bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Current practice of aneurysm management in the UK
Authors: Cross J , Richards T
Published: January 2014

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this study is to establish the current practice of aneurysm management, to assess the introduction of fenestrated endovascular aneurysm repair (FEVAR) and to establish the criteria for its use and its role in the UK.

METHODS

All UK centres performing FEVAR and centres with an established interest in infra-renal endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) were invited to respond to an open-ended questionnaire about abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) management.

RESULTS

A response was obtained from over 90% of UK FEVAR centres. Results showed marked regional differences in aneurysm management, in particular with regard to indications for complex aneurysm management.

CONCLUSION

The trend in the UK is towards endovascular repair. However, there are still variations in unit policies, indicating regional differences in patient management.
Arthroscopic capsular release for idiopathic frozen shoulder with intra-articular injection and a controlled manipulation
Authors: Smith CD , Hamer P , Bunker TD
Published: January 2014

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this prospective study was to assess the immediate and long-term effectiveness of arthroscopic capsular release in a large cohort of patients with a precise and isolated diagnosis of stage II idiopathic frozen shoulder.

METHODS

All patients underwent a preoperative evaluation. Patients with secondary frozen shoulder and those with concurrent pathology at arthroscopy were excluded. This left 136 patients with a stage II arthroscopically confirmed idiopathic frozen shoulder. At each postoperative attendance, a record was made of pain, function and range of motion. At 12 months, the Oxford shoulder score was calculated, and pain and range of motion were assessed.

RESULTS

Fifty per cent achieved good pain relief within a week and eighty per cent within six weeks of arthroscopic capsular release. The mean preoperative visual analogue scale pain score was 6.6 and the mean postoperative score was 1.0. The mean time to achieving good pain relief was 16 days following surgery. No patient could sleep through the night prior to surgery while 90% reported having a complete night’s sleep at a mean of 12 days after surgery. The mean postoperative Oxford shoulder score was 38/48 and the mean improvement was 19.2.

CONCLUSIONS

This large series demonstrates that arthroscopic capsular release is a safe procedure, with rapid improvement in pain and a marked improvement in range of motion.
Superficial venous insufficiency from the infernal to the endothermal
Authors: Carradice D
Published: January 2014

This review presents the common diseases associated with superficial venous insufficiency of the leg. These include varicose veins, swelling, skin damage and ulceration. The benefits and rationale behind treatment are discussed, followed by the historical advances from ancient mortality and prayer to the modern endovenous revolution. Finally, an overview of modern treatment options will discuss the evidence supporting the gold standard of endothermal ablation and the cost effectiveness of treatment at this time of challenging resource limitation.
Small bowel intussusception in adults
Authors: Potts J , Al Samaraee A , El-Hakeem A
Published: January 2014

Intussusception is the telescoping of a proximal segment of the gastrointestinal tract into an adjacent distal segment. This rare form of bowel obstruction occurs infrequently in adults. We report a case of small bowel intussusception in an adult male patient. We have also performed a literature review of this rare condition.
Role of preoperative carbohydrate loading: a systematic review
Authors: Bilku DK , Dennison AR , Hall TC , Metcalfe MS , Garcea G
Published: January 2014

INTRODUCTION

Surgical stress in the presence of fasting worsens the catabolic state, causes insulin resistance and may delay recovery. Carbohydrate rich drinks given preoperatively may ameliorate these deleterious effects. A systematic review was undertaken to analyse the effect of preoperative carbohydrate loading on insulin resistance, gastric emptying, gastric acidity, patient wellbeing, immunity and nutrition following surgery.

METHODS

All studies identified through PubMed until September 2011 were included. References were cross-checked to ensure capture of cited pertinent articles.

RESULTS

Overall, 17 randomised controlled trials with a total of 1,445 patients who met the inclusion criteria were identified. Preoperative carbohydrate drinks significantly improved insulin resistance and indices of patient comfort following surgery, especially hunger, thirst, malaise, anxiety and nausea. No definite conclusions could be made regarding preservation of muscle mass. Following ingestion of carbohydrate drinks, no adverse events such as apparent or proven aspiration during or after surgery were reported.

CONCLUSIONS

Administration of oral carbohydrate drinks before surgery is probably safe and may have a positive influence on a wide range of perioperative markers of clinical outcome. Further studies are required to determine its cost effectiveness.
“Something That Has Already Happened”: Recapitulation and Religious Indifference in The Plot Against America
Authors: Douglas Christopher
Published: January 2014

Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America recapitulates the history of mid-twentieth-century American race relations, and the novel’s repudiation of these assimilationist events makes it the most multicultural of his novels. But in raising the specter of one model of Jewish difference (racial) only to replace it with another (cultural), Roth is blind to the animating model (religious) of the contemporary period’s conservative Christian resurgence. Widely read as being a critical response to that resurgence, the novel’s evacuation of religious meaning suggests how poorly prepared Roth was to tackle the religious energy that overtook the nation during his long career.
“Just a Creature of His Own Making”: Metafiction, Identification, and Gender in Going after Cacciato
Authors: Womack Anne-Marie
Published: January 2014

