bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Purple Nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus) and False-Green Kyllinga (Kyllinga gracillima) Control in Bermudagrass Turf
Authors: Gannon Travis W. , Yelverton Fred H. , Tredway Lane P.
Published: February 2012

Experiments were conducted during 2007 and 2008 to evaluate various herbicide treatment regimes for POST purple nutsedge and false-green kyllinga control. Evaluated herbicides included halosulfuron, sulfentrazone, sulfosulfuron, and trifloxysulfuron. Evaluated treatments did not cause objectionable bermudagrass injury at any time. Results were variable across years, likely due to reduced rainfall in 2007 causing reduced purple nutsedge and false-green kyllinga growth. In 2007, averaged across herbicide rate and number of applications, sulfosulfuron provided greater purple nutsedge control than trifloxysulfuron. Sulfosulfuron and trifloxysulfuron provided similar levels of control in 2008, although both were less effective than in 2007. In 2007, sulfosulfuron and trifloxysulfuron provided excellent (> 90%) false-green kyllinga control, and trifloxysulfuron provided greater control (80%) compared to sulfosulfuron (61%) in 2008. Sulfentrazone provided < 30 and 60% purple nutsedge and false-green kyllinga control, respectively. A sequential application applied 6 wk after initial treatment provided the highest level of purple nutsedge and false-green kyllinga control with evaluated herbicides. Tank-mix partners to enhance purple nutsedge control with sulfentrazone provided inconsistent results. Sulfosulfuron and trifloxysulfuron offer acceptable POST perennial sedge control in tolerant warm-season turfgrasses.
Air-Propelled Abrasive Grit for Postemergence In-Row Weed Control in Field Corn
Authors: Forcella Frank
Published: February 2012

Organic growers need additional tools for weed control. A new technique using abrasive grit propelled by compressed air was tested in field plots. Grit derived from corncobs was directed at seedlings of summer annual weeds growing at the bases of corn plants when the corn was at differing early stages of leaf development. Season-long, in-row weed control exceeded 90% when two or three abrasion events were coupled with between-row cultivation. Timing of weed abrasion was critical, with highest levels of control corresponding to the one- and five-leaf stages or the one-, three-, and five-leaf stages of corn development. Corn yields associated with these treatments were equivalent to those of hand-weeded controls in which no abrasive grit was applied. Thus, air-propelled abrasive grit applications at the one-, three-, and five-leaf stages of corn controlled weeds sufficiently to prevent weed-induced reductions in corn grain. Additionally, these applications were not harmful to corn plants. This new concept for weed control may be of interest to organic crop managers.
Yellow Nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus) Growth and Tuber Production in Response to Increasing Glyphosate Rates and Selected Adjuvants
Authors: Felix Joel , Dauer Joseph T. , Hulting Andrew G. , Mallory-Smith Carol
Published: February 2012

Greenhouse studies were conducted to evaluate the influence of selected adjuvants on glyphosate efficacy on yellow nutsedge and tuber production. Glyphosate was applied at 0, 0.25, 0.43, 0.87, 1.26 (1× rate), and 1.74 kg ae ha−1at 31 d after yellow nutsedge was planted. Each rate was mixed with one of the following adjuvants: ammonium sulfate (AMS), AMS plus nonionic surfactant (NIS), or AMS plus an experimental adjuvant (W-7995) plus NIS. Plants were evaluated for injury and for the number and size of tubers produced. Dose–response curves based on log-logistic models were used to determine the effective glyphosate rate plus adjuvant that provided both 90% effective dose (ED90) for yellow nutsedge injury and reduced tuber production. Addition of NIS to glyphosate plus AMS resulted in the greatest yellow nutsedge injury at 28 d after treatment (DAT). Addition of the experimental adjuvant plus NIS resulted in injury similar to NIS alone. The ED90for injury at 28 DAT was 2.12 kg ha−1with glyphosate plus AMS and NIS compared with 2.18 kg ha−1for W-7995 plus NIS and 3.06 kg ha−1with AMS alone. The ED90rates with different adjuvants represent 168%, 173%, and 243% of the highest glyphosate rate (1.26 kg ha−1) labeled for application on many glyphosate-resistant crops. However, the estimated ED90to reduce small, medium, large, and total tubers were 1.60, 1.50, 1.63, and 1.66 kg ha−1, respectively. Increases in labeled rates of glyphosate may be required to reduce yellow nutsedge tuber production in field conditions. Use of lower glyphosate rates should be discouraged because it may increase tuber production and exacerbate yellow nutsedge expansion in infested fields.
Acetolactate Synthase Inhibitor–Resistant False Cleavers (Galium spurium) in Western Canada
Authors: Beckie Hugh J. , Warwick Suzanne I. , Sauder Connie A. , Kelln Gina M. , Lozinski Chris
Published: February 2012

