bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Le soja en Argentine : approche géoéconomique d’une filière stratégique mondialisée
Authors: Dubois Stéphane
Published: December 2015

Depuis les années 1990, l’Argentine a enclenché une course à l’augmentation de sa production de soja. Troisième producteur mondial, elle oriente 96 % de sa récolte sur des marchés extérieurs hautement demandeurs, dont la Chine. Tendant vers la monoculture dans la Pampa, progressant vers des régions agricoles où il était jusque-là inconnu, le soja est aujourd’hui un levier d’organisation du territoire. Pour l’État, le soja est une rente commerciale mais aussi un facteur de fragilité : lobbys de producteurs, firmes transnationales de négoce des grains et investisseurs fonciers malmènent sa souveraineté agricole.
Comedia del valor de las letras y las armas: nueva luz sobre la historia del capitán cautivo y sus hermanos (DQ 1, 37-45)
Authors: Colahan Clark
Published: December 2015

La historia del capitán cautivo, Ruy Pérez de Viedma, y sus hermanos, como también el discurso de don Quijote de las armas y las letras que le sirve de prólogo, se han estudiado bien, pero no se ha encontrado hasta ahora ningún modelo que combinara ambas partes de esta unidad temática de la primera parte del Quijote. La Comedia del valor de las letras y las armas, pieza anónima de finales del siglo XVI, bien podría haberla conocido Cervantes y aquí se estudia en ese sentido por primera vez. Proporciona amplios paralelos de tema y personajes con la aproximación cervantina al no sólo el topos del mantenimiento de la paz sino al cuento folclórico de los tres hermanos y sus respectivas profesiones. Da nitidez a la conclusión que estos capítulos resuelven el debate de las armas y las letras a favor de
un tercer elemento, el poder social y el dinero.
El entremés de El juez de los divorcios y otros infelicísimos malcasados
Authors: López Martínez José Enrique
Published: December 2015

En este trabajo se revisan varios de los referentes literarios, especialmente del siglo XVI, que pudieron servir como modelos para el entremés El juez de los divorcios de Miguel de Cervantes. Entre los primeros antecedentes teatrales de importancia se encuentran la Farsa de la Costanza, de Cristóbal de Castillejo, y algunas piezas de Lope de Rueda, además de pasajes breves en otras obras en las que vemos la representación cómica de peleas conyugales. Sin embargo, la prosa también tendrá un papel muy importante en varios de los motivos que se ven en la pieza cervantina, como la sátira del matrimonio y principalmente la descripción de la malcasada furiosa, como se observa en el Arcipreste de Talavera o en la obra de fray Antonio de Guevara y Pedro de Luján. En tiempos de Cervantes, estos temas se vuelven a retomar en el Entremés de los huevos, El triunfo de los coches de Gaspar de Barrionuevo o Los malcasados de Valencia de Guillén de Castro; y después de la publicación del entremés cervantino, en El descasamentero de Salas Barbadillo o el anónimo Hospital de los malcasados. Con este análisis se observan mejor varios de los elementos literarios que Cervantes imita de la tradición anterior, y queda de manifiesto el carácter esencialmente cómico de la pieza.
Perder el miedo, romper el mito. Reflexión mediática y representación del Partido Comunista entre el Franquismo y la Transición
Authors: Rueda Laffond José Carlos
Published: December 2015

Este trabajo se aproxima al uso de los medios de comunicación, y a la presencia en los mismos, del Partido Comunista de España (PCE) entre el tardofranquismo y la transición democrática. El artículo se interesa por la relación establecida entre política, discursos de identidad y prácticas de representación. Para ello propone una interpretación fundamentada en fuentes escritas y audiovisuales desde el enfoque del análisis cualitativo. El texto aborda, más específicamente, algunas claves presentes en la reflexión comunista sobre Televisión Española (TVE). Durante la dictadura la televisión fue valorada como una herramienta de control sociocultural e intervención política. Sin embargo, el PCE animó la movilización laboral en aquel medio. A su vez, desde 1976 las necesidades de reforzar la visibilidad pública del partido favorecieron la revisión de sus directrices propagandísticas y sus instrumentos de socialización, al tiempo que se intentó articular una renovada escenificación pública como organización de masas.
A Method for System Buckling Analysis of Plane Sway Frame
Authors: Li Kui Nian
Published: December 2015

Presented in this paper is a simple and practical method for buckling analysis of the overall structural system. The method is developed from the idea that the stiffness (for a SDOF system) or determinant of stiffness matrix (for a MDOF system) is getting to zero as the system is loaded to bucking mode, or the loads reaches the buckling load of the system. A negative stiffness (matrix) is introduced to take the effect of axial loads on the stiffness (matrix) of the system into account and the stiffness (matrix) is modified by this negative stiffness (matrix). To get the buckling load of the overall system, first order analysis (P-Δeffect) is performed with a simple method suggested. The second order analysis (P-δ) is performed by the introducing of a force modification factor to modify the buckling load from first order analysis. Application examples are presented and the results are compared with result obtained from system buckling analysis with FEA. The simplicity, effectiveness and the accuracy of the suggested method is demonstrated.
Analysis of Welding Properties in FSW Aluminium 6351 Alloy Plates Added with Silicon Carbide Particles
Authors: Nallusamy S.
Published: December 2015

