bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Social Interaction and Collaboration among Oncology Nurses
Authors: Moore Jane , Prentice Dawn , McQuestion Maurene
Published: May 2015

Collaboration is a complex process influenced by organizational, professional, interpersonal, and personal factors. Research has demonstrated that collaboration may also be influenced by social factors. Nurses spend much of their time working in collaborative teams, yet little is known about how they socially interact in practice. This qualitative case study explored nurse perceptions of social interaction in relation to collaboration. Data were collected using telephone interviews and documentary reviews from fourteen oncology nurses employed at one cancer center in Canada. Thematic analysis revealed two themes:knowing you is trusting youandformal and informal opportunities. Nurses reported that social interaction meant getting to know someone personally as well as professionally. Social interaction was enacted inside of work during breaks/meals and outside of work at planned events. Social interaction was facilitated by having a long-term current and/or previous professional and personal relationship. The barriers to social interaction included a lack of time to get to know each other, workload issues, and poor interpersonal skills. Findings suggest that social interaction is an important factor in the collaborative relationship among oncology nurses. Nurse leaders need to promote social interaction opportunities and facilitate educational sessions to improve social and interpersonal skills.
Development of Estimation Force Feedback Torque Control Algorithm for Driver Steering Feel in Vehicle Steer by Wire System: Hardware in the Loop
Authors: Fahami Sheikh Muhammad Hafiz , Zamzuri Hairi , Mazlan Saiful Amri
Published: May 2015

In conventional steering system, a feedback torque is produced from the contact between tire and road surface and its flows through mechanical column shaft directly to driver. This allows the driver to sense the steering feel during driving. However, in steer by wire (SBW) system, the elimination of the mechanical column shaft requires the system to generate the feedback torque which should produce similar performance with conventional steering system. Therefore, this paper proposes a control algorithm to create the force feedback torque for SBW system. The direct current measurement approach is used to estimate torque at the steering wheel and front axle motor as elements to the feedback torque, while, adding the compensation torque for a realistic feedback torque. The gain scheduling with a linear quadratic regulator controller is used to control the feedback torque and to vary a steering feel gain. To investigate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, a real-time hardware in the loop (HIL) methodology is developed using Matlab XPC target toolbox. The results show that the proposed algorithm is able to generate the feedback torque similar to EPS steering system. Furthermore, the compensation torque is able to improve the steering feel and stabilize the system.
Abnormal Profiles Detection Based on Time Series and Target Item Analysis for Recommender Systems
Authors: Zhou Wei , Wen Junhao , Gao Min , Ren Haijun , Li Peng
Published: May 2015

Collaborative filtering (CF) recommenders are vulnerable to shilling attacks designed to affect predictions because of financial reasons. Previous work related to robustness of recommender systems has focused on detecting profiles. Most approaches focus on profile classification but ignore the group attributes among shilling attack profiles. Attack profiles are injected in a short period in order to push or nuke a specific target item. In this paper, we propose a method for detecting suspicious ratings by constructing a time series. We reorganize all ratings on each item sorted by time series. Each time series is examined and suspected rating segments are checked. Then we use techniques we have studied in previous study to detect shilling attacks in these anomaly rating segments using statistical metrics and target item analysis. We show in experiments that our proposed method can be effective and less time consuming at detecting items under attacks in big datasets.
Extensive Thrombosis of the Inferior Vena Cava and Left Renal Vein in a Neonate
Authors: Kdous Moez , Khlifi Oussema , Brahem Marwene , Khrouf Mohamed , Amari Sarah , Ferchiou Monia , Zhioua Fethi
Published: June 2015

Antenatal renal vein thrombosis is a rarely described diagnostic finding, with variable consequences on kidney function. We present the case of an affected fetus, born at 35-week gestation, with intrauterine oligohydramnios and two small kidneys. A renal ultrasound carried out after birth confirmed the presence of prenatal abnormalities. Renal vein thrombosis was not diagnosed at the time. The baby died 20 days later of kidney failure, metabolic acidosis, and polypnea with severe hypotrophy. Autopsy revealed atrophied kidneys and adrenal glands. The vena cava had thrombosis occupying most of its length. The right renal vein was normal, while the left renal vein was threadlike and not permeable. Histologically, there was necrosis of the left adrenal gland with asymmetrical bilateral renal impairment and signs of ischemic and hemorrhagic lesions. A review of thrombophilia was carried out and a heterozygous mutation in Factor V was found in both the mother and the child.
MD-POR: Multisource and Direct Repair for Network Coding-Based Proof of Retrievability
Authors: Omote Kazumasa , Thao Tran Phuong
Published: June 2015