Cleavers species (false cleavers and catchweed bedstraw) are among the top 10 most abundant weeds across the prairie region of western Canada, and are increasing in relative abundance at the fastest rate since the 1970s. In 2008, two false cleavers populations from Tisdale and Choiceland, Saskatchewan, were suspected of acetolactate synthase (ALS) –inhibitor resistance. Dose-response experiments were conducted with the use of imazethapyr and florasulam, both ALS inhibitors, as well as fluroxypyr, a synthetic auxin. Additionally, a 1,954–base-pair region of theALSgene including sites known to conferALSresistance were sequenced. Both populations were highly resistant to imazethapyr (resistance factors greater than 100), one population (Tisdale) was highly resistant to florasulam (Choiceland population susceptible, although a second, larger screening of 200 individuals indicated low frequency [2%] florasulam resistance), and both populations were susceptible to fluroxypyr. All sequenced Tisdale individuals screened with imazethapyr posessed the Trp574Leu mutation. In contrast, three point mutations were found for Choiceland individuals sequenced: Ser653Asn, Trp574Leu, and Asp376Glu. TheseALStarget-site mutations have not been documented previously in this species.
ACCase-Inhibiting Herbicide-ResistantAvenaspp. Populations from the Western Australian Grain Belt
Authors: Ahmad-Hamdani M. S. , Owen Mechelle J. , Yu Qin , Powles Stephen B.
Published: February 2012

Avenaspp. are world weeds with many cases of evolved herbicide resistance. In Australia,Avenaspp. (wild oat and sterile oat) are a major problem, especially in grain crops. Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase)–inhibiting herbicides have been used extensively since the late 1970s forAvenaspp. control. However, continued reliance on these herbicides has resulted in the evolution of resistantAvenaspp. populations. Resistance across many ACCase-inhibiting herbicides was characterized in fourAvenaspp. populations from the Western Australian grain belt. Dose–response experiments were conducted to determine the level of resistance to the aryloxyphenoxypropionates and cyclohexanediones and to the phenylpyrazoline herbicide pinoxaden. On the basis of resistance index values, all four resistant populations exhibited high-level diclofop resistance but varied in the level of resistance to other ACCase-inhibiting herbicides tested. It is evident thatAvenaspp. populations from the Western Australian grain belt have evolved resistance to a number of ACCase-inhibiting herbicides.
Response of Giant Reed (Arundo donax) to Asulam and Trifloxysulfuron
Authors: Odero Dennis C. , Gilbert Robert A.
Published: February 2012

Giant reed has been proposed as a bioenergy crop in the sugarcane production region of south Florida, where it has a high invasive potential. In an effort to limit future invasion of giant reed escapes in sugarcane, currently labeled sugarcane herbicides asulam and trifloxysulfuron were evaluated for its management. Greenhouse and field dose–response studies were conducted at the Everglades Research and Education Center in Belle Glade, FL, between 2010 and 2011. Herbicides were applied at rates ranging from 0.46 to 7.4 kg ha−1asulam and 2 to 32 g ha−1trifloxysulfuron, which represent 0.125× to 2× sugarcane labeled use rates, respectively. In the greenhouse, asulam and trifloxysulfuron reduced giant reed relative shoot dry weight by a maximum of 50% at 21 d after treatment (DAT). The probability of giant reed resprouting 35 d following herbicide treatment was greater for trifloxysulfuron when compared with asulam. In the field, it was predicted that a maximum of 69 and 55% giant reed control occurred with application of asulam and trifloxysulfuron, respectively, at 14 DAT. Relative shoot dry weight of giant reed treated with asulam and trifloxysulfuron was reduced by a maximum of 43% at 42 DAT. Application of asulam and trifloxysulfuron did not provide complete control of giant reed at twice the labeled sugarcane use rate, indicating that control of established giant reed in sugarcane with currently available herbicides would not be an option.
Value | Theory | Crisis
Authors: Clover Joshua
Published: February 2012

Much recent thought in the humanities has been devoted to understanding the contours and character of the global economic collapse approaching its fifth year (unless it is approaching its fortieth, a matter to which we will return). The interplay of social arrangements and political economy has of late taken on an urgency and inescapability impossible to overstate-not least because within higher education it is humanities programs that are most readily threatened with amputation, if not elimination, and are expected to prostrate themselves before economic rationales in their struggles for survival.
Accounting for Pleasure: Sigmund Freud, Carl Menger, and the Economically Minded Human Being
Authors: Gray Richard T.
Published: February 2012

There is a surprising coherence between the human self-understanding and worldview that underpin the theoretical program of the Austrian marginalist economist Carl Menger (1840–1921), first articulated in his 1871 Grundsätze der Volkswirthschaftslehre (Principles of Economics), and Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic project. Both are grounded in a Hobbesian-Darwinian emphasis on monadic individuals guided by egoistic drives, self-interest, and a competitive struggle for individual advantage (Birken, Consuming Desire 1–39). Both, moreover, are steeped in a kind of Malthusian pessimism that invokes increasing scarcity of resources as the underlying cause of human existential anxiety and as the defining feature of human interactions with the “real” world of commodities (Riesman 3). For the Mengerian marginalist as for the Freudian psychoanalyst, the driving forces behind human life are existential need, the instinct for self-preservation and self-improvement, and the development of successful strategies for managing and satisfying needs.
Capitalism, Fiction, and the Inevitable, (Im)Possible, Maddening Importance of the Gift
Authors: Hoeller Hildegard
Published: February 2012

