bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
MicroRNA-23b Inhibits Enterovirus 71 Replication through Downregulation of EV71 VPl Protein
Authors: Wen Bai-ping , Dai Hong-jian , Yang Yue-huang , Zhuang Yu , Sheng Ru
Published: April 2013

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is one of the causative pathogens of hand-foot-and-mouth disease and effective antiviral agents and vaccines against this virus have, to date, not been available. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a recently discovered class of RNAs with the function of post-transcriptional gene expression regulation. It has been demonstrated that miRNAs play important roles in the complicated interaction network between virus and host, while few studies have explored the role of miRNAs in EV71 infection. A recent study showed that hsa-miR-23b was downregulated significantly in cell-infected viruses. To address this issue, biological software miRanda was first used to predict possible target sites of miR-23b at EV71 gene sequence, then to confirm it by luciferase assay. miR-23b mimics were transfected to verify its effects on infection of EV71. These results suggest that miR-23b and upregulation of miR-23b inhibited the replication of EV71 by targeting at EV71 3′UTR conserved sequence. Taken together, miR-23b could inhibit EV71 replication through downregulation of EV71 VPl protein. These results may enhance our understanding on the prevention and treatment of hand-foot-and-mouth disease caused by EV71 infection.
Isolated Hand Paresis: A Case Series
Authors: Alstadhaug Karl B. , Sjulstad Ane
Published: April 2013

Background: Hand knob infarction is a well-known stroke entity. Based on very limited data, embolic stroke mechanism has been considered the most frequent cause; however, prognosis is considered good. We wanted to shed more light on this phenomenon by assessing a cohort of patients referred to a general hospital stroke unit. Methods: Every subject admitted to our stroke unit with an acute isolated hand paresis in the period from 2007 to 2012 was identified prospectively. Patients who had suffered from a stroke in the hand motor cortex or an adjacent area explaining the acute loss of hand function were included in the study. The Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment criteria were used to classify subtypes of stroke according to etiology. The patients were followed up during autumn 2012. Results: Seventeen subjects were admitted, but in 2 of them symptoms were transitory and magnetic resonance imaging was negative. Two patients were excluded due to persisting sensory deficits. The remaining 13 (11 males and 2 females) patients with an average age of 62.9 (±13.4) years were included, representing 1.5% of all ischemic strokes diagnosed at the stroke unit in the given period. All patients were right-handed, and the dominant hand was affected only in 4 (31%). The average Medical Research Council's scale score was 3.1 (±1.4) on admission, and classified as bad. On follow-up, which occurred on average 29.8 (±19.8) months after the stroke, the score was 4.6 (±0.4) and was classified as fair to good. No patient experienced a new stroke. The outcome was good to excellent in 10 patients (77%). Two patients died (15%), 1 of probable cardiac arrest and 1 of unknown cause. One patient did not participate in the follow-up. The majority of patients had evidence of both small artery (77%) and large artery (85%) disease. On average, there were 1.6 (±0.4) new ischemic lesions per patient. Six patients had a solitary lesion (46%). In 5 of them, small artery occlusion was considered the probable stroke mechanism. In 4 cases, the stroke was of undetermined etiology. Three patients had atrial fibrillation, and in 2 of them cardioembolism was the probable stroke mechanism. Two patients with definite large artery atherosclerosis underwent carotid endarterectomy, and 1 of them had comorbid atrial fibrillation. Conclusion: Strokes causing isolated hand paresis seem to have a heterogeneous etiology. Prognosis regarding hand function is good, but long-term outcome depends on stroke etiology and secondary prophylaxis.
The ‘Reasonable Basis to Proceed’ Threshold in the Kenya and Côte d’Ivoire Proprio Motu Investigation Decisions: The International Criminal Court’s Lowest Evidentiary Standard?
Authors: Ventura Manuel J.
Published: April 2013

Abstract

Prior to the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II’s decision authorizing a proprio motu investigation with respect to the situation in Kenya, the jurisprudence of the ICC indicated that there existed three broad evidentiary thresholds pursuant to the Rome Statute: ‘reasonable grounds to believe’ for the issuing of warrants of arrest or summonses to appear, ‘substantial grounds to believe’ for the confirmation of charges, and ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ for a finding of guilt. However, the aforementioned decision held that there existed another: ‘reasonable basis to proceed’ for the authorizing of a proprio motu investigation. It further held that this was the lowest evidentiary threshold provided for in the Rome Statute – lower than that for the issuing of a summons to appear or an arrest warrant. This remained unquestioned in Pre-Trial Chamber III’s subsequent Côte d’Ivoire investigation authorization decision. This result was based primarily on the fact that, at the preliminary examination phase, the Prosecutor cannot engage his/her full investigative powers. This article questions that conclusion on the basis that the standard offered by Pre-Trial Chamber II is, in substance, practically indistinguishable from that governing the issuing of an arrest warrant or a summons to appear and that the former Prosecutor was able to satisfy it without engaging his full preliminary examination powers. It argues that, instead, the standard should be the same for both. However, a distinction is maintained not because one standard is inherently lower than the other, but because of the different contexts in which they are applied. The critical element is evidence that ‘pins’ the crime(s) to an individual(s). Such evidence is not required when requesting authorization to commence a proprio motu investigation, but it is crucial when seeking an arrest warrant or a summons to appear. Thus, applying the same evidentiary standard in both circumstances results in different evidentiary material depending on the absence or inclusion of this element. It is submitted that the Prosecutor’s full investigative powers are reserved to obtain exactly the more specific and narrow evidence that can justify the deprivation of a person’s liberty or to summon him or her to The Hague.
Gunpowder Production and Use in Eighteenth-Century Brazil
Authors: Filgueiras Carlos A.L. , Martins Ricardo V. , Piva Teresa C.C.
Published: April 2013

