bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Synthesis and thermal properties of poly(vinylcyclohexane)-b-poly(4-vinylpyridine) diblock copolymers prepared via RAFT polymerization
Authors: Qi Yinghua , Perepichka Iryna I. , Song Zhengji , Varshney Sunil K.
Published: August 2017

A series of novel poly(vinylcyclohexane)-b-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PVCH-b-P4VP) diblock copolymers have been synthesized through a combination of anionic and RAFT polymerization techniques. Using this approach, end functionalized ω-hydroxy-polystyrene was used to yield ω-hydroxy-PVCH by hydrogenation followed by end-functionalization via an esterification reaction with 2-(dodecylthiocarbonothioylthio)-2-methylpropionic acid to yield PVCH-RAFT agent. The crossover propagation from PVCH-RAFT to 4VP displays living character and allowed generating diblock copolymers with well-defined molecular compositions. The characterization of the resulted polymers was performed using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Fourier-transform infra-red (FT-IR) spectroscopies, size-exclusion chromatography with light-scattering detector (SEC-LS), and the thermal properties were studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).
Commercializing Electrospun Scaffolds For Pluripotent Stem Cell-Based Tissue Engineering Applications
Authors: Mohtaram Nima Khadem , Karamzadeh Vahid , Shafieyan Yousef , Willerth Stephanie M.
Published: August 2017

Tissue engineering, the process of combining bioactive scaffolds often with cells to produce replacements for damaged organs, represents an enormous market opportunity. This review critically evaluates the commercialization potential of electrospun scaffolds for applications in stem cell biology, including tissue engineering. First, it provides an overview of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) and their defining properties, pluripotency and the ability to self-renew. These cells serve as an important tool for engineering tissues, including for clinical applications. Next, we review the technique of electrospinning and its promise for fabricating cell culture substrates and scaffolds for directing tissue formation from stem cells and compare these scaffolds to existing technologies, such as hydrogels. We address the associated market for electrospun scaffolds for PSCs and its potential for growth along with highlighting the importance of 3D cell culture substrates for PSCs by analyzing the net capital invested in this market and the associated growth rate. This review finishes by detailing the current state of commercializing electrospun scaffolds along with pathways for translating these scaffolds from research laboratories into successful start-up companies and the associated challenges with this process.
Language in all subjects: the Council of Europe’s perspective
Authors: Beacco Jean-Claude
Published: August 2017

The Language Policy Unit of the Council of Europe has been engaged in language planning for quite some time now. If, in the past, the unit’s work was mainly focused on multilingualism – benchmarking, description and assessment – as in the development of the Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR), it has recently taken on the task of developing proficiency descriptors for school subjects. Its aim is to contribute to the debate on the language deficit in many European education systems -in accordance with the Recommendation CM/Rec(2014)5 of the Committee of Ministers to the member states on the importance of competences in the language(s) of schooling for equity and quality in education and for educational success. This paper addresses the rationales, procedures and major concerns of the Language Policy Unit when creating an ideology of language(s) of schooling and developing tools for their study as a new paradigm in Europe, as well as describing the initiatives implemented to date: to find a common ground among different national traditions in discourse studies; to explore how subject teachers can interpret their courses in linguistic terms; to map subject genres for curriculum innovation; and to outline a discursive evolution that is coherent in all school subjects.
Pluriliteracies Teaching for Learning: conceptualizing progression for deeper learning in literacies development
Authors: Meyer Oliver , Coyle Do
Published: August 2017

Pluriliteracies Teaching for Learning (PTL) constitutes a relatively recent development in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). This approach has been developed by a group of international experts (The Graz Group) in order to model and provide pathways for deeper learning across languages, disciplines and cultures by focusing on the development of disciplinary or subject specific literacies. We argue that deeper learning – defined as the successful internalization of conceptual content knowledge and the automatization of subject specific procedures, skills and strategies – rests on learners’ acquisition of disciplinary literacies. We posit that disciplinary literacies in turn only develop when learners actively engage in subject specific ways of constructing knowledge and when they are taught how to language their understanding appropriately and in an increasingly complex and subject appropriate manner. In this article, we will describe the theoretical underpinnings that inform our model to show how an understanding of the two key processes of deeper learning will aid to the conceptualization of learner progression in pluriliteracies development.
Languages of schooling in European policymaking: present state and future outcomes
Authors: Lorenzo Francisco , Trujillo Fernando
Published: August 2017