When data owners publish their data to a cloud storage, data integrity and availability become typical problems because the cloud servers are never trusted. To address these problems, researchers proposed the Proof of Retrievability (POR) protocol which allows a verifier to check and repair the data stored in the cloud servers. Based on the POR protocol, the network coding technique is commonly applied to increase the efficiency in data transmission and data repair. However, most previous schemes neither consider a practical scenario nor use the network coding efficiently. In this paper, a lightweight network coding-based POR scheme, called MD-POR (Multisource and Direct Repair for Proof of Retrievability) is proposed. Unlike previous schemes, the proposed MD-POR scheme allows multiple clients who have different secret keys to participate in the scheme. Moreover, the MD-POR scheme supports the direct repair feature in which a corrupted data can be recovered by the servers without burdening the clients. The MD-POR scheme also supports public authentication feature in which a third party auditor is employed to check the servers, and the client is thus free of the responsibility of periodically checking the servers. Furthermore, the MD-POR scheme is constructed based on a symmetric key setting.
Intuitionistic Fuzzy Kernel Matching Pursuit Based on Particle Swarm Optimization for Target Recognition
Authors: Yu Xiaodong , Lei Yingjie , Yue Shaohua , Meng Feixiang
Published: June 2015

In order to overcome the long training time caused by searching optimal basic functions based on greedy strategy from a redundant basis function dictionary for the intuitionistic fuzzy kernel matching pursuit (IFKMP), the particle swarm optimization algorithm with powerful ability of global search and quick convergence rate is applied to speed up searching optimal basic function data in function dictionary. The approach of intuitionistic fuzzy kernel matching pursuit based on particle swarm optimization algorithm, namely, PS-IFKMP, is proposed. This algorithm is applied to the aerospace target recognition, which requires real-time ability. Simulation results show that, compared with the conventional approaches, the proposed algorithm can decrease training time and improve calculation efficiency obviously with almost unchanged classification accuracy, while the model has better sparsity and generalization. It is also demonstrated that this approach is suitable for the application requiring both accuracy and efficiency.
Evaluation of Idiopathic Choroidal Neovascularization with Indocyanine Green Angiography in Patients Undergoing Bevacizumab Therapy
Authors: Rush Ryan B. , Rush Sloan W.
Published: May 2015

Purpose. To examine the clinical implications of change in choroidal neovascularization (CNV) size on indocyanine green (ICG) angiography in subjects with idiopathic CNV undergoing bevacizumab therapy.Methods. The charts of subjects with an idiopathic CNV treated by a modified PRN regimen with intravitreal bevacizumab over a 12-month period were retrospectively reviewed.Results. There were 34 subjects included in the analysis. Baseline CNV sizes of less than 1.0 mm2on ICG angiography correlated with complete CNV resolution (P=0.0404), fewer injections delivered (P=0.0002), and better Snellen visual acuity (P=0.0098) at 12 months. Subjects that experienced a 33% or more reduction in CNV size on ICG angiography at 2 months had complete CNV resolution (P=0.0047) and fewer injections (P<0.0001) at 12 months compared to subjects that did not experience a 33% or more reduction in CNV size on ICG angiography at 2 months.Conclusions. Smaller baseline CNV size on ICG angiography resulted in better visual acuity and fewer injections at 12 months, and a reduction of 33% or more in CNV size after 2 months may predict a better clinical course in subjects with idiopathic CNV undergoing bevacizumab therapy.
Improvement of Renal Function by Long-Term Sustained Eculizumab Treatment in a Patient with Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria
Authors: Ninomiya Haruhiko , Obara Naoshi , Niiori-Onishi Akiko , Yokoyama Yasuhisa , Sakata-Yanagimoto Mamiko , Hasegawa Yuichi , Chiba Shigeru
Published: June 2015

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the major manifestations of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH). CKD in PNH is induced mainly by intravascular hemolysis of PNH-affected red blood cells (RBC) missing the glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins with complement-regulatory activities, CD55 and CD59. CKD develops by heme absorption in the proximal tubules resulting in the interstitial deposition of iron in the kidneys. We administered eculizumab to a patient with PNH, who was one of 29 patients enrolled in the AEGIS clinical trial, an open-label study of eculizumab in Japan. The patient was complicated by stage 3 CKD with impaired estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), at grade G3b, and had obvious proteinuria (2-3+, 1-2 g/day). In a two-year extension to the 12-week AEGIS study, eGFR improved significantly, and the eGFR has since been maintained at grade G2 without proteinuria by sustained eculizumab treatment (>6 years). Renal function improved and maintained by long-term sustained eculizumab treatment, presumably by clearance of iron from the kidney as well as inhibition of the production of anaphylatoxin C5a, even in advanced stages of CKD, is one of the benefits of eculizumab treatment in PNH.
Oral Calcidiol Is More Effective Than Cholecalciferol Supplementation to Reach Adequate 25(OH)D Levels in Patients with Autoimmune Diseases Chronically Treated with Low Doses of Glucocorticoids: A “Real-Life” Study
Authors: Ortego-Jurado Miguel , Callejas-Rubio José-Luis , Ríos-Fernández Raquel , González-Moreno Juan , González Ramírez Amanda Rocío , González-Gay Miguel A. , Ortego-Centeno Norberto
Published: June 2015

