bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Perceived Impact of Human Subjects Protection Training on Community Partners in Community-Based Participatory Research
Authors: Hawley Nancy C. , Wieland Mark L. , Weis Jennifer A. , Sia Irene G.
Published: August 2014

Background: Human subjects protection training (HSPT) is a requirement of institutional review boards (IRBs) for individuals who engage in research. The lack of HSPT among community partners may contribute to power imbalance between community and academic members of community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnerships. The Rochester Healthy Community Partnership (RHCP) is an established CBPR partnership in Minnesota that works primarily with immigrant and refugee populations.
Objective: We sought to describe the implementation and evaluation of HSPT among community members of a CBPR partnership.
Methods: Seven community partners participated in HSPT through adaptation of an existing institutional program. Evaluation of program acceptability was measured through a 5-item survey (5-point Likert scales). A focus group with all seven participants was conducted to evaluate the impact of training on perceptions of research, characteristics of a successful program, and potential value of training to CBPR partnerships. Coding and inductive analysis were done on the transcript with NVIVO-9 software.
Results: The HSPT program was highly acceptable (mean score, 4.5 ± 0.2). Focus groups revealed that training implementation should be done as a cohesive group with the opportunity to discuss concepts as they pertain to partnership projects. Training fostered an encouraging and safe environment, accommodated diverse learning styles, and promoted interaction. Participants reported improved trust in research as a result of the training. Perceived impact of the training on the CBPR partnership included improved transparency and enhanced camaraderie while establishing essential knowledge required for community leaders.
Conclusions: HSPT is feasible among community members of a CBPR partnership, and may improve perceptions of research while strengthening capacity of partnerships to impact community health.
Por Nuestros Ojos: Understanding Social Determinants of Health through the Eyes of Youth
Authors: Schuch Johanna Claire , de Hernandez Brisa Urquieta , Williams Lacey , Smith Heather A. , Sorensen Janni , Furuseth Owen J. , Dulin Michael F.
Published: August 2014

Background: Understanding the social determinants underlying health disparities benefits from a mixed-methods, participatory research approach.
Objectives: Photovoice was used in a research project seeking to identify and validate existing data and models used to address socio-spatial determinants of health in at-risk neighborhoods.
Methods: High-risk neighborhoods were identified using geospatial models of pre-identified social determinants of health. Students living within these neighborhoods were trained in Photovoice, and asked to take pictures of elements that influence their neighborhood’s health and to create narratives explaining the photographs.
Results: Students took 300 photographs showing elements that they perceived affected community health. Negative factors included poor pedestrian access, inadequate property maintenance, pollution, and evidence of gangs, criminal activity, and vagrancy. Positive features included public service infrastructure and outdoor recreation. Photovoice data confirmed and contextualized the geospatial models while building community awareness and capacity.
Conclusions: Photovoice can be a useful research tool for building community capacity and validating quantitative data describing social determinants of health.
From The Scarlet Letter to Stonewall: Reading the 1629 Thomas(ine) Hall Case, 1978–2009
Authors: Wichelns Kathryn
Published: August 2014

The 1629 Thomas(ine) Hall case offers an invaluable account of seventeenth-century gender fluidity, ambiguous body presentation, and non-normative sexual behavior; since 1978 it has inspired quite a range of different readings. The point of consistency across 35 years of scholarship on the case is the fact that Hall and the other parties present before the General Court in Jamestown on March 25th, 1629, have been interpreted in ways that trace shifting models for theorizing gender and sexual identity during the late twentieth- and early twenty-first-centuries. Much of the work on Hall and her/his community is excellent; however, taken as a whole this body of scholarship implies the historical possibility of an originary feminist or queer (or both) early American community, effectively eliding important distinctions among different groups as well as downplaying their significance in our own period. The author argues that while we can and should apply the tools of gender theory and sexuality studies to early American subjects, the diversity in interpretations of the Hall case suggests that we need to be even more rigorous in avoiding descriptions that risk implying that our own notions of identity can be superimposed onto the past.
From Debussy’s Studio: The Little-Known Autograph of De rêve , the First of the Proses lyriques (1892)
Authors: Herlin Denis
Published: August 2014

In the early part of his career, one of the areas in which Debussy carried out extensive experimentation was the art song—the mélodie . Having at first set poetry by Verlaine, Baudelaire, and Mallarmé, Debussy decided in the eighteen-nineties to write his own poetry for musical setting, taking inspiration from the free verse (“vers libre”) of the Symbolists. Completed in the years 1892–93, the group of four melodies that he symbolically entitled Proses lyriques was conceived at the moment at which the composer was completing both the String Quartet and the Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune . And it is not by chance that he completed these mélodies just as he was beginning work on the opera Pelléas et Mélisande . For the Proses lyriques we possess several manuscript versions, including the autograph manuscript that served the engraver (the Stichvorlage ), today on deposit at the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York. For the first of the group, “De rêve,” another autograph is preserved in the collections of the Juilliard School. Comparison of the Morgan and Juilliard manuscripts reveals differences not in the structure of the mélodie as much as in the subtle refinements Debussy made in the writing for voice and piano. Indeed these refinements reveal the experimental and pragmatic predilections of a composer anxious to offer his interpreters a musical text accurately reflective of his sonic universe.
Metaphor as Appropriation
Authors: Zangwill Nick
Published: August 2014