In the present investigation, properties of the Friction Stir Welded (FSW) Aluminium 6351 alloy plates added with SiC particles in the weld zone was studied. The qualities of welds were determined in two conditions of as-weld condition and annealed condition. In addition, the hardening parameters were calculated to evaluate the quality of friction stir welds of Al 6351 alloy plates. Using swift hardening law, strength coefficient (k) and strain (ε) values were calculated keeping hardening exponent (n) as constant for Al 6351 alloy. The calculated values of strength coefficient and strain were found to be present within the theoretical design limits for both as-weld and annealed conditions. Thus the process ensures the quality of friction stir welded joints of Al 6351 alloy plates with SiC particles in the weld region both in theoretical and experimental aspects.
Stacked Transformer: Influence of the Geometrical and Technological Parameters
Authors: Namoune Abdelhadi , Hamid Azzedine , Taleb Rachid
Published: December 2015

In this work, we study the effect of the geometrical and technological parameters on the performance of stacked transformer in crystal metal oxide silicon (CMOS). It also presents the equivalent electrical model of on-chip stacked transformer based on the “2-p” architecture and contains the equations to evaluate its components values. These equations depend on both technological and geometric characteristics of the transformer. The inductance (primary or secondary) and the quality factor (primary or secondary) of on chip stacked transformer depend on the geometrical and technological parameters. We study the effect of the geometrical and technological parameters of on chip transformer, so to establish a methodology of its dimensioning and consequently its integration in a chip. The various geometrical and technological parameters that influence the performance of the transformer: capacitance between primary and secondary coils, oxide capacitance between the (primary coil, secondary coil) and substrate, substrate ohmic loss, and substrate capacitance.
Hybridization of Firefly and Water Wave Algorithm for Solving Reactive Power Problem
Authors: Lenin K. , Ravindhranath Reddy B. , Suryakalavathi M.
Published: December 2015

In this paper, a hybrid algorithm as the combination of Firefly and Water Wave algorithm (FWW) has been proposed to solve the Reactive power problem. The firefly algorithm is a meta-heuristic technique which is widely used for solving the optimization problems. The water wave optimization algorithm is also a nature inspired based algorithm. Both algorithms collectively improved the performance of search. The water wave algorithm is work on the combinatorial optimization and utilized as application of firefly algorithm. Hence we merge these two algorithms and make a hybrid algorithm. Proposed FWW algorithm has been tested in standard IEEE 30 Bus test system and simulation results reveal the better performance of the proposed algorithm in reducing the real power loss and voltage profiles were found to be within the limits.
Improving the Performance of INS/GNSS System Using the Approach of Carrier Phase Measurements
Authors: Khan Badshah , Qin Yong Yuan
Published: December 2015

This paper discusses the techniques of attitude, velocity ad position estimation from GNSS carrier phase measurements, and investigates the performance of the lower precision MEMS based INS/GNSS system based on carrier phase measurements. Generally, a GPS receiver estimates the position and velocity from code phase and Doppler measurements. Double differenced carrier phase measurements provide more accurate velocity and position estimation compared to code and Doppler measurements. However, for position measurement, the integer ambiguity is required to be removed. Multiples antennae approach is used to derive the attitude information from carrier phase measurements in order to control the large initial misalignment angles for initialization of the integration process or to utilize during benign dynamics. Lever arm effect is considered to compensate for the separation of GNSS antenna and IMU location. The derived three GNSS observables are used to correct the INS through optimal Kalman filtering in a closed loop. Simulation results indicates the effectiveness of the integrated system for airborne as well as for land navigation vehicles.
Force Analysis of IPMC Actuated Fin and Wing Assembly of a Micro Scanning Device through Two-Way Fluid Structure Interaction Approach
Authors: Haq Mazhar Ul , Gang Zhao , Sun Zhuang Zhi , Aftab S.M.
Published: December 2015

In this paper, a methodology is presented to perform force analysis of wing and fin assembly of a micro fish like device through strongly coupled two-way fluid structure interaction approach. The scanning device operates underwater and is towed by a surface vessel through a tow cable. Device fins are actuated by ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuators, an EAP actuator. Fins act as riser, depressor and stabiliser against roll motion of the device. During tow, wing and fin assembly of the device come under hydrodynamic forces. These forces are influenced by fin displacement under IPMC actuation and wing's angle of attack for same towing conditions. To fully investigate wing and fin assembly performance, we must consider the interaction between their structure and fluid (water) and model the coupling mechanism accurately for fluid structure interaction (FSI) analysis. To obtain an accurate prediction to the hydrodynamic forces on wing and fin assembly of the device, it is necessary to conduct dynamic analysis of the surrounding fluid by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). A numerical simulation of three dimensional model of the assembly is performed in ANSYS WORKBENCH by coupling transient structural and Fluid Flow (CFX) analysis systems. The objectives of this study are as follows: 1) To build an accurate three-dimensional CFD model of the wing and IPMC actuated fin 2) To quantify the lift and drag forces acting on the wing and their corresponding coefficients 3) To demonstrate the influence of wing's angle of attack and fin displacement on generation of lift and drag forces. The presented methodology is also applicable to self-propelled micro robots.
Android Based Naive Bayes Probabilistic Detection Model for Breast Cancer and Mobile Cloud Computing: Design and Implementation
Authors: Gatuha George , Jiang Tao
Published: December 2015

