erectum Stands in a Lowland Stream
Authors: Asaeda T. , Rashid M. H.
Published: January 2014

In a previous study, we found that Sparganium erectum, an emergent macrophyte, accumulates sediment inside the stand because of its phenological features. Because this species usually grows in a nutrient‐rich environment, we hypothesize that a high trophic level is maintained in the accumulated sediment. To test this hypothesis, we intensively studied flow velocity, nutrient budget and nutrient flux in and outside of S. erectum stands along the Moto‐Arakawa River, Saitama, Japan and found that the growth stages of S. erectum substantially affected the flow conditions inside the stand. The growth stages of this plant also controlled the depositional rate of sediment and organic particles. After the collapse of each cohort, a substantial amount of organic matter accumulated on the stand bed. Because the accumulated organic matter mineralized very fast, the concentration of total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) increased substantially after the collapse of the shoots. While the concentrations of TC, TN and TP within the stand's sediment varied seasonally, the concentrations of these elements were always higher inside than outside of the stand. More than five times the amount of carbon and twice the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus were physically retained in the stand for 1 year compared with the amounts assimilated by the plants. The ratio of carbon to nitrogen in the stand's sediment also remained constant throughout the growing period. Conversely, the nitrogen to phosphorus ratio of the accumulated sediment was much lower than that of other plant tissues. The main flow contains suspended organic solids that constantly supply the stand and partially occupy the channel where they eventually settle. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Study of the early stages of growth of Co oxides on oxide substrates
Authors: Díaz‐Fernández D. , Méndez J. , Yubero F. , Domínguez‐Cañizares G. , Gutiérrez A. , Soriano L.
Published: January 2014

The growth of Cobalt oxides by reactive thermal evaporation of metallic Cobalt in an oxygen atmosphere on a series of oxide substrates, namely SiO2, Al2O3 and MgO, has been chemically and morphologically studied by means of XPS and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The XPS results reveal that cobalt oxide grows as CoO (Co2+) for coverages up to some tens of equivalent monolayers on all substrates. For larger coverages, the formation of the spinel oxide Co3O4 has been observed. AFM and XPS quantification allowed us to determine the way of growth of CoO on all substrates, being of Volmer–Weber (i.e. islands) mode for SiO2, whereas for Al2O3 and MgO, the growth follows the Frank‐van der Merwe (i.e. layer‐by‐layer) mode. The results are discussed in terms of the mismatch of the lattice parameters of the CoO adsorbates with the substrates. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Modeling of X‐ray photoelectron spectra: surface and core hole effects
Authors: Pauly Nicolas , Tougaard Sven , Yubero Francisco
Published: January 2014

The shape and intensity of photoelectron peaks are strongly affected by extrinsic excitations due to electron transport out of the surface and by intrinsic excitations induced by the sudden creation of the static core hole. Besides, elastic electron scattering may also be important. These effects should be included in the theoretical description of the emitted photoelectron peaks. To investigate the importance of surface and core hole effects relative to elastic scattering effect, we have calculated full XPS spectra for the Cu 2p emissions of Cu and CuO with the simulation of electron spectra for surface analysis (SESSA) software and with a convolution procedure using the differential inelastic electron scattering cross‐section obtained with the quantitative analysis of electron energy loss in XPS (QUEELS‐XPS) software. Surface and core hole effects are included in QUEELS‐XPS but absent in SESSA while elastic electron scattering effects are included in SESSA but absent in QUEELS‐XPS. Our results show that the shape of the XPS spectra are strongly modified because of surface and core hole effects, especially for energy losses smaller than about 20 eV. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Turbulence effects on a full‐scale 2.5 MW horizontal‐axis wind turbine under neutrally stratified conditions
Authors: Chamorro Leonardo P. , Lee S‐J. , Olsen D. , Milliren C. , Marr J. , Arndt R.E.A , Sotiropoulos F.
Published: January 2014