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are the cornerstone of the therapy in many autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. However, it is well known that their use is a double edged sword, as their beneficial effects are associated almost universally with unwanted effects, as, for example glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIO). Over the last years, several clinical practice guidelines emphasize the need of preventing bone mass loss and reduce the incidence of fractures associated with GC use. Calcium and vitamin D supplementation, as adjunctive therapy, are included in all the practice guidelines. However, no standard vitamin D dose has been established. Several studies with postmenopausal women show that maintaining the levels above 30–33 ng/mL help improve the response to bisphosphonates. It is unknown if the response is the same in GIO, but in the clinical practice the levels are maintained at around the same values. In this study we demonstrate that patients with autoimmune diseases, undergoing glucocorticoid therapy, often present suboptimal 25(OH)D levels. Patients with higher body mass index and those receiving higher doses of glucocorticoids are at increased risk of having lower levels of 25(OH)D. In these patients, calcidiol supplementations are more effective than cholecalciferol to reach adequate 25(OH)D levels.
Structure Optimal Design of Electromagnetic Levitation Load Reduction Device for Hydroturbine Generator Set
Authors: Wang Qingyan , Ma Hongzhong , Cao Shengrang , Chen Bingyan
Published: June 2015

Thrust bearing is one part with the highest failure rate in hydroturbine generator set, which is primarily due to heavy axial load. Such heavy load often makes oil film destruction, bearing friction, and even burning. It is necessary to study the load and the reduction method. The dynamic thrust is an important factor to influence the axial load and reduction design of electromagnetic device. Therefore, in the paper, combined with the structure features of vertical turbine, the hydraulic thrust is analyzed accurately. Then, take the turbine model HL-220-LT-550, for instance; the electromagnetic levitation load reduction device is designed, and its mathematical model is built, whose purpose is to minimize excitation loss and total quality under the constraints of installation space, connection layout, and heat dissipation. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is employed to search for the optimum solution; finally, the result is verified by finite element method (FEM), which demonstrates that the optimized structure is more effective.
A Case of Chronic Abdominal Neuropathic Pain and Burning after Female Genital Cutting
Authors: Hadid Vicky , Dahan Michael Haim
Published: June 2015

Introduction. Female genital cutting is prevalent in the Middle Eastern and African countries. This ritual entails not only immediate complications such as infection, pain, and haemorrhage, but also chronic ones including dysmenorrhea and dyspareunia. However, there is limited data on neuropathic pain secondary to female genital mutilation when searching the literature.Case. This case discusses a 38-year-old female with a history of infibulation who presented with a chronic burning abdominal and anterior vulvar pain including the related investigations and treatment.Discussion. This case brings to light the additional delayed complication of this ritual: sensory neuropathy. Our goal is to educate health professionals to be aware of these complications and to appropriately investigate and treat them in order to find a solution to relieve the patients’ symptoms.
Multisensor Serious Game-Based Therapy Environment for Hemiplegic Patients
Authors: Abdur Rahman Md.
Published: June 2015

We present an e-therapy framework that collects live therapeutic context by analyzing body joint data in a noninvasive way. Using our proposed framework, a therapist can model complex gestures by mapping them to a set of primitive gesture sequences and generate high-level serious game-based therapies. As a proof of concept, we have developed scenarios to express a hemiplegic patient's behavior into a set of trackable primitive gestures. We have used Second Life and Map browsing based serious game environment for immersive experience. The initial feedback from the therapists who have tested our developed framework is encouraging. Finally, we share the implementation details and analysis of test results.
A Service-Based Selfish Routing for Mobile Social Networks
Authors: Yu Lingfei , Liu Pengfei
Published: June 2015

Routing in mobile social networks is a challenging task due to the characteristic of intermittent connectivity, especially when the nodes behave selfishly in real world. Selfish behaviors of node always influence its altruism to provide forwarding service for others and degrade network performance strongly. In this paper, to address the selfishness problem in MSNs, we propose a service-based selfish routing protocol, SSR. When making forwarding decision, SSR employ user altruism and the amount of service that the relay nodes provide. User altruism is determined by the social selfishness and the individual selfishness. The services include pairwise services and social services, which is also considered as the incentives to stimulate node to be more cooperative. The more services the node provides, the more chance the node has to be served. The node with higher altruism and fewer services is the preferred relay node. Simulation results show SSR achieves better performance when the user altruism is low and demonstrate the effectiveness of the service-based scheme.
A Network-Based Data Envelope Analysis Model in a Dynamic Balanced Score Card
Authors: Akbarian Mojtaba , Najafi Esmaeil , Tavakkoli-Moghaddam Reza , Hosseinzadeh-Lotfi Farhad
Published: June 2015