European language policies have unfolded under the umbrella of the Council of Europe and the European Commission over the last past decades. The major goal has been so far to handle autochthonous multilingualism and preserve language diversity. Major developments in this area has been followed by new political and educational targets. The first one is the spread of high levels of cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP) across all the student population. High CALP levels imply the acquisition of high order skills triggered by the practice of advanced language structures at school, mostly through language across the curriculum schemes. Secondly, their interests lie in the development of second language instruction competence (SLIC); i.e. the ability to process school content in a variety of languages so that multilingual education does not affect communicative levels only. CALP and SLIC will mark the political goals for language policy in the nearby future and it so happens that languages of schooling provide a framework to operationalize these goals. Following on past research on European multilingual language policies, this paper intends to explore the means to make this language policy happen in schools. The major concepts, innovations and policies discussed will be illustrated with examples from the course of History.
Negotiating language across disciplines in pre-service teacher collaboration
Authors: Aalto Eija , Tarnanen Mirja
Published: August 2017

In multilingual learning settings, in order to provide optimal learning conditions for all learners and support both disciplinary and language knowledge development, subject teachers need knowledge on and understanding of how language is used to construct meanings in their discipline and how to scaffold learning from the premise of learners’ current skills. In this article, we report a descriptive case study of two teaching interventions carried out in pre-service subject teacher practice. Student teachers of science and ethics collaborated with student teachers of Finnish language and literature to plan and implement thematic units that focused on particular disciplinary phenomena and the language and project skills needed in exploring those phenomena in a multilingual and multicultural teaching setting. Audio-recorded planning sessions and interviews of teacher students were analysed using thematic analysis and discourse analysis to identify emerging discourses reflecting their pedagogical language knowledge. The student teachers seemed to approach language mainly as bounded sets of linguistic resources, and various means for meaning-making were used to a large extent separately without strategic consideration. Spoken language in particular was unconscious, unanalysed, and considered a self-explanatory means for meaning-making.
Multilingual Development: A Longitudinal Perspective – Mehrsprachigkeitsentwicklung im Zeitverlauf (MEZ)
Authors: Brandt Hanne , Lagemann Marina , Rahbari Sharareh
Published: August 2017

The longitudinal study “Multilingual Development: A Longitudinal Perspective” (MEZ) follows two cohorts of secondary school students with monolingual German, German-Turkish and German-Russian language backgrounds over the course of three years. The project investigates language-based, personal, and contextual factors that influence students’ multilingual development and examines how multilingual skills are related to other dimensions of educational success (e.g., transition decisions and processes in the educational system). The objective of MEZ is to identify starting points for developing strategies to increase young people’s chances for educational success.
Narrating Narcissus, reflecting cognition: Illusion, disillusion, “self-cognition” and “love as passion” in Ovid and beyond
Authors: Renger Almut-Barbara
Published: August 2017

Since Ovid’s version of the Narcissus narrative, numerous readings and re-narrations have emerged across the globe that are related to the ancient myth of the beautiful youth who unwittingly sees himself in a pool of water and eventually dies staring at the insubstantial image. Generating a wide spectrum of reinterpretations of values, ideas, and aesthetic aspects inherent in the ancient narrative, its reception history has continued to elicit some of the most diverse intellectual responses to Greek and Roman mythology, each of them reflecting the cultural context in which they were produced. The present article is devoted to this issue, providing introductory perspectives on the Ovidian narrative and its ramifications by giving particular examples, especially of works taking up central themes of Ovid’s version, such as reflection and deception, illusion and (self-)cognition, passionate love for another and the incurable desire for oneself. Sensitive to the cultural contexts out of which the examples emerge, the paper conceptually frames the topics of narrative and narcissism, and contextualizes them by drawing on insights from several theoretical strands and academic disciplines.
Narcissus has been with us all along: Ancient stories as narcissistic narratives
Authors: Dinkler Michal Beth
Published: August 2017

Taking her cue from Freud’s insistence that narcissism is the “universal original condition” of humanity, Linda Hutcheon argues in her bookNarcissistic narrative: The metafictional paradoxthat narcissism is “the original condition of the novel as a genre” (1984: 8). Such “metafictional” or “self-reflexive” literature is regularly dated to the seventeenth century. However, this essay argues that narrative narcissism has been with us since ancient times, not just since the rise of post/modern novelistic discourse. Narratives from various ages and places, across diverse corpora, draw attention to their own textuality, even if they do so to differing degrees and in different ways. To relegate all considerations of narrative narcissism to overt examples of post/modern “metafiction” is a categorical mistake. Making my case with reference to a wide range of ancient narratives, I argue that narrative narcissism can be a useful, nuanced analytic lens through which to read ancient literature, and that ancient examples of narcissism can nuance our understanding of this narratological concept.
Narcissism in cultural theory: Perspectives on Christopher Lasch, Richard Sennett, and Robert Pfaller
Authors: Grubner Bernadette
Published: August 2017

For several decades, the concept of narcissism has been used to criticize society and culture(s). This paper discusses the achievements and limits of such approaches. In a first step, it sketches controversies within psychoanalysis around the notion of narcissism itself. It then proposes a categorization of cultural theories that draw on narcissism in general. The main part of the paper deals with three exemplary theories: Christopher Lasch’s The culture of narcissism; Richard Sennett’s The fall of public man, and the philosophy of Robert Pfaller. A detailed analysis shows that theories which try to establish causal connections between society and the occurrence of personality disorders usually fail to explicate this connection in a satisfactory way. Theories that criticize society because it supposedly fosters narcissistic personalities prove to be unconvincing. Approaches that use the notion of narcissism in a broader, metaphorical sense, however, have the potential to cast a new light on certain developments in culture.
The journeying self: From narcissism to solidarity and doxology
Authors: Guyette Fred
Published: August 2017