In Tim O’Brien’s Going after Cacciato , the main character Paul Berlin fantasizes a young Vietnamese refugee named Sarkin Aung Wan. Berlin conjures Wan from generic conventions from the western, the romance, the war story, and most originally in O’Brien scholarship, contemporary depictions of the National Liberation Front’s female peace negotiator Nguyen Thi Binh. This essay suggests that by drawing attention to Wan as a product of Berlin’s imagination, the novel produces a metafictional construction of authorship and an imaginative construction of cross-gender identification that distance the novel from gender ideologies traditionally associated with war fiction.
Reassessing the Two-Culture Debate: Popular Science in Ian McEwan’s The Child in Time and Enduring Love
Authors: Horton Emily
Published: January 2014

This article explores Ian McEwan’s negotiation of the “two-culture” debate between literature and science in The Child in Time (1987) and Enduring Love (1997). My claim is that these novels update this debate by introducing ideas put forward in the field of contemporary popular science, while also placing popular science in conversation with literary postmodernism. In particular, I consider the degree of cultural authority his novels grant to science within the contemporary, recognizing both the priority given to scientific values as a basis for social knowledge and also their constructedness and therefore susceptibility to political appropriation.
Jewishness in the Colonies of Leonard Woolf’s Village in the Jungle
Authors: Ho Janice
Published: January 2014

This essay traces how discourses of Jewishness circulating in the imperial metropole during the early twentieth century are translated into colonial settings in Leonard Woolf’s Village in the Jungle , a translation visible in Woolf’s representations of colonial sexual alterity and in his critique of colonial power. The intersections of semitic and colonial discourses in Woolf’s novel bring together structures of domestic discrimination and foreign domination; the text thus offers us a transnational framework of interpretation that highlights the necessity of reading histories of oppression in tandem rather than in isolation.
Mary, Full of Corruption: Disease in Richard Wright’s A Father’s Law
Authors: Arant Alison
Published: January 2014

The language of disease suffuses Richard Wright’s A Father’s Law , functioning as a metaphor for systemic corruption. However, for Marie Wiggins, the novel’s Virgin Mary figure, Wright’s metaphoric disease becomes literal. Marie suffers from congenital syphilis, which she inherited from her father. In rendering disease as patrilineal, Wright seems to criticize corrupt municipal and spiritual fathers. However, finally Wright puts the onus on the Marian figure to maintain familial and social bonds. Thus, what looks like female veneration actually serves as scapegoating: in taking on the role of the sacred, Marie also takes on the role of ultimate sin.
Isherwood’s Impersonality: Ascetic Self-Divestiture and Queer Relationality in A Single Man
Authors: Gonzalez Octavio R.
Published: January 2014

This article develops the concept of “misfit minorities,” drawing on the Christopher Isherwood archive, and focusing on Isherwood’s seminal novel, A Single Man , and his autobiographical revision of the Berlin years, Christopher and His Kind . The essay argues that Isherwood’s Single Man and his American, post-1960s literary persona as a staunch advocate for gay liberation needs to be revisited, given the novel’s ambivalence toward the politics of identity, and given Isherwood’s aesthetic distrust of the instrumentalization of literature as propaganda. Rather, we ought to reconsider Isherwood and his legacy as consistently suspicious of identity. Rather than deprecating his earlier works (such as the Berlin Stories ) as closeted gay fictions, we should read them as queer literary texts, rendering Isherwood not only a standard-bearer for gay liberation, but a complex queer thinker, who develops a “misfit” literary aesthetic of ascetic impersonality and queer relationality, before the ascendance of gay publics and politics in our own era, after Stonewall.
Sleight of Hand: Michigan’s Anti-Bullying Law, (Un)acceptable Exceptions, and the Reversal of Policy Making Rhetoric
Authors: Lythgoe Kenneth
Published: January 2014

This article analyzes the rhetoric of the policy-making discourse surrounding Matt’s Safe School Law, a Michigan anti-bullying law made famous by a Republican amendment exempting expressions of religious/moral belief from legal censure. I argue against the popular narrative that the exemption’s ultimate removal represented a progressive/LGBTQ victory. The religious/morality exemption constituted a conservative appropriation of an otherwise progressive policy commitment: the enumeration of protected classes of students. This appropriation invited progressives to deploy otherwise conservative anti-enumeration arguments, baiting them into embracing an unenumerated version of Matt’s Law that they previously deemed unacceptable. I close by contemplating what this rhetorical sleight of hand means for queer critiques of LGBTQ-oriented policy, highlighting the violence of policy making that targets LGBTQ people without explicitly naming them.
Queer Worldmaking in the “It Gets Better” Campaign
Authors: West Isaac , Frischherz Michaela , Panther Allison , Brophy Richard
Published: January 2014

The close reading of user-generated videos associated with the “It Gets Better” campaign allows us the opportunity to identify repeated themes across the contributions. Taking the seemingly vacuous phrase “It Gets Better” as our prompt, we employ textual evidence from the videos to tease out the varied meanings of these three words. In the process, we challenge critics who read “It Gets Better” as a monolithic project trafficking in normalizing dictates with narrow visions of the good life. To the contrary, we find a textual public advocating a host of queer worldmaking activities.
From Anti-Bullying Laws and Gay Marriages to Queer Worlds and Just Futures
Authors: Quinn Therese , Meiners Erica R.
Published: January 2014