When the subject is the relation between capitalism and American literature, few novels come more readily to mind than William Dean Howells's 1885The Rise of Silas Lapham.“Published at the height of America's industrial expansion,” writes Wayne Westbrook in a typical assessment, it “pictures an era and personifies a type. The Era is the Gilded Age. The type is the American businessman” (59). But for a novel self-consciously focused on business,The Rise of Silas Laphamis surprisingly interested in the gift. Counter to Howells's famous later assertion that “[a]t present business is the only human solidarity,” the gift turns out to be the sole “chain” uniting Howells's characters against whatever interests, tastes, and principles separate them. Hidden in plain sight, the main plot of the novel delineates the awkward yet ultimately binding relations between the Brahmin Coreys and the rising Lapham family, which come about not because the Laphams “buy their way into society” (Michaels 40) but because they give the Coreys a gift so true and so large that it must be recognized and reciprocated. When the women of both families happen to be staying at a Canadian resort, Mrs. Lapham spontaneously comes to Mrs. Corey's rescue and, as a French doctor later makes uncomfortably explicit, saves Mrs. Corey's life. “A certain intimacy inevitably followed,” Howells writes, as the Coreys are “gratefully recognizant” of the gift and their “singular obligation” to the Laphams (24–25). This gift has received no critical attention even though it engenders the main plot of the novel as the initial “helplessly contracted” (172) obligation leads to further contact between the families, from dinner to business dealings to marriage. None of these consequences are comfortable; indeed, each of them is excruciating and poses one of the text's central questions: how does one reciprocate such an impossibly large gift when one shares no interests or tastes with the people to whom one is now bound by gratitude and debt? Mrs. Lapham's gift to Mrs. Corey not only transforms the Coreys' life forever (in a way, they pay with their son for the mother's life), but it also transforms Howells's novel from a novel about business to a narrative about gifts. This is far from incidental. Howells doubles the Corey-Lapham plot as Silas Lapham, in turn, believes that he owes his life to Jim Millon, who, during the Civil War, took a bullet for Lapham and died. The Laphams equally struggle with their own uncomfortable obligation to the working-class Deweys. While neither the Coreys nor the Laphams can figure out how to respond to impossibly large gifts given to them by people with whom they share nothing else, they do know instinctively that they must do so and reciprocate in one way or another. Howells's novel tells the story of these gifts and their confusing, maddening, and binding obligations. Indeed, Howells's supposed business novel can only spin itself out on these gifts, given and recognized as such.
Finance and Literature in Nineteenth-Century Spanish America
Authors: Rosa Richard
Published: February 2012

In a scene in the novelLos Bandidos de río Frío(the bandits of RíO Frío[1888–91]), by the Mexican writer manuel payno, one of the characters, a businessman named Manuel Escandón, tells his friends that he gained four hundred pesos from being robbed by a group of bandits led by Mariano Evaristo, an artisan turned murderer. Bernardo Couto, a victim of the same robbery, tells Escandón he doesn't believe the claim. Escandón shows him a piece of paper where he has scribbled some numbers and tells him, “In these double entries there is no mistake” (415). Joaquín Pesado, another friend, sides with Escandón and compares the results of double-entry bookkeeping to theological truths.
An Oil Well Named Macondo: Latin American Literature in the Time of Global Capital
Authors: Beckman Ericka
Published: February 2012

For three months in the spring and summer of 2010, almost five million gallons of crude oil gushed uncontrollably from a broken BP well into the Gulf of Mexico, in what is thus far the worst petroleum spill in history. At the moment the spill occurred, the world was still reeling from the largest international financial disaster the world has yet known, one that reverberated from Iceland to the United States to the outer edges of the European Union in Greece and Spain. If the financial crisis was characterized by the sudden disappearance of intangible and invisible financial value, the horrific spectacle of oil-drenched seascapes, birds, fish, and coastlines resulting from the BP spill was a tangible reminder that capitalism had still not been able to emancipate itself from its material body. Even more troubling was the fact that the first several attempts by the multi-billion-dollar company to stanch the broken well were stunning failures: daily news broadcasts brought into public consciousness terms liketop killandkill mud, as hydraulic engineers armed with golf balls and sundry varieties of foam tried to kill the sea monster created by BP.
Beckett after Wittgenstein: The Literature of Exhausted Justification
Authors: Furlani Andre
Published: February 2012

Ludwig Wittgenstein's closely related critiques of language, Cartesian skepticism, inner criteria, and hermeneutics have instructive parallels in the work of Samuel Beckett, whose avowed interest in Wittgenstein's philosophy elucidates, for example, the treatment of expectation inWaiting for Godot, of solipsism inCompany, and of rule following inEndgameandWhat Where.Wittgenstein's insistence that interpretation is not compulsory but remedial, resting on a primitive rule-following competence that permeates our “forms of life” and thus our language, endorses the antimetaphysical dramaturgy Beckett developed while directing stage and screen productions of his own writing. Adapting Wittgenstein's concept of “family resemblance” to an exemplary conjunction of philosophy and literature, this essay proposes that Beckett's works are less aporetic scenarios of deferral and undecidability than meticulous representations of the largely unarticulated convergent behaviors constituting forms of life. As a director, Beckett could draw from Wittgenstein clarifying confirmation of an aesthetic practice that, like thePhilosophical Investigations, begins “where interpretation comes to an end.”
Myth, Morals, and Metafiction in Jonathan Littell'sLes Bienveillantes
Authors: Grethlein Jonas
Published: February 2012