Performance assessment during the time and along with strategies is the most important requirements of top managers. To assess the performance, a balanced score card (BSC) along with strategic goals and a data envelopment analysis (DEA) are used as powerful qualitative and quantitative tools, respectively. By integrating these two models, their strengths are used and their weaknesses are removed. In this paper, an integrated framework of the BSC and DEA models is proposed for measuring the efficiency during the time and along with strategies based on the time delay of the lag key performance indicators (KPIs) of the BSC model. The causal relationships during the time among perspectives of the BSC model are drawn as dynamic BSC at first. Then, after identifying the network-DEA structure, a new objective function for measuring the efficiency of nine subsidiary refineries of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) during the time and along with strategies is developed.
Myocarditis and Rhabdomyolysis in a Healthy Young Man Caused by Salmonella Gastroenteritis
Authors: Al Shamkhani Warkaa , Ajaz Yasmeen , Saeed Jafar Nagham , Roy Narayanan Sunil
Published: June 2015

Salmonella gastroenteritis is a common, self-limiting, foodborne disease and a rare cause of life-threatening complications especially in immunocompetent individuals. Moreover, bacterial infections of the GI tract have been rarely reported as a cause of serious complications like acute myocarditis and rhabdomyolysis. While viral infections are commonly associated with myocarditis, bacterial infections are infrequently seen with these conditions. Similarly, bacterial infections may lead to only 5% of adult rhabdomyolysis events whereas viral-induced myositis appears to be the commonest. A 28-year-old young male with no past medical problems presented with acute salmonella gastroenteritis that was complicated by myocardial injury (most likely myocarditis), rhabdomyolysis, acute renal failure, and shock. He made an uneventful complete recovery of all complications by early recognition of these rare complications and prompt institution of appropriate therapy.
On Antiperiodic Nonlocal Three-Point Boundary Value Problems for Nonlinear Fractional Differential Equations
Authors: Ahmad Bashir , Losada Jorge , Nieto Juan J.
Published: June 2015

We introduce boundary value conditions involving antiperiodic and nonlocal three-point boundary conditions. We solve a nonlinear fractional differential equation supplemented with those conditions. We obtain some existence results for the given problem by applying some standard tools of fixed point theory. These results are well illustrated with the aid of examples.
Tumor-Targeted Synergistic Blockade of MAPK and PI3K from a Layer-by-Layer Nanoparticle
Authors: Dreaden Erik C. , Kong Yi Wen , Morton Stephen W. , Correa Santiago , Choi Ki Young , Shopsowitz Kevin E. , Renggli Kasper , Drapkin Ronny , Yaffe Michael B. , Hammond Paula T.
Published: June 2015

Purpose: Cross-talk and feedback between the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT/mTOR cell signaling pathways is critical for tumor initiation, maintenance, and adaptive resistance to targeted therapy in a variety of solid tumors. Combined blockade of these pathways—horizontal blockade—is a promising therapeutic strategy; however, compounded dose-limiting toxicity of free small molecule inhibitor combinations is a significant barrier to its clinical application.

Experimental Design: AZD6244 (selumetinib), an allosteric inhibitor of Mek1/2, and PX-866, a covalent inhibitor of PI3K, were co-encapsulated in a tumor-targeting nanoscale drug formulation—layer-by-layer (LbL) nanoparticles. Structure, size, and surface charge of the nanoscale formulations were characterized, in addition to in vitro cell entry, synergistic cell killing, and combined signal blockade. In vivo tumor targeting and therapy was investigated in breast tumor xenograft–bearing NCR nude mice by live animal fluorescence/bioluminescence imaging, Western blotting, serum cytokine analysis, and immunohistochemistry.

Results: Combined MAPK and PI3K axis blockade from the nanoscale formulations (160 ± 20 nm, −40 ± 1 mV) was synergistically toxic toward triple-negative breast (MDA-MB-231) and RAS-mutant lung tumor cells (KP7B) in vitro, effects that were further enhanced upon encapsulation. In vivo, systemically administered LbL nanoparticles preferentially targeted subcutaneous MDA-MB-231 tumor xenografts, simultaneously blocked tumor-specific phosphorylation of the terminal kinases Erk and Akt, and elicited significant disease stabilization in the absence of dose-limiting hepatotoxic effects observed from the free drug combination. Mice receiving untargeted, but dual drug–loaded nanoparticles exhibited progressive disease.

Conclusions: Tumor-targeting nanoscale drug formulations could provide a more safe and effective means to synergistically block MAPK and PI3K in the clinic. Clin Cancer Res; 21(19); 4410–9. ©2015 AACR.
Sym004: Truly a New Level of Anti-EGFR Treatment?
Authors: Stintzing Sebastian , Heinemann Volker
Published: June 2015

Summary: Sym004 is a new antibody mixture to target EGFR in metastatic colorectal cancer. Preclinical data suggest efficacy in anti–EGFR-resistant tumors, but it remains unclear whether a higher toxicity is outweighed by those advantages. Cancer Discov; 5(6); 578–80. ©2015 AACR.