Recent attention to youth suicides and violence framed as “bullying” has triggered a range of responses by schools and the state. In this article we locate and analyze the “gay wins” most noted in education, including the recent moves to establish gay-inclusive anti-bullying laws and policies, within a larger social justice framework to map contradictions. In particular, we question the efficacy of anti-bullying laws and ask how this initiative can mask the sources of punishing heteronormativity in schools and communities and potentially distract educators and others from identifying and addressing structural conditions that foster interpersonal forms of violence. We close by suggesting how and why a “queer” vision pushes those invested in LGBT lives to move beyond “equality” (or assimilation) as a goal for social justice struggles.
LGBTQ Kids, School Safety, and Missing the Big Picture: How the Dominant Bullying Discourse Prevents School Professionals from Thinking about Systemic Marginalization or . . . Why We Need to Rethink LGBTQ Bullying
Authors: Payne Elizabethe , Smith Melissa
Published: January 2014

Dominant understanding of LGBTQ students’ school experiences has been shaped by discourses that reduce “the problem” to bullies who express homophobic attitudes by targeting LGBTQ peers. In turn, interventions typically focus on eliminating bullying behaviors and providing protection for victims. Within this framework, cultural privileging of heterosexuality and gender normativity goes unquestioned, LGBTQ marginalization is reproduced and re-entrenched in new ways, and schools avoid responsibility for complicity in LGBTQ harassment. This paper explores educators’ stories of LGBTQ harassment and how dominant bullying discourses are shaping educators’ understandings of the needs of LGBTQ students. We propose a new definition of bullying to create a more useful framework for understanding the social nature of peer-to-peer aggression and designing interventions to address the cultural roots of this aggression. Finally, we take the position that a majority of peer-to-peer aggression in U.S. public schools is some form of gender policing , and we believe bullying must be redefined to account for relationships between peer targeting and structural inequalities.
Notes on a Sociology of Bullying: Young Men’s Homophobia as Gender Socialization
Authors: Pascoe C. J.
Published: January 2014

Popular and academic discourses frame bullying as something that one, often high-status, homophobic kid directs at another, often lower status, GLB young person, frequently with devastating results. This article unpacks current popular and academic discourses of bullying. In doing so it highlights the important role these aggressive interactions play in boys’ gender socialization. Using a case study of homophobic bullying among teenage boys in adolescence this article suggests that studying homophobic bullying is less important as an individual pathology and more salient as a form of gender socialization and a mechanism by which gender inequality is reproduced. An inequality focused frame for bullying would privilege examining interactions, rather than individual qualities of bullies and victims; would investigate the various relationships in which these aggressive interactions take place, such as friendships rather than presuming a peer power imbalance; and flesh out a new vocabulary of bullying such that it is understood as a social problem that is not unique to young people, but reflects larger structural inequalities.
The Identification and Differentiation of Secondary Colorectal Cancer in Human Liver Tissue Using X-ray Fluorescence, Coherent Scatter Spectroscopy, and Multivariate Analysis
Authors: Darvish-Molla Sahar , Al-Ebraheem Alia , Farquharson Michael J.
Published: January 2014

Secondary colorectal liver cancer is the most widespread malignancy in patients with colorectal cancer. The aim of this study is to identify and differentiate between normal liver tissue and malignant secondary colorectal liver cancer tissue using X-ray scattering and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to investigate the best combination of data that can be used to enable classification of these two tissue types. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and coherent scatter data were collected for 24 normal and 24 tumor matched pair tissue samples. The levels of 12 elements (P, S, K, Ca, Cr, Fe, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Br, and Rb) were measured in all samples. When comparisons were made between normal and tumor tissues, statistically significant differences were determined for K ( p = 0.046), Ca ( p = 0.040), Cr ( p = 0.011), Fe, Cu, Zn, Br, and Rb ( p < 0.01). However, for P, S, As, and Se, no statistically significant differences were found ( p > 0.05). For the coherent scatter spectra collected, three peaks due to adipose, fibrous content, and water content of tissue were observed. The amplitude, full width half-maximum, and area under both fibrous content and water content peaks were found to be significantly higher in secondary colorectal liver tumors compared with surrounding normal liver tissue ( p < 0.05). However, no significant differences were found for the adipose peak parameters ( p > 0.05). Soft independent modeling of class analogy was performed using the XRF, coherent scatter, and elemental ratio data separately, and the accuracy of the classification of 20 unknown samples was found to be 50, 30, and 80%, respectively. Further analysis has shown that using a combination of the XRF and coherent scatter data in a single combined model gave improved normal and tumor liver tissue classification, with an accuracy that was found to be 85%.
Analysis of Arc Emission Spectra of Stainless Steel Electric Arc Furnace Slag Affected by Fluctuating Arc Voltage
Authors: Aula Matti , Mäkinen Ari , Fabritius Timo
Published: January 2014

Control of chromium oxidation in the electric arc furnace (EAF) is a significant problem in stainless steel production due to variations of the chemical compositions in the EAF charge. One potential method to control chromium oxidation is to analyze the emission spectrum of the electric arc in order to find indicators of rising chromium content in slag. The purpose of this study was to determine if slag composition can be gained by utilizing electric arc emission spectra in the laboratory environment, despite electric arc voltage fluctuations and varying slag composition. The purpose of inducing voltage fluctuation was to simulate changes in the industrial EAF process. The slag samples were obtained from Outokumpu Stainless Oy Tornio Works, and three different arc currents were used. The correlation analysis showed that the emission spectra offer numerous peak ratios with high correlations to the X-ray fluorescence-measured slag CrO x/FeO x and MnO/SiO2 ratios. These ratios are useful in determining if the reduction agents have been depleted in the EAF. The results suggest that analysis of laboratory-scale electric arc emission spectra is suitable for indicating the high CrO x or MnO content of the slag despite the arc fluctuations. Reliable analysis of other slag components was not successful.
Combining Cryogenic Fiber Optic Probes with Commercial Spectrofluorimeters for the Synchronous Fluorescence Shpol'skii Spectroscopy of High Molecular Weight Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Authors: Moore Anthony F. T. , Barbosa Fernando , Campiglia Andres D.
Published: January 2014