I argue that metaphor may be understood as the appropriation of the literal meanings of words, in order to give them a use that differs from their functions. Just as Duchamp took the Mona Lisa , or rather a reproduction of it, and added a moustache, a maker of a metaphor takes a literal word or sentence and uses and abuses it. This allows for a solution to a number of puzzles concerning metaphor.
How Does Leopold Bloom Become Ulysses?
Authors: Turner John
Published: August 2014

I look at Joyce’s Ulysses in relation to Nietzschean eternal recurrence. Ulysses , in my reading, remains deeply indebted to the Odyssey —but the Odyssey (for it now repeats) gets indebted to Ulysses too. Homer’s Ulysses outshines Bloom in many ways, but Bloom expands the heroic narrative in one crucial respect. I show that Bloom is the repetition of Ulysses. Many of Bloom’s doings are bathetic reductions of Ulysses’s wanderings. But, by forgiving Molly, Bloom strings the great bow of Ulysses, and indeed does so in a way that outdoes and rebukes his forebear.
Effects of temperature and irradiance on a benthic microalgal community: A combined two‐dimensional oxygen and fluorescence imaging approach
Authors: Hancke Kasper , Sorell Brian K. , Lund-Hansen Lars Chresten , Larsen Morten , Hancke Torunn , Glud Ronnie N.
Published: August 2014

The effects of temperature and light on both oxygen (O2) production and gross photosynthesis were resolved in a benthic microalgal community by combining two‐dimensional (2D) imaging of O2 and variable chlorophyll a (Chl a) fluorescence. Images revealed a photosynthetically active community with spatial heterogeneity at the millimeter scale. Irradiance strongly increased pore‐water O2 concentration, sediment net O2 production, and gross photosynthesis. The latter was derived from measurements of the electron transfer rate (rETR) in Photosystem II. The onset of light saturation for gross photosynthesis was approximately twofold higher than for net O2 production, reflecting significant light‐stimulated O2 consumption at higher light (> 75 µmol photons m−2 s−1). Temperature stimulated O2 consumption more than photosynthesis, turning the community more heterotrophic at elevated temperatures. Thus, the compensation irradiance (i.e., the irradiance at which community O2 production and consumption balance) increased fivefold (from 6 to 30 µmol photons m−2 s−1) with a temperature increase from 10°C to 25°C, corresponding to a temperature coefficient (Q10) of 2.9. Whereas net O2 production had a temperature optimum at ∼ 20°C, no optimum was observed for gross photosynthesis within the investigated range (10°C to 25°C). The resolved 2D net O2 production and rETR exhibited a significant exponential relationship, demonstrating predictable correlations between the net community production and gross photosynthesis for a complex microbial community, at different temperatures. The present imaging approach demonstrates a great potential to study consequences of environmental effects on photosynthetic activity and O2 turnover in complex phototrophic benthic communities.
Widespread variability in overnight patterns of ecosystem respiration linked to gradients in dissolved organic matter, residence time, and productivity in a global set of lakes
Authors: Sadro Steven , Holtgrieve Gordon W. , Solomon Christopher T. , Koch Gregory R.
Published: August 2014

We characterized patterns of nighttime ecosystem respiration (ER) in 23 globally‐distributed lakes using free‐water changes in dissolved oxygen (DO). We considered three alternative models of ER to describe overnight changes in DO: constant ER, linearly declining ER, or logistically declining ER. Variation in ER was widespread. Each model of respiration was found to best fit observed overnight DO dynamics with some degree of frequency in every lake. Constant ER occurred with an average frequency of 62% across lakes and was most commonly the best description of DO dynamics. It never occurred with a frequency < 19% in any lake and ranged up to 90% in one dystrophic lake. The average frequency across lakes with which the linear and logistic models occurred was 21% and 17%, respectively, although they ranged as low as 3% and as high as 42% in some lakes. Although data limitations restricted the majority of our analysis to summer months, annual data records from five lakes suggest there is little seasonal variation in the frequency with which patterns occurred. As our conceptual model predicted, the frequency of constant ER among lakes increased and logistic ER decreased along a gradient of increasing terrestrial influence. However, despite significant correlations with total phosphorus and photosynthetically active radiation, the effect of lake productivity on the frequency of patterns of ER among lakes was less clear. This study suggests that diel variability in ER results from complex interactions between different components of respiration and the forcing factors that govern them.
GOLPH3 promotes glioblastoma cell migration and invasion via the mTOR‐YB1 pathway in vitro
Authors: Zhang Xu , Ding Zhijun , Mo Jianbing , Sang Ben , Shi Qiong , Hu Jinxia , Xie Shao , Zhan Wenjian , Lu Dong , Yang Minglin , Bian Wenbin , Zhou Xiuping , Yu Rutong
Published: August 2014