Gunpowder played a significant role in colonial Brazil. This reached a climax in the eighteenth century, when the country’s large gold output enticed the greed of many. The French invasion of Rio de Janeiro in 1711 made the city’s defense even more pressing to the metropolis. Brigadier Alpoim symbolized this reaction. He was a leading Luso-Brazilian engineer of that century, whose multiple activities set him apart in colonial life. These activities included a pioneer role in teaching the manufacture and use of gunpowder, about which he wrote extensively during the first half of the eighteenth century. His work is thus among the first to treat chemical technology in the colony at such an early age.
Rhabdomyolysis presenting with severe hypokalemia in hypertensive patients: a case series
Authors: Wen Zhang , Chuanwei Li , Chunyu Zeng , Hui Huang , Weimin Li
Published: April 2013

Background

Rhabdomyolysis presenting with severe hypokalemia as the first manifestation of primary hyperaldosteronism is extremely rare.

Case presentation

Two middle-aged Chinese females were admitted to our emergency department for muscular weakness and limb pain, and both have the history of early onset hypertension. Laboratory test showed elevated creatinine phosphokinase (4, 907 and 8, 531 IU/L) and extremely low serum potassium (1.38 mmol/L and 1.98 mmol/L). Rhabdomyolysis and severe hypokalemia were established as first diagnosis. Hypokalemic rhabdomyolysis was confirmed after nervous system disorders, autoimmune diseases and trauma were excluded. Adrenal computerized tomography scan and postural stimulation test revealed aldosterone-producing adenomas. They both received laparoscopic adrenalectomy and were stable at the 2-year follow-up visit.

Conclusion

The two cases remind physicians to bear in mind the risk of hypokalemia-induced rhabdomyolysis among patients with primary hyperaldosteronism.
Biotechnological potential of rhizobial metabolites to enhance the performance of Bradyrhizobium spp. and Azospirillum brasilense inoculants with soybean and maize
Authors: Marks Bettina Berquó , Megías Manuel , Nogueira Marco Antonio , Hungria Mariangela
Published: April 2013

Agricultural sustainability may represent the greatest encumbrance to increasing food production. On the other hand, as a component of sustainability, replacement of chemical fertilizers by bio-fertilizers has the potential to lower costs for farmers, to increase yields, and to mitigate greenhouse-gas emissions and pollution of water and soil. Rhizobia and plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have been broadly used in agriculture, and advances in our understanding of plant-bacteria interactions have been achieved; however, the use of signaling molecules to enhance crop performance is still modest. In this study, we evaluated the effects of concentrated metabolites (CM) from two strains of rhizobia—Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiensUSDA 110T(BD1) andRhizobium tropiciCIAT 899T(RT1)—at two concentrations of active compounds (10–8and 10–9 M)—on the performances of two major plant-microbe interactions, ofBradyrhizobiumspp.-soybean (Glycine max(L.) Merr.) andAzospirillum brasilense-maize (Zea maysL.). For soybean, one greenhouse and two field experiments were performed and effects of addition of CM from the homologous and heterologous strains, and of the flavonoid genistein were investigated. For maize, three field experiments were performed to examine the effects of CM from RT1. For soybean, compared to the treatment inoculated exclusively withBradyrhizobium, benefits were achieved with the addition of CM-BD1; at 10–9 M, grain yield was increased by an average of 4.8%. For maize, the best result was obtained with the addition of CM-RT1, also at 10–9 M, increasing grain yield by an average of 11.4%. These benefits might be related to a combination of effects attributed to secondary compounds produced by the rhizobial strains, including exopolysaccharides (EPSs), plant hormones and lipo-chitooligosaccharides (LCOs). The results emphasize the biotechnological potential of using secondary metabolites of rhizobia together with inoculants containing both rhizobia and PGPR to improve the growth and yield of grain crops.
What Does “Deconstructing Christianity” Want?
Authors: Biddick Kathleen
Published: April 2013

Kathleen Biddick questions the political-theological turn in contemporary political philosophy with its focus on efforts to “deconstruct Christianity.” She argues that the Christian institutional imaginary (inaugurated by Paul’s ekklesia and adumbrated by the medieval management of the Eucharistic Real Presence) is constitutive of incarnational theology. She traces how contemporary theorists such as Roberto Esposito and Giorgio Agamben cleave this entanglement by relying on the secularizing model of political theology proposed by Ernst Kantorowicz in his classic, The King’s Two Bodies: A Study in Medieval Political Theology (1957). They use Kantorowicz’s periodization to bracket off the body as an immune medieval historical form from the twelfth century. Biddick tells a tale of three bodies (corpora) to show the entangled combustibility of the Christian institutional imaginary and incarnational theology. Ranging from the newly fabricated corpus of the Talmud institutionalized by Rabbi Rashi of Troyes (1040-1105) to the Corpus Iuris Canonicis, confected among Christian schoolmen in the generation after Rashi’s death, to the composition of the first liturgy for the new feast, Corpus Christi (1246), and to the midrash of a young Torah student who combusted as he read the book of Ezekiel, she traces how these corpora collided and burst into flames in the mid-thirteenth century. These historical ashes question Agamben’s archaeology of glory and his vision of the Empty Throne. She concludes with a meditation on Paul Celan’s “aschen-glorie” and remembers that the Empty Throne is not empty, it is covered in ash.
The Call of Things
Authors: Cole Andrew
Published: April 2013