Under the sign of “the journeying self,” I offer a sketch of a Christian pilgrimage from narcissism to solidarity and doxology. Developmental psychology can help frame questions about growth in self-awareness from childhood (Fivush) to early adulthood (Habermas). Often this kind of growth is expressed in the language of narrative (Ricoeur), but a “minority report” summarizes several different critiques of life narratives – in the work of Derek Parfit, Galen Strawson, Hayden White, and Jean-Francois Lyotard, among others. Nevertheless, a positive assessment of narrative recommences, thanks in part to Twenge’s interest in how human beings can reach out beyond themselves to others and to God (Josselson, McAdams). A reflection on Psalm 51 seeks to help pilgrims further along a path from narcissism to solidarity with others and further on toward doxology.
The “Me Decade”: Textual and figural narcissism in Robert M. Pirsig’s motorcycle narrative Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance: An inquiry into values (1974)
Authors: Berning Nora
Published: August 2017

Robert Pirsig’s motorcycle narrative Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance: An inquiry into values (1974) revels in narcissism. It is both shaped by the culture of narcissism from which it emerged and, like many other works of motorcycle literature since World War II, it shapes a culture of narcissism in America that goes hand in hand with a widespread desire to turn inward and away from a shared sense of community, identity, and responsibility. Drawing on Linda Hutcheon’s seminal study Narcissistic narrative (1980), narcissism is used as an interpretive framework for understanding narrative. Narcissism understood in this way is a literary phenomenon. But besides a high level of diegetical self-awareness, on a cultural level the narrative displays a narcissism that is embodied by a self-involved character who lacks empathy. In order to arrive at a nuanced understanding of narcissism understood as a literary and cultural phenomenon, it is necessary to think the two forms of narcissism – textual and figural – together and to draw on insights from literary studies as well as cognitive and cultural studies. Such an interdisciplinary approach makes it possible to define narcissism as an inherent dimension of all motorcycle narratives.
Representations of CEO narcissism in films by Ethan and Joel Coen
Authors: Adams Jeffrey
Published: August 2017

Business executives are stock characters in the film narratives of the Coen brothers. In nearly every Coen brothers film we find a business executive of some type, from small business owners to corporate CEOs. These characters are men of wealth and power, typically corrupt, often criminal, and always antagonistic to the endeavors of the story’s protagonist. Drawing on recent research in business and organizational management science focused on the narcissistic aspects of contemporary corporate leadership, this article explores CEO narcissism and applies it to characters in Coen brothers movies. Blood simple, Raising Arizona, Fargo, The big Lebowski, and The Hudsucker proxy satirize business moguls as “blustering titans,” possessed of an inflated sense of self-importance and superiority, a willingness to manipulate others for personal gain, and a constant demand for self-validation.
Ahead of the curvein the MBA bubble: Institutional narcissism and the narrative reconstruction of moral agency
Authors: Schmidt Silke
Published: August 2017

Academic criticism of institutional narcissism in business schools is well established. But little scholarly attention has been devoted to insider critics of business schools. Filling this research gap – from an interdisciplinary narrative perspective – is the aim of this article. It draws attention to one of the many autobiographical narratives that have recently been published by MBA graduates. Narcissism here appears as an important theme, both on an institutional and a personal level. What role does narration play for coping with narcissism? To explore this question, this paper offers a close reading ofAhead of the curve: Two years at Harvard Business School(2008) by Philip Delves Broughton. After a brief introduction to institutional narcissism and organizational narrative studies, the article illustrates how narrative functions as a sense-making tool for understanding institutional narcissism and as a means to reconstruct individual moral agency. The study pushes the frontiers of narrative studies by providing an innovative blend of empirical organizational research and literary studies, while also touching upon genre, interdisciplinarity, and the ethical responsibility of business in society.
How an author’s mind made stories: Emotion and ethics in Tagore’s short fiction
Authors: Hogan Patrick Colm
Published: August 2017