Cryogenic fiber optic probes are combined for the first time with a commercial spectrofluorometer for Shpol'skii spectroscopy measurements at liquid nitrogen (77 K) and liquid helium (4.2 K) temperatures. Accurate and reproducible acquisition of fluorescence spectra and signal intensities is demonstrated with three well known Shpol'skii systems, namely, anthracene/heptane, pyrene/hexane, and benzo[a]pyrene/octane. The ability to adjust the excitation and emission bandpass of the spectrofluorimeter to reach both site-resolution and analytically valuable signal-to-noise ratios was illustrated with benzo[a]pyrene in n-octane. The analytical potential of 4.2 K synchronous fluorescence Shpol'skii spectroscopy for the analysis of high molecular weight–polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was then explored for the first time. The judicious optimization of wavelength offsets permitted the successful determination of dibenzo[ a,l]pyrene, dibenzo[ a,e]pyrene, dibenzo[ a,h]pyrene, dibenzo[ a,i]pyrene, and naphtho[2,3- a]pyrene without previous chromatographic separation from a soil extract with complex matrix composition. The simplicity of the experimental procedure, the competitive analytical figures of merit, and the selectivity of analysis turn 4.2 K synchronous fluorescence Shpol'skii spectroscopy into a valuable alternative for screening isomers of high molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental samples.
Design of a Simple Cryogenic System for Ultraviolet–Visible Absorption Spectroscopy with a Back-Reflectance Fiber Optic Probe
Authors: Vinyard Andrew , Hansen Kaj A. , Byrd Ross , Stuart Douglas A. , Hansen John E.
Published: January 2014

We report a convenient and inexpensive technique for the rapid acquisition of absorption spectra from small samples at cryogenic temperatures using a home built cryostat with novel collection optics. A cylindrical copper block was constructed with a coaxial bore to hold a 4.00 mm diameter electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) tube and mounted on a copper feed in thermal contact with liquid nitrogen. A 6.35 mm diameter hole was bored into the side of the cylinder so a fiber optic cable bundle could be positioned orthogonally to the EPR tube. The light passing through the sample is reflected off of the opposing surfaces of the EPR tube and surrounding copper, back through the sample. The emergent light is then collected using the fiber optic bundle and analyzed using a dispersive spectrometer. Absorption spectra for KMnO4 were measured between 400 and 700 nm. Absorption intensity at 506, 525, 545, and 567 nm was found to be proportional to concentration, displaying Beer's law–like behavior. The EPR tube had an internal diameter of 3.2 mm; the double pass of the probe beam through the sample affords a central path length of about 6.4 mm. Comparing these measurements with those recorded on a conventional tabletop spectrometer using a cuvette with a 10.00 mm path length, we consistently found a ratio between intensities of 0.58 rather than the anticipated 0.64. These 6% smaller values we attribute to the curvature of the EPR tube and transmission/reflection losses. This system is particularly well-suited to studying the kinetics and dynamics of chemical reactions at cryogenic temperatures. The rapid response (100 ms) and multiplex advantage provided the opportunity of recording simultaneous time courses at several wavelengths following initiation of a chemical reaction with a pulsed laser source.
Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectromicroscopy to Identify Cell Organelles: Correlation with Fluorescence Staining in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells
Authors: Clède Sylvain , Policar Clotilde , Sandt Christophe
Published: January 2014

Biomolecules display specific vibrational signatures in the infrared (IR) range, and organelles that concentrate these biomolecules can be identified by these IR signatures. Subcellular identification and location of cell organelles using IR signatures is attractive as it does not require the use of any specific trackers and is thus noninvasive and non-destructive. We show here that endogenous IR absorptions are relevant to detecting and imaging the nucleus, the cytoplasm, and the Golgi apparatus/endoplasmic reticulum in MCF-7 breast cancer cells, and we compare these results with our previous work on the HeLa cell line. We correlate maps of fixed and dried cells obtained by synchrotron radiation Fourier transform infrared (SR FT-IR) spectromicroscopy with epifluorescence images using fluorescent trackers for Golgi apparatus and nucleus, namely BODIPY TR C5-ceramide complexed to BSA and DAPI, respectively. Interestingly, the ratios of the IR bands CH2: CH3 (both asymmetric and symmetric) and CO(ester):amide I were shown to be reliable gauges of the lipidic character of a cellular compartment, the –CH2 and the CO(ester) absorptions increasing with the presence of inner membranes like in the Golgi apparatus.
Microchannel-Based Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Integrated Microfluidic Analysis
Authors: Lai Chun-Hong , Chen Li , Chen Gang , Xu Yi , Wang Chun-Yan
Published: January 2014