This essay is a critique of actor-network theory (ANT), vitalism, and object-oriented ontology (OOO, or “speculative realism”), as advanced by Bruno Latour, Jane Bennett, and Graham Harman and his colleagues. It focuses on the contradiction within these newer philosophies. Each holds that objects interact with one another in their own hidden ways, that objects are mysteriously indifferent to the human world, and that human subjectivity itself is just another object. Such a view is described as “posthuman” and is often called “flat ontology” (after Manuel DeLanda). The problem, however, is that each of these newer philosophies exhibits a very strong humanism and a rather traditional ontology in that they claim to hear things “speak,” recording things’ voices, registering their presence, and heeding their indifference. Indeed, this ontology is so traditional as to be just another instance of logocentrism and ontotheology, those ancient traditions in which things speak their being and call out yearningly to the observer. This essay contends that scholars working in these areas would recognize these problems if they adopted a more inclusive conception of the history of thought—a history more attentive to medieval philosophy and mysticism (Meister Eckhart and John Duns Scotus) as well as certain strains of modern idealism (Fichte) and vitalism (Bergson)— in which the resources of medieval mysticism are addressed. Failing to adopt a perspective genuinely open to the Middle Ages, these areas sustain a humanism that is anything but posthuman.
Object-Oriented Mythography
Authors: Holsinger Bruce
Published: April 2013

This essay investigates the compelling affinities between the premodern mythographic tradition and the various schools of thought grouped under the rubrics of speculative realism, object-oriented ontology, and vitalism. Like mythography proper, much of this work entails the acceptance of alternative, even enchanted realities; like certain strains of modern analytic philosophy and science fiction, it posits possible worlds and builds them out from within by acts of intellection, extended metaphorical conceits, and provisional bids for our faith. More than the result of a loose homology, the mythographic mode is a central idiom within these schools of thought, accounting in part for their allure to literary scholars, whose attachments to otherworldly stories are similarly inherited from the mythographic tradition.
Death and Texts
Authors: Smith D. Vance
Published: April 2013

This article examines the various limits of knowledge in Chaucer’s Pardoner’s Tale as a critique of finitude in object-oriented philosophy and speculative realism. The phrase “death shall be dead” is the form of the receding limits that emerge when finitude is revoked, the lack of content that is a sign of a finitude still to come. The materialisms of the Tale assert a limit that does not arrive because they begin with the inexhaustible limitations of form.
Medieval Sensation and Modern Aesthetics
Authors: Nolan Maura
Published: April 2013

This essay brings together two medieval explorations of sensation— one by St. Thomas Aquinas and one by Geoffrey Chaucer—and situates them within the twentieth-century account of aesthetics offered by Theodor Adorno. This juxtaposition reveals how past and present structures of thought and expression, far from being straightforwardly aligned in a sequence or developmental arc, are asynchronously intertwined. All three writers engage with the relationship between sensation and historical change; all three, in different ways, think about the problem of embodiment and its relation to generalities like “society,” “history,” and “divinity.” Adorno and Aquinas are concerned with abstractions, with describing how categories like “sensation” or “beauty” function within historical or theological structures of understanding. Chaucer, conversely, is immersed in the particular; not only does he create characters who experience sensations, but he also arouses a variety of sensations by means of poetic craft, from line to line, image to image, and sound to sound. As a result, his poetry functions here as a kind of hinge between the Thomistic account of sensory perception and Adorno’s articulation of aesthetic change over time. This hinge opens up a new conversation about sensation, not only about its place in medieval vernacular poetics but also about its relationship to cognition and the social forms by which human understanding, perception, and behavior are regulated.
Attention Selectively Modifies the Representation of Individual Faces in the Human Brain
Authors: Gratton Caterina , Sreenivasan Kartik K. , Silver Michael A. , D'Esposito Mark
Published: April 2013

Attention modifies neural tuning for low-level features, but it is unclear how attention influences tuning for complex stimuli. We investigated this question in humans using fMRI and face stimuli. Participants were shown six faces (F1–F6) along a morph continuum, and selectivity was quantified by constructing tuning curves for individual voxels. Face-selective voxels exhibited greater responses to their preferred face than to nonpreferred faces, particularly in posterior face areas. Anterior face areas instead displayed tuning for face categories: voxels in these areas preferred either the first (F1–F3) or second (F4–F6) half of the morph continuum. Next, we examined the effects of attention on voxel tuning by having subjects direct attention to one of the superimposed images of F1 and F6. We found that attention selectively enhanced responses in voxels preferring the attended face. Together, our results demonstrate that single voxels carry information about individual faces and that the nature of this information varies across cortical face areas. Additionally, we found that attention selectively enhances these representations. Our findings suggest that attention may act via a unitary principle of selective enhancement of responses to both simple and complex stimuli across multiple stages of the visual hierarchy.
The Postsubiculum and Spatial Learning: The Role of Postsubicular Synaptic Activity and Synaptic Plasticity in Hippocampal Place Cell, Object, and Object-Location Memory
Authors: Bett David , Stevenson Cassie H. , Shires Kate L. , Smith Michael T. , Martin Stephen J. , Dudchenko Paul A. , Wood Emma R.
Published: April 2013