A field experiment was carried out to study the unsteady behavior of an instrumented full‐scale 2.5 MW wind turbine under neutral conditions. The analysis focused on the structure of the instantaneous turbine power and strain at its foundation. A meteorological tower located 1.6 rotor diameters upstream of the turbine was used to characterize the turbulent flow. Mean velocity and temperature were steady during the 1 h period selected. The results suggest that the turbine power and foundation strain are modulated by atmospheric turbulence in a complex way. The spectral characteristics of both quantities exhibited three distinctive regions. Within the first region, defined by subrotor length scales, the turbine power was insensitive to the flow turbulence. In the intermediate region, with length scales up to those on the order of the atmospheric boundary layer thickness, the spectral contents of the power fluctuations ΦP and flow ΦU exhibit a non‐linear relationship of the form ΦP = G(f)ΦU, where G(f) ∝ ( ∼ )f − 2 is a transfer/damping function. In the third region, dominated by the very large scales of motions, the power fluctuations are found to be directly influenced by the flow. The strain also showed three regions, similar to the power fluctuations. However, it follows the structure of the inertial subrange of the turbulence at subrotor scales. Intermittent gusts were able to induce intermittent behavior on the turbine power. Finally, the flow and power correlation showed that the velocity at the hub height is the best descriptor of the flow turbulence within the rotor area.Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Glass‐like dynamics in the cell and in cellular collectives
Authors: Sadati Monirosadat , Nourhani Amir , Fredberg Jeffrey J. , Taheri Qazvini Nader
Published: January 2014

Prominent fluctuations, heterogeneity, and cooperativity dominate the dynamics of the cytoskeleton as well as the dynamics of the cellular collective. Such systems are out of equilibrium, disordered, and remain poorly understood. To explain these findings, we consider a unifying mechanistic rubric that imagines these systems as comprising phases of soft condensed matter in proximity to a glass or jamming transition, with associated transitions between solid‐like versus liquid‐like phases. At the scale of the cytoskeleton, data suggest that intermittent dynamics, kinetic arrest, and dynamic heterogeneity represent mesoscale features of glassy protein–protein interactions that link underlying biochemical events to integrative cellular behaviors such as crawling, contraction, and remodeling. At the scale of the multicellular collective, jamming has the potential to unify diverse biological factors that previously had been considered mostly as acting separately and independently. Although a quantitative relationship between intra‐ and intercellular dynamics is still lacking, glassy dynamics and jamming offer insights linking the mechanobiology of cell to human physiology and pathophysiology. WIREs Syst Biol Med 2014, 6:137–149. doi: 10.1002/wsbm.1258

This article is categorized under:

Models of Systems Properties and Processes > Mechanistic Models

Models of Systems Properties and Processes > Organ, Tissue, and Physiological Models
Synthesis and Crystal Structure of the Bis(ethoxo)tetrathio‐μ‐disulfido‐diphosphate Salt: [pyH]2[P2S6(OEt)2]
Authors: Schönberger Stefanie , Krönauer Sinah , Klapötke Thomas M. , Karaghiosoff Konstantin
Published: January 2014

The new dithiophosphate anion P2S6(OEt)22– was obtained from the reaction of commercially available P4S10 with Na2S in pyridine, subsequent ethanolysis and isolated as the stable bis(pyridinium) salt 1. The molecular structure of 1 in the crystal was determined by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction and reveals a PSSP dihedral angle of 87.3(1)° within the anion. The compound is a rare representative of a thiodiphosphate anion with a disulfide bridge between the two phosphorus atoms.
Targeted Muscle Reinnervation in the Initial Management of Traumatic Upper Extremity Amputation Injury
Authors: Cheesborough Jennifer E. , Souza Jason M. , Dumanian Gregory A. , Bueno Reuben A.
Published: January 2014

Targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) was initially designed to provide cortical control of upper limb prostheses through a series of novel nerve transfers. Early experience has suggested that TMR may also inhibit symptomatic neuroma formation. We present the first report of TMR performed at the time of a traumatic shoulder disarticulation. The procedure was done to prevent painful neuroma pain and allow for myoelecteric prosthetic use in the future. Eight months post-operatively, the patient demonstrates multiple successful nerve transfers and exhibits no evidence of neuroma pain on clinical exam. Using the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS), the patient demonstrates minimal pain interference or pain behavior. Targeted muscle reinnervation may be considered in the acute trauma setting to prevent neuroma pain and to prepare patients for myoelectric prostheses in the future.
Differential activity of MEK and ERK inhibitors in BRAF inhibitor resistant melanoma
Authors: Carlino Matteo S. , Todd Jason R. , Gowrishankar Kavitha , Mijatov Branka , Pupo Gulietta M. , Fung Carina , Snoyman Stephanie , Hersey Peter , Long Georgina V. , Kefford Richard F. , Rizos Helen
Published: January 2014

Acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitors often involves MAPK re‐activation, yet the MEK inhibitor trametinib showed minimal clinical activity in melanoma patients that had progressed on BRAF‐inhibitor therapy. Selective ERK inhibitors have been proposed as alternative salvage therapies. We show that ERK inhibition is more potent than MEK inhibition at suppressing MAPK activity and inhibiting the proliferation of multiple BRAF inhibitor resistant melanoma cell models. Nevertheless, melanoma cells often failed to undergo apoptosis in response to ERK inhibition, because the relief of ERK‐dependent negative feedback activated RAS and PI3K signalling. Consequently, the combination of ERK and PI3K/mTOR inhibition was effective at promoting cell death in all resistant melanoma cell models, and was substantially more potent than the MEK/PI3K/mTOR inhibitor combination. Our data indicate that a broader targeting strategy concurrently inhibiting ERK, rather than MEK, and PI3K/mTOR may circumvent BRAF inhibitor resistance, and should be considered during the clinical development of ERK inhibitors.
Dual Diagnosis: Rheumatoid Arthritis and Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: Ozsahin Mustafa , Dikici Suber , Kocaman Gülsen , Besir Fahri Halit , Baltaci Davut , Ataoglu Safinaz
Published: January 2014

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) is the most common rheumatologic disease in children. Moreover, multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most frequent demyelinating disease and has been associated with various chronic inflammatory diseases. However, its association with JRA has not been frequently described. Autoimmunity in both JRA and MS has been documented in the scientific literature, although there has been no definitive finding that patients with JRA are prone to the development of MS. An increasing frequency of MS resulting from an increased use of antitumor necrosis factor agents in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other chronic inflammatory diseases has been reported recently. In this study, we report on the development of MS in a patient with JRA who did not have a history of antitumor necrosis factor use.
Another Great Illusion: The Advancement of Separatism through Economic Integration
Authors: Brancati Dawn
Published: January 2014

Economic integration is widely argued to increase subnational demands for independence. Yet increasingly high degrees of integration have not been associated with a commensurate growth in separatist activity. This article argues that integration is not likely to promote separatism in general because the economic benefits of integration are not uniformly positive, and are not large enough for most regions to provide for their own defense in order to sustain themselves as independent states. This argument is empirically tested using the case of post-WWII European integration, a hard test of the argument, since the European Union is the most advanced economic integration scheme in the world. The quantitative analysis supports the argument, showing that European integration is only weakly associated with a modest increase in electoral support for separatist parties. Further qualitative analysis suggests that the effect of integration is conditional on other factors as well.
Ethnic differences in CAPN10 SNP-19 in type 2 diabetes: a North-West Indian case control study and evidence from meta-analysis
Authors: SHARMA RUBINA , MATHAROO KAWALJIT , KAPOOR ROHIT , CHOPRA HIMANSHI , BHANWER AJS
Published: January 2014

Calpain 10 (CAPN10) variants have been associated with the genetic susceptibility to type 2 diabetes (T2D). In the present case-control study, we analysed the distribution of SNP-19 insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism in a total of 607 samples (103 T2D cases and 102 healthy controls) from Brahmin; (100 T2D cases and 100 healthy controls) from Bania and (100 T2D cases and 102 healthy controls) from Jat Sikh ethnic groups of the North-West Indian population. Increased frequency of I allele and II genotype was found in T2D in Brahmin ethnic group [P = 0·003, OR = 2·83 (1·43–5·61 at 95% CI)]. Significant correlation between II genotype and body mass index (BMI) was also observed [P = 0·003, OR = 3·31 (1·52–7·20 at 95% CI)]. No association for the genotypes and alleles was seen in Banias and Jat Sikhs. Our data suggests that SNP-19 I/D variation in the CAPN10 gene is modulated by ethnicity and influences the susceptibility to T2D in the North-West Indian population. We also performed a meta-analysis of relevant studies to assess the validity of this association. Data from 13 case-control studies with 15 760 samples comprising of 8395 T2D cases and 7365 controls were finally analysed. Significant heterogeneity between individual studies was evident in dominant and codominant models. The results of present meta-analysis indicate an association of T2D with carriers of DD genotype of CAPN10 I/D polymorphism. However, further analyses on a larger sample size are required to establish a conclusive association in meta-analysis.
Ion acoustic traveling waves
Authors: Webb G. M. , Burrows R. H. , Ao X. , Zank G. P.
Published: January 2014