The identification of genes involved in carcinogenesis and tumor progression is of great interest, since these genes might be possible as candidates for new tumor targeted therapy strategies. Our previous study shows that Golgi phosphoprotein 3 (GOLPH3) is involved in glioma cell migration and invasion, the critical characteristics of malignant gliomas. In this study, we explored the mechanism of GOLPH3 affecting cell migration and invasion and found that GOLPH3 promotes glioblastoma (GBM) cell migration and invasion via the mammalian target of rapamycin(mTOR)‐Y‐box binding protein‐1 (YB1) pathway in vitro. Both the protein levels of GOLPH3 and YB1 were up‐regulated in human glioma tissues and they exhibited direct correlation with each other. In addition, down‐regulation of GOLPH3 inhibited glioma cell migration and invasion, while over‐expression of GOLPH3 enhanced them. Meanwhile, GOLPH3 down‐regulation led to a significant decrease of YB1 level as well as mTOR activity, both required for glioma cell migration and invasion. On the contrary, YB1 level and mTOR activity increased after GOLPH3 over‐expression. YB1 down‐regulation or mTOR ATP site inhibitor INK128 treatment inhibited cell migration and invasion, similar to the effect of GOLPH3 down‐regulation. Furthermore, over‐expression of GOLPH3 induced glioma cell migration and invasion was blocked by INK128 and YB1 down‐regulation. Taken together, these results show that GOLPH3 promotes glioblastoma cell migration and invasion via the mTOR‐YB1pathway, indicating that GOLPH3‐mTOR‐YB1 pathway might be a new therapeutic target for glioma treatment. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Serum tri‐ and tetra‐antennary N‐glycan is a potential predictive biomarker for castration‐resistant prostate cancer
Authors: Ishibashi Yusuke , Tobisawa Yuki , Hatakeyama Shingo , Ohashi Tetsu , Tanaka Masakazu , Narita Shintaro , Koie Takuya , Habuchi Tomonori , Nishimura Shin‐Ichiro , Ohyama Chikara , Yoneyama Tohru
Published: August 2014

BACKGROUND

The U.S. FDA has approved several novel systemic agents including abiraterone acetate and taxoid cabazitaxel for metastatic castration‐resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) result in a complicated decision‐making while selecting an appropriate treatment. Therefore, a predictive biomarker for CRPC would provide useful information to physicians. The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic potential of serum N‐glycan profiling in CRPC.

METHODS

Serum N‐glycomics was performed in 80 healthy volunteers and 286 benign prostatic hyperplasia, 258 early‐stage PC, 46 PC with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), and 68 CRPC patients using the glycoblotting method. A total of 36 types of N‐glycan levels in each patient were analyzed using logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic curves. We also examined the expression of N‐glycan branching enzyme genes in PC cell lines using quantitative RT‐PCR.

RESULTS

We observed that tri‐ and tetra‐antennary N‐glycans were significantly higher in CRPC patients than in any other groups. The longitudinal follow‐up of tri‐ and tetra‐ antennary N‐glycan levels revealed that one PC with ADT patient showed an increase that was more than the cut‐off level and two consecutive increases in tri‐ and tetra‐antennary N‐glycan levels 3 months apart; resulted in biochemical recurrence despite the castrate level of testosterone, and the patient was defined as CRPC. Expression of N‐glycan branching enzyme genes were significantly upregulated in CRPC cell lines.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that the overexpression of tri‐ and tetra‐antennary N‐glycan may be associated with the castration‐resistant status in PC and may be a potential predictive biomarker for CRPC. Prostate 74:1521–1529, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Two CoII Compounds Showing Interesting Magnetic Properties Modulated by Supramolecular Interactions
Authors: Zhang Xiao-Min , Meng Li-Na , Li Jian-Qiang , Feng Xue-Feng , Luo Ming-Biao , Luo Feng
Published: August 2014

Two new CoII coordination compounds, namely Co[(cis-trans)-L](nip)·H2O (1) and Co[(cis-cis)-L](Hbtc)·2H2O (2) (L = N1,N4-di(pyridin-3-yl)terephthalamide, H2nip = 5-nitroisophthalic acid, H3btc = benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid), were synthesised hydrothermally and characterised by single crystal X-ray diffraction and direct current magnetic susceptibility measurement. Interestingly, the results disclose somewhat tuneable magnetic properties for compounds 1 and 2, mainly due to the distinct supramolecular interactions.
Properties underlying a preference aggregator based on satisficing logic
Authors: González‐Pachón Jacinto , Romero Carlos
Published: August 2014

The basic purpose of this paper is to discuss the theoretical properties underlying the compromise consensuses derived from a general social choice function recently proposed in the literature. This type of social choice function is based on a satisficing logic and encompasses, as particular cases, scenarios for which individual preferences are ordinal (complete or incomplete) or cardinal (provided by utility functions or through pairwise comparisons). We analyze the usual properties required for any preferential aggregation procedure such as decisiveness, neutrality, anonymity, monotonicity, and unanimity. It is interesting to note that the properties may be expressed algebraically in the proposed approach. Hence, a property that does not hold can be imposed as a rigid or flexible constraint. In this way, the resulting compromise consensus holds the respective property, if the respective model is feasible or partially holds the property in a situation of infeasibility modeled by flexible or goal constraints.
On the stratification by orbit types
Authors: Giacomoni Julien
Published: August 2014

When we have a proper action of a Lie group on a manifold, it is well known that we get a stratification by orbit types and it is known that this stratification satisfies the Whitney (b) condition. In this article, we will see that the stratification satisfies the strong Verdier condition.
Quantum noise properties of CT images with anatomical textured backgrounds across reconstruction algorithms: FBP and SAFIRE
Authors: Solomon Justin , Samei Ehsan
Published: August 2014

Purpose:

Quantum noise properties of CT images are generally assessed using simple geometric phantoms with uniform backgrounds. Such phantoms may be inadequate when assessing nonlinear reconstruction or postprocessing algorithms. The purpose of this study was to design anatomically informed textured phantoms and use the phantoms to assess quantum noise properties across two clinically available reconstruction algorithms, filtered back projection (FBP) and sinogram affirmed iterative reconstruction (SAFIRE).