Jonathan Littell'sLes Bienveillantes, the fictional autobiography of an incestuous SS officer, is one of the most controversial novels published in the last decade: it received two prestigious French literary awards but was denounced as kitschy, pornographic, and revisionist. This essay explores the intertext of theOresteia, which makes the book more complex than most critics have acknowledged. The references to Aeschylus permit the narrator to style himself a tragic hero and thereby to trivialize the Nazi crimes. At the same time, the mythical emplotment, together with other intertexts, indicates that Aue's account is a concoction. Far from simply propagating a revisionist ideology,Les Bienveillantescombines much factual information with a high degree of reflexivity, provoking readers to ponder the Shoah and how to do justice to it.
Overview about low-level and high-level decision diagrams for diagnostic modeling of digital systems
Authors: Ubar Raimund
Published: February 2012

BDDs have become the state-of-the-art data structure in VLSI CAD. In this
paper, a special class of BDDs is presented called Structurally Synthesized
BDDs (SSBDD). The idea of SSBDDs is to establish one-to-one mapping between
the nodes of SSBDDs and signal paths in the related digital circuit. Such a
mapping allowed to investigate and solve with SSBDDs a lot of test and
diagnosis related problems of digital circuits, which are associated
explicitly with the structure. Such problems are, for example, direct
representation of faults, fault collapsing and fault masking, delay testing,
hazard detection, etc. The main concept of using SSBDDs is laying on the
topological view on the graphs, where each path on a SSBDD can be mapped
directly to a subcircuit of the related circuit. Such a topological view
allowed to generalize the knowledge and methods of test synthesis and fault
analysis from the Boolean level to higher register-transfer and behavior
levels of digital systems by introducing High-Level DDs (HLDD). The paper
gives a short historical overview of the development of SSBDDs and HLDDs.
Classes of bent functions identified by specific normal forms and generated using Boolean differential equations
Authors: Steinbach Bernd , Posthoff Christian
Published: February 2012

This paper aims at the identification of classes of bent functions in order
to allow their construction without searching or sieving. In order to reach
this aim, we studied first the relationship between bent functions and
complexity classes defined by the Specific Normal Forms of all Boolean
functions. As result of this exploration we found classes of bent functions
which are embedded in different complexity classes defined by the Specific
Normal Form. In the second step to reach our global aim, we utilized the
found classes of bent functions in order to express bent functions in terms
of derivative operations of the Boolean Differential Calculus. In detail, we
studied bent functions of two and four variables. This exploration leads
finally to Boolean differential equations that will allow the direct
calculation of all bent functions of two and four variables. A given
generalization allows to calculate subsets of bent functions for each even
number of Boolean variables.
Rule-based optimization of AND-XOR expressions
Authors: Knysh Danil , Dubrova Elena
Published: February 2012

The problem of finding a minimum AND-XOR expression for a given Boolean
function is known to be very hard. In this paper we investigate whether a
rule-based approach can help minimizing AND-XOR expressions for functions
which are too large to be handled by algorithmic-based approaches. We apply a
simple greedy search based on a set of local transformations to the positive
polarity Reed- Muller expression of Boolean functions. Our experiments on
large functions show surprisingly good results. We achieve 23% reduction in
the number of literals on average. We believe that much better results can be
achieved if a more sophisticated non-greedy search is used. The purpose of
this paper is to motivate more research in this direction.
Unsustaineble pseudo-urban consequences of legal and urban terminology
Authors: Cerimovic Velimir
Published: February 2012

City planning is a complex task and through this work we face the space and
natural resources that expose the exploitation (that are to be exploited and
prone to unsustainable change). Often without environmental responsibility
and the imperative of creating certain measures we make superstructure no
matter how much the environment may be disrupted, and whether such
relationships create a better society, better network of urban settlements
and a better man. At that may also affect our knowledge which is often due to
a variety of doctrines and legislative regulations that are applied in the
planning and management space. From this it can be seen that modern
architecture did not contribute to the creation of better cities. Also, urban
planning is mainly restricted to the regulation and it neglected the creative
action, regional-planning is lost in theoretical research, while the
consideration of the whole problem is abandoned. In addition to this, in
today?s transitional terms and the domineering (dominant) urban crisis
unsustainable combination and identification of the ?2D? and the ?3D?
terminology is recognizable, which is only indicators that in the field of
urban planning some transitional trends are prevailing. This unsustainable
state of affairs in the transitional planning of urban areas can be applied
in the most suitable way to pseudo-urbanization, sub-urbanization, unbalanced
eco-reciprocity, non-standard construction of the urban tissue, discontinuity
inherited and newly constructed urban substance. In this regard, consequently
expressed negative environmental legacy of reproduction and the increased
effect of the negative consequences of greenhouse gases from the threatening
climate change, only shows that urban planners are not sinless and, they more
or less (un)consciously complicit and participate in the contamination of
urban and environment. In the end, it definitely guides us to the need to
leave or transformation of the previous concept of planning and urbanization,
which of us greatly and led to today's threatening effects of greenhouse
gases. On this bases the need to articulate the sustainable integrative
concept can be recognized with a high degree of urban eco-awareness,
knowledge and skills of all professions that participate in the planning and
construction of sustainable eco-urban development built environment.
Expressive features of topographic maps
Authors: Borisov Mirko
Published: February 2012