Authors may be understood as producing stories from theirnarrative idiolects. Narrative idiolects are sets of principles that enable the simulation of possible sequences of causally connected events. Such idiolects include prototypes that define classes of stories. These prototypes orproto-storiesare complexes of cognitive and affective structures that guide the interpretation of real-world events as well as the production of fictions. Like everyone, Rabindranath Tagore had a range of proto-stories. But one was particularly important for him. This was a proto-story based on attachment, the sort of bonding that first of all characterizes the relations of parents and young children. This proto-story centers on the formation and violation of attachment relations, with the ethical and political issues that surround such violation. Specifically, Tagore’s ethical and political imagination was largely guided by the norm of securely developing attachment. It was elaborated into stories by reference to deviations from that norm. Those deviations are caused by attachment threat or loss. In connection with these points, Tagore’s attachment proto-story suggests two key ethical virtues –attachment sensitivityandattachment openness. These, in turn, may be disturbed by the social production of shame, often in relation to gender ideology. This essay examines Tagore’s attachment proto-story and its ethical and political consequences.
Narrative Theory, 2006–2015: Some highlights with applications to Ian McEwan’sAtonement
Authors: Phelan James
Published: August 2017

This essay is a sequel to “Narrative theory, 1966–2006: A narrative,” Chapter 8 of the 2006 edition ofThe nature of narrative.Rather than attempting to be comprehensive, it highlights five particular developments in the field, each connected with issues discussed in the 2006 essay, and it illustrates the interpretive consequences of each development by considering its implications for reading Ian McEwan’sAtonement.The first two developments are related to ongoing “instabilities” I identified at the end of the 2006 essay: unnatural narratology and theories of fictionality. The next three developments are related to the three main approaches I discussed in 2006: within cognitive theory, work on theory of mind or mind-reading; within feminist theory, work on intersectionality; within rhetorical theory, work on the narrative communication model.
Locally produced xenin and the neurotensinergic system in pancreatic islet function and β-cell survival
Authors: Khan Dawood , Vasu Srividya , Moffett R. Charlotte , Gault Victor A. , Flatt Peter R. , Irwin Nigel
Published: August 2017

Modulation of neuropeptide receptors is important for pancreatic β-cell function. Here, islet distribution and effects of the neurotensin (NT) receptor modulators, xenin and NT, was examined. Xenin, but not NT, significantly improved glucose disposal and insulin secretion, in mice. However, both peptides stimulated insulin secretion from rodent β-cells at 5.6 mmglucose, with xenin having similar insulinotropic actions at 16.7 mmglucose. In contrast, NT inhibited glucose-induced insulin secretion. Similar observations were made in human 1.1B4 β-cells and isolated mouse islets. Interestingly, similar xenin levels were recorded in pancreatic and small intestinal tissue. Arginine and glucose stimulated xenin release from islets. Streptozotocin treatment decreased and hydrocortisone treatment increased β-cell mass in mice. Xenin co-localisation with glucagon was increased by streptozotocin, but unaltered in hydrocortisone mice. This corresponded to elevated plasma xenin levels in streptozotocin mice. In addition, co-localisation of xenin with insulin was increased by hydrocortisone, and decreased by streptozotocin. Furtherin vitroinvestigations revealed that xenin and NT protected β-cells against streptozotocin-induced cytotoxicity. Xenin augmented rodent and human β-cell proliferation, whereas NT displayed proliferative actions only in human β-cells. These data highlight the involvement of NT signalling pathways for the possible modulation of β-cell function.
Regulation of protein function by S-nitrosation and S-glutathionylation: processes and targets in cardiovascular pathophysiology
Authors: Belcastro Eugenia , Gaucher Caroline , Corti Alessandro , Leroy Pierre , Lartaud Isabelle , Pompella Alfonso
Published: August 2017

Decades of chemical, biochemical and pathophysiological research have established the relevance of post-translational protein modifications induced by processes related to oxidative stress, with critical reflections on cellular signal transduction pathways. A great deal of the so-called ‘redox regulation’ of cell function is in fact mediated through reactions promoted by reactive oxygen and nitrogen species on more or less specific aminoacid residues in proteins, at various levels within the cell machinery. Modifications involving cysteine residues have received most attention, due to the critical roles they play in determining the structure/function correlates in proteins. The peculiar reactivity of these residues results in two major classes of modifications, with incorporation of NO moieties (S-nitrosation, leading to formation of proteinS-nitrosothiols) or binding of low molecular weight thiols (S-thionylation, i.e. in particularS-glutathionylation,S-cysteinylglycinylation andS-cysteinylation). A wide array of proteins have been thus analyzed in detail as far as their susceptibility to either modification or both, and the resulting functional changes have been described in a number of experimental settings. The present review aims to provide an update of available knowledge in the field, with a special focus on the respective (sometimes competing and antagonistic) roles played by proteinS-nitrosations andS-thionylations in biochemical and cellular processes specifically pertaining to pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases.
Eremophilane-type sesquiterpenes from fungi and their medicinal potential
Authors: Yuyama Kamila Tomoko , Fortkamp Diana , Abraham Wolf-Rainer
Published: August 2017