Methods:

Two phantoms were designed to represent lung and soft‐tissue textures. The lung phantom included intricate vessel‐like structures along with embedded nodules (spherical, lobulated, and spiculated). The soft tissue phantom was designed based on a three‐dimensional clustered lumpy background with included low‐contrast lesions (spherical and anthropomorphic). The phantoms were built using rapid prototyping (3D printing) technology and, along with a uniform phantom of similar size, were imaged on a Siemens SOMATOM Definition Flash CT scanner and reconstructed with FBP and SAFIRE. Fifty repeated acquisitions were acquired for each background type and noise was assessed by estimating pixel‐value statistics, such as standard deviation (i.e., noise magnitude), autocorrelation, and noise power spectrum. Noise stationarity was also assessed by examining the spatial distribution of noise magnitude. The noise properties were compared across background types and between the two reconstruction algorithms.

Results:

In FBP and SAFIRE images, noise was globally nonstationary for all phantoms. In FBP images of all phantoms, and in SAFIRE images of the uniform phantom, noise appeared to be locally stationary (within a reasonably small region of interest). Noise was locally nonstationary in SAFIRE images of the textured phantoms with edge pixels showing higher noise magnitude compared to pixels in more homogenous regions. For pixels in uniform regions, noise magnitude was reduced by an average of 60% in SAFIRE images compared to FBP. However, for edge pixels, noise magnitude ranged from 20% higher to 40% lower in SAFIRE images compared to FBP. SAFIRE images of the lung phantom exhibited distinct regions with varying noise texture (i.e., noise autocorrelation/power spectra).

Conclusions:

Quantum noise properties observed in uniform phantoms may not be representative of those in actual patients for nonlinear reconstruction algorithms. Anatomical texture should be considered when evaluating the performance of CT systems that use such nonlinear algorithms.
Anti-VEGF Cancer Therapy in Nephrology Practice
Authors: Izzedine Hassan
Published: August 2014

Expanded clinical experience with the antivascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents has come with increasing recognition of their renal adverse effects. Although renal histology is rarely sought in antiangiogenic-treated cancer patients, kidney damage related to anti-VEGF is now established. Its manifestations include hypertension, proteinuria, and mainly glomerular thrombotic microangiopathy. Then, in nephrology practice, should we continue to perform kidney biopsy, and what should be done with the anti-VEGF agents in case of renal toxicity?
Bifurcation of Travelling Wave Solutions of the Generalized Zakharov Equation
Authors: Mosaddeghi Masoud
Published: August 2014

By using bifurcation theory of planar ordinary differential equations all different bounded travelling wave solutions of the generalized Zakharov equation are classified in to different parametric regions. In each of these parametric regions the exact explicit parametric representation of all solitary, kink (antikink), and periodic wave solutions as well as their numerical simulation and their corresponding phase portraits are obtained.
Nonlinear Torsional Vibration Dynamics Behaviors of Rolling Mill’s Multi-DOF Main Drive System under Parametric Excitation
Authors: Han Dongying , Shi Peiming , Xia Kewei
Published: August 2014

Considering the influence caused by joint angle, nonlinear damping, and nonlinear rigidity, the nonlinear torsional vibration dynamical modeling of the multi-DOF rolling mill’s main drive system is established. To analyze the coupled equations by analytic method, the equations are decoupled by transforming them into principal coordinates. The amplitude-frequency characteristic equations are obtained by multiscale method. Furthermore, numerical example based on the 1780 rolling mill’s main drive system of some Steel Co. is given to illustrate the effects of the resonance on the response of the system. The relationship between amplitude and frequency varies according to the parameters changes of nonlinear stiffness, nonlinear friction damping, torque disturbance, and joint angle. During the rolling process, the limited joint angles range is obtained and the variation rules of the joint angle caused by the nonlinear damping, nonlinear stiffness, and the disturbance torque are gained. The results present that the rolling mill can work more stably with the joint angle at a range from 2° to 8° by controlling the value of parameters. The research results provide a theoretical basis and reference for analyzing torsional vibration of rolling mill’s transmission system caused by joint angle.
Evaluating the Effect of Gamma Radiation on the Total Phenolic Content, Flavonoids, and Antioxidant Activity of Dried Pleurotus ostreatus ((Jacq. ex. Fr) Kummer) Stored in Packaging Materials
Authors: Kortei Nii Korley , Odamtten George Tawia , Obodai Mary , Appiah Victoria , Akuamoa Felicia , Adu-Bobi Afua Kobi , Annan Sylvester Nana Yao , Armah Jonathan Nii Okai , Acquah Stanley Akwesi
Published: August 2014