Visual landmarks exert stimulus control over spatial behavior and the spatially tuned firing of place, head-direction, and grid cells in the rodent. However, the neural site of convergence for representations of landmarks and representations of space has yet to be identified. A potential site of plasticity underlying associations with landmarks is the postsubiculum. To test this, we blocked glutamatergic transmission in the rat postsubiculum with CNQX, or NMDA receptor-dependent plasticity withd-AP5. These infusions were sufficient to block evoked potentials from the lateral dorsal thalamus and long-term depression following tetanization of this input to the postsubiculum, respectively. In a second experiment, CNQX disrupted the stability of rat hippocampal place cell fields in a familiar environment. In a novel environment, blockade of plasticity withd-AP5 in the postsubiculum did not block the formation of a stable place field map following a 6 h delay. In a final behavioral experiment, postsubicular infusions of both compounds blocked object-location memory in the rat, but did not affect object recognition memory. These results suggest that the postsubiculum is necessary for the recognition of familiar environments, and that NMDA receptor-dependent plasticity in the postsubiculum is required for the formation of new object–place associations that support recognition memory. However, plasticity in the postsubiculum is not necessary for the formation of new spatial maps.
DPP-4 inhibitors improve cognition and brain mitochondrial function of insulin-resistant rats
Authors: Pintana Hiranya , Apaijai Nattayaporn , Chattipakorn Nipon , Chattipakorn Siriporn C
Published: April 2013

Recent evidence has demonstrated that insulin resistance is related to the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Our previous study found that high-fat diet (HFD) consumption caused not only peripheral and brain insulin resistance but also brain mitochondrial dysfunction and cognitive impairment. Vildagliptin and sitagliptin, dipeptidyl-peptidase-4 inhibitors, are recently developed anti-diabetic drugs. However, the effects of both drugs on cognitive behaviors and brain mitochondrial function in HFD-induced insulin-resistant rats have not yet been investigated. Sixty male Wistar rats were divided into two groups to receive either normal diet or HFD for 12 weeks. Rats in each group were then further divided into three treatment groups to receive either vehicle, vildagliptin (3 mg/kg per day), or sitagliptin (30 mg/kg per day) for 21 days. The cognitive behaviors of the rats were tested using the Morris Water Maze test. Blood samples were collected to determine metabolic parameters and plasma oxidative stress levels. Upon completion of the study, the animals were killed and the brains were removed to investigate brain and hippocampal mitochondrial function as well as to determine oxidative stress levels. We demonstrated that both drugs significantly improved the metabolic parameters and decreased circulating and brain oxidative stress levels in HFD-induced insulin-resistant rats. In addition, both drugs completely prevented brain and hippocampal mitochondrial dysfunction and equally improved the learning behaviors impaired by the HFD. Our findings suggest that the inhibition of dipeptidyl-peptidase-4 enzymes with vildagliptin or sitagliptin in insulin-resistant rats not only increases peripheral insulin sensitivity but also decreases brain dysfunction.
Jacuzzihasználatot követően kialakult pneumoperitoneum, avagy a szabad hasi levegő keletkezésének ritka esete
Authors: Farics Ákos , Simon Éva , Parti Krisztina , Bátorfi József
Published: April 2013

Absztrakt

Intraperitonealis szabad levegő leggyakrabban valamely üreges szerv perforatiója kapcsán alakul ki, és azonnali sebészeti beavatkozást igényel. Az esetek kb. 10 százalékában a pneumoperitoneum intakt gastrointestinalis traktus mellett is kialakulhat, ilyenkor „nem sebészi” (nonsurgical, NS) pneumoperitoneumról beszélünk, és általában konzervatív módon kezelendő. A NS pneumoperitoneum a szabad hasi levegő eredete alapján az alábbi csoportokba sorolható: abdominalis, thoracalis, gynecologiai és idiopathiás. Közleményünkben a gynecologiai eredetű NS pneumoperitoneum kialakulásának ritka esetét mutatjuk be. Egy 61 éves, korábban hysterectomián átesett nőbeteg diffúz hasi fájdalom okán került felvételre, emellett egyéb panasza nem volt. Az elkészült rtg.-vizsgálat a rekeszek alatt szabad levegőt írt le. A klinikai kép alapján exploratiót végeztünk, de perforatióra vagy peritonitisre utaló elváltozást nem találtunk. A beteg végül többszöri rákérdezésre elmondta, hogy fájdalmai egy jacuzziban kezdődtek. Feltételezésünk szerint a levegő a magasnyomású pezsgőfürdő hatására a hüvelyen keresztül préselődhetett fel a hasüregbe. A posztoperatív szakban végzett nőgyógyászati vizsgálat során vaginoperitonealis fistula igazolódott, így bizonyossá vált a pneumoperitoneum kialakulásának mechanizmusa. Általánosságban elmondható, hogy a NS pneumoperitoneum eseteiben hiányoznak a peritonealis izgalmi jelek és a peritonitisre utaló egyéb tünetek. A részletes anamnaesisfelvétellel és fizikális vizsgálattal elkerülhetjük a szükségtelen sebészeti beavatkozásokat.
Remark on a constrained variational principle for heat conduction
Authors: Tao Zhao-Ling , Chen Guo-Hua
Published: April 2013