In the field of official topographic cartography Serbia has a long tradition
which origin dates from Princedom of Serbia. On the territory of Serbia and
former federal state, there have been conducted several surveys in the field,
of which the last one was conducted in the period from 1947 to 1967. Based on
that survey, the entire area of ex state was covered with topographic maps,
but some of them are interested for example at the scale from 1:25 000 up to
1:100 000. That maps are analyzed in this article, specially their
characteristics.
Morfologiceskie osobennosti govora serbov treh poselenij v severnoj Bosnii
Authors: Dragicevic Milan
Published: February 2012

(ruski) V rabote predstavleny vaznye morfologiceskie osobennosti govora
zitelej treh serbskih poselenij v okrestnostjah Derventy (nebol?sogo goroda v
severnoj Bosnii), raspolozennyh po pravomu beregu srednego tecenija reki
Ukriny, v krae, kotoryj takze nazyvaetsja Krnin ili Vakuf. Izlozennye dannye
pokazyvajut, cto v govore zitelej etih poselenij v bol?sinstve slucaev
nabljudajutsja dialektnye osobennosti, kotorye harakterny dlja
severo-zapadnoj gruppy govorov gercegovinsko-krainskogo
(vostocno-gercegovinskogo) dialekta, no v sklonenijah javljajutsja i
nekotorye osobennosti harakterny dlja govorov jugo-vostocnoj gruppy etogo
dialekta.
Low-temperature synthesis of ZrO2-8 mol.% Y2O3 nanopowder with high sinterability
Authors: Karagedov G.R. , Avvakumov E.G.
Published: February 2012

The possibility of low-temperature synthesis of yttrium-stabilized (8 mol.%)
zirconium dioxide nanopowder from a mixture of hydrated zirconium oxynitrate
and yttrium carbonate mechanically activated in a continuous-type mill is
examined. It is demonstrated that the powder formed at as low temperature as
600?C and then subjected to a disaggregation procedure can be easily
compacted by dry pressing and achieves nearly full density on sintering.
Sintering process influence on microstructure and intergranular impedance of rare-earth modified BaTiO3-ceramics
Authors: Mitic V.V. , Paunovic V. , Pavlovic V. , Zivkovic Lj.
Published: February 2012

Sintering process is a complex of different synergetic effects during the
ceramics materials consolidation. The microstructural level properties
control is very important as a stage in advanced materials prognosis. SEM
analysis of Yb/BaTiO3 doped ceramics showed that in samples doped with a low
level of dopant and sintered at higher temperatures the grain size ranged
from 10-60?m, while with the higher dopant concentration the grain size
ranged between 2-15?m. The morphology of sintered BaTiO3-ceramics grains
points out the validity of developing new structure analytical methods based
on different geometries of grains' model systems. The idea of electrical
properties of BaTiO3-ceramics being influenced by intergrain microcontacts
can be successfully followed if we start with the two-sphere Coble?s model
and also the correction of the Coble?s model. In this paper, the grains
contact models based on spherical, ellipsoidal and polyhedral geometries are
presented making a new modeling tool for structure research of
BaTiO3-ceramics materials. Intergranular impedance analysis of grains
clusters was also introduced. Obtained results enabled establishment of
interrelation between structural and electrical parameters.
Silica crown refractory corrosion in glass melting furnaces
Authors: Balandis A. , Nizeviciene D.
Published: February 2012

The critical parameters of silica refractories, such as compressive strength,
bulk, density, quantity of silica, microstructure and porosity were evaluated
of unused and used bricks to line the crowns of glass furnaces, when the rate
of corrosion of crowns were about 2 times greater. The change of these
parameters, the chemical composition and formation of the microcracks in the
used silica refractories material were studied. It was established that the
short time at service of container glass furnace crown can be related to low
quality of silica brick: high quantity of CaO and impurities, low quantity of
silica, low quantity of silica, transferred to tridymite and cristobalite and
formation of 5-10 ?m and more than 100 ?m cracks in the crown material. The
main reason of corrosion high quality silica bricks used to line the crown of
electrovacuum glass furnace is the multiple cyclic change of crown
temperature at 1405 - 1430?C range in the initial zone of crown and at 1575 -
1605?C range in the zone of highest temperatures.
Kinetics of integrated liquid phase sintering of glass-alumina composite: Activated pores evolution
Authors: Yu Cheng-Long , Hao Xin , Jiang Hong-Tao , Wang Li-Li , Wang Xiu-Feng
Published: February 2012