Dried Pleurotus ostreatus mushrooms stored in polythene and polypropylene packs were exposed to gamma radiation from a cobalt-60 source at doses of 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 kGy at a dose rate of 1.7 kGy/hr and stored for a period of 1 month. Total phenolic contents, flavonoids, and free radical scavenging activity DPPH (2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) were determined using aqueous, ethanol, and methanol extracts by Folin-Ciocaultaeu method as a source of potential natural antioxidants. Total phenol content ranged 0.56 ± 0.01–10.96 ± 1.7 mg/GAE, flavonoids ranged 1.64 ± 0.05–8.92 ± 0.6 mg/QE, DPPH radical scavenging activity also ranged 7.02 ± 0.10–13.03 ± 0.04%, and IC50 values also ranged 0.08–0.16 mg/mL. Statistical differences (P < 0.05) were recorded for the extracts and the treatment doses of mushrooms stored in polythene and polypropylene packs. A significant linear correlation was confirmed between values for the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of mushroom extracts. The high contents of phenolic compounds indicated that these compounds contribute to high antioxidant activity. Pleurotus ostreatus can be regarded as a promising candidate for natural mushroom sources of antioxidants with high value. The use of low dose gamma radiation by the local food industry could improve the hygienic quality, extend shelf-life, and preserve nutrients and antinutrients.
Modeling the Uniformity of Manifold with Various Configurations
Authors: Hassan Jafar M. , Mohamed Thamer A. , Mohammed Wahid S. , Alawee Wissam H.
Published: August 2014

The flow distribution in manifolds is highly dependent on inlet pressure, configuration, and total inlet flow to the manifold. The flow from a manifold has many applications and in various fields of engineering such as civil, mechanical, and chemical engineering. In this study, physical and numerical models were employed to study the uniformity of the flow distribution from manifold with various configurations. The physical model consists of main manifold with uniform longitudinal section having diameter of 10.16 cm (4 in), five laterals with diameter of 5.08 cm (2 in), and spacing of 22 cm. Different inlet flows were tested and the values of these flows are 500, 750, and 1000 L/min. A manifold with tapered longitudinal section having inlet diameters of 10.16 cm (4 in) and dead end diameter of 5.08 cm (2 in) with the same above later specifications and flow rates was tested for its uniformity too. The percentage of absolute mean deviation for manifold with uniform diameter was found to be 34% while its value for the manifold with nonuniform diameter was found to be 14%. This result confirms the efficiency of the nonuniform distribution of fluids.
Highights in the History of Epilepsy: The Last 200 Years
Authors: Magiorkinis Emmanouil , Diamantis Aristidis , Sidiropoulou Kalliopi , Panteliadis Christos
Published: August 2014

The purpose of this study was to present the evolution of views on epilepsy as a disease and symptom during the 19th and the 20th century. A thorough study of texts, medical books, and reports along with a review of the available literature in PubMed was undertaken. The 19th century is marked by the works of the French medical school and of John Hughlings Jackson who set the research on epilepsy on a solid scientific basis. During the 20th century, the invention of EEG, the advance in neurosurgery, the discovery of antiepileptic drugs, and the delineation of underlying pathophysiological mechanisms, were the most significant advances in the field of research in epilepsy. Among the most prestigious physicians connected with epilepsy one can pinpoint the work of Henry Gastaut, Wilder Penfield, and Herbert Jasper. The most recent advances in the field of epilepsy include the development of advanced imaging techniques, the development of microsurgery, and the research on the connection between genetic factors and epileptic seizures.
Multivariate Regression Analyses of Yield Associated Traits in Rapeseed (Brassica napusL.) Genotypes
Authors: Rameeh Valiollah
Published: August 2014

The efficiency of a breeding program depends mainly on the direction of the correlation between yield and its components and the relative importance of each component involved in contributing to seed yield. The interrelationships of nine quantitative traits in 28 genotypes of spring oilseed rape (days to flowering, days to end of flowering, duration of flowering, days to maturity, pods per main raceme, pods length and pods per plant, and seed yield) were computed. Significant genotypic effects were found for phenological traits, yield components, and seed yield, indicating significant genetic differences among the genotypes. High broad sense heritability was estimated for phenological traits, seeds per pod, and seed yield, signifying high selection gain for improving these traits. Path coefficient analysis revealed that days to flowering and number of pods per plant had the highest direct effects on seed yield. Duration of flowering, number of branches, pods on main raceme, pods per plant, and seed yield had high genetic coefficient of variation. The results of factor analysis showed three factors including factor 1 (phenological traits), factor 2 (primary yield components), and factor 3 (secondary yield components). The results of stepwise regression analysis revealed that pods per plant, number of branches, and duration of flowering had considerable effects on seed yield.
Novel Approach: Tungsten Oxide Nanoparticle as a Catalyst for Malonic Acid Ester Synthesis via Ozonolysis
Authors: Wasmi Bilal A. , Al-Amiery Ahmed A. , Kadhum Abdul Amir H. , Mohamad Abu Bakar
Published: August 2014