Eremophilanes are sesquiterpenes with a rearranged carbon skeleton formed both by plants and fungi, however, almost no plant eremophilanes are found in fungi. These eremophilanes possess mainly phytotoxic, antimicrobial, anticancer and immunomodulatory properties and in this review fungal eremophilanes with bioactivities of potential medicinal applications are reviewed and discussed. A special focus is set on natural products bearing highly functionalized fatty acids at C-1 or C-3 position of the eremophilane backbone. Many of these fatty acids seem to contribute to the bioactivity of the metabolites enhancing the activity of the sesquiterpene moieties. Several approaches for optimization of these natural products for clinical needs and testing of the resulting derivatives are presented and discussed. The combination of identification of bioactive natural products with their subsequent improvement using a variety of genetical or chemical tools and the pharmacokinetic assessment of the products is presented here as a promising approach to new drugs.
Brain plasticity, cognitive functions and neural stem cells: a pivotal role for the brain-specific neural master gene |-SRGAP2–FAM72-|
Authors: Ho Nguyen Thi Thanh , Kutzner Arne , Heese Klaus
Published: August 2017

Due to an aging society with an increased dementia-induced threat to higher cognitive functions, it has become imperative to understand the molecular and cellular events controlling the memory and learning processes in the brain. Here, we suggest that the novel master gene pair |-SRGAP2–FAM72-| (SLIT-ROBO Rho GTPase activating the protein 2, family with sequence similarity to 72) reveals a new dogma for the regulation of neural stem cell (NSC) gene expression and is a distinctive player in the control of human brain plasticity. Insight into the specific regulation of the brain-specific neural master gene |-SRGAP2–FAM72-| may essentially contribute to novel therapeutic approaches to restore or improve higher cognitive functions.
Triple solutions for a Dirichlet boundary value problem involving a perturbed discrete p(k)-Laplacian operator
Authors: Khaleghi Moghadam Mohsen , Henderson Johnny
Published: August 2017

Triple solutions are obtained for a discrete problem involving a nonlinearly perturbed one-dimensional p(k)-Laplacian operator and satisfying Dirichlet boundary conditions. The methods for existence rely on a Ricceri-local minimum theorem for differentiable functionals. Several examples are included to illustrate the main results.
OD-characterization of alternating groups Ap+d
Authors: Yang Yong , Liu Shitian , Zhang Zhanghua
Published: August 2017

Let An be an alternating group of degree n. Some authors have proved that A10, A147 and A189 cannot be OD-characterizable. On the other hand, others have shown that A16, A23+4, and A23+5 are OD-characterizable. We will prove that the alternating groups Ap+d except A10, are OD-characterizable, where p is a prime and d is a prime or equals to 4. This result generalizes other results.
Monomial codes seen as invariant subspaces
Authors: García-Planas María Isabel , Magret Maria Dolors , Um Laurence Emilie
Published: August 2017

It is well known that cyclic codes are very useful because of their applications, since they are not computationally expensive and encoding can be easily implemented. The relationship between cyclic codes and invariant subspaces is also well known. In this paper a generalization of this relationship is presented between monomial codes over a finite field 𝔽 and hyperinvariant subspaces of 𝔽n under an appropriate linear transformation. Using techniques of Linear Algebra it is possible to deduce certain properties for this particular type of codes, generalizing known results on cyclic codes.
Expert knowledge and data analysis for detecting advanced persistent threats
Authors: Moya Juan Ramón , DeCastro-García Noemí , Fernández-Díaz Ramón-Ángel , Tamargo Jorge Lorenzana
Published: August 2017

Critical Infrastructures in public administration would be compromised by Advanced Persistent Threats (APT) which today constitute one of the most sophisticated ways of stealing information. This paper presents an effective, learning based tool that uses inductive techniques to analyze the information provided by firewall log files in an IT infrastructure, and detect suspicious activity in order to mark it as a potential APT. The experiments have been accomplished mixing real and synthetic data traffic to represent different proportions of normal and anomalous activity.
Increased miR-25 expression in serum of gastric cancer patients is correlated with CA19-9 and acts as a potential diagnostic biomarker
Authors: Le Qin , Jianhua Niu , Mulati  , Yu Xi , Jiageng He
Published: August 2017

Objective

To evaluate miR-25 expression in serum of gastric cancer (GC) patients and whether it can be a potential biomarker for GC diagnosis.

Methods

Forty one pathology confirmed GC patients and 41 healthy controls were included in this study. 10 mL peripheral venous blood were collected from GC patients and healthy controls. miR-25 relative expression and CA19-9 level in serum of GC patients and healthy controls were measured by real-time reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of serum miR-25 and CA19-9 were calculated by STATA11.0 software.

Results

The relative expression of miR-25 was 0.47±0.53 and 0.05±0.36 in serum of GC patients and healthy controls respectively with significant statistical difference (P<0.05). The serum level of CA19-9 for GC patients and healthy controls were 11.91±6.17 U/mL and 7.40±3.97 U/mL, indicating GC patients were much higher than those of healthy controls (P<0.05). The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 78.05% and 60.98% with the cut-off value of 0.32 for serum miR-25. Under this cut-off value, the area under the ROC curve was 0.75. For serum CA19-9, the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 70.73% and 56.10% with the cut-off value of 9.22 U/mL. Under this cut-off value, the area under the ROC curve was 0.73 with the 95% confidence interval of 0.62-0.84. Positive correlation was found between serum miR-25 relative expression and CA19-9 concentration of GC patients (r=0.75, P<0.05).