Activated pores in the glass-alumina composite during isothermal sintering at
710?C by colloidal processing were extracted by the threshold conversion of
the micrograph obtained with a field emission scanning microscope. The
relative ratio of the activated pores in the final stage of sintering to that
in the initial stage of sintering was calculated. The kinetics equation of
the evolution of the activated pores during isothermal sintering was
established. The pores evolution confirms the viscous flow of the glass
matrix, indicating the validity of the predominant liquid-phase sintering of
the composite.
Synthesis and characterization of screen-printed CdS films
Authors: Kumar V. , Sharma D.K. , Bansal M.K. , Dwivedi D.K. , Sharma T.P.
Published: February 2012

Cadmium sulphide films having energy band gap of 2.4 eV found applications in
solar cells and electroluminescent devices. CdS polycrystalline films have
been prepared on ultra-clean glass substrate by screen-printing technique and
then sintered in air. Optimum conditions for preparing good quality
screen-printed films have been found. The optical band gaps ?Eg? of the CdS
films were determined from the UV transmission spectroscopy and were found to
be 2.47eV. The Wurtzite structure of CdS films was confirmed by X-ray
diffraction analysis. DC conductivity and activation energy of films was also
measured in vacuum by two-probe technique.
Content and Bibliometric Analysis of Articles Published in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy
Authors: Coronado Rogelio A. , Wurtzel Wendy A. , Simon Corey B. , Riddle Daniel L. , George Steven Z.
Published: February 2012

Study Design

Descriptive bibliometric analysis.

Background

Content and bibliometric studies are useful for describing the publication patterns of a given profession, such as physical therapy, within the medical and allied health fields. However, few studies have conducted these analyses on specialty physical therapy journals.

Objectives

To conduct a content and bibliometric assessment of publications within the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy (JOSPT) and report publication and citation trends over multiple years.

Methods

All available JOSPT manuscripts published from 1980 through 2009 were reviewed. Only research reports, topical reviews, and case reports were included in the current analysis. Articles were coded by 2 independent reviewers based on type, participant characteristics, research design, purpose, clinical condition, and intervention. We obtained additional citation information (eg, authors and institutions) from a subset of articles published from 1992 through 2009 using bibliometric software.

Results

Of the 2233 available JOSPT publications, 1732 (77.6%) met criteria for inclusion. Of these, 1172 (67.7%) were research reports, 351 (20.3%) topical reviews, and 209 (12.1%) case reports. Over the last 30 years there has been a significant increase in the number of articles published and the percentage of research reports, systematic reviews, articles focused on prognosis, and articles including symptomatic participants. Percentage decreases were observed for topical or nonsystematic reviews and articles focused on anatomy/physiology. Top institutions, authors, and cited papers from 1992 through 2009 were identified in the bibliometric analyses.

Conclusion

JOSPT has shown publication trends for increased percentage of experimental and clinically relevant research. However, there may be a need for increased publication of randomized controlled trials and studies focused on diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment, if goals of evidence-based practice are to be met. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2011;41(12):920–931. doi:10.2519/JOSPT.2011.3808
Study On The Prevalence Of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Among Hiv Positive Attending Hiv Clinics In Eastern Nepal
Authors: Yadav DK , Jha N , Pokharel PK , Niraula SR , Bhattacharya SK , Nagesh S
Published: February 2012

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. More than 2 billion people are infected with TB bacilli worldwide. It is a leading public health problem particularly in the developing countries. The HIV epidemic has increased the global tuberculosis burden. TB is the commonest opportunistic infection and leading cause of mortality of People living with HIV (PLHA). Tuberculosis is a major public health problem in Nepal. The objective of the study is to determine prevalence of Pulmonary Tuberculosis among HIV positives attending HIV clinics in Eastern Nepal, and to assess the socio-demographic factors associated with TB and HIV/AIDS. Methodology: Cross-sectional prospective study was carried out among HIV positive attending different VCT and HIV clinics from Sunsari Morang and Jhapa district of Eastern Nepal. Face to face interview was performed and sputum sample were collected using convenience sampling technique. Data was collected from PLHA on related information on Socio-demographic profi le, risk taking behavior with the help of pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Univariate and bivariate analysis were performed using SPSS 15.0. Chi-squire test was performed to establish statistical signifi cance between dependent and independent variables. Results: Out of total 242 PLHA, 75.2% were males and 24.8% females; around half of them (48.8%) were in the age group of (30-39) yrs, 23% in (25-29) yrs, and 15.7% in (20-24) years. Prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis was found to be 27.3% (n=66). PTB was high among IDU’s (48.6%), followed by clients of CSWs (21%), housewife (13.6%), highway truck drivers (10.6%) and CSWs (6%). Conclusion: Prevalence of PTB is very high among PLHA attending VCT & HIV clinics of Eastern Nepal. This study reveals that PTB is signifi cantly associated with increasing age, risk taking behavior and place of residence. There is urgent need of active case fi nding as well as periodic screening among people living with HIV/AIDS of this region to address HIV-associated TB morbidity and mortality. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/saarctb.v8i1.5885 SAARCTB 2011; 8(1): 1-8
Prioritization Of Research Under National Aids Control Programme In India Using Nominal Group Technique
Authors: Sogarwal R , Bachani D
Published: February 2012