Malonic acid ester was synthesized via the one‐step ozonolysis of palm olein. Malonic acid ester was spectroscopically characterized using gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (GC‐MS). Tungsten oxide nanoparticles were used as the catalyst, which was characterized via X‐ray powder diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM). Tungsten oxide provided several advantages as a catalyst for the esterification malonic acid such as simple operation for a precise ozonation method, an excellent yield of approximately 10%, short reaction times of 2 h, and reusability due to its recyclability.
Log-Gabor Energy Based Multimodal Medical Image Fusion in NSCT Domain
Authors: Yang Yong , Tong Song , Huang Shuying , Lin Pan
Published: August 2014

Multimodal medical image fusion is a powerful tool in clinical applications such as noninvasive diagnosis, image-guided radiotherapy, and treatment planning. In this paper, a novel nonsubsampled Contourlet transform (NSCT) based method for multimodal medical image fusion is presented, which is approximately shift invariant and can effectively suppress the pseudo-Gibbs phenomena. The source medical images are initially transformed by NSCT followed by fusing low- and high-frequency components. The phase congruency that can provide a contrast and brightness-invariant representation is applied to fuse low-frequency coefficients, whereas the Log-Gabor energy that can efficiently determine the frequency coefficients from the clear and detail parts is employed to fuse the high-frequency coefficients. The proposed fusion method has been compared with the discrete wavelet transform (DWT), the fast discrete curvelet transform (FDCT), and the dual tree complex wavelet transform (DTCWT) based image fusion methods and other NSCT-based methods. Visually and quantitatively experimental results indicate that the proposed fusion method can obtain more effective and accurate fusion results of multimodal medical images than other algorithms. Further, the applicability of the proposed method has been testified by carrying out a clinical example on a woman affected with recurrent tumor images.
Estimation of Glomerular Filtration Rate Based on Serum Cystatin C versus Creatinine in a Uruguayan Population
Authors: Lujambio Inés , Sottolano Mariana , Luzardo Leonella , Robaina Sebastián , Krul Nadia , Thijs Lutgarde , Carusso Florencia , da Rosa Alicia , Ríos Ana Carina , Olascoaga Alicia , Garau Mariela , Gadola Liliana , Noboa Oscar , Staessen Jan A. , Boggia José
Published: August 2014

Background. Estimation of glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) from biomarkers has evolved and multiple equations are available to estimate renal function at bedside.Methods. In a random sample of 119 Uruguayans (54.5% women; 56.2 years (mean)), we used Bland and Altman’s method and Cohen’s kappa statistic to assess concordance on a continuous or categorical (eGFR < 60versus≥60 mL/min/1.73 m2) scale between eGFRcys(reference) and eGFR derived from serum creatinine according to the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (eGFRmdrd) or the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equations (eGFRepi) or from both serum cystatin C and creatinine (eGFRmix).Results. In all participants, eGFRmdrd, eGFRepi, and eGFRmixwere, respectively, 9.7, 11.5, and 5.6 mL/min/1.73 m2higher (P<0.0001) than eGFRcys. The prevalence of eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m2was the highest for eGFRcys(21.8%), intermediate for eGFRmix(11.8%), and the lowest for eGFRmdrd(5.9%) and eGFRepi(3.4%). Using eGFRcysas reference, we found only fair agreement with the equations based on creatinine (Cohen’s kappa statistic 0.15 to 0.23).Conclusion. Using different equations we reached clinically significant differences in the estimation of renal function. eGFRcysprovides lower estimates, resulting in higher prevalence of eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m2.
Is Age Associated with Risk of Malignancy in Thyroid Cancer?
Authors: Do Bao Anh , Payne Richard J. , Bastianelli Mark , Mlynarek Alex M. , Tamilia Michael , Hier Michael , Forest Veronique‐Isabelle
Published: August 2014

Objectives

Many predictive models for risk of malignancy in well‐differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC) have been proposed, and many scoring systems for thyroid cancer prognosis have been established. Age is taken in consideration in all. Our main goal is to establish whether patients’ age has a correlation with the rate of malignancy, size, and aggressiveness of the tumor.

Study Design

Case series with chart review.

Setting

McGill University Thyroid Teaching Hospitals.

Subjects and Methods

A retrospective analysis of 1022 patients undergoing consecutive thyroidectomy was performed. The patients were divided based on age (<45 and ≥45 years). Data were gathered for the size of thyroid nodules, the presence of lymph node (LN) metastasis, and the final thyroid pathology, including the presence of extrathyroidal extension.

Results

There were 396 patients younger than 45 years and 626 patients 45 years or older. The rates of malignancy were 67.2% in the first group and 68.7% in the second group (P =. 111). When patients were stratified according to different age cutoffs, WDTC and LN metastasis occurred more often in patients younger than 50 years (50.2% vs 43.2%, P =. 031 and 18.9% vs 14.1%, P =. 0496, respectively). Micropapillary carcinoma occurred more often in patients 50 years or older (23.6% vs 16.1%, P =. 0035).