Models for traveling waves in multi-fluid plasmas give essential insight into fully nonlinear wave structures in plasmas, not readily available from either numerical simulations or from weakly nonlinear wave theories. We illustrate these ideas using one of the simplest models of an electron–proton multi-fluid plasma for the case where there is no magnetic field or a constant normal magnetic field present. We show that the traveling waves can be reduced to a single first-order differential equation governing the dynamics. We also show that the equations admit a multi-symplectic Hamiltonian formulation in which both the space and time variables can act as the evolution variable. An integral equation useful for calculating adiabatic, electrostatic solitary wave signatures for multi-fluid plasmas with arbitrary mass ratios is presented. The integral equation arises naturally from a fluid dynamics approach for a two fluid plasma, with a given mass ratio of the two species (e.g. the plasma could be an electron–proton or an electron–positron plasma). Besides its intrinsic interest, the integral equation solution provides a useful analytical test for numerical codes that include a proton–electron mass ratio as a fundamental constant, such as for particle in cell (PIC) codes. The integral equation is used to delineate the physical characteristics of ion acoustic traveling waves consisting of hot electron and cold proton fluids.
Measuring physical activity in children and adolescents for dietary surveys: practicalities, problems and pitfalls
Authors: Mindell Jennifer S. , Coombs Ngaire , Stamatakis Emmanuel
Published: January 2014

Physical inactivity is an important risk factor for many chronic diseases and contributes to obesity and poor mental well-being. The present paper describes the main advantages and disadvantages, practical problems, suggested uses, and future developments regarding self-reported and objective data collection in the context of dietary surveys. In dietary surveys, physical activity is measured primarily to estimate energy expenditure. Energy expenditure surveillance is important for tracking changes over time, particularly given the debates over the role of the relative importance of energy intake and expenditure changes in the aetiology of obesity. It is also important to assess the extent of underreporting of dietary intake in these surveys. Physical activity data collected should include details on the frequency, duration and relative intensity of activity for each activity type that contributes considerably to overall activity and energy expenditure. Problems of validity and reliability, associated with inaccurate assessment, recall bias, and social desirability bias, are well-known; children under 10 years cannot report their activities accurately. However, despite such limitations, questionnaires are still the dominant method of physical activity assessment in dietary surveys due to their low cost and relatively low participant burden. Objective, time-stamped measures that monitor heart rate and/or movement can provide more comprehensive, quantitative assessment of physical activity but at greater cost and participant burden. Although overcoming many limitations of questionnaires, objective measures also have drawbacks, including technical, practical and interpretational issues.
Forgetting the power of leaven: The historical method in recent New Testament theology
Authors: Heringer Seth
Published: January 2014