Introduction: During the fi rst 2 years of the fi ve year plan of India’s National AIDS Control Programme Phase-III (NACP-III; 2007-12), various interactive consultative workshops were organized in collaboration with development partners with the objective of identifying priority areas for operational research and further development of research protocols adopting mentorship approach. Methodology: This article is an attempt to present the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) which was used to identify a set of fundable and practically feasible research priorities under NACP-III specifi cally focusing on Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission (PPTCT) and Pediatric HIV Care in India. The activity was undertaken with support of UNICEF in the year 2010. A total of 110 persons participated in the consultation clustering into 37, 36 and 37 members in Group A, B and C, respectively. The participants refl ected the mix of policy makers / decision makers (8), programme managers (12), implementers (36), subject experts / researchers (28), other stakeholders (16). Results: A total of nine highest priority research questions were identifi ed by all the groups in the assigned themes. The value of Kendall’s W coeffi cient of concordance was 0.68, which shows signifi cant agreement among raters on priority research questions (chi-square=16.35; p=0.03). Conclusion: Based on our experience, we can conclude that NGT was found to be an important tool for setting research priorities that is more democratic and transparent than the traditional methods. By applying various stages of the group sessions, participants can experience the rethinking process with reference information to enhance their judgment. The results of our experience may help programme managers / policy makers to plan similar and more improved method in other element of NACP as well as other health programmes. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/saarctb.v8i1.5888 SAARCTB 2011; 8(1): 20-30
Treatment Seeking Behaviour For Pulmonary Tuberculosis Among Chest Symptomatics In Bhutan
Authors: Laygoi M
Published: February 2012

Introduction: TB is one of the sixth leading diseases that cause deaths in Bhutan. There were 1344 new cases in 1989 and 1060 cases in 1992. About 910 people develop tuberculosis every year. Observing the increasing trend, this study was conducted in community and in hospitals from January 2006 to June 2007 in Bhutan. The overall objective of this study is to identify the factors infl uencing delays in seeking health care for tuberculosis among TB patients and TB suspects. Methodology: The study was conducted in the community and hospital from January 2006 to June 2007 among 200 TB patients and 200 TB suspects with 5 TB patients and 5 TB suspects in depth focus group interviews with 10 groups of health workers and 10 groups of community people. Two groups of people were taken; one group had active tuberculosis and another group who were TB suspects. Moreover, health worker and community people were also asked about the disease. Two methodologies were used, one was structured questionnaires and another was in-depth and focus group interviews. Results: TB patients’ delay ranged from 0-210 days and median delay was 17.5 days. Patient’s delay in TB suspects ranged from 0 to 365 days with median delay of 14 days. “Covering mouth” while talking, was the most common stigma that came out of the interviews. Conclusion: The study brought out certain important factors like; the increasing trend of disease may be due to the fact that people delay in seeking treatment. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/saarctb.v8i1.5890 SAARCTB 2011; 8(1): 36-40
Drug Susceptibility Profile Of M.Tuberculosis Among Category – Ii Failure Patients Under Rntcp Drug Susceptibility Of M. Tuberculosis
Authors: Jain NK , Avashia S , Bajpai A
Published: February 2012

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate level of drug resistance in Directly Observed Treatment, short course (DOTS) CAT-II failure Pulmonary tuberculosis patients admitted for retreatment according to Indian Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP). Methodology: From January 2006 to December 2008 sputum samples were collected from all patients of DOTS CAT-II failure and transported to laboratory for Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture and drug susceptibility testing (DST). Category II failure pulmonary TB includes those patients who remained sputum positive after 5 months of CAT- II TB treatment. AFB culture was done on Lowan stein Jenson slopes (Solid culture), at Choithram hospital and research center which is RNTCP accredited laboratory. Results: DST results were available for 148 sputum smear positive DOTS CAT-II failure patients. Mean age of the patients were 33.96 years (range 15-65 years), male to female ratio was 1.79:1. Of the 148 patients, 50(33.78%) had Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and 11(7.43%) had extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis XDR-TB. Out of 148 patients, 80(54.05%) had treatment after default and 68(45.94%) had treatment failure. The prevalence of MDR-TB and XDR-TB among category-II failure pulmonary tuberculosis patients was 33.7 and 7.43 per cent. Conclusion: The prevalence of MDR-TB strains was dramatically high among patients with pulmonary tuberculosis who failed category II therapy. Capacity of drug sensitivity testing is essential for continuous monitoring of drug resistance trends, in order to assess the effi cacy of current programme and epidemiological surveillance for planning. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/saarctb.v8i2.5894 SAARCTB 2011; 8(2): 6-10
A Profile Of Patients Registered At Art Centre At Surat Municipal Institute Of Medical Education & Research In Surat City, Gujarat, India
Authors: Modi B , Patel P , Patel S
Published: February 2012