Mobile phone technology initiatives are revolutionizing healthcare delivery in Africa and other developing countries. M-health services have transformed maternal health, management of communicable diseases such as Ebola and prevention of chronic diseases. Technological innovations in m-health have improved healthcare efficiency and effectiveness as well as extending health services to remote locations in rural African communities. This paper describes a ubiquitous m- health system that is based on the user centric paradigm of Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC) and android medical-data mining techniques. The development of ultra-fast 4G mobile networks and sophisticated smartphones and tablets has brought the cloud computing paradigm to the mobile domain.The system’s client side is based on an android platform for breast bio-data collection; a data mining technique based on Naïve Bayes probabilistic classifier (NBC) algorithm for predicting malignancy in breast tissue and the server-side MCC data storage. Experimental results indicate that the android Naïve Bayes classifier achieves 96.4% accuracy on Wisconsin Breast Cancer (WBC) data from UCI machine learning database.
Dual Solutions for Heat and Mass Transfer in MHD Bio-Convective Flow over a Stretching/Shrinking Surface with Suction/Injection
Authors: Satish Kumar M. , Sandeep Naramgari , Kumar B. Rushi
Published: December 2015

The objective of the present study is to investigate the heat and mass transfer characteristics of the MHD stagnation-point flow of gyrotactic microorganisms contained nanofluid past a nonlinear stretching/shrinking sheet in presence of space and temperature dependent internal heat generation/absorption with suction/injection. The governing partial differential equations are transformed to system of ordinary differential equations by using similarity transformation and then solved numerically using Runge-Kutta based shooting technique. The influence of non-dimensional governing parameters on velocity, temperature, nanoparticle volume fraction and density of the motile microorganisms along with friction factor, local Nusselt number, local Sherwood number and the local density of the motile microorganisms was discussed and presented through graphs and tables. Dual solutions are presented for certain range of suction and injection parameters. The validity of the present results compared with the existed results.
Spatial distribution of microphytobenthos, meiofauna and macrofauna in the north-western Adriatic Sea: a synoptic study
Authors: Franzo Annalisa , Cibic Tamara , Del Negro Paola , De Vittor Cinzia
Published: December 2015

In view of the general paucity of integrated information on offshore benthic communities in the Adriatic Sea and given the vulnerability of this particular coastal system, microphytobenthos, meiofauna and macrofauna were synoptically investigated in front of the Emilia-Romagna coast (northern Adriatic Sea) in September 2010 and March 2011. As required by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, which extends its action beyond the territorial waters (within 12 nmi) of the Member States, our findings could help to fill the gap of knowledge on the environmental status in offshore areas since the study was carried out also at >12 nmi from the coastline. In fact, sediment samples for the analysis of the benthic communities were collected from a 10-point-station grid that covered an area of about 400 km2 with water depths ranging from 13 to 50 m. The variability of the sediment grain size and other chemical variables in the sediment suggests the presence of two distinct environmental contexts that enhance the proliferation of different benthic communities. At the inshore stations (depth <20 m) the higher sand percentages and the maxima of dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentrations indicate the presence of hydrodynamic perturbations and the influence of nutrient loads of terrestrial origin. Inshore, both meio- and macrofaunal communities were poorly structured and dominated by relatively more opportunistic taxa, such as nematodes and the bivalve Corbula gibba. Offshore stations (depth >20 m) had muddier sediments, which likely exerted a greater retention of sediment-bound organic matter. These conditions seemed to favour benthic deposit feeders like meio- and macrofaunal annelids. Surprisingly, a conspicuous microphytobenthic community, mainly represented by the diatom Paralia sulcata, has been observed even at remarkable depths (~50 m) opening new questions regarding the role of these organisms in dim-light conditions. Although the investigated benthic communities were, to some extent, moderately influenced by multiple stressors, the co-existence of sensitive taxa (such as meiofaunal copepods and the amphipod Ampelisca spp.) with opportunistic ones (i.e., C. gibba) suggests that the benthic domain in the investigated area is not severely impacted.
The Role of PTEN in Myeloid Malignancies
Authors: Morotti Alessandro , Panuzzo Cristina , Crivellaro Sabrina , Carrà Giovanna , Torti Davide , Guerrasio Angelo , Saglio Giuseppe
Published: December 2015