We have demonstrated a microchannel-based, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) sensing approach for integrated microfluidic analysis developed using standard micro-fabrication technology. Our approach allows high-sensitivity SERS sensing with a comparatively low-excitation optical power intensity and large cross-sectional microchannel for biological cell analysis. Utilizing a microchannel with a cross section of 100 × 70 μm2, we achieved a detection limit smaller than 10 nM for rhodamine 6G at an excitation power intensity of 132 W/cm2, avoiding any possible heating effects on the sample under investigation. There is great potential for further improvement in the sensitivity of this microchannel-based SERS detection.
Pressure Effects in Laser-Induced Plasmas of Trinitrotoluene and Pyrene by Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)
Authors: Delgado Tomás , Vadillo José M. , Laserna J. Javier
Published: January 2014

The influence of the ambient atmosphere on the dynamics of plasma expansion, besides the interaction between excited plasma and gas molecules, has been studied for specific organic aromatic compounds. To analyze the influence of air on the formation pathways of atomic and molecular species inside the plasma plume, the spectral emissions in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and pyrene were compared at different pressure environments, from high vacuum to atmospheric pressure. Pelletized samples of the compounds were introduced in a vacuum chamber for excitation with the fourth harmonic output of an Nd:YAG laser (266 nm). The optical emission signal was collected with an optical fiber connected to a spectrograph fitted with a intensified charge-coupled device detector. Results from LIBS spectra indicate that changes in pressure level affect the kinetics of the characteristic excited species and their spatial distribution inside the plasma plume.
Concentration-Based Measurement Studies of L-Tryptophan Using Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy (THz-TDS)
Authors: Özer Zeynep , Gök Seher , Altan Hakan , Severcan Feride
Published: January 2014

L-Tryptophan is an extremely important amino acid for a variety of biological functions in living organisms. In this study we were able to measure changes in the concentration of L-tryptophan when incorporated into pellets with polyethylene as a host. The changes were measured both through the characteristic absorption bands of the C11 and C12 bonds in the low terahertz frequency range and using changes in the refractive index where pellets with higher concentrations of L-tryptophan showed higher refractive indices. The volumetric concentration of L-tryptophan in the polyethylene pellet was accurately determined with a simple model that explains the contribution to the complex refractive index for the resultant sample due to the two constituent materials. These measurements show that terahertz time-domain techniques can be applied to detect variation in concentration of certain amino acids rapidly by examining the relative phase delay and amplitude change of the terahertz transients.
Infrared and Raman Imaging for Characterizing Complex Biological Materials: A Comparative Morpho-Spectroscopic Study of Colon Tissue
Authors: Nallala Jayakrupakar , Piot Olivier , Diebold Marie-Danièle , Gobinet Cyril , Bouché Olivier , Manfait Michel , Sockalingum Ganesh D.
Published: January 2014

Complementary diagnostic methods to conventional histopathology are currently being investigated for developing rapid and objective molecular-level understanding of various disorders, especially cancers. Spectral histopathology using vibrational spectroscopic imaging has been put in the frontline as potentially promising in this regard as it provides a “spectral fingerprint” of the biochemical composition of cells and tissues. In order to ascertain the feasible conditions of vibrational spectroscopic methods for tissue-imaging analysis, vibrational multimodal imaging (infrared transmission, infrared-attenuated total reflection, and Raman imaging) of the same colon tissue has been implemented. The spectral images acquired were subjected to multivariate clustering analysis in order to identify on a molecular level the constituent histological organization of the colon tissue such as the epithelium, connective tissue, etc., by comparing the cluster images with the histological reference images. Based on this study, a comparative analysis of important factors involved in the vibrational multimodal imaging approaches such as image resolution, time constraints, their advantages and limitations, and their applicability to biological tissues has been carried out. Out of the three different vibrational imaging modalities tested, infrared-attenuated total reflection mode of imaging appears to provide a good compromise between the tissue histology and the time constraints in achieving similar image contrast to that of Raman imaging at an approximately 33-fold faster measurement time. The present study demonstrates the advantages, the limitations of the important parameters involved in vibrational multimodal imaging approaches, and their potential application toward imaging of biological tissues.
Raman Spectroscopic Investigation of Thorium Dioxide–Uranium Dioxide (ThO2–UO2) Fuel Materials
Authors: Rao Rekha , Bhagat R.K. , Salke Nilesh P. , Kumar Arun
Published: January 2014

Raman spectroscopic investigations were carried out on proposed nuclear fuel thorium dioxide–uranium dioxide (ThO2–UO2) solid solutions and simulated fuels based on ThO2–UO2. Raman spectra of ThO2–UO2 solid solutions exhibited two-mode behavior in the entire composition range. Variations in mode frequencies and relative intensities of Raman modes enabled estimation of composition, defects, and oxygen stoichiometry in these compounds that are essential for their application. The present study shows that Raman spectroscopy is a simple, promising analytical tool for nondestructive characterization of this important class of nuclear fuel materials.
An Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR FT-IR) Spectroscopic Study of Gas Adsorption on Colloidal Stearate-Capped ZnO Catalyst Substrate
Authors: Silverwood Ian P. , Keyworth Colin W. , Brown Neil J. , Shaffer Milo S.P. , Williams Charlotte K. , Hellgardt Klaus , Kelsall Geoff H. , Kazarian Sergei G.
Published: January 2014

Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR FT-IR) spectroscopy has been applied in situ to study gas adsorption on a colloidal stearate-capped zinc oxide (ZnO) surface. Infrared spectra of a colloidal stearate-capped ZnO catalyst substrate were assigned at room temperature using zinc stearate as a reference compound. Heating was shown to create a monodentate species that allowed conformational change to occur, leading to altered binding geometry of the stearate ligands upon cooling. CO2 and H2 adsorption measurements demonstrated that the ligand shell was permeable and did not cover the entire surface, allowing adsorption and reaction with at least some portion of the ZnO surface. It has been demonstrated that stearate ligands did not prevent the usual chemisorption processes involved in catalytic reactions on a model ZnO catalyst system, yet the ligand-support system is dynamic under representative reaction conditions.
In Situ Monitoring of Thermal Crystallization of Ultrathin Tris(8-Hydroxyquinoline) Aluminum Films Using Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering
Authors: Muraki Naoki
Published: January 2014

Thermal crystallization of 3, 10, and 60 nm-thick tris(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminum (Alq3) films is studied using surface-enhanced Raman scattering with a constant heating rate. An abrupt higher frequency shift of the quinoline-stretching mode is found to be an indication of a phase transition of Alq3 molecules from amorphous to crystalline. While the 60 nm-thick film shows the same crystallization temperature as a bulk sample, the thinner films were found to have a lower crystallization temperature and slower rate of crystallization. Non-isothermal kinetics analysis is performed to quantify kinetic properties such as the Avrami exponent constants and crystallization rates of ultrathin Alq3 films.
Phase-Sensitive Detection in Modulation Excitation Spectroscopy Applied to Potential Induced Electron Transfer in Cytochrome c Oxidase
Authors: Schwaighofer Andreas , Ferguson-Miller Shelagh , Naumann Renate L.C. , Knoll Wolfgang , Nowak Christoph
Published: January 2014

Cytochrome c oxidase (C cO) from Rhodobacter sphaeroides was investigated by modulated excitation surface-enhanced infrared-absorption spectroscopy (SEIRAS). Sequential electron transfer (ET) within C cO was initiated by electrochemical excitation. During modulated excitation by periodic potential pulses with frequencies between 20 and 500 Hz, time-resolved infrared spectra were measured by the step-scan technique, with time resolution in the millisecond range. Conformational changes of the protein structure as a result of ET lead to rather complex SEIRA spectra with many overlapping bands embedded in a broad background signal. Phase-sensitive detection (PSD) was used to separate single components within the broad band of overlapping structural bands in the amide I region. PSD is able to extract the periodic response of single components with the same frequency as the excitation from noise or from static background and therefore enhances the signal-to-noise ratio. Moreover, PSD enables validation of the fit model used for the deconvolution of overlapping bands by analyzing phase lags of single components acquired at different stimulation frequencies. Phase lags between the evaluated vibrational components and the modulated excitation increase with increasing excitation frequencies, an inherent prerequisite of this evaluation method.
Solution and Solid Trinitrotoluene (TNT) Photochemistry: Persistence of TNT-like Ultraviolet (UV) Resonance Raman Bands
Authors: Gares Katie L. , Bykov Sergei V. , Godugu Bhaskar , Asher Sanford A.
Published: January 2014

We examined the 229 nm deep-ultraviolet resonance Raman (DUVRR) spectra of solution and solid-state trinitrotoluene (TNT) and its solution and solid-state photochemistry. Although TNT photodegrades with a solution quantum yield of φ ∼ 0.015, the initial photoproducts show DUVRR spectra extraordinarily similar to pure TNT, due to the similar photoproduct enhancement of the –NO2 stretching vibrations. This results in TNT-like DUVRR spectra even after complete TNT photolysis. These ultraviolet resonance Raman spectral bands enable DUVRR of trace as well as DUVRR standoff TNT detection. We determined the structure of various initial TNT photoproducts by using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry. Similar TNT DUVRR spectra and photoproducts are observed in the solution and solid states.
Spectroscopic Investigation of Direct Current (DC) Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation of Zirconium in Citric Acid
Authors: Stojadinović Stevan , Radić-Perić Jelena , Vasilić Rastko , Perić Miljenko
Published: January 2014

Plasma electrolytic oxidation of zirconium in citric acid was investigated using optical spectroscopy. A rich emission spectrum consisting of about 360 zirconium and 170 oxygen atomic and ionic lines was identified in the spectral regions 313–320, 340–516, and 626–640 nm. It was shown that the remaining features observed in the spectrum could be ascribed to various molecular species, which involve zirconium, oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon. The temperature of the plasma core ( T = 7500 ± 1000 K) was determined using measured Zr line intensities, and the temperature of peripheral plasma zone ( T = 2800 ± 500 K) was estimated from the intensity distribution within a part of an OH spectrum. The composition of the plasma containing zirconium, oxygen, and hydrogen, under assumption of local thermal equilibrium, was calculated in the temperature range up to 12 000 K and for pressure of 105 and 107 Pa, in order to explain the appearance of the observed spectral features.
High-Throughput Operando Raman–Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer (QMS) System to Screen Catalytic Systems
Authors: García-Casado Manuel , Prieto José , Vico-Ruiz Emilio , Lozano-Diz Enrique , Goberna-Selma Consuelo , Bañares Miguel A.
Published: January 2014