See related article by Dienstmann and colleagues, p. 598.
The Global Burden of Obesity and the Challenges of Prevention
Authors: Seidell Jacob C. , Halberstadt Jutka
Published: June 2015

The prevalence of obesity is increasing at an alarming rate in many parts of the world. About 2 billion people are overweight and one third of them obese. The plight of the most affected populations, like those in high-income countries in North America, Australasia and Europe, has been well publicized. However, the more recent increases in population obesity in low- and middle-income countries that are now increasingly being observed have been less recognized. Based on the existing prevalence and trend data and the epidemiological evidence linking obesity with a range of physical and psychosocial health conditions, it is reasonable to describe obesity as a public health crisis that severely impairs the health and quality of life of people and adds considerably to national health-care budgets. Intersectoral action to manage and prevent obesity is urgently required to reverse current trends.
Electrogram Analysis and Pacing Are Complimentary for Recognition of Abnormal Conduction and Far-Field Potentials During Substrate Mapping of Infarct-Related Ventricular Tachycardia
Authors: Baldinger Samuel H. , Nagashima Koichi , Kumar Saurabh , Barbhaiya Chirag R. , Choi Eue-Keun , Epstein Laurence M. , Michaud Gregory F. , John Roy , Tedrow Usha B. , Stevenson William G.
Published: June 2015

Background—

Mapping to identify scar-related ventricular tachycardia re-entry circuits during sinus rhythm focuses on sites with abnormal electrograms or pace-mapping findings of QRS morphology and long stimulus to QRS intervals. We hypothesized that (1) these methods do not necessarily identify the same sites and (2) some electrograms are far-field potentials that can be recognized by pacing.

Methods and Results—

From 12 patients with coronary disease and recurrent ventricular tachycardia undergoing catheter ablation, we retrospectively analyzed electrograms and pacing at 546 separate low bipolar voltage (<1.5 mV) sites. Electrograms were characterized as showing evidence of slow conduction if late potentials (56%) or fractionated potentials (76%) were present. Neither was present at (13%) sites. Pacing from the ablation catheter captured 70% of all electrograms. Higher bipolar voltage and fractionation were independent predictors for pace capture. There was a linear correlation between the stimulus to QRS duration during pacing and the lateness of a capturing electrogram (
P
<0.001), but electrogram and pacing markers of slow conduction were discordant at 40% of sites. Sites with far-field potentials, defined as those that remained visible and not captured by pacing stimuli, were identified at 48% of all pacing sites, especially in areas of low bipolar voltage and late potentials. Initial radiofrequency energy application rendered 74% of targeted sites electrically unexcitable.

Conclusions—

Far-field potentials are common in scar areas. Combining analysis of electrogram characteristics and assessment of pace capture may refine identification of substrate targets for radiofrequency ablation.
Evidence for assessment disappears in mixed-sex contests of the crayfish, Orconectes virilis
Authors: Wofford Sarah J. , Earley Ryan L. , Moore Paul A.
Published: June 2015

During agonistic interactions, decisions about contest persistence can be informed by assessment of one’s own energy or time expenditure (self-assessment), one’s own expenditure combined with opponent inflicted costs (cumulative assessment), or through information exchange with an opponent (mutual assessment). Females and males can be expected to exhibit different strategies for contest resolution due to contrasting energetic requirements and resource valuation. We examined the assessment strategies crayfish employ during same-sex and mixed-sex fights. Two individuals interacted for 15 min, and fight duration and times spent at various intensity levels were quantified. Results indicated that both sexes employ a self-assessment strategy during same-sex fights. Evidence for assessment during mixed-sex fights was notably weaker, suggesting the resolution of mixed-sex fights involves different behavioural elements and/or sources of information. In species where mixed-sex fights are common year-round, the lack of common rules can lead to greater energy expenditure for both sexes.
Variation in echolocation calls of Hipposideros amiger during habituation to a novel, captive environment
Authors: Chen Y. , Liu Q. , Shao Y.G. , Tan L.J. , Xiang Z.F. , Zhang L.B.
Published: June 2015

Animals alter their behaviour during habituation to novel environments. Echolocating bats exhibit remarkable flexibility in their acoustic signals to sense diverse microhabitats. Previous studies have described intra-individual variation in echolocation calls of bats in different environments, but few studies have systematically quantified these changes in detail. We investigated variation in echolocation call structure of the great leaf-nosed bat,Hipposideros armigerduring habituation to a novel, captive environment. Echolocation calls of free-ranging bats were recorded in the natural habitat and in captivity over a three-week period. We found that bats exhibited significant changes in some call parameters following introduction to the novel captive environment, and some parameters changed continuously over time. We observed plasticity in peak frequency, pulse duration and pulse rate during the captive period. This suggests that variation in echolocation calls of bats in response to a novel captive environment is a progressive process, during which bats adjust echolocation call structure to habituate gradually to their surroundings.
Scots law’s debt to Leiden
Authors: Hope of Craighead Lord
Published: June 2015