Ernst Troeltsch and Heikki Räisänen have raised significant challenges to the way New Testament theology handles the relation of history and theology. Troeltsch pushed Christian scholars to apply the historical method's three principles of criticism, analogy and correlation consistently to their work and thus embrace empiricism. Räisänen continues this trajectory by splitting New Testament theology into its descriptive and reflective tasks, resulting in a programme which questions the unity of the canon, the appropriateness of prescription and the role of church authority in New Testament theology. With these challenges in mind, this article examines four recent New Testament theologies to see how they use the historical method. It finds that these works exhibit different ad hoc ways of using the historical method, picking it up and setting it down at will. Peter Balla accepts New Testament theology as descriptive and historical while claiming it can also be theological by studying the content in the New Testament. Despite this embrace of the historical method, Balla remains uncomfortable with bare empiricism and pushes back on its naturalism. Georg Strecker splits the world into two: one part which can be investigated by the historical method and another part which lies outside its normal subject matter. The result is that he uses the historical method everywhere except where his main theological concern lies – Jesus’ resurrection. I. Howard Marshall similarly holds the historical method to be necessary for New Testament theology but largely ignores it in light of narrative-theological concerns. Frank Matera takes a purposefully literary approach to New Testament theology and generally ignores the historical method. He does invoke it, however, when the text becomes difficult and alternative readings must be found. The methodological inconsistency demonstrated by these New Testament theologies leads the article to conclude that this type of historical New Testament theology is a failed enterprise. A theological understanding of history based on work by Murray Rae is then proposed as an alternative which allows for methodological consistency in synthetic work on the New Testament.
Policy image resilience, multidimensionality, and policy image management: a study of US biofuel policy
Authors: Mondou Matthieu , Skogstad Grace , Houle David
Published: January 2014

This paper contributes to our understanding of why delegitimising focusing events, combined with the mobilisation of policy losers, does not always result in major policy change by undermining a monopolistic policy image and policy subsystem. Based on a close enquiry of American biofuel policy development, it argues that we can make headway in this endeavour by focusing on three factors: first, the congruence of a policy image with core values of the polity; second, the multidimensionality of a policy image; and third, policy image management strategies that maintain cohesion among coalition supporters and respond to outside criticism. In understanding better why some policy images (and policy monopolies) prove resilient when they come under assault, this paper offers a single case plausibility probe supported by indicative evidence from other policy studies.
Globally stable control of a dynamic bipedal walker using adaptive frequency oscillators
Authors: Aguirre-Ollinger Gabriel
Published: January 2014

We present a control method for a simple limit-cycle bipedal walker that uses adaptive frequency oscillators (AFOs) to generate stable gaits. Existence of stable limit cycles is demonstrated with an inverted-pendulum model. This model predicts a proportional relationship between hip torque amplitude and stride frequency. The closed-loop walking control incorporates adaptive Fourier analysis to generate a uniform oscillator phase. Gait solutions (fixed points) are predicted via linearization of the walker model, and employed as initial conditions to generate exact solutions via simulation. Global stability is determined via a recursive algorithm that generates the approximate basin of attraction of a fixed point. We also present an initial study on the implementation of AFO-based control on a bipedal walker with realistic mass distribution and articulated knee joints.
Hybrid control for SLIP-based robots running on unknown rough terrain
Authors: Han Bin , Luo Xin , Liu Qingyu , Zhou Bo , Chen Xuedong
Published: January 2014

Rapid and efficient dynamic stability control has been one of the important motivations in legged robot research, especially for legged robots running at high speed and/or on rough terrain. This paper presents a feasible control strategy, named Hybrid Feedback Control (HFC), for running systems based on the spring-loaded inverted pendulum principle (SLIP). The HFC strategy, which comprises two modules (i.e., touchdown angle control and energy compensation), predicts and regulates touchdown angle of the current cycle and need-to-complement energy input of the next cycle through hybrid feedback of flying apex state. This strategy can significantly reduce the computational complexity and enable the system to quickly converge to its control target, meeting the requirements of real-time control. Simulation experiments on various terrains were conducted to verify the adaptability of our HFC strategy. Results of these simulation experiments show that the approach herein can realize the periodical stability control of SLIP systems on different terrain conditions quickly and effectively.
NRR: a nonholonomic random replanner for navigation of car-like robots in unknown environments
Authors: Masehian Ellips , Kakahaji Hossein
Published: January 2014