PTEN deletion in the mouse and in the zebrafish highlights the essential role of this tumor suppressor in the development of myeloid malignancies, in particular acute myeloid leukemia and myeloproliferative disorders. In humans, extensive genetic sequences of myeloid malignancies did not reveal recurrent PTEN mutations and deletions. However, PTEN was shown to be functionally inactivated in several acute myeloid leukemia and chronic myeloid leukemia samples, through both post-trasductional modifications, changes in protein levels and cellular compartmentalization. Notably, non genomic inactivation of PTEN in myeloid malignancies could represent a challenging therapeutic opportunity for these diseases. Targeting those mechanisms that affect PTEN function could indeed promote PTEN reactivation with consequent cancer selective apoptosis induction. In this review we will describe the role of PTEN in the development of myeloid malignancies.
Docosahexaenoic Acid Induces Apoptosis in Primary Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Cells
Authors: Guièze Romain , Gyan Emmanuel , Tournilhac Olivier , Halty Christelle , Veyrat-Masson Richard , Akil Saïda , Berger Marc , Hérault Olivier , Callanan Mary , Bay Jacques-Olivier
Published: December 2015

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is an indolent disorder with an increased infectious risk remaining one of the main causes of death. Development of therapies with higher safety profile is thus a challenging issue. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6) is an omega-3 fatty acid, a natural compound of normal cells, and has been shown to display antitumor potency in cancer. We evaluated the potential in vitro effect of DHA in primary CLL cells. DHA induces high level of in vitro apoptosis compared to oleic acid in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner. Estimation of IC50 was only of 4.813 μM, which appears lower than those reported in solid cancers. DHA is highly active on CLL cells in vitro. This observation provides a rationale for further studies aiming to understand its mechanisms of action and its potent in vivo activity.
Eculizumab Treatment in a Patient with Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation-Associated Thrombotic Microangiopathy and Steroid-Refractory Acute Graft Versus Host Disease
Authors: Fernández Cristina , Lario Ana , Forés Cachón Rafael , Cabrera Rafael
Published: December 2015

A 30-year-old man with acquired aplastic anemia underwent an HLA-identical bone marrow transplant. He developed a grade III acute graft versus host disease (GVHD) refractory to various lines of treatment. On post-transplant day 196, he was diagnosed with stem cell transplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (HSCT-TMA) and he received treatment with eculizumab 900 mg iv weekly for 4 doses followed by a single dose of 1200 mg 2 weeks later. After the first dose of eculizumab, the patient ceased to require transfusions and a progressive improvement in analytical parameters for microangiopathy was observed until their complete normalization. Coinciding with the improved of HSCT-TMA, the patient presented a clear response to his acute GVHD with disappearance of the diarrhea and bilirubin normalization. He was discharged eight weeks after the start of treatment. Unfortunately, one month later, the patient was readmitted for a GVHD relapse and he died two weeks later by an acute respiratory distress syndrome. In our case, the rapid clinical and analytical response to early treatment with eculizumab supports the implication of the complement in HSCT-TMA and suggests that the drug has a beneficial effect when used as coadjuvant therapy in acute GVHD.
Measurement of food colour in L*a*b* units from RGB digital image using least squares support vector machine regression
Authors: Romaniello Roberto , Leone Alessandro , Peri Giorgio
Published: December 2015

The aim of this work is to evaluate the potential of least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM) regression to develop an efficient method to measure the colour of food materials in L*a*b* units by means of a computer vision systems (CVS). A laboratory CVS, based on colour digital camera (CDC), was implemented and three LS-SVM models were trained and validated, one for each output variables (L*, a*, and b*) required by this problem, using the RGB signals generated by the CDC as input variables to these models. The colour target-based approach was used to camera characterization and a standard reference target of 242 colour samples was acquired using the CVS and a colorimeter. This data set was split in two sets of equal sizes, for training and validating the LS-SVM models. An effective two-stage grid search process on the parameters space was performed in MATLAB to tune the regularization parameters γ and the kernel parameters σ2 of the three LS-SVM models. A 3-8-3 multilayer feed-forward neural network (MFNN), according to the research conducted by León et al. (2006), was also trained in order to compare its performance with those of LS-SVM models. The LS-SVM models developed in this research have been shown better generalization capability then the MFNN, allowed to obtain high correlations between L*a*b* data acquired using the colorimeter and the corresponding data obtained by transformation of the RGB data acquired by the CVS. In particular, for the validation set, R2 values equal to 0.9989, 0.9987, and 0.9994 for L*, a* and b* parameters were obtained. The root mean square error values were 0.6443, 0.3226, and 0.2702 for L*, a*, and b* respectively, and the average of colour differences ΔEab was 0.8232±0.5033 units. Thus, LS-SVM regression seems to be a useful tool to measurement of food colour using a low cost CVS.
Il ragionamento nel Disturbo Ossessivo-Compulsivo
Authors: Mancini Francesco , Gangemi Amelia
Published: December 2015