The fact that Scotland, while still part of the United Kingdom, has its own legal system is not an accident. Nor is it just a product of its geography. Had it been so, the system would surely have had shallow roots. It would long ago have been completely absorbed into the legal system of its much bigger southern neighbour. As it is, Scots law was able to retain its own distinct institutions and identity in 1707 when the Union with England was entered into. This is because by then it had developed its own coherent system of law. It was a system with a sound jurisprudential base, and it could stand on its own feet. That Scotland was able to achieve this was in no small measure due to the inspiration that students from Scotland found when they travelled to Holland in search of education in the civil law the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The links that they established with the university at Leiden and some of its celebrated jurists during this period were particularly strong and productive. They helped to lay the foundation for the legal system that Scotland could assert as its own. This paper seeks to trace the history of this relationship, and to identify the extent to which its influence can still be found in Scots law as it exists today.
Ulpian’s appeal to nature: Roman law as universal law
Authors: Brouwer René
Published: June 2015

In this paper I argue that against the political and perhaps even religiously motivated background of the Constitutio Antoniniana, in order to further enhance the appeal of Roman law, Ulpian seeks to connect law and nature by using Stoic terminology. However, his usage of this terminology is radically distinct from the perfectionist Stoic approach.
Condicio supervacua and related conditions  in Roman law
Authors: Kleňová Veronika , Takáč Zdenko
Published: June 2015

The article deals with the conditions that did not have the legal effect of a ‘proper condition’. The authors distinguish these conditions from a ‘proper condition’ pointing out that the distinguishing feature is an ‘uncertainty’ carried by the condition. Firstly, the authors focus their attention on the condicio supervacua – the term is explicitly used only by Pomponius in the case of legacies. It did not have the effect of a ‘proper condition’, because the uncertainty expressed by the condition already resulted from the legal norm itself. It was an explicitly expressed condicio iuris pursuant to the modern definitions of the term. The authors analyze and compare various cases that seemingly deal with condiciones iuris too. The analysis makes it clear that they were regarded as supervacuae, unless the testator changed the legal situation in some way through their expression. He had to insert some new uncertainty that did not result from the legal norm itself. The other kind of condition that the article deals with is condicio institutionis/substitutionis expressly re-applied to a legatum. This condition is different from condicio supervacua, because in this case the new uncertainty was added by the testator himself. Despite some doubts, the legal opinion which prevailed in Roman law was that such a condition did not have the effect of a ‘proper condition’ in relation to a legacy. The reason is that even if the testator re-applied the condition of institution also to a legacy, he extended only the uncertainty of aditio hereditatis and did not insert any new uncertainty into the legacy itself.
D. 3,5,8 und die Regel ‘ratihabitio mandato comparatur’
Authors: Isola Lisa
Published: June 2015

D. 3,5,8 and the rule ‘ratihabitio mandato comparatur’. ‒ The rule ‘ratihabitio mandato comparatur’ is deduced from various texts (see D. 46,3,12,4; D. 43,16,1,14; D. 50,17,152,2). In D. 3,5,8 Scaevola appears to disagree when he says that ratihabitio of an improperly conducted business does not lead to a mandate but to negotiorum gestio. In order to explain this it has been suggested that the rule only dealt with the effects of ratihabitio vis-à-vis third parties and did not concern the relationship between principal and agent. If this were the case, one would have to explain why Ulpian in D. 50,17,60 explicitly mentions an actio mandati for that situation. Most scholars, therefore, assume an interpolation of D. 50,17,60, but it is equally possible that Ulpian’s decision can be attributed to its original context or that the law changed between Scaevola and Ulpian.
Subsiciva Byzantina
Authors: Schminck Andreas
Published: June 2015

I Zur ‘constitutio’ Βασιλικῆς – The Greek translation ‘Βασιλικῆς’ of the Latin constitutio Imperatoriam introducing Justinian’s Institutiones was not written in the 6th century but in the eighties of the 9th century. The translator could have been the grammarian Theognostos. 

II Συμβόλαιον – The importance of the term συμβόλαιον in the proem and title 13 of the Eisagoge of 886 is not due to a scholion of the 6th century but to patriarch Photios’ definition of the word in compiling the Eisagoge. 

III Καινοτομία – The term ‘kainotomia’ (originally ‘opening of new mines’ and then, metaphorically, ‘innovation’) had no particular juristic meaning in the 6th century, whereas from the end of the 9th century almost all Byzantine law books contained a specific title about ‘kainotomiai’. The author suggests that the patriarch Photios, when composing the proem of the Eisagoge and mentioning there the ‘sinful kainotomiai’, thought of the theological meaning of the term, namely ‘heresy’. His collaborator however, probably Stylianos Zaoutzes, did not fulfil Photios’ ideas in compiling a list of heresies, but created a new extremely vague juristic term stemming from the ‘opus novum’ in the Corpus iuris civilis. This sheds light on the codification process in the last year of the emperor Basil I († August 28th, 886): When Photios wrote the preface to the Eisagoge in 885 or 886, its text was not yet finished; otherwise such a ‘misunderstanding’ would be unexplainable.
An elegant legal education
Authors: Baston Karen G. , Cairns John W.
Published: June 2015