Conclusion

According to our present study, serum miR-25 was elevated in GC patients which may serve as a diagnostic biomarker for GC.
Tolerance and nutrients consumption of Chlorella vulgaris growing in mineral medium and real wastewater under laboratory conditions
Authors: María de Lourdes Franco Martínez , María Dolores Josefina Rodríguez Rosales , Cuauhtémoc Ulises Moreno Medina , Alfredo de Jesús Martínez Roldán
Published: August 2017

Microalgae have the potential of consuming high amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater; thus, avoiding the risk of eutrophication of the water bodies. Nevertheless, ammonium can usually inhibit the growth of microalgae. Tolerance to ammonium is specific of each strain; so, the development of tertiary wastewater treatment proposals, employing microalgae, has as a first step the study of its tolerance to N-NH3. In this work, the tolerance of Chlorella vulgaris to N-NH3, using mineral medium, was studied. Afterward, C. vulgaris was used to remove nitrogen and phosphorus from a real wastewater. The maximal biomass concentration was reached at 66 ppm N-NH3 (0.49 gL-1) with the complete depletion of the ammonium and a phosphorus consumption of 2 mgPi L-1d-1in all the experiments. When C. vulgaris was grown in real wastewater, the final biomass concentration was 0.267 g L-1and the nutrients (N and P) were totally consumed after 3 days. According with these results, this strain of Chlorella has the potential for the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus from tertiary wastewater and the biomass produced in the process can be used for the production of high value products, such as pigments, proteins, carbohydrate or used for animal feed.
Perspectives for Network Analysis: Roman Roads, Barbarian Paths and Settlement Patterns in the Borderlands at the Limes Germanicus in the Main River Region
Authors: Volkmann Armin
Published: August 2017

In contrast to the neighboring Roman Empire, no centralized sites in the sense of transregionally significant settlements are definitively verifiable outside of the Limes Germanicus in the research area at the middle Main River. However, some fortified hill forts do exist. Starting in late antiquity, these sites were temporarily occupied in times of internal and external conflict. Hill forts in the Babaricum were, without exception, sited on spurs at the Main or its tributaries. The course of the Main River constituted the primary transport route for the Romans into the Babaricum, although clear evidence of ship or harbor facilities has yet to be discovered for this period. The well-known hierarchical settlement and road system in the Roman Empire is not apparent in the Babaricum although numerous sunken roads in multiple path networks were discernible. Precise dating of these features to the Roman Iron Age or Migration Period has not been possible due to heavy soil erosion in the vicinity. Particular stretches of this network of paths were only seasonally in use depending on weather conditions and soil moisture, and so it is not realistic to discuss roadways as usable year-round in the Babaricum as they are in the Roman Empire. Some of these paths were fortified, although the dating of these fortifications is not possible due to the continued use of some of these pathways into the Early Modern Period. Nearest neighbor settlement relationships are methodically analyzed in network connection diagrams with the use of Delaunay triangulation in this GIS-based study. Probable routes by land and river are calculated with lost cost path analysis on the basis of digital surface models and compared with the local archaeological record.
Engineering of superconductors and superconducting devices using artificial pinning sites
Authors: Wördenweber Roger
Published: August 2017

Vortex matter in superconducting films and devices is not only an interesting topic for basic research but plays a substantial role in the applications of superconductivity in general. We demonstrate, that in most electronic applications, magnetic flux penetrates the superconductor and affects the performance of superconducting devices. Therefore, vortex manipulation turns out to be a useful tool to avoid degradation of superconducting device properties. Moreover, it can also be used to analyze and understand novel and interesting physical properties and develop new concepts for superconductor applications. In this review, various concepts for vortex manipulation are sketched. For example, the use of micro- and nanopatterns (especially, antidots) for guiding and trapping of vortices in superconducting films and thin film devices is discussed and experimental evidence of their vortex guidance and vortex trapping by various arrangements of antidots is given. We demonstrate, that the vortex state of matter is very important in applications of superconductivity. A better understanding does not only lead to an improvement of the performance of superconductor components, such as reduced noise, better power handling capability, or improved reliability, it also promises deeper insight into the basic physics of vortices and vortex matter.
In situ monitoring metal-ligand exchange processes by optical spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis: a review
Authors: Terraschke Huayna , Rothe Merrit , Lindenberg Patric
Published: August 2017