In this paper, a new sensor-based approach called nonholonomic random replanner (NRR) is presented for motion planning of car-like mobile robots. The robot is incrementally directed toward its destination using a nonholonomic rapidly exploring random tree (RRT) algorithm. At each iteration, the robot's perceived map of the environment is updated using sensor readings and is used for local motion planning. If the goal was not visible to the robot, an approximate path toward the goal is calculated and the robot traces it to an extent within its sensor range. The robot updates its motion to goal through replanning. This procedure is repeated until the goal lies within the scope of the robot, after which it finds a more precise path by sampling in a tighter Goal Region for the nonholonomic RRT. Three main replanning strategies are proposed to decide when to perform a visibility scan and when to replan a new path. Those are named Basic, Deliberative and Greedy strategies, which yield different paths. The NRR was also modified for motion planning of Dubin's car-like robots. The proposed algorithm is probabilistically complete and its effectiveness and efficiency were tested by running several simulations and the resulting runtimes and path lengths were compared to the basic RRT method.
Percolation of finite clusters and infinite surfaces
Authors: GRIMMETT GEOFFREY R. , HOLROYD ALEXANDER E. , KOZMA GADY
Published: January 2014

Two related issues are explored for bond percolation on${\mathbb{Z}^d$(withd≥ 3) and its dual plaquette process. Firstly, for what values of the parameterpdoes the complement of the infinite open cluster possess an infinite component? The corresponding critical pointpfinsatisfiespfin≥pc, and strict inequality is proved when eitherdis sufficiently large, ord≥ 7 and the model is sufficiently spread out. It is not known whetherd≥ 3 suffices. Secondly, for whatpdoes there exist an infinite dual surface of plaquettes? The associated critical pointpsurfsatisfiespsurf≥pfin.
Orientation of actin filaments in teleost retinal pigment epithelial cells, and the effect of the lectin, Concanavalin A, on melanosome motility
Authors: KING-SMITH CHRISTINA , VAGNOZZI RONALD J. , FISCHER NICOLE E. , GANNON PATRICK , GUNNAM SATYA
Published: January 2014

Retinal pigment epithelial cells of teleosts contain numerous melanosomes (pigment granules) that exhibit light-dependent motility. In light, melanosomes disperse out of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cell body (CB) into long apical projections that interdigitate with rod photoreceptors, thus shielding the photoreceptors from bleaching. In darkness, melanosomes aggregate through the apical projections back into the CB. Previous research has demonstrated that melanosome motility in the RPE CB requires microtubules, but in the RPE apical projections, actin filaments are necessary and sufficient for motility. We used myosin S1 labeling and platinum replica shadowing of dissociated RPE cells to determine actin filament polarity in apical projections. Actin filament bundles within RPE apical projections are uniformly oriented with barbed ends toward the distal tips. Treatment of RPE cells with the tetravalent lectin, Concanavalin A, which has been shown to suppress cortical actin flow by crosslinking of cell-surface proteins, inhibited melanosome aggregation and stimulated ectopic filopodia formation but did not block melanosome dispersion. The polarity orientation of F-actin in apical projections suggests that a barbed-end directed myosin motor could effect dispersion of melanosomes from the CB into apical projections. Inhibition of aggregation, but not dispersion, by ConA confirms that different actin-dependent mechanisms control these two processes and suggests that melanosome aggregation is sensitive to treatments previously shown to disrupt actin cortical flow.
Language-related computer use: Focus on young L2 English learners in Sweden
Authors: Sundqvist Pia , Sylvén Liss Kerstin
Published: January 2014

This paper presents findings from a study investigating young English language learners (YELLs) in Sweden in 4th grade (N = 76, aged 10–11). Data were collected with the help of a questionnaire and a one-week language diary. The main purpose was to examine the learners’ L2 English language-related activities outside of school in general, and their use of computers and engagement in playing digital games in particular. A comparison is made between language-related activities in English, Swedish, and other languages. Another purpose was to see whether there is a relationship between playing digital games and (a) gender, (b) L1, (c) motivation for learning English, (d) self-assessed English ability, and (e) self-reported strategies for speaking English. In order to do so, the sample was divided into three digital game groups, (1) non-gamers, (2) moderate, and (3) frequent gamers (≥4 hours/week), based on diary data (using self-reported times for playing digital games in English). Results showed that YELLs are extensively involved in extramural English (EE) activities (M = 7.2 hrs/w). There are statistically significant gender differences, boys (11.5 hrs/w) and girls (5.1 hrs/w; p < .01), the reason being boys’ greater time investment in digital gaming and watching films. The girls, on the other hand, spent significantly more time on pastime language-related activities in Swedish (11.5 hrs/w) than the boys (8.0 hrs/w; p < .05), the reason being girls’ greater time investment in facebooking. Investigation of the digital game groups revealed that group (1) was predominantly female, (2) a mix, and (3) predominantly male. YELLs with an L1 other than Swedish were overrepresented in group (3). Motivation and self-assessed English ability were high across all groups. Finally, regarding the self-reported strategies, code-switching to one's L1 was more commonly reported by non- and moderate gamers than frequent gamers.
The effects of L1 and L2 e-glosses on incidental vocabulary learning of junior high-school English students
Authors: Hu Si-Min , Vongpumivitch Viphavee , Chang Jason S. , Liou Hsien-Chin
Published: January 2014