In questo articolo riassumiamo alcuni risultati di un filone di ricerca realizzato nell'ambito della Scuola di Psicoterapia Cognitiva (SPC) Associazione di Psicologia Cognitiva (APC), dedicato principalmente alla spiegazione del disturbo ossessivo compulsivo, vale a dire alla identificazione degli scopi e delle rappresentazioni che regolano la attività  ossessivo-compulsiva e in particolare il ragionamento ossessivo. I risultati di queste ricerche si sono rivelati interessanti, però, anche per la spiegazione di alcuni altri problemi della psicologia clinica e della psicologia generale, quali ad esempio la natura del senso di colpa, l'influenza degli stati emotivi ed intenzionali sui processi cognitivi, in particolare dell'influenza della colpa sul ragionamento e sulle decisioni e del contributo di tale influenza al mantenimento della patologia, cioè alla spiegazione del paradosso nevrotico, e infine, i rapporti tra razionalità  e patologia.
Dynamics of subjective change in psychotherapy. A Comment on the Paper "Dynamics of sense-making and development of the narrative in the clinical exchange" by Alessandro Gennaro, Miguel GonÃ§alves, InÃªs Mendes, AntÃ³nio Ribeiro, & Sergio Salvatore
Authors: Krause Mariane , Martìnez Claudio
Published: December 2015

The following comment has been divided into four sections that present a critical discussion on: (1) the theoretical background of the paper; (2) the two methods used: Discourse Flow Analysis (DFA) and Innovative Moments Coding System (IMCS); (3) results; and (4) conclusions.
Returning to the roots. A Comment on the Paper Alliance in Common Factor Land: A View through the Research Lens
Authors: Colli Antonello
Published: December 2015

In his interesting paper â€œAlliance in Common Factor Land: A View through the Research Lensâ€ Horvath (2011) takes us through the critical aspects of therapeutic alliance researches and the challenges that researchers still have to face. The author discusses several complex issues from the historical background of the construct to the critical aspects of its measurement, and concluding with the proposal of a research agenda. The key topic of Horvathâ€™s (2011) paper is the necessity for a better definition of therapeutic alliance construct, one that would (a) recognize the similarities and differences among the different kinds of therapeutic alliance definitions; and (b) differentiate the components of the therapeutic relationship.Â  As Horvath reminds us in his paper, the problem of differentiation between therapeutic alliance and other components of the relationship originates from Greensonâ€™s (1965) tripartition of therapeutic relationship in transference, working alliance, and real relationship.
Study of a Short-term Treatment by Referential Activity Linguistic Measures
Authors: Mariani Rachele , De Coro Alessandra
Published: December 2015

The purpose of the present article is to evaluate in this successful clinical case the Referential Process (Bucci, 1997) in the whole course of the therapeutic process. Objectives: The goals of the study are: to explore the linguistic interaction between patient and therapist; and to analyze specific linguistic patterns marking symboliza-tion and reorganization phases during the sessions. Method: The whole treatment is composed of 14 sessions, each session was transcribed verbatim, all sessions were processed by DAAP software and the following Italian computerized linguistic measures of the referential process were applied: Positive Affects, Negative Affects, Sum Affects, Reflection, Disfluency, Referential Activity Dictionary. Results: The analysis of patient and therapist interactions show a specific linguistic pattern, based on a verbalization of Negative Affects. Through cluster analysis, the whole treat-ment shows two specific phases; the first is at the beginning when a deep emotional involvement rapidly emerges, along with a high symbolization phase; followed by the second phase characterized by closure and reduction of emotional connections. A specific session â€œnumber 7â€ was also analyzed because of it showed a major pat-tern change.
Clinician Emotional Response Toward Narcissistic Patients: A Preliminary Report
Authors: Tanzilli Annalisa , Colli Antonello , Muzi Laura , Lingiardi Vittorio
Published: December 2015

Patients with narcissistic personality disorder are among the most difficult to treat in therapy, especially for their strong resistance to treatment and several difficulties in establishing a therapeutic relationship characterized by intimacy, safety, and trust. In particular, therapists’ emotional responses to these patients can be particularly intense and frustrating, as reported in the clinical literature but rarely investigated empirically.The aims of this preliminary study were: 1) to examine the associations between patients’ narcissistic personality disorder and distinct therapists’ countertransference patterns; and 2) to verify whether these clinicians’ emotional reactions were influenced by their theoretical orientation (as well as gender and age).A national sample of psychiatrists and clinical psychologists (N = 250) completed the Therapist Response Questionnaire (TRQ) to identify patterns of therapist emotional response, and the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure-200 (SWAP-200) to assess personality disorder and level of psychological functioning in a patient currently in their care and with whom they had worked for a minimum of eight sessions and a maximum of 6 months (one session per week).From the complete therapist sample, we identified a subgroup (N = 35) of patients with narcissistic personality disorder, and we found that this personality pathology was positively associated with criticized/mistreated and disengaged countertransference, but negatively associated with positive therapist response. Moreover, our results confirmed that the relationship between patients’ narcissistic personality disorder and therapists’ emotional responses was not dependent on clinicians’ theoretical approach (as well as their age and gender).These findings are consistent with clinical observations, as well as some empirical contributions, and have meaningful implications for clinical practice of patients suffering from this challenging pathology.
Dorsal spinal epidural psammomatous meningioma in an adult male
Authors: Pandey Sharad , Singh Kulwant , Sharma Vivek , Ghosh Amrita , Suman Saurabh
Published: December 2015