Conclusions

Tumor behavior and rates of WDTC were similar in patients aged <45 and ≥45 years. Well‐differentiated thyroid cancer occurred more often in patients younger than 50 years, whereas the rate of micropapillary carcinoma occurred more often in patients 50 years or older.
Fixed dose-combination products in psychiatry: Systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Farooq Saeed , Singh Surendra P
Published: August 2014

Despite highly prevalent use of drug combinations in psychiatry, combination products are not commonly available. We aimed to systematically review the evidence for the use and efficacy of combination products in the practice of psychiatry. Systematic search of major data bases yielded nine double-blind randomized controlled trials, which generated 15 comparisons of combination products against a single therapeutic agent, that included a placebo. All these studies included 2827 participants: 976 in their combination products arms and 1851 patients in the comparator arms. The number of combination products were identified, but all except two studies tested only one combination drug (e.g. olanzapine and fluoxetine (OFC)). All combined formulations were significantly superior to a single agent, with standardized mean distance (SMD) of − 0.29 (confidence interval (CI) = − 0.43, − 0 .14; p < 0.001) in improving depression. In the subgroup analysis, the OFC combination was significantly superior to a single therapeutic agent for bipolar depression (SMD = − 0.32; CI = − 0.45, − 0.19; p < 0.001) and for treatment-resistant depression (SMD = − 0.29; CI = − 0.49, − 0.08; p < 0.005), but not for borderline personality nor major depressive disorder (MDD). The evidence in general medicine suggests that combination products can offer significant advantage in improving efficacy and treatment adherence; but in psychiatry, research and development in fixed-dose combinations has been limited.
Once Upon a Storm
Authors: Barrocas Albert , Moten‐Bickham Paulette , Tonini Jeff , Beck‐McCullough Carol
Published: August 2014

Nutrition support teams face many challenges to establish, fund, maintain, and justify their existence. Some of the challenges can be resolved over time. However, the challenge of providing nutrition in general and nutrition support in specific during a natural disaster is void of the luxury of time experienced with the previously delineated challenges. The experience of Methodist Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana, during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 in providing nutrition and nutrition support is summarized in this invited article. The recollections of various represented disciplines are bolstered by tables and figures that outline the 7 days before and after Katrina. Transdisciplinarity was exhibited through the performance of nontraditional functions or tasks by a variety of professionals who lived 5 days or longer in the “Methodist Island.” Lessons learned and considerations for disaster preparedness as it relates to nutrition and nutrition support as well as general considerations are provided.
Interior-architectured ZnO nanostructure for enhanced electrical conductivity via stepwise fabrication process
Authors: Chong Eugene , Kim Sarah , Choi Jun-Hyuk , Choi Dae-Geun , Jung Joo-Yun , Jeong Jun-Ho , Lee Eung-sug , Lee Jaewhan , Park Inkyu , Lee Jihye
Published: August 2014

Fabrication of ZnO nanostructure via direct patterning based on sol-gel process has advantages of low-cost, vacuum-free, and rapid process and producibility on flexible or non-uniform substrates. Recently, it has been applied in light-emitting devices and advanced nanopatterning. However, application as an electrically conducting layer processed at low temperature has been limited by its high resistivity due to interior structure. In this paper, we report interior-architecturing of sol-gel-based ZnO nanostructure for the enhanced electrical conductivity. Stepwise fabrication process combining the nanoimprint lithography (NIL) process with an additional growth process was newly applied. Changes in morphology, interior structure, and electrical characteristics of the fabricated ZnO nanolines were analyzed. It was shown that filling structural voids in ZnO nanolines with nanocrystalline ZnO contributed to reducing electrical resistivity. Both rigid and flexible substrates were adopted for the device implementation, and the robustness of ZnO nanostructure on flexible substrate was verified. Interior-architecturing of ZnO nanostructure lends itself well to the tunability of morphological, electrical, and optical characteristics of nanopatterned inorganic materials with the large-area, low-cost, and low-temperature producibility.
China-Africa Relations, Political Conditions, and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s Wizard of the Crow
Authors: Leman Peter
Published: August 2014

Standing on the cusp of a global transition from a Western-dominated world to one experiencing the effects of the “economic renaissance of East Asia,” as Giovanni Arrighi calls it, Ngũgĩ’s wa Thiong’o’s 2006 novel Wizard of the Crow reiterates the author’s well-known critique of neocolonialism but also, perhaps more importantly, registers the growing presence of Asia in Africa and offers a thought-provoking consideration of the meaning of that presence in an era of global capital. Though commonly identified as a “dictator novel,” Wizard is only partly about “The Ruler” of the fictional African nation of Aburĩria. Through the titular character, Ngũgĩ develops a narrative that explores the opportunities and dangers of embracing the paths of modernization marked out by the advancing economic powers of East Asia. This paper analyzes that narrative, focusing in particular on the thematic and formal elements that reflect and are relevant to China’s all-important ambitions in Africa and its core policy of offering aid “without political conditions.” These issues ultimately involve the novel in contemporary debates specific to the China-in-Africa phenomenon.
“Frightful Stories”: Captivity, Conquest, and Justice in Lydia Maria Child’s Native Narratives
Authors: Kilcup Karen L.
Published: August 2014