Knowledge about the mechanisms involved in the structural development of solid materials at the atomic level is essential for designing rational synthesis protocols for these compounds, which may be used to improve desired technical properties, such as light emission, conductivity, magnetism, porosity or particle size, and may allow the tailored design of solid materials to generate the aforementioned properties. Recent technological advancements have allowed the combination of synchrotron-based in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) with in situ optical spectroscopy techniques, providing researchers with remarkable opportunities to directly investigate structural changes during synthesis reactions. Among the various available methods to measure optical properties, in situ luminescence, UV/Vis absorption, and light transmission spectroscopies are highlighted here, with in situ luminescence being subdivided into in situ luminescence analysis of coordination sensors (ILACS) and time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS). This article consists of a review of 122 references exploring various aspects of in situ analyses, with particular emphasis on the use of XRD-combined techniques in the study of metal-ligand exchange processes during the formation, phase transitions and decomposition of solid materials, including complexes, coordination polymers, metal-organic frameworks, nanoparticles and polyoxo- or chalcogenide metallates. We will then conclude with an exploration of future trends in this exciting research field.
Computerized neurocognitive interventions in the context of the brain training controversy
Authors: García-Betances Rebeca Isabel , Cabrera-Umpiérrez María Fernanda , Arredondo María T.
Published: August 2017

This article presents, in the form of an analytic narrative review, a complete picture of the state-of-the-art, challenges, and perspectives in the field of information and communication technology (ICT)-based neurocognitive interventions for older adults. The narrative particularly focuses on applications aimed at mild cognitive impairment and similar age-related cognitive deficits, which are analyzed in the context of the brain training controversy. Clarifying considerations are provided about the nature and present extent of the brain training debate, regarding the possible influence it has on the support received by research and development initiatives dealing with innovative computerized neurocognitive interventions. It is recommended that, because of the preliminary nature of most data currently available in this area, further research initiatives must be supported in the quest for better effectiveness of computer-based interventions intended for age-related cognitive impairment. The conclusion suggests that advanced ICT-based tools, such as virtual and augmented reality technologies, are the most fitting platforms for applying nonpharmacological computerized neurocognitive interventions.
Mechanical performance of polyester pin-reinforced foam filled honeycomb sandwich panels
Authors: Jayaram R.S. , Nagarajan V.A. , Kumar K.P. Vinod
Published: August 2017

Honeycomb sandwich panels entice continuously enhanced attention due to its excellent mechanical properties and multi-functional applications. However, the principal problem of sandwich panels is failure by face/core debond. Novel lightweight sandwich panels with hybrid core made of honeycomb, foam and through-thickness pin was developed. Reinforcing polyester pins between faces and core is an effectual way to strengthen the core and enhance the interfacial strength between the face/core to improve the structural performance of sandwich panels. To provide feasibility for pin reinforcement, honeycomb core was pre-filled with foam. Mechanical properties enhancement due to polyester pinning were investigated experimentally under flatwise compression, edgewise compression and flexural test. The experimental investigations were carried out for both “foam filled honeycomb sandwich panels” (FHS) and “polyester pin-reinforced foam filled honeycomb sandwich panels” (PFHS). The results show that polyester pin reinforcement in foam filled honeycomb sandwich panel enhanced the flatwise, edgewise compression and flexural properties considerably. Moreover, increasing the pin diameter has a larger effect on the flexural rigidity of PFHS panels. PFHS panels have inconsequential increase in weight but appreciably improved their structural performance.
The semiotics of breast cancer: Signs, symptoms, and sales
Authors: Tredinnick-Rowe John
Published: August 2017

This paper analyses the immunological response of breast cancer patients through the lens of medical semiotics. From this perspective both psychological and physiological symptoms are treated as a set of transitive signs. The symptomatic journey of breast cancer patients was documented through an ethnographic engagement with a breast cancer charity. This journey consists of diagnosis, treatment and remission, where both the physical and psychological trauma maybe irreversible. Equally the genetic disposition of each patient and the variability of the treatment give rise to a plethora of possible immunological responses. The case study organization provided both therapeutic treatment but also sold oncology products to its patients, matching the products’ composition to the specific immunological responses caused by breast cancer treatment, e.g., brittle skins or hair loss, etc. This paper explores how the varied and transient nature of immunological semiosis is identified and commoditized into an economic process. This challenging social context is of interest from a semiotic stand point because it offers a singular paradigm to explain the evolution of signs and symptoms into sales.
Void of sign
Authors: Tanaka-Ishii Kumiko
Published: August 2017

This article examines the concept of void with the question of whether the concept forms a sign. A void in this article is defined as a spatio-temporal empty space existing in a representation. The aim of the analysis is to consider the hidden nature of signs, which cannot be highlighted only through an analysis of typical signs within social convention. As a semiotic tool to conduct the discussion, the notion of a zero sign of Lévi-Strauss is introduced. The article considers all possible zeros that can exist within the Saussurian sign model and introduces three cases: an omitted sign, an ambiguous signified, and an ambiguous sign. After examining the features of each kind, the concept of void is considered in these terms, with the conclusion that it belongs to the ambiguous sign case. Analysis of void with respect to the zero sign highlights the nature of signs as being reflexive, holistic and speculative. Because the signifier is barely delimited, it influences the surrounding sign systems, including the one existing at the meta-level. An ambiguous sign is deemed to allow for concept sharing among people even when the signifier and the signified remain ambiguous.
A simple spectral algorithm for recovering planted partitions
Authors: Cole Sam , Friedland Shmuel , Reyzin Lev
Published: August 2017