Meningiomas are benign in nature and arise from the arachnoid cells. They are mostly situated in the intracranial compartment, whereas spinal meningiomas are rare. Approximately, in 10% of cases, an extradural component is seen but an exclusively extradural meningioma is quite uncommon. However, WHO Grade II (atypical) and Grade III (anaplastic) tumors can behave aggressively. We reported a case of purely extradural psammomatous meningioma in an adult male affecting the dorsal spine although uncommon meningiomas should be included in the differential diagnosis of extradural intraspinal masses.
Down syndrome in tribal population in India: A field observation
Authors: Lakhan Ram , Kishore Madhavaram Thomas
Published: December 2015

Context: Down syndrome (DS) is a prevalent genetic disorder in intellectual disability (ID) in India. Its prevalence in tribal population is not known. Aims: The study aimed to understand the profile of DS in a tribal population with an objective of finding the prevalence of DS among those with ID. Settings and Design: This is a community-based study with a survey design. Subjects and Methods: A door-to-door survey was conducted by trained, community-based rehabilitation workers under close supervision of multidisciplinary team to identify people with ID. A standardized screening instrument National Institute for Mentally Handicapped-Developmental Screening Schedule was used in the survey. All identified ID cases were evaluated by therapists in IDs for diagnosis of ID on developmental screening test and Vineland social maturity scale. Clinical examination was performed by medical doctors for DS on people identified as ID. Only two parents brought their children for further lab investigations at Ashagram Trust, Barwani. Statistical Analysis Used: Descriptive statistics was applied manually to treat the data. Results: The frequency of DS population in tribal population closely matches with DS prevalence in the USA. Mothers of DS children in the tribal community are relatively younger. Conclusion: Prevalence of DS in tribal population of India may greatly vary with that of the US data, but it is markedly associated with younger maternal age. Further studies are needed for prevalence and identification of potential correlates of this condition.
Hindi translation and evaluation of psychometric properties of Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmenta Factors instrument in spinal cord injury subjects
Authors: Soni Sandeep , Walia Shefali , Noohu Majumi Mohamad
Published: December 2015

Introduction: The Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors instrument (CHIEF) is one of the few tools to assess the environmental barriers. The purpose of this study was to translate long and short CHIEF into Hindi language, and to determine its validity and reliability. Design and Setting: The study design was observational case series with repeated measures. It was carried out at Indian Spinal Injuries Centre New Delhi, a specialized center for rehabilitation for spinal cord injury. Methods: The CHIEF instrument was translated from English to Hindi based on the Beaton guidelines for the cross-cultural adaptation of health status measures. The Hindi version of the CHIEF instrument was then administered on a convenience sample of 30 spinal cord injured subjects. Its content validity, internal consistency, test-rest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] 2,1), standard error of measurement (SEM), and minimum detectable change (MDC) were determined for both the longer and shorter version. Results: The mean ± SD of total of Hindi-CHIEF instrument, longer version was 1.44 ± 0.82 and total score of the shorter version was 1.07 ± 0.66. The content validity determined by the content validity ratio was found to be 1 for all the items except item number 5, 11, and 12. The content validity index was 0.97 for the longer version and for the shorter version it was 0.98. Internal consistency, Cronbach’s α value was found to be 0.92 and test-retest value (ICC 2,1) was 0.80 (P < 0.001). The MDC was found to be 0.99 and SEM was 0.36 for the longer version. The Cronbach’s α was 0.731, ICC 2,1 was 0.63 (P < 0.001), SEM was 0.24, and MDC was 0.66 for the shorter version. Conclusion: The Hindi translated version of the CHIEF scale has acceptable content validity and reliability. It can be used to assess environmental barriers perceived by spinal cord injury patients.
Imaging in Hirayama disease
Authors: Gupta Keshav , Sood Shashank , Modi Jayesh , Gupta Rajiv
Published: December 2015

Hirayama disease, also known as Sobue disease is a rare nonprogressive spinal muscular atrophy. Here, we report a case series of three young males presenting with atrophy of distal upper limb and Hirayama disease as their clinico-radiological diagnosis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed loss of cervical lordosis with focal areas of lower cervical cord atrophy in a neutral position. MRI in flexion position revealed, anterior displacement of the detached posterior dura from the underlying lamina compressing the thecal sac and widened posterior epidural space with flow voids seen better on 3D-CISS images. All the three patients were managed conservatively.
Establishing geochemical baselines in forest soils for environmental risk assessment in the Montague and Goldenville gold districts, Nova Scotia, Canada
Authors: Parsons Michael B. , Little Megan E.
Published: December 2015