Lydia Maria Child’s Native American children’s stories comprehend the interconnections among racial justice, environmental agency, sovereignty, and human rights. To engender readers’ awareness Child transformed the well-established genres of captivity narratives and histories of settlement and Indian wars, in the process promulgating several ideas that now feature among the concepts that define environmental justice. By apprehending her First Settlers of New England within a matrix of Indian tales, we can appreciate how this volume deserves particular attention not only as children’s literature or environmental literature, but as a foundational early national and antebellum text for both children and adults.
North Sea Networks: Trade and Communication from the Seventh to the Tenth Century
Authors: Melleno Daniel
Published: August 2014

This article explores the commercial links that bound together the peoples of the North Sea from the seventh to the tenth century. At the heart of this trade lay Frisia, whose location as the cross roads between the North Sea and the heart of the Frankish Empire allowed Frisian, Frankish, and Scandinavian merchants to carry goods back and forth across the North Sea while at the same time facilitating the movement of ideas and cultural exchange. Annalists gathered information from these merchants, kings used them to pass messages back and forth, and missionaries traveled with them. By tracing the physical and textual evidence of merchants’ travels between foreign worlds, this article demonstrates that the steady growth of economic activity in the North Sea facilitated contact and communication between Francia and Scandinavia well before the first major Viking attacks on the Frankish empire in the 830s.
Re-reading Grendel’s Mother: Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon Metrical Charms
Authors: Burdorff Sara Frances
Published: August 2014

Traditionally, critical assessments of Grendel’s mother tend to be overly reductive, focusing primarily, if not exclusively, on her gender and her relationship with her son—when she is even considered independently at all. This essay suggests that a more nuanced understanding of her significance in the poem, especially as it could have registered with contemporary audiences, might come from recognition of the parallels between Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon metrical charm tradition. Specifically, reading Grendel’s mother in terms of such parallels provides a contemporary interpretive paradigm that not only incorporates the facts of her gender and maternity while avoiding common lexical and critical concepts of anti-type or assumptions of monstrosity, but also gives insights into the ways that original audiences might have processed the more peculiar textual details associated with her into a cohesive whole, with her as an irreducibly complex figure at its center.
Partnership, Knowledge Translation, and Substance Abuse Prevention With a First Nations Community
Authors: Baydala Lola , Fletcher Fay , Worrell Stephanie , Kajner Tania , Letendre Sherry , Letendre Liz , Rasmussen Carmen
Published: August 2014

Background: Having identified substance abuse as an issue of concern in their community, the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation invited University of Alberta researchers to partner on the cultural adaptation, delivery, and evaluation of a school-based drug and alcohol abuse prevention program. Researchers conducted a literature review of available drug and alcohol prevention programs for children and youth, identifying the Life Skills Training (LST) program as a viable model for cultural adaptation.
Objectives: Four program objectives were developed: (1) Review and cultural adaptation of the elementary and junior high LST programs, (2) delivery of the adapted programs, (3) measurement of changes in students’ knowledge of the negative effects of drug and alcohol use, attitudes toward drugs and alcohol, drug and alcohol refusal and life skills, and changes in self-esteem/self-concept, and (4) documentation of the community’s experience of the project.
Methods: Using the principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR), we employed both qualitative and quantitative methods to evaluate the impact of the project.
Results: Qualitative evaluation of the program adaptation and implementation were both positive. Qualitative measures of program impact on students revealed a positive effect, whereas results of the quantitative measures were mixed.
Conclusions: Culturally adapted, evidence-based programs can have a positive effect on Aboriginal youth and their communities. Strategies to expand knowledge translation (KT) when working with Aboriginal communities include working to create an “ethical space” that draws on the strengths of both Western and Indigenous worldviews.
Making Meaningful Bodies: Physical Appearance in Colonial Writings
Authors: Block Sharon
Published: August 2014

Through a close reading of eighteenth-century personal writings and a comprehensive analysis of thousands of runaway advertisements, this essay moves beyond studies of assumed or symbolic notions of “the body” to understand how colonists described physical appearance in daily life. What physical features marked sex or race classifications, and how do they differ from our assumed physicalities of these bodily divisions? Analyzing specific representations of eighteenth-century bodies instead of our assumed categorizations allows me to question naturalized and essentialized notions of male and female. I argue that physical descriptions produced intertwined racial and gender boundaries, not by seeing opposing characteristics in the people around them, but by constructing incompatible terms of evaluation. In other words, colonists divided bodies by asking incompatible questions, not by expecting opposing answers. Colonial Americans reflected, and made reality, their own judgments under the guise of describing the people around them.
Fair Bosom/Black Beard: Facial Hair, Gender Determination, and the Strange Career of Madame Clofullia, “Bearded Lady”
Authors: Trainor Sean
Published: August 2014

This paper examines public response to Madame Josephine Clofullia, the United States’ first famed “bearded lady,” who toured the country in the 1850s. It argues that, while most contemporaries found Clofullia’s appearance unusual, few found it transgressive. With the exception of America’s cultural and medical elite, few believed that Clofullia’s beard compromised her claims to womanhood or confounded the categories of man and woman . What explains this response? Considering the public’s reaction to Clofullia in light of scholarship on intersex bodies, I contend that Americans—especially non-elites—continued to prioritize behavior over sexual characteristics in determining the gender of persons with ambiguously-formed bodies. The paper concludes by emphasizing the plasticity of gender norms, arguing that even the most “natural” biological markers of sex have an unpredictable, historically-constructed relationship to gender.