While researchers have examined the effectiveness of various online gloss types on incidental L2 vocabulary learning, little research on online gloss languages has been conducted. Previous attempts which compared the effects of L1 and L2 glosses have reported mixed results. To fill the gaps, this study examined the effectiveness of Chinese and English e-glosses on incidental English vocabulary learning on a less-researched student group in CALL – junior high-school English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) students. Seventy-eight students with Chinese as their first language read two online passages with either Chinese (L1) or English (L2) glosses. They were divided into four treatment groups: (1) high-proficiency students receiving L1 gloss before L2 gloss (n = 19), (2) high-proficiency students receiving L2 gloss before L1 gloss (n = 19), (3) low-proficiency students receiving L1 gloss before L2 gloss (n = 20), and (4) low-proficiency students receiving L2 gloss before L1 gloss (n = 20). After reading, the students were assessed with a vocabulary test which contained a definition-supply part and a cloze part serving as both post-tests and delayed post-tests. Repeated-measures analyses of variance were utilized to analyze the score data. Significant differences were found not only among the four groups but also between the two post-tests. Overall the high proficiency groups performed better in the post-tests, but the high proficiency group who received English glosses remembered more words in the delayed post-test than the high proficiency group who received Chinese glosses. The results show that as learners’ proficiency increases, they may be able to make better use of the L2 conceptual links for word retention and learning. The conclusions support the usefulness of both Chinese and English e-glosses which should be selected based on learners’ proficiency level.
Paediatric dilated cardiomyopathy: clinical profile and outcome. The experience of a tertiary centre for paediatric cardiology
Authors: Miranda Joana O. , Costa Liane , Rodrigues Esmeralda , Teles Elisa L. , Baptista Maria J. , Areias José C.
Published: January 2014

Dilated cardiomyopathy is the most common form of cardiomyopathy in the paediatric population and an important cause of heart transplantation in children. The clinical profile and course of dilated cardiomyopathy in children have been poorly characterised. A retrospective review of 61 patients (37 female; 24 male) diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy from January, 2005 to June, 2012 at a single institution was performed. The median age at diagnosis was 15 months. Heart failure was present in 83.6% of patients and 44.3% required intensive care. The most prevalent causes were idiopathic (47.5%), viral myocarditis (18.0%) and inherited metabolic diseases (11.5%). In viral myocarditis, Parvovirus B19 was the most common identified agent, in concurrence with the increasing incidence documented recently. Inherited metabolic diseases were responsible for 11.5% of dilated cardiomyopathy cases compared with the 4–6% described in the literature, which reinforces the importance of considering this aetiology in differential diagnosis of paediatric dilated cardiomyopathy. The overall mortality rate was 16.1% and five patients underwent heart transplantation. In our series, age at diagnosis and aetiology were the most important prognosis factors. We report no mortality in the five patients who underwent heart transplantation, after 2 years of follow-up.
DWORKIN'S INTERPRETIVISM AND THE PRAGMATICS OF LEGAL DISPUTES
Authors: Plunkett David , Sundell Timothy
Published: January 2014