Mine tailings at historical gold districts in Nova Scotia, Canada, contain high concentrations of arsenic (As) and mercury (Hg), which may represent a risk to ecosystems and human health. Two sites, Montague and Goldenville, are of particular concern as tailings are located close to residences and are occasionally used for racing off-road vehicles. Risk-assessment calculations require knowledge of the naturally occurring concentrations of As and Hg in soils overlying mineralized bedrock within these gold districts. In this study, we collected samples of the top 0–5 cm of surface soil (the Public Health layer) from 46 sites near Montague, and 39 sites near Goldenville. Samples of individual soil horizons (H, Ae, B, and C) were also taken from selected sites to evaluate the vertical distribution of elements in the soil profile. Results show that the concentrations of As and Hg in all soil horizons are generally higher down-ice, southeasterly, of the ore zones in both districts, reflecting glacial erosion and transport of mineralized bedrock. Analysis of the top 0–5 cm of soils shows the following ranges in As and Hg concentrations (<2 mm size fraction): Montague: As, 4–273 mg/kg (median 42 mg/kg); Hg, 72–490 µg/kg (median 164 µg/kg); Goldenville: As, 2–140 mg/kg (median 13 mg/kg); Hg, 39–312 µg/kg (median 114 µg/kg). In general, the concentrations of As are highest in the B and C horizons, whereas Hg concentrations are highest in humus (H). Results from this study have been used to assess the distribution of tailings at these sites, and to help guide risk-management decisions.
Антиинтегрируемый предел
Authors: Bolotin Sergey Vladimirovich , Treschev Dmitry Valerevich
Published: December 2015

Антиинтегрируемый предел является одним из удобных и относительно простых методов построения хаотических гиперболических инвариантных множеств в лагранжевых, гамильтоновых и других динамических системах. В настоящей статье рассматривается наиболее естественный контекст метода - дискретные лагранжевы системы. Затем приводятся примеры и приложения.
Библиография: 75 названий.
Bayesian regression of piecewise homogeneous Poisson processes
Authors: Sevilla Diego
Published: December 2015

In this paper, a Bayesian method for piecewise regression is adapted to handle counting processes data distributed as Poisson. A numerical code in Mathematica is developed and tested analyzing simulated data. The resulting method is valuable for detecting breaking points in the count rate of time series for Poisson processes.Received: 2 November 2015,  Accepted: 27 November 2015; Edited by: R. Dickman; Reviewed by: M. Hutter, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.; DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4279/PIP.070018Cite as: D J R Sevilla, Papers in Physics 7, 070018 (2015)This paper, by D J R Sevilla, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0.
Morphological feature of brachial artery and its clinical significance
Authors: Al Talalwah W. , Getachew D. , Soames R.
Published: December 2015

Introduction: The present study is to provide comprehensive data concerning the morphology of brachial artery which has a clinical significance for clinicians, orthopedics, vascular surgeons and anatomists. Materials and Methods: Routine dissections of the right and left upper limb of 34 adult cadavers (20 male and 14 female: mean age 78.9 year) were undertaken. It investigates the characteristics of the brachial artery such as the internal diameter, external diameter, wall thickness and distance of bifurcation of brachial artery. Results: The mean of the external and internal diameters of the brachial artery from proximal to distal ranged from 6.87-5.35 mm respectively. The bifurcation of the brachial artery from the head of radius into its terminal branch radial and ulnar artery ranged from 13.49-13.79 mm, while the distance of bifurcation of common interosseous from origin of the ulnar artery ranged from 33.11-33.45 mm. The angle of bifurcation ofthe radial and ulnar arteries from the brachial artery ranged from 5.79-7.33° and 18.640-19.36° respectively. Due to variability of the brachial artery in the upper limb, the surgical and invasive procedures are performed in the region such as artiicial arterial-venous fistula become more difficult and may result in iatrogenic injury. Conclusion: Therefore, it is a clinical significant for surgeons to known the variable morphology and course of brachial artery to minimize surgical complication prior to operation.
Understanding Virtual Objects through Reverse Engineering
Authors: Moitinho Vera , Barceló Juan Anton
Published: December 2015

The main objective of our research is to develop a new methodology, based on Reverse Engineering processes – 3D scan, quantitative data analysis and Artificial Intelligence techniques, in particular simulation – to study the relationship between form and function of artefacts. Furthermore, we aim to provide new data, as well as possible explanations of the archaeological record according to what it expects about social activity, including working processes, by simulating the potentialities of such actions in terms of input-output relationships.
Museo Virtual Hiperrealista
Authors: Ortiz Coder Pedro
Published: December 2015