This article considers the influence of legal education based on the Dutch tradition of legal humanism on a Scottish student of the late seventeenth-century. An annotated textbook retained by Charles Binning contains notes from his studies with the Utrecht professor Cornelis van Eck and provides evidence for Van Eck’s teaching practices. Their education abroad equipped Scottish legal students for the professional, intellectual and cultural lives they would lead when they returned home. Exposure to the ideas contained in the books they studied and their relationships with the Continental learned gave Scottish scholars admission into the international Republic of Letters. This had significance for the development of the Scottish Enlightenment.
The Usefulness of State Trade Missions for the Internationalization of Firms: An Econometric Analysis
Authors: Teixeira Aurora A.C. , Caiado André , Africano Ana Paula
Published: June 2015

Empirical studies are scarce on the usefulness of state trade missions as a way to promote the internationalization of firms. The results of applying an econometric model — involving 136 participations in twelve state trade missions that occurred between 2005 and 2008 — indicate that a company’s size, foreign capital, export intensity, innovation intensity and experience in the market visited are relevant variables in an assessment of the results of state trade missions. Investment in the simple organization of trade state missions is not enough. It is necessary to select the most competent companies and to add more structured programmes to the organization of a mission in order to create and improve firms’ competences.
Exploring the Relationship between Interlocking Directorates and Fundraising Capacity
Authors: Yan Kegao , Luo Oulin
Published: June 2015

In China, most university education foundations seek to increase fundraising capacity through the strategy of interlocking directorates, establishing a resource-sharing platform with alumni associations. Supported by resource-dependence theory and social network theory, based on data from a sample of 88 foundations, this study tests the effectiveness of the strategy of interlocking directorates. The result of the study shows that the secretary-general intensity has a significant negative influence on fundraising capacity, while the board-chairperson intensity and the interlocking range have no significant influence on fundraising capacity. Under the existing management system, university education foundations can get beyond the predicament of the ineffective strategy of interlocking directorates by further standardizing their systems and procedures for appointing directors, giving greater impetus to the transformation of individual capital into social capital, and promoting professional and specialized operations.
Collaboration for Rights of the Shidu and Its Interaction Mechanisms
Authors: Dong Yang , Chen Xiaoxu
Published: June 2015

As the by-product of the one-child policy, the shidu have become a growing segment of the population. Their inherent characteristics, as well as their social relationships and means of interacting with the external environment, are issues that deserve our attention. Through compiling a virtual ethnology of the social media platform “Home of the Shidu”, as well as describing interactive processes such as the shidu individuals’ integration into and commiseration with the group, the collaborative defense of their rights, fragmentation within the community, and renewed legal defense efforts, the author analyzes the characteristics and mechanisms of the shidu and attempts to better understand the realities of their existence and demands.
Relative Property
Authors: Ben-Ur Aviva
Published: June 2015

Most historians of slavery in the Americas treat masters of color who owned their own kin as an oddity, a scribal error, or as a topic to evade. Most others conclude that ruthlessly capitalistic owners reserved such behavior for slaves unrelated to them, and owned their own kin as slaves in name only, with the intention of providing protection and eventual manumission. This article considers several cases of close-kin ownership, particularly in Suriname, and explores the role of coercive economy in families emerging from enslavement, arguing that the capitalistic values of slaveholding pervaded families approaching freedom, often informing both their economic behavior and their interpersonal relations.
Paradoxes of Hegemonic Discourse in Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan: History Textbooks’ and History Teachers’ Attitudes toward the Soviet Past
Authors: Umetbaeva Damira
Published: June 2015

This article analyzes the creation of hegemonic discourse in a post-transformation society by examining representations of Soviet socialism in post-Soviet history textbooks and in the discursive practices of history teachers in Kyrgyzstan. While the textbooks attempt to fix a new hegemonic discourse about Soviet socialism, they also contain contradictory discourses. History teachers, in turn, have appropriated the discourse of the Kyrgyz nation-state and its modernization, adapting it to their own experiences. Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan has become a new type of state, where hegemonic discourse on both the official level and in the discursive practices of its citizens is ambivalent and outright contradictory.
The “Good” and “The Good Life”: Confucius and Christ
Authors: Jeffrey David Lyle
Published: June 2015

The Golden Rule is the ethical point most frequently compared in Jesus and Confucius;1 in each case, what is recommended is preconsideration of one’s own actions toward other people in the light of an imaginative projection of how it would be if the roles were reversed. The formulations in both look substantively identical.2 Yet the positive formulation of Jesus and the negative formulation of Confucius actually shape the substance and import of the precept in distinctive ways. Moreover, there may be a deeper level at which, while they are certainly not contradictory, these two formulations are expressions of an important register of ontological difference. Engaged thoughtfully, they nonetheless afford to ethical modeling an opportunity for “harmony in diversity,” complementarity rather than mere equivalence. I argue here that the two traditions can be mutually enhancing, each through knowledge of and sympathy for the other.
Shining Ideal and Uncertain Reality: Commentaries on the “Golden Rule” in Confucianism and Other Traditions
Authors: Plaks Andrew H.
Published: June 2015