One of Ronald Dworkin's most distinctive claims in legal philosophy is thatlawis aninterpretative concept, a special kind of concept whose correct application depends neither on fixed criteria nor on an instance-identifying decision procedure but rather on the normative or evaluative facts that best justify the total set of practices in which that concept is used. The main argument that Dworkin gives for interpretivism about some concept—law, among many others—is a disagreement-based argument. We argue here that Dworkin's disagreement-based argument relies on a mistaken premise about the nature of disagreement. We propose an alternative analysis of the type of dispute—what we call “seeming variation cases”—that Dworkin uses to motivate the idea of interpretative concepts. We begin by observing that genuine disagreements can be expressed via a range of linguistic mechanisms, many of which do not require that speakers literally assert and deny one and the same proposition. We focus in particular on what we call “metalinguistic negotiations,” disputes in which speakers do not express the same concepts by their words but rather negotiate how words should be used and thereby negotiate which of a range of competing concepts should be used in that context. We claim that this view has quite general theoretical advantages over Dworkin's interpretivism about seeming variation cases and about the relevant class of legal disputes in particular. This paper thus has two interlocking goals: (1) to undermine one of Dworkin's core arguments for interpretivism, and (2) to provide the foundations for a noninterpretivist alternative account of an important class of legal disputes.
INTELLECTUAL AGENCY AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR BELIEF IN FREE-SPEECH THEORY
Authors: Simpson Robert Mark
Published: January 2014

The idea that human beings are intellectually self-governing plays two roles in free-speech theory. First, this idea is frequently called upon as part of the justification for free speech. Second, it plays a role in guiding the translation of free-speech principles into legal policy by underwriting the ascriptive framework through which responsibility for certain kinds of speech harms can be ascribed. After mapping out these relations, I ask what becomes of them once we acknowledge certain very general and profound limitations in people's capacity for intellectual self-governance. I argue that acknowledging these limitations drastically undermines the putative justifications for free speech of the type that I identify in the first part of the paper. I then show how we can reformulate an “ascriptive” account of intellectual and doxastic responsibility on which we may still be held responsible for what we think or believe even though we lack agent-causal capacities in our thinking and believing. Then, in light of this ascriptive account of intellectual responsibility, I show how the key idea—that people “have minds of their own”—can (and should) still play a significant role in guiding the legislative outworkings of free speech.
Let's Face It: Facial Emotion Processing Is Impaired in Bipolar Disorder
Authors: Van Rheenen Tamsyn Elizabeth , Rossell Susan Lee
Published: January 2014

Patients with bipolar disorder (BD) have difficulty in recognizing and discriminating facial emotions. However, beyond this broad finding, existing literature is equivocal about the specific nature of impairments, and progress toward adequately profiling facial emotion processing in BD is hampered by methodological inconsistencies. The current study aimed to advance the literature by comparing 50 BD patients and 52 controls on a series of facial emotion processing tasks. Results indicated that patients with BD had a small, yet consistent impairment in emotion processing overall. This impairment did not vary as a function of specific emotions, tasks, or intensities between groups, and was not influenced by current mood state. These results suggest that past inconsistencies in the literature are unlikely to be attributable to task related artifacts influencing the estimation of an effect. These findings add to our understanding of social cognition in BD, and have important implications for clinicians treating patients with the disorder. (JINS, 2014, 20, 1–9)
Structure learning of probabilistic logic programs by searching the clause space
Authors: BELLODI ELENA , RIGUZZI FABRIZIO
Published: January 2014

Learning probabilistic logic programming languages is receiving an increasing attention, and systems are available for learning the parameters (PRISM, LeProbLog, LFI-ProbLog and EMBLEM) or both structure and parameters (SEM-CP-logic and SLIPCASE) of these languages. In this paper we present the algorithm SLIPCOVER for “Structure LearnIng of Probabilistic logic programs by searChing OVER the clause space.” It performs a beam search in the space of probabilistic clauses and a greedy search in the space of theories using the log likelihood of the data as the guiding heuristics. To estimate the log likelihood, SLIPCOVER performs Expectation Maximization with EMBLEM. The algorithm has been tested on five real world datasets and compared with SLIPCASE, SEM-CP-logic, Aleph and two algorithms for learning Markov Logic Networks (Learning using Structural Motifs (LSM) and ALEPH++ExactL1). SLIPCOVER achieves higher areas under the precision-recall and receiver operating characteristic curves in most cases.