The heat conduction equation is re-studied by the semi-inverse method
combined with separation of variables; a new variational principle for the
heat conduction equation is obtained. Equivalence of the existed two in
literature is shown. The significance of variable separation is confirmed
once more.
Association of Biofilm Formation with Antimicrobial Resistance Among the Acinetobacter Species in A Tertiary Care Hospital in Bangladesh
Authors: Nahar Azizun , Anwar Shaheda , Miah Md. Ruhul Amin
Published: April 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to detect biofilm formation in clinical isolates of Acinetobacter species and to observe correlation between biofilm formation and antimicrobial resistance among Acinetobacter isolates. Methods: Two hundred fifty six clinical samples collected from patients who were admitted in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and on device, patients from Surgery, Medicine, Gynae & Obs and Urology department of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and from Burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital were included in this study. Biofilm formation and antibiotyping were performed for the isolates of Acinetobacter species recovered from clinical samples including tracheal aspirates, blood, urine, wound swab, pus, throat swab, endotracheal tubes, burn samples, ascitic fluid, sputum, aural swab, oral swab, cerebrospinal fluid, and catheter tip. Correlation of biofilm formation with antimicrobial resistance pattern among Acinetobacter isolates were also observed in this study. Result: A total of 256 various specimens were studied of which 95 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and 161 Non ICU samples. Out of 95 ICU and 161 Non ICU samples, Acinetobacter species were isolated from 32 (33.7%) and 20(12.4%) respectively. From 32 ICU and 20 Non ICU Acinetobacter isolates, 28 (87.5%) and 11 (55%) were biofilm producers. Biofilm forming capacity of Acinetobacter species was significantly (p<0.008) greater in ICU than in Non ICU isolates. In both ICU and Non ICU isolates, biofilm forming Acinetobacter species were 100% resistant to amoxicillin, ceftriaxone, ceftazidime, cefotaxime, cefuroxime, and aztreonam. Resistance to antibiotics such as gentamicin, amikacin, netilmicin, ciprofloxacin and imipenem was higher among biofilm forming Acinetobacter isolates in ICU than Non ICU isolates. Susceptibility to colistin was 100% in Non ICU isolates but in ICU it showed 7.1% resistance. Conclusions: This investigation showed that most of the clinical isolates of Acinetobacter species were biofilm producers especially from ICU samples and they were multidrug resistant. Even polymixin resistant Acinetobacter isolates are slowly emerging. This is very alerming for us that biofilm forming multidrug resistant Acinetobacter species represents a severe threat in the treatment of hospitalized patients. So, antibiotic policy and guidelines are essential to eliminate major outbreak in future.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jom.v14i1.14533 J MEDICINE 2013; 14 : 28-32
Radiological Features of Pulmonary Tuberculosis on Chest Tomography
Authors: George Peter , Hegde Narasimha
Published: April 2013

No Abstract AvailableDOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jom.v14i1.14591 J MEDICINE 2013; 14 : 98
Barium Sulfate Aspiration mimicking Tracheo-esophageal Fistula in a 82 years Aged Man
Authors: Kana Pulak Kumar , Bairagya Tapan Das , Das Ira , Chatterjee Surajit
Published: April 2013

No Abstract AvailableDOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jom.v14i1.14625 J MEDICINE 2013; 14 : 101-102
Valuation Studies? Our Collective Two Cents
Authors: Kjellberg Hans , Mallard Alexandre
Published: April 2013

This article presents the results of a poll made among the members of the editorial and advisory boards of Valuation Studies. The purpose is to overview the topic that is the remit of the new journal. The poll focused on three questions: Why is the study of valuation topical? What specific issues related to valuation are the most pressing ones to explore? What sites and methods would be interesting for studying valuation? The answers to these questions provided by sixteen board members form the basis of the article. Based on these answers, it identifies a number of themes concerning the study of valuation, elaborating on the rationale for attending to valuation, the conceptual challenges linked to this, and the specific issues and sites that deserve further attention. Co-authors: Diane-Laure Arjaliès, Patrik Aspers, Stefan Beljean, Alexandra Bidet, Alberto Corsín, Emmanuel Didier, Marion Fourcade, Susi Geiger, Klaus Hoeyer, Michèle Lamont, Donald MacKenzie, Bill Maurer, Jan Mouritsen, Ebba Sjögren, Kjell Tryggestad, François Vatin, Steve Woolgar.
Construction of Multiwavelets on an Interval
Authors: Altürk Ahmet , Keinert Fritz
Published: April 2013

Boundary functions for wavelets on a finite interval are often constructed as linear combinations of boundary-crossing scaling functions. An alternative approach is based on linear algebra techniques for truncating the infinite matrix of the DiscreteWavelet Transform to a finite one. In this article we show how an algorithm of Madych for scalar wavelets can be generalized to multiwavelets, given an extra assumption. We then develop a new algorithm that does not require this additional condition. Finally, we apply results from a previous paper to resolve the non-uniqueness of the algorithm by imposing regularity conditions (including approximation orders) on the boundary functions.
A Flexible Microarray Data Simulation Model
Authors: Dembélé Doulaye
Published: April 2013