In this paper, we consider the planted partition model, in which n = ks vertices of a random graph are partitioned into k “clusters,” each of size s. Edges between vertices in the same cluster and different clusters are included with constant probability p and q, respectively (where 0 ≤ q < p ≤ 1). We give an efficient algorithm that, with high probability, recovers the clusters as long as the cluster sizes are are least (√n). Informally, our algorithm constructs the projection operator onto the dominant k-dimensional eigenspace of the graph’s adjacency matrix and uses it to recover one cluster at a time. To our knowledge, our algorithm is the first purely spectral algorithm which runs in polynomial time and works even when s = Θ (√n), though there have been several non-spectral algorithms which accomplish this. Our algorithm is also among the simplest of these spectral algorithms, and its proof of correctness illustrates the usefulness of the Cauchy integral formula in this domain.
Independent conditional clauses with argumentative function in Dutch
Authors: D’Hertefelt Sarah , Van linden An
Published: August 2017

This study offers an analysis of independent conditional clauses (ICCs) that are used with argumentative functions in spoken Dutch. ICCs are used as arguments when they serve to motivate the speaker’s implied standpoint regarding a preceding propositional content, termed the trigger. Two basic types of argumentative ICCs can be distinguished, which are termed “direct” and “indirect” arguments. Direct arguments express a contextually given premise on the basis of which a conclusion about the speaker’s standpoint regarding a preceding trigger can be drawn. Indirect arguments, by contrast, express a condition that – if it had held – would have warranted the conclusion, but its counterfactual interpretation resulting from hypothetical backshift signals that the speaker knows that this condition is
Towards clathrates. 2. The frozen states of hydration of tert-butanol
Authors: Dobrzycki Lukasz
Published: August 2017

A new crystal structure of tert-butanol and water crystallizing as the decahydrate is reported. The crystallization of the mixture in the desired molar ratio was performed in a capillary placed directly on a goniometer of a single crystal diffractometer at 200 K and ambient pressure using focused IR laser radiation. The crystals were grown while the melting zone formed by the IR laser was moved along the capillary. Usually the crystallization process should be long enough (hours) in order to obtain a good quality single crystal. However, in the case of tert-butanol decahydrate, such a long process led to separation of the ice and alcohol. Only fast crystallization taking tens of seconds allowed crystallization of the desired crystalline phase. In the decahydrate tert-butanol molecules are located in channels formed by water molecules. Hydroxyl groups are anchored to the water framework via hydrogen bonds. All water molecules in the structure have hydrogen atoms disordered equally over two sites; the hydroxyl group is likewise disordered. This effect is observed at both, 200 K and 100 K. Raman spectra recorded for the crystalline phase suggest dynamic disorder at higher temperature, converting to static at lower T. The decahydrate of tert-butanol, together with already known its di- and hepta-hydrates, display similar features to those observed for series of tert-butylamine hydrates. The latter structures behave as frozen steps of amine hydration observed as crystal structures leading, at maximum dilution, to hexagonal ice. Hydrates of tert-butanol nicely follow this tendency completing the relationship found for the tert-butylamine: water system.
Synthesis and biological activities of new bis-indole derivatives via microwave irradiation
Authors: Halawa Ahmed H. , Bedair Ahmed H. , El-Agrody Ahmed M. , Eliwa Essam M. , Frese Marcel , Sewald Norbert , Shaaban Mohamed
Published: August 2017

Three new series of bis-indole derivatives were synthesized based on p-phenylenediamine (2–4, 5 and 6) and 4,4′-ethylenedianiline moieties (7–9) using facile and efficient condensation of three positional isomeric indole-carboxaldehyde derivatives (1a–c) with bifunctional amines upon microwave irradiation. The symmetric dimeric indole derivatives 2–4 as well as non-symmetric analogues 5 and 6 were obtained by in situ condensation of the respective positional 3-, 2- and 5-isomeric indole-carboxaldehydes with p-phenylenediamine, while compounds 7–9 resulted from respective condensation based on 4,4′-ethylenedianiline. Structures of the obtained compounds were deduced by advanced spectroscopic methods (1H NMR, 13C NMR and MS). In agar diffusion assay, derivative 6 showed moderate antibacterial activity against various Gram positive and negative bacteria, while derivative 7 displayed moderate activity against several Gram positive bacteria. However, in Resazurin assay employing the human cervix carcinoma cell line (KB-3-1), derivatives 2–9 turned out to be inactive.