Introduction: An estimated 2.4 million Indians are currently living with HIV. In India, the antiretroviral treatment program started with a free ART treatment in 2003. This study was conducted in order to understand the clinico-epidemiological profi le of patients attending ART centre and the effectiveness of the therapy. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted at an ART center of Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research (SMIMER), in Surat city of Gujarat State. The data of 2357 PLHAs (People Living with HIV/ AIDS) registered at ART centre in one year time duration starting from 21st January 2010 was included in the study. Results: Among the total 2357 subjects, 1483 (63%) were males. In our study 42.3% of patients were between 31 to 40 years of age. Among the employed subjects, 32.9% of patients were laborer. Voluntary Counseling and Testing Centre (VCTC) was most common entry point of patient with 50% followed by private practitioner with 23% and NGOs with 6.2%. Other entry points are self referred, RNTCP etc. Tuberculosis and diarrhoea were the most common opportunistic infections. There was signifi cant improvement in CD4 count, bodyweight and functional status of the subjects after receiving the ART for an average duration of 6 months. Conclusion: The economically productive & sexually active people and those with lesser education are at higher risk of becoming sero-positive. The subjects showed signifi cant improvement after receiving ART with respect to the CD4 count and average body weight. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/saarctb.v8i2.5895 SAARCTB 2011; 8(2): 11-16
Ethical and Policy Concerns pertaining to Rice Landraces in Asia
Authors: Gupta Abhik
Published: February 2012

Domestication of rice (Oryza sativa L.) from the wild species O. rufipogon and O. nivara by Neolithic Asian farmers more than 10,000 years ago represents one of the most important events in human history, as this crop is the major staple food of over one-third of the world’s population, meeting around 20 % of the global calorie intake. The Asian rice, O. sativa, which is grown worldwide, has three major “variety groups” or subspecies: indica varieties of the Indian subcontinent; tropical japonica or javanica varieties very common in southeast Asia and southern China; and temperate japonica varieties predominantly cultivated in northeastern Asia. Furthermore, cultivation and farmer selection over a long period of time have given rise to over 120,000 varieties or farmer’s landraces of rice. These include glutinous and non-glutinous landraces, aromatic landraces; those taking different times to mature; with different levels of tolerance to abiotic stresses like cold, drought, submergence and salinity; and even differing in their resistance to pests and diseases. However, a few hundred “high-yielding” “improved” varieties have largely replaced these traditional landraces, with the latter finding their place of preservation in the rice germplasm banks. While it is true that various genes of the traditional landraces have been incorporated into many modern varieties, questions arise as to the ethical propriety of banishing ‘live’ and ‘flourishing’ life forms that are also integrally linked to the culture of many communities, to a ‘synthetic, and overtly utilitarian existence. The present paper aims to discuss these issues in the light of ethical principles as well as policies pertaining to traditional knowledge and practices.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bioethics.v2i1.9811  Bangladesh Journal of Bioethics 2011; 2(1): 7-12
Responder Feelings in a Three-Player Three-Option Ultimatum Game: Affective Determinants of Rejection Behavior
Authors: Pfister Hans-Rüdiger , Böhm Gisela
Published: February 2012

This paper addresses the role of affect and emotions in shaping the behavior of responders in the ultimatum game. A huge amount of research shows that players do not behave in an economically rational way in the ultimatum game, and emotional mechanisms have been proposed as a possible explanation. In particular, feelings of fairness, anger and envy are likely candidates as affective determinants. We introduce a three-player ultimatum game with three-options, which permits the responder to either penalize the proposer or to penalize a third party by rejecting offers. This allows for partially distinguishing rejections due to a retaliation motive driven by anger towards the proposer from rejections due to inequity aversion driven by feelings of envy towards a third party. Results from two experiments suggest that responders experience feelings of dissatisfaction and unfairness if their share is small in comparison to the proposer’s share; anger, then, may trigger rejections towards the proposer. Responders also experience dissatisfaction and envy when third party shares exceed their own shares; however, in contrast to anger, envy does not trigger rejections and is dissociated from the decision to accept or reject an offer. We conclude that acting upon anger is socially acceptable, whereas envy is not acceptable as a reason for action. Furthermore, we find that responders generally feel better after rejections, suggesting that rejections serve to regulate one’s affective state.
Effect of the Leaving Group and Solvent Combination on the LFER Reaction Constants
Authors: Matić Mirela , Jurić Sandra , Denegri Bernard , Kronja Olga
Published: February 2012

Fine effects that influence the variations of the reaction constants sf in LFER log k = sf(Nf + Ef) have been summarized here. Increasing solvent polarity in the series of binary mixtures increases the solvolysis rates for the same factor for all benzhydryl derivatives in which the solvation of the leaving group moiety in the transition state is substantial, i.e., log k vs. Ef correlation lines are parallel (same sf). For the substrates in which the demand for solvation of the leaving groups moiety is reduced, (e.g., carbonates) sf parameters decrease as the fraction of the water in a given solvent/water mixture increases (log k vs. Ef plots converge), due to decreasing solvation of the electrofuge moiety toward bigger electrofugality. The abscissa of the intersection of the converging plots might indicate the critical electrofugality above which the solvolysis rates should not depend of the water fraction. Larger reaction constant sf indicate later transition state for structurally related substrates only, while sf parameters for structurally different substrates cannot be compared likely due to different intrinsic barriers. Inversion in relative abilities of leaving groups is possible if they have similar reactivities and are characterized with different reaction constants.