Microarray technology allows monitoring of gene expression profiling at the genome level. This is useful in order to search for genes involved in a disease. The performances of the methods used to select interesting genes are most often judged after other analyzes (qPCR validation, search in databases...), which are also subject to error. A good evaluation of gene selection methods is possible with data whose characteristics are known, that is to say, synthetic data. We propose a model to simulate microarray data with similar characteristics to the data commonly produced by current platforms. The parameters used in this model are described to allow the user to generate data with varying characteristics. In order to show the flexibility of the proposed model, a commented example is given and illustrated. An R package is available for immediate use.
Multiple Membrane Interactions and Versatile Vesicle Deformations Elicited by Melittin
Authors: Takahashi Tomoyoshi , Nomura Fumimasa , Yokoyama Yasunori , Tanaka-Takiguchi Yohko , Homma Michio , Takiguchi Kingo
Published: April 2013

Melittin induces various reactions in membranes and has been widely studied as a model for membrane-interacting peptide; however, the mechanism whereby melittin elicits its effects remains unclear. Here, we observed melittin-induced changes in individual giant liposomes using direct real-time imaging by dark-field optical microscopy, and the mechanisms involved were correlated with results obtained using circular dichroism, cosedimentation, fluorescence quenching of tryptophan residues, and electron microscopy. Depending on the concentration of negatively charged phospholipids in the membrane and the molecular ratio between lipid and melittin, melittin induced the “increasing membrane area”, “phased shrinkage”, or “solubilization” of liposomes. In phased shrinkage, liposomes formed small particles on their surface and rapidly decreased in size. Under conditions in which the increasing membrane area, phased shrinkage, or solubilization were mainly observed, the secondary structure of melittin was primarily estimated as an α-helix, β-like, or disordered structure, respectively. When the increasing membrane area or phased shrinkage occurred, almost all melittin was bound to the membranes and reached more hydrophobic regions of the membranes than when solubilization occurred. These results indicate that the various effects of melittin result from its ability to adopt various structures and membrane-binding states depending on the conditions.
House dust mite allergen Der p 1 effects on sinonasal epithelial tight junctions
Authors: Henriquez Oswaldo A. , Beste Kyle Den , Hoddeson Elizabeth K. , Parkos Charles A. , Nusrat Asma , Wise Sarah K.
Published: April 2013

Background

Epithelial permeability is highly dependent upon the integrity of tight junctions, which are cell‐cell adhesion complexes located at the apical aspect of the lateral membrane of polarized epithelial cells. We hypothesize that sinonasal epithelial exposure to Der p 1 house dust mite antigen decreases expression of tight junction proteins (TJPs), representing a potential mechanism for increased permeability and presentation of antigens across the sinonasal epithelial layer.

Methods

Confluent cultured primary human sinonasal epithelial cells were exposed to recombinant Der p 1 antigen vs control, and transepithelial resistance measurements were performed over 24 hours. Antibody staining for a panel of TJPs was examined with immunofluorescence/confocal microscopy and Western blotting. Tissue for these experiments was obtained from 4 patients total.

Results

Der p 1 exposed sinonasal cells showed a marked decrease in transepithelial resistance when compared to control cells. In addition, results of Western immunoblot and immunofluorescent labeling demonstrated decreased expression of TJPs claudin‐1 and junction adhesion molecule‐A (JAM‐A) in Der p 1–exposed cultured sinonasal cells vs controls.

Conclusion

Der p 1 antigen exposure decreases sinonasal epithelium TJP expression, most notably seen in JAM‐A and claudin‐1 in these preliminary experiments. This decreased TJP expression likely contributes to increased epithelial permeability and represents a potential mechanism for transepithelial antigen exposure in allergic rhinitis.
Pretreatment of papermaking‐reconstituted tobacco slice wastewater by coagulation–flocculation
Authors: Wang Yufeng , Chen Kefu , Mo Lihuan , Li Jun
Published: April 2013

A study using coagulation–flocculation method for the treatment of papermaking‐reconstituted tobacco slice wastewater had been carried out. Polyaluminum chloride (PAC) and polyferric sulfate (PFS) as coagulants, and four kinds of polyacrylamides (PAMs) as flocculants, were employed during the coagulation–flocculation process. The effects of three factors, that is, the dosage of coagulants, the dosage of flocculants and pH on the treatment efficiency of the process were evaluated. The results showed that the efficiencies of PAC and PFS on the reduction of COD, ammonia nitrogen (NH3‐N) and total suspended solids (TSS) in the treated effluents were equivalent; however, the efficiency of PAC on the color reduction was much higher than that of PFS. In the presence of PAC, a cationic polyacrylamide with very high molecular weight and low charge density (i.e., PAM4) was found to give the highest coagulation–flocculation efficiency. At the optimal conditions, that is, pH of 6.5, PAC dosage of 500 mg/L, and PAM4 dosage of 5 mg/L, the reductions of COD, NH3‐N, color, and TSS in the process were found to be 70.8, 84.8, 72.3, and 98.5%, respectively. The study also showed that the PAC‐PAM4 scheme can remove the most of aluminum from the raw water. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 1092‐1097, 2013
Mechanical, thermal, and barrier properties of nanocomposites based on poly(butylene succinate)/thermoplastic starch blends containing different types of clay
Authors: Boonprasith Piangruetai , Wootthikanokkhan Jatuphorn , Nimitsiriwat Nonsee
Published: April 2013