Hiperrealistic Virtual Museum is a proposal of GAVLE; Cultural Heritage Documentation Company. This project try to create a new method for
documentation, catalogation, analysis, restoration and diffusion purposes applied for museums, archaeological sites or research centers using the most modern technologies. The first step is create a high resolution digitalization of the objects; thus, the possibilities growing up like the quality of the products. This project plan the regeneration of some departments of the museums, decreasing costs and increasing the quality of the products and creating news ways for 3D diffusion purposes.
Integración de contenidos 3D de la cultura ibérica en Europeana
Authors: Martínez Carrillo A. L. , Gómez Francisco , Sánchez Vizcaíno Alberto
Published: December 2015

Over the last few years, Internet has become the main information provider in every field. The initiative for the digital library of European culture, Europeana, sets in this framework of such information technologies. This paper reports on the method used to integrate 3D archeological data in a website currently under construction at the Andalusian Centre for Iberian Archaeology of the University of Jaén. The initiative is funded by project CARARE (Connecting ARchaeology and ARchitecture in Europeana) aiming at increasing the quantity and quality of 2D and 3D digital contents of European archaeology and architecture.
Evaluation of the MACC operational forecast system – potential and challenges of global near-real-time modelling with respect to reactive gases in the troposphere
Authors: Wagner A. , Blechschmidt A.-M. , Bouarar I. , Brunke E.-G. , Clerbaux C. , Cupeiro M. , Cristofanelli P. , Eskes H. , Flemming J. , Flentje H. , George M. , Gilge S. , Hilboll A. , Inness A. , Kapsomenakis J. , Richter A. , Ries L. , Spangl W. , Stein O. , Weller R. , Zerefos C.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. The Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate (MACC) project represents the European Union's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) (http://www.copernicus.eu/), which became fully operational during 2015. The global near-real-time MACC model production run for aerosol and reactive gases provides daily analyses and 5-day forecasts of atmospheric composition fields. It is the only assimilation system worldwide that is operational to produce global analyses and forecasts of reactive gases and aerosol fields. We have investigated the ability of the MACC analysis system to simulate tropospheric concentrations of reactive gases covering the period between 2009 and 2012. A validation was performed based on carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) surface observations from the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) network, the O3 surface observations from the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) and, furthermore, NO2 tropospheric columns, as well as CO total columns, derived from satellite sensors. The MACC system proved capable of reproducing reactive gas concentrations with consistent quality; however, with a seasonally dependent bias compared to surface and satellite observations – for northern hemispheric surface O3 mixing ratios, positive biases appear during the warm seasons and negative biases during the cold parts of the year, with monthly modified normalised mean biases (MNMBs) ranging between −30 and 30 % at the surface. Model biases are likely to result from difficulties in the simulation of vertical mixing at night and deficiencies in the model's dry deposition parameterisation. Observed tropospheric columns of NO2 and CO could be reproduced correctly during the warm seasons, but are mostly underestimated by the model during the cold seasons, when anthropogenic emissions are at their highest level, especially over the US, Europe and Asia. Monthly MNMBs of the satellite data evaluation range from values between −110 and 40 % for NO2 and at most −20 % for CO, over the investigated regions. The underestimation is likely to result from a combination of errors concerning the dry deposition parameterisation and certain limitations in the current emission inventories, together with an insufficiently established seasonality in the emissions.
Heterogeneous ice nucleation of viscous secondary organic aerosol produced from ozonolysis of α-pinene
Authors: Ignatius K. , Kristensen T. B. , Järvinen E. , Nichman L. , Fuchs C. , Gordon H. , Herenz P. , Hoyle C. R. , Duplissy J. , Garimella S. , Dias A. , Frege C. , Höppel N. , Tröstl J. , Wagner R. , Yan C. , Amorim A. , Baltensperger U. , Curtius J. , Donahue N. M. , Gallagher M. W. , Kirkby J. , Kulmala M. , Möhler O. , Saathoff H. , Schnaiter M. , Tomé A. , Virtanen A. , Worsnop D. , Stratmann F.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. There are strong indications that particles containing secondary organic aerosol (SOA) exhibit amorphous solid or semi-solid phase states in the atmosphere. This may facilitate deposition ice nucleation and thus influence cirrus cloud properties. However, experimental ice nucleation studies of biogenic SOA are scarce. Here, we investigated the ice nucleation ability of viscous SOA particles. The SOA particles were produced from the ozone initiated oxidation of α-pinene in an aerosol chamber at temperatures in the range from −38 to −10 °C at 5–15 % relative humidity with respect to water to ensure their formation in a highly viscous phase state, i.e. semi-solid or glassy. The ice nucleation ability of SOA particles with different sizes was investigated with a new continuous flow diffusion chamber. For the first time, we observed heterogeneous ice nucleation of viscous α-pinene SOA in the deposition mode for ice saturation ratios between 1.3 and 1.4 significantly below the homogeneous freezing limit. The maximum frozen fractions found at temperatures between −36.5 and −38.3 °C ranged from 6 to 20 % and did not depend on the particle surface area. Global modelling of monoterpene SOA particles suggests that viscous biogenic SOA particles are indeed present in regions where cirrus cloud formation takes place. Hence, they could make up an important contribution to the global ice nuclei (IN) budget.