This paper describes the design and setup of a high-throughput Raman system for an array of eight parallel catalytic reactors during reaction conditions. The “operando” methodology combines in situ spectroscopy during catalytic reaction with a simultaneous activity measurement. The high-throughput operando Raman system, multi-operando, is a device that automates this operando methodology for several catalyst samples at the same time, all samples being in the same reaction conditions. We describe how the system is made, how Raman system positions and acquires spectra, and how each reactor outlet gas is selected and analyzed.
Mid-Infrared Diffuse Reflection on Ultrafast Time Scales
Authors: Brauns Eric B.
Published: January 2014

This paper describes an instrument capable of studying diffuse reflection of mid-infrared (mid-IR) photons on ultrafast time scales. Femtosecond mid-IR pulses are generated by difference frequency mixing the output of an optical parametric amplifier that is pumped using a regeneratively amplified Ti:Sapphire laser. Time resolution is achieved by up-converting the diffusely reflected photons with pulses from the Ti:Sapphire oscillator. Experiments were performed on a series of powdered KBr samples containing varying amounts of carbon black. The results suggest that diffusely reflected mid-IR photons fall into two distinct categories. A small fraction of the photons travel relatively long effective path lengths (1.3–2.3 mm), while the majority traverse a much shorter distance (0.2–0.05 mm).
Thoracic and duodenopancreatic neuroendocrine tumors in multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1: natural history and function of menin in tumorigenesis
Authors: Pieterman C R C , Conemans E B , Dreijerink K M A , de Laat J M , Timmers H Th M , Vriens M R , Valk G D
Published: January 2014

Mutations of the multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) gene lead to loss of function of its protein product menin. In keeping with its tumor suppressor function in endocrine tissues, the majority of the MEN1-related neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) show loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on chromosome 11q13. In sporadic NETs,MEN1mutations and LOH are also reported, indicating common pathways in tumor development. Prevalence of thymic NETs (thNETs) and pulmonary carcinoids in MEN1 patients is 2–8%. Pulmonary carcinoids may be underreported and research on natural history is limited, but disease-related mortality is low. thNETs have a high mortality rate. Duodenopancreatic NETs (dpNETs) are multiple, almost universally found at pathology, and associated with precursor lesions. Gastrinomas are usually located in the duodenal submucosa while other dpNETs are predominantly pancreatic. dpNETs are an important determinant of MEN1-related survival, with an estimated 10-year survival of 75%. Survival differs between subtypes and apart from tumor size there are no known prognostic factors. Natural history of nonfunctioning pancreatic NETs needs to be redefined because of increased detection of small tumors. MEN1-related gastrinomas seem to behave similar to their sporadic counterparts, while insulinomas seem to be more aggressive. Investigations into the molecular functions of menin have led to new insights into MEN1-related tumorigenesis. Menin is involved in gene transcription, both as an activator and repressor. It is part of chromatin-modifying protein complexes, indicating involvement of epigenetic pathways in MEN1-related NET development. Future basic and translational research aimed at NETs in large unbiased cohorts will clarify the role of menin in NET tumorigenesis and might lead to new therapeutic options.
DNA Replication Error-Induced Extinction of Diploid Yeast
Authors: Herr Alan J , Kennedy Scott R , Knowels Gary M , Schultz Eric M , Preston Bradley D
Published: January 2014

Genetic defects in DNA polymerase accuracy, proofreading, or mismatch repair (MMR) induce mutator phenotypes that accelerate adaptation of microbes and tumor cells. Certain combinations of mutator alleles synergistically increase mutation rates to levels that drive extinction of haploid cells. The maximum tolerated mutation rate of diploid cells is unknown. Here, we define the threshold for replication error-induced extinction (EEX) of diploid Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Double-mutant pol3 alleles that carry mutations for defective DNA polymerase-δ proofreading (pol3-01) and accuracy (pol3-L612M or pol3-L612G) induce strong mutator phenotypes in heterozygous diploids (POL3/pol3-01,L612M or POL3/pol3-01,L612G). Both pol3-01,L612M and pol3-01,L612G alleles are lethal in the homozygous state; cells with pol3-01,L612M divide up to 10 times before arresting at random stages in the cell cycle. Antimutator eex mutations in the pol3 alleles suppress this lethality (pol3-01,L612M,eex or pol3-01,L612G,eex). MMR defects synergize with pol3-01,L612M,eex and pol3-01,L612G,eex alleles, increasing mutation rates and impairing growth. Conversely, inactivation of the Dun1 S-phase checkpoint kinase suppresses strong pol3-01,L612M,eex and pol3-01,L612G,eex mutator phenotypes as well as the lethal pol3-01,L612M phenotype. Our results reveal that the lethal error threshold in diploids is 10 times higher than in haploids and likely determined by homozygous inactivation of essential genes. Pronounced loss of fitness occurs at mutation rates well below the lethal threshold, suggesting that mutator-driven cancers may be susceptible to drugs that exacerbate replication errors.
The social psychology of dissatisfaction
Authors: Hunyady György
Published: January 2014