Nanocomposites based on blends of poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) and thermoplastic cassava starch (TPS) were prepared using a two‐roll mill and compression molding, respectively. Two different types of clay, namely sodium montmorillonite (CloisiteNa) and the organo‐modified MMT (Cloisite30B) were used. The morphological and mechanical properties of the nanocomposite materials were determined by using XRD technique and a tensile test, respectively. Thermal properties of the composite were also examined by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis and thermal gravimetric techniques. Barrier properties of the nanocomposites were determined using oxygen transmission rate (OTR) and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) tests. From the results, it was found that by adding 5 pph of the clay, the tensile modulus and the thermal properties of the blend containing high TPS (75 wt %) changed significantly. The effects were also dependent on the type of clay used. The use of Cloisite30B led to a nanocomposite with a higher tensile modulus value, whereas the use of CloisiteNa slightly enhanced the thermal stability of the material. OTR and WVTR values of the blend composites containing high PBS ratio (75 wt %) also decreased when compared to those of the neat PBS/TPS blend. XRD patterns of the nanocomposites suggested some intercalation and exfoliation of the clays in the polymer matrix. The above effects are discussed in the light of different interaction between clays and the polymers. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 1114‐1123, 2013
Modeling reaction kinetics of rigid polyurethane foaming process
Authors: Zhao Yusheng , Gordon Michael J. , Tekeei Ali , Hsieh Fu‐Hung , Suppes Galen J.
Published: April 2013

A theoretical model was developed to simulate the polyurethane foaming process for a rigid foam. In the model, multiple ordinary differential equations were solved by MATLAB and the model was able to predict temperature profiles by inputting foam recipe information. This initial study on foam modeling focusses on reaction kinetic parameters that were fitted to experimental temperature data as a function of time. The modeling was able to accurately model temperature profiles of single‐polyol polyurethane formulations and was able to accurately predict temperature profiles of mixtures based on pure component kinetic parameters. A primary goal of this work is to expedite the ability to develop new foam formulations by simulation—especially for incorporation of new bio‐based polyols into formulations. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 1131‐1138, 2013
Separation of CO2 from CH4 by pure PSF and PSF/PVP blend membranes: Effects of type of nonsolvent, solvent, and PVP concentration
Authors: Moradihamedani Pourya , Ibrahim Nor Azowa , Yunus Wan Md Zin Wan , Yusof Nor Azah
Published: April 2013

Complete CO2/CH4 gas separation was aimed in this study. Accordingly, asymmetric neat polysulfone (PSF) and PSF/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) blend membranes were prepared by wet/wet phase inversion technique. The effects of two different variables such as type of external nonsolvent and type of solvent on morphology and gas separation ability of neat PSF membranes were examined. Moreover, the influence of PVP concentration on structure, thermal properties, and gas separation properties of PSF/PVP blend membrane were tested. The SEM results presented the variation in membrane morphology in different membrane preparation conditions. Atomic forced microscopic images displayed that surface roughness parameters increased significantly in higher PVP loading and then gas separation properties of membrane improved. Thermal gravimetric analysis confirms higher thermal stability of membrane in higher PVP loading. Differential scanning calorimetric results prove miscibility and compatibility of PSF and PVP in the blend membrane. The permeation results indicate that, the CO2 permeance through prepared PSF membrane reached the maximum (275 ± 1 GPU) using 1‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone as a solvent and butanol (BuOH) as an external nonsolvent. While, a higher CO2/CH4 selectivity (5.75 ± 0.1) was obtained using N‐N‐dimethyl‐acetamide (DMAc) as a solvent and propanol (PrOH) as an external nonsolvent. The obtained results show that PSF/PVP blend membrane containing 10 wt % of PVP was able to separate CO2 from CH4 completely up to three bar as feed pressure. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 1139‐1147, 2013
Squaraine Dyes for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells: Recent Advances and Future Challenges
Authors: Qin Chuanjiang , Wong Wai‐Yeung , Han Liyuan
Published: April 2013

In the past few years, squaraine dyes have received increasing attention as a sensitizer for application in dye‐sensitized solar cells. This class of dyes not only leaves open a good opportunity to afford conventional high performance dyes but also holds great promise for applications in transparent solar cells due to its low absorption intensity in the eye‐sensitive region. This review provides a summary of the developments on squaraine dyes in the field of dye‐sensitized solar cells and the opportunities used to improve their overall energy conversion efficiency. In particular, the main factors responsible for the low values of open‐circuit voltage, short‐circuit photocurrent and fill factor are discussed in detail. Future directions in research and development of near‐infrared (NIR) organic materials and their applications are proposed from a personal perspective.
Prevention of postsurgical adhesions using an ultrapure alginate-based gel
Authors: Chaturvedi A A , Lomme R M L M , Hendriks T , van Goor H
Published: April 2013

Background

Postoperative adhesion formation is a common consequence of abdominal surgery, and constitutes a major source of morbidity and mortality. This study evaluated an ultrapure alginate-based antiadhesive barrier gel.