This paper considers a number of problematic issues underlying the seemingly unassailable truth of moral philosophy expressed in the “Golden Rule” in a variety of cultural spheres. These issues include the place of this teaching within its given religious or philosophical context, the defense of this principle as an inviolable tenet of revealed dogma or as a piece of utilitarian advice for the regulation of social life, the manner in which the precise rhetorical structure of a given formulation reflects the specific intellectual underpinnings of its cultural milieu, claims of universal validity as a statement of moral truth for all men and all time or as a culture-specific value understood to apply exclusively within a particular religious community, and modes of commentarial expansion by scriptural exegetes and textual scholiasts seeking to ground this teaching within the logic of philosophical or theological discourse. After outlining several points of uncertainty that emerge in the context of transferring the ideal of human empathy to the messy reality of concrete existence, we then turn to a number of attempts by leading commentators in the Confucian, rabbinic, and other scholastic traditions to grapple with these contradictions and to reconcile them within the framework of their respective value systems.
Under Western Eyes: Critical Reflections on the Confucius Revival
Authors: Wolin Richard
Published: June 2015

The economic opening up of China has paved the way for a renaissance of thought and scholarship, and Confucianism, while still not considered the “national religion,” has regained its place as the heart of Chinese humanities and academic debate. It has even transcended the academic arena and has become a social phenomenon. But to what extent is this resurgence a natural response to a changing society, the response of a populace that is possibly growing averse to looking toward the West for answers, and to what extent is it politically driven? When put in its proper historical and cultural context, we can see that this revival of Confucian thought and of Confucius as a national idol is very much a tool wielded by the government to promote its own goals, namely, to foster a stronger sense of national identity, unity, and obedience under the name of harmony. Now that China’s modernization has become a fact, many questions remain regarding how its government and its society will reconcile modernization and Westernization with its rich Confucian heritage. This paper aims to elucidate some of these questions.
Three new species of Eugenia (Myrtaceae) from Brazilian Amazonia
Authors: Souza Maria-Anália Duarte , Scudeller Veridiana Vizoni , De Mendonça Maria-Sílvia
Published: June 2015

Three new species of Eugenia occurring in Brazilian Amazonian rainforest are described and illustrated: Eugenia kerianthera, Eugenia caducipetala and Eugenia marleneae. Eugenia kerianthera is related to Eugenia yasuniana, from which it is distinguished by its deltoid bracts and setaceous bracteoles, persistent and widely deltoid sepals, and oblong to obovate petals.  Eugenia caducipetala is similar to Eugenia exaltata but is differentiated by leaves with flat margins and midvein convex adaxially.  Eugenia marleneae is similar to Eugenia gomesiana and Eugenia trinervia, being distinguished from the first by its orbicular bracteoles and from the second by its fasciculate inflorescences. Phenological data, geographical distributions and further comparisons with morphologically similar species are provided.
Bryum campylopodioides Müll. Hal., a new species for Southwest Asia
Authors: Shirzadian S. , Akhoondi Darzikolaei S. , Spence J. R.
Published: June 2015

Bryum campylopodioides Müll. Hal., previously known only from the type locality in China, is here reported new to Southwest Asia, based on a specimen from West Azerbaijan Province (NW Iran). The species is illustrated and its taxonomic placement discussed.
Comparison of NLDAS-2 Simulated and NASMD Observed Daily Soil Moisture. Part II: Impact of Soil Texture Classification and Vegetation Type Mismatches
Authors: Xia Youlong , Ek Michael B. , Wu Yihua , Ford Trent , Quiring Steven M.
Published: June 2015

In this second part of a two-part paper, the impacts of soil texture and vegetation type misclassification and their combined effect on soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and total runoff simulation are investigated using the Noah model. The results show that these impacts are significant for most regions and soil layers, although they vary depending on soil texture classification, vegetation type, and season. The use of site-observed soil texture classification and vegetation type in the model does not necessarily improve anomaly correlations and reduce mean absolute error for soil moisture simulations. Instead, results are mixed when examining all regions and soil layers. This is attributed to the compensation effects (e.g., effect of ill-calibrated model parameters), as Noah has been more or less calibrated with model-specified soil texture classification and vegetation type. The site-based analysis shows that Noah can reasonably simulate the variation of daily evapotranspiration, soil moisture, and total runoff when soil texture classification (vegetation type) is corrected from loam (forest) to clay (grasslands) or vice versa. This suggests that the performance of Noah can be further improved by tuning model parameters when site-observed soil texture and vegetation type are used.