A szakmai közérdeklődés középpontjában a pozitív érzelmi állapotok, a megelégedettség és megélt boldogság állnak, ma erről szól a pszichológiai szakirodalom nagy és szaporodó része.Ahogy a boldog megelégedettség keresése és jeleinek felmutatása bizonyos értelemben amerikanizmus, éppoly joggal mondható, hogy magyar ember számára a meg nem elégedettség szokványos állapot, amit egy-egy emelkedett történeti pillanat meg-megszakíthat, de a társadalmi közérzetnek szívós, el-eluralkodó jellemzője. Magának a társadalmi közérzetnek a fogalmi keretei meglehetősen kidolgozatlanok a szociálpszichológia nemzetközi szakirodalmában (elvétve találunk ennek koncepcionális megragadására tett kísérletet is), ez is arra ösztönöz, hogy a fogalmi űrt megpróbáljuk kitölteni.A tanulmány az elégedetlenség dinamikáját vizsgálja a rendszerváltó Magyarországon, különös tekintettel a 2010-ben bekövetkező földcsuszamlásszerű politikai fordulatra, amely mély és kiterjedt társadalmi elégedetlenséget fejezett ki és az állami-hatalmi erők összpontosításával rendet és harmóniát ígért. Három hosszabb távú, országos reprezentatív mintákon folytatott kutatássor tanúsága szerint azonban e fordulat után: 1. az igényelt társadalmi értékek és az észlelt közállapotok feszültsége tovább nőtt, különös tekintettel a szociális biztonság hiányára. 2. a társadalmi-gazdasági viszonyok megítélésében tovább erősödött a rendszerkritikai és gyengült a rendszerigazoló elem, elterjedt és elmélyült a nézet, hogy gazdasági-hatalmi státus és a morális érték egymás ellenébe fordult a társadalomban, kontraszelekció érvényesül, 3. a politikai demokrácia elveihez való ragaszkodás nőtt, míg az erős államba és kormányzatba vetett hit gyengült. A viszonyok megítélésére és a demokratikus viszonyokra vonatkozó nézetek szilárd nyalábokba rendeződnek, jellegzetes faktorstruktúrája van az itemek keresztmetszeti kapcsolódásának. A legfőbb módszertani tanulság ezen túlmenően az, hogy a társadalmi közérzet időbeli alakulása során a nézetnyalábok szisztematikusan együtt alakulnak: 2010 és 2013 között együtt nő a rendszerkritika és a demokrácia igenlése, együtt süllyed a rendszerigazolás és az erős állam követelése (mint ahogy a tanulmány zárásának hónapjaiban e tendenciák némileg együtt fékeződnek le). A társadalmi közérzet vizsgálatában különleges elméleti-módszertani jelentőségre tesz szert a dinamikájának leképezése különböző és külön-külön is összetett nézetrendszerek vetületében.
Need for mentalizing and agreeing with Machiavellian views
Authors: Bernáth Ágnes , Kovács Judit
Published: January 2014

A machiavellista személyek úgy mutatnak kiemelkedő interaktív hatékonyságot, hogy nincs kiemelkedő mentalizációs teljesítményük. Az ellentmondás magyarázatára a szakirodalom a mentalizációs teljesítmény mérésének jellegzetességével (az ösztönzők hiányával) kapcsolatos motivációs érvet, illetve a fejlettebb általános emberismeretre hivatkozó kognitív érvet kínálja.Saját fejlesztésű kérdőívvel végzett kutatásunk, amelyben 399 személy vett részt, a mentalizációval kapcsolatos igényeket, célokat, attitűdöket ragadja meg. A mentalizációval összefüggő önbeszámolóknak három háttértényezőjét azonosítottuk, a mások mentális állapotainak megismerésére irányuló igényt, a zökkenőmentes interakciók igényét és a mentalizáció műveletére irányuló attitűdöt. Eredményeink szerint a machiavellista személyek kevésbé szeretnék mások mentális állapotait megismerni, de a másik két tekintetben nem különböznek a machiavelliánus nézetekkel kevésbé egyetértő társaiktól. Tanulmányunkkal a motivációs magyarázathoz kapcsolódunk, kiterjesztve annak hatókörét, amennyiben bemutatjuk, hogy a machiavellistákat általában véve kevésbé érdekli mások mentális állapotainak megismerése. A kutatásnak a machiavellisták fejlettebb általános emberismeretének irányába mutató implikációi vannak.
The effect of reparative actions on revenge motivations and on situational forgiving in close relationships
Authors: Kis Médea , Kovács Judit
Published: January 2014

Kutatásunk egy közeli kapcsolatban elszenvedett sérelmet megjelenítő hipotetikus helyzetben vizsgálta a személyek (N = 237) becsült megbocsátási valószínűségét a sértő fél jóvátételi törekvéseinek és a válaszadó személyek reményteliségének függvényében. Jóvátételi kezdeményezésként a kapcsolat fontosságát hangsúlyozó szolidaritás-kifejezést, a veszteséget helyrehozni kívánó cselekedetet, valamint a sértett önértékelésének a támogatását különböztettük meg, a megbocsátásnak pedig a jóvátételi igényekről (a bosszúról) való lemondáshoz kötődő aspektusát emeltük ki (vagyis lemondani a kapcsolat meglazításának, a kárpótlásnak és a saját önbecsülés megtámogatásának az igényéről).Manipulált független változóinknak jellemzően az önálló hatását mutattuk ki, melyek közül a szolidaritás kinyilvánításáé fordítottnak, a másik két jóvátételi adományé viszont a megbocsátást valószínűsítőnek mutatkozott. A jóvátételi lépések a reménytelenebb személyek esetében különösen is pozitív hatásúak. Eredményeink gyakorlati implikációi is megjelenítésre kerülnek.