Methods

Experiments were performed in a rat model with caecal abrasion and peritoneal side wall excision. The primary endpoint was the incidence of adhesions at 14 days after surgery. In experiment 1 (24 rats), animals treated with alginate gel were compared with controls that had no antiadhesive barrier. In experiment 2 (42 rats), alginate gel was compared with sodium hyaluronate carboxymethyl cellulose (HA/CMC) membrane and with no antiadhesive barrier. To check for any remote action of the gel, in experiment 3 (45 rats) application of alginate gel to the ipsilateral versus contralateral side of injury was compared with no antiadhesive barrier.

Results

In experiment 1, ultrapure alginate gel reduced the incidence of adhesions from eight of 12 in control animals to one in 12 (P = 0·009). Tissue healing assessed by histology was similar in both groups. In experiment 2, ultrapure alginate gel and HA/CMC membrane showed similar antiadhesive effectiveness, reducing the incidence of adhesions from ten of 14 rats in the control group to three of 14 (P = 0·021) and two of 14 (P = 0·006) respectively. In experiment 3, ultrapure alginate gel reduced the incidence of adhesions at the site of direct application (1 of 15) compared with controls (13 of 15; P = 0·001), but not if applied remotely (9 of 15; P = 0·214).

Conclusion

Ultrapure alginate gel decreased the incidence of postoperative adhesion formation in this rat model.
Building Support for Internationalization Through Institutional Assessment and Leadership Engagement
Authors: Bissonette Bonnie , Woodin Shawn
Published: April 2013

This chapter presents a model illustrating the progression of internationalization at community colleges using high‐level indicators for evaluating institutional efforts in charting strategic plans for deeper global engagement.
International Students as a Resource for Achieving Comprehensive Internationalization
Authors: Brennan Michael , Dellow Donald A.
Published: April 2013

This chapter describes how the American higher education system is about to witness unprecedented growth in the number of foreign students studying on U.S. campuses. Presidents and governing board members are challenged to leverage this threshold moment to achieve comprehensive internationalization.
Wallace H. Coulter: Decades of invention and discovery
Authors: Robinson J. Paul
Published: April 2013

Only a few inventors can be said to have made as great an impact on mankind as Wallace Coulter. His inquisitive mind and ability to see well beyond what existed served him well for 40 years of inventing. So many of the fundamental tools that exist today in the area of hematology were derived from or driven by Coulter's inventions that he could be called the most technological innovator in the field of modern hematology. In achieving these discoveries Wallace Coulter was clearly capable of visualizing future opportunities that few others recognized. His vision was combined with an uncanny ability to translate his ideas into products. He developed a large number of tools that shaped the fields of cytometry, image analysis, and industrial materials. His understanding of the future power of computation drove him to link these technologies in a unique way. In the end, Coulter shaped the technologies that ultimately drove hematology in a new direction, one that remains on a critical pathway linking technology innovation all the way to true translational impact. It was said of Henry Ford that “[h]e has no notion that wealth has made him great, and any one who is imprest merely by his wealth bores him. In his personal contacts he likes to dodge the subject. He would prefer to talk with a machinist about machinery, or with somebody who likes birds about birds. In these contacts, he asks no deference; and if he gets it, he suspects it is mere deference to wealth, and that ends his interest.”1 The same could be said of Wallace Coulter, who, like Ford, understood the concepts of mass production and customer service. Coulter had the ability to recognize the opportunity and fulfill the need for development of a blood‐cell counter that could be placed in every pathology laboratory, and in so doing transformed a field from a qualitative to a quantitative environment. Every person who has ever entered a medical lab, hospital, or doctor's office has felt the impact of Coulter's discovery. © 2013 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry
Akt regulates glutamate receptor trafficking and postsynaptic membrane elaboration at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction
Authors: Lee Hyun‐Gwan , Zhao Na , Campion Bridget K. , Nguyen Michelle M. , Selleck Scott B.
Published: April 2013

The Akt family of serine‐threonine kinases integrates a myriad of signals governing cell proliferation, apoptosis, glucose metabolism, and cytoskeletal organization. Akt affects neuronal morphology and function, influencing dendrite growth and the expression of ion channels. Akt is also an integral element of PI3Kinase‐target of rapamycin (TOR)‐Rheb signaling, a pathway that affects synapse assembly in both vertebrates and Drosophila. Our recent findings demonstrated that disruption of this pathway in Drosophila is responsible for a number of neurodevelopmental deficits that may also affect phenotypes associated with tuberous sclerosis complex, a disorder resulting from mutations compromising the TSC1/TSC2 complex, an inhibitor of TOR (Dimitroff et al., 2012). Therefore, we examined the role of Akt in the assembly and physiological function of the Drosophila neuromuscular junction (NMJ), a glutamatergic synapse that displays developmental and activity‐dependent plasticity. The single Drosophila Akt family member, Akt1 selectively altered the postsynaptic targeting of one glutamate receptor subunit, GluRIIA, and was required for the expansion of a specialized postsynaptic membrane compartment, the subsynaptic reticulum (SSR). Several lines of evidence indicated that Akt1 influences SSR assembly by regulation of Gtaxin, a Drosophila t‐SNARE protein (Gorczyca et al., 2007) in a manner independent of the mislocalization of GluRIIA. Our findings show that Akt1 governs two critical elements of synapse development, neurotransmitter receptor localization, and postsynaptic membrane elaboration. © 2013 The Authors. Developmental Neurobiology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 73: 